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Vegas Golden Knights Announce ECHL Affiliation

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The Vegas Golden Knights have a new ECHL affiliate, after announcing an agreement with the Savannah Ghost Pirates. The new franchise will begin play in the 2022-23 season after originally being announced in October 2021. In addition to the affiliation, the Ghost Pirates have also announced the first coach in franchise history, hiring Rick Bennett.

Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon released a short statement:

This affiliation with Savannah gives us alignment from the ECHL level through Henderson and up to the NHL. We are excited to lead the hockey operations and have a proven developer of talent as a head coach in Rick Bennett.

Bennett, 54, had been the head coach of Union Collee for more than a decade before resigning earlier this year, and won a National Championship in 2014 with the program. He also took home the NCAA Coach of the Year award that season and even has some previous experience coaching in the ECHL. That came when he was a player-coach with the Jacksonville Lizard Kings in the late-nineties, as his playing career came close to an end. A veteran of more than 250 ECHL contests as a player, he also had a cup of coffee in the NHL with the New York Rangers.

While the Ghost Pirates won’t have a ton of real NHL prospects, the ECHL is often used as a goaltending development stop. Jiri Patera, for instance, played 15 games for the Fort Wayne Komets this season, between stints with the Henderson Silver Knights.

Latest On Boston Bruins Management, Coaching

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After a few days of player, coach, and management press availabilities, Boston Bruins president Cam Neely took the podium today to speak with the media and updated the status of some high-level employees. Neely admitted that he and Bruins ownership were disappointed in how the team bowed out of the first round, and that changes may be on the horizon.

On general manager Don Sweeney, who does not yet have a contract for next season, Neely indicated that they would sit down and work out a deal in the coming days. He praised the work that Sweeney did at the deadline to give the Bruins a better chance and expects to reach an extension without issue. Sweeney said earlier this week that he expected a resolution in “short order” suggesting that he too thinks there won’t be an issue with working out a new contract.

With regards to head coach Bruce Cassidy, Neely was a little more uncertain. He told reporters that while he believes Cassidy is an excellent coach, there is a need for change in terms of how the team plays. He suggested that it will ultimately be Sweeney’s decision whether to bring Cassidy back next season, and that the two hadn’t really spoken about it to this point because of Sweeney’s own uncertain future throughout the year.

Cassidy, 56, has one year remaining on his current contract and is owed $3MM next season. He took over as head coach of the Bruins during the 2016-17 season and has led them to plenty of success, including a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2019, which they ultimately lost to the St. Louis Blues in seven games. It’s likely the results since then that have put some doubt into Neely’s mind, especially this year’s game seven performance that he mentioned specifically several times.

There is of course a long list of highly qualified coaching candidates available, including names like Barry Trotz, Pete DeBoer, Paul Maurice, Mike Babcock, Jeff Blashill, Joel Quenneville, Claude Julien, John Tortorella, and many more. While there is no indication that the Bruins will make a change just yet, that deep pool of candidates likely has several executives around the league at least considering their options.

Mark Stone Undergoes Back Surgery

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May 19: The Golden Knights have announced that Stone underwent a successful lumbar discectomy this morning and is expected to be ready to play for the start of the 2022-23 season.

May 18: After previously indicating that surgery was the most likely outcome, the Vegas Golden Knights have confirmed through a spokesperson that captain Mark Stone will undergo a procedure on his back tomorrow, according to Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Sun. On Monday, general manager Kelly McCrimmon said that the team still expects Stone to be ready for training camp next season. No timeline has been updated today.

Stone, one of the most impressive two-way players in the entire NHL, and arguably the most important name on the Golden Knights roster, battled injury all season. With four stints on injured reserve, two of those being of the long-term variety, he was limited to just 37 games and recorded his worst offensive season with just nine goals and 30 points.

Those stints on long-term injured reserve were often critiqued because of the salary cap situation the Golden Knights found themselves in, but there was no mistaking Stone’s obvious injury. A shell of himself even when he was on the active roster, he will now have to focus on getting back to full strength in time for next season, when the feeling in Vegas will once again be playoffs-or-bust.

The question now becomes how the Golden Knights will address their current cap issues, as after acquiring Jack Eichel, the team has already eclipsed the $82.5MM ceiling for next season. Names like Reilly Smith and Mattias Janmark are pending unrestricted free agents, but other players are likely going to have to be extracted from the roster in one way or another to make all of the pieces fit. Add in the uncertainty surrounding some key players that will be returning from offseason surgery–Robin Lehner also went under the knife for a shoulder procedure earlier this month–and the Golden Knights are no sure thing to return to the postseason in 2022-23.

Philadelphia Flyers Sign Nick Seeler

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The Philadelphia Flyers have brought back a depth defenseman, signing Nick Seeler to a two-year extension that will carry an average annual value of $775K.In the press release, it indicates that the deal is one-way/two-way, presumably meaning that in 2022-23 Seeler will be on a one-way contract, and in 2023-24 he will be on a two-way.

Seeler, 28, saw considerable playing time this season, appearing in 43 games with the Flyers. Though he averaged just over 13 minutes in those contests he was still relatively effective, racking up blocks and hits at a good rate while providing another option on the penalty kill. There’s no mistaking Seeler for a top-pairing option, but at this price, he doesn’t have to be.

In fact, there’s no guarantee he even sees the lineup as often next season given the situation the Flyers currently find themselves in. Cam York and Ronnie Attard will both likely push for full-time minutes, while the team still expects Ryan Ellis to return to full strength at some point. That would already give the team six NHL options before even considering any additions made in free agency, or a young player like Yegor Zamula taking a considerable step in his development.

For Seeler, the two-year term provides a bit of security, and $775K would be the highest salary of his career to this point.

Filip Berglund Signs In SHL

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After failing to make it to the NHL, Filip Berglund is taking his talents back overseas. The pending restricted free agent forward has signed a new two-year contract with Orebro in the SHL, meaning the Edmonton Oilers won’t even be able to keep his exclusive rights.

Berglund, 25, signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Oilers back in 2020, but with the uncertainty of the AHL season in 2020-21, he remained in Sweden for the first year. This time around he joined the Bakersfield Condors, but the 6’3″ defenseman didn’t find a ton of success, registering just six points in 53 regular season games. With Bakersfield knocked out of the Calder Cup playoffs, he has obviously jumped at an opportunity to return home.

While a qualifying offer would keep him on the Oilers reserve list this summer, Berglund will turn 27 before this new contract in Sweden expires, meaning he’ll be an unrestricted free agent again in 2024. Whether a return to North America is possible at that point likely depends on his production over the next two years, and whether or not any team was impressed enough with his AHL play to consider giving him another NHL contract.

The 2016 Oilers draft class continues to struggle, as the five picks they had in the first three rounds have combined for 102 career points–98 of which have been from Jesse Puljujarvi.

2022 Jack Adams Finalists Announced

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The NHL continues to release the finalists for their major regular season award, this time naming the three men that are in contention for the Jack Adams Award, presented to the coach who has “contributed the most to his team’s success” and voted on by the NHL Broadcasters Association. Last year’s winner was Rod Brind’Amour of the Carolina Hurricanes, but we’ll have a new name engraved this season.

The finalists for the 2021-22 season are Andrew Brunette of the Florida Panthers, Gerard Gallant of the New York Rangers, and Darryl Sutter of the Calgary Flames.

Brunette could win the award without actually even having any job security, as he is still technically only an interim head coach. Taking over from Joel Quenneville, when the Panthers were in first place, he didn’t miss a beat and took the team to an incredible 51-18-6 record under his watch, winning the Presidents’ Trophy. A huge number of Florida players experienced career-best seasons under the rookie head coach, as his high-flying style led to almost unstoppable offensive pressure.

Often, this award goes to the coach who takes a team to the largest gap between expectation and result. That might be the case for Gallant, whose young Rangers were expected to challenge for the playoffs but have become so much more than that. With a 52-24-6 record on the year, New York finished eighth in the entire NHL, their best season since 2014-15. It shouldn’t surprise anyone at this point that Gallant can get outstanding results out of an overlooked roster, after taking the Vegas Golden Knights all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season. Even in that year–when Gallant won the Jack Adams–the Golden Knights had a worse winning percentage than these Rangers.

For all the success that Sutter has had behind the bench, this trophy has eluded him over the years. The two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach has nearly 800 total wins under his belt but has only ever been a finalist for the award once before, way back in 2004 during his first go-round in Calgary. The Flames experienced a huge turnaround under his watch, going from a .491 winning percentage last season, to a .677 and first place in the division this year. Despite having some high-flying offensive talent, it was the buy-in on the defensive end that Sutter is so known for, and resulted in the Flames allowing just 206 goals against, third best in the league.

Tomorrow, the league will continue their announcements with the three finalists for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy.

Who should win the Jack Adams?
Gerard Gallant 40.63% (180 votes)
Darryl Sutter 38.60% (171 votes)
Andrew Brunette 20.77% (92 votes)
Total Votes: 443

2022 Offer Sheet Compensation

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Though still rare, we have started to see the offer sheet used a little more often. In 2019, the Montreal Canadiens signed Sebastian Aho to a five-year deal, which was quickly matched by the Carolina Hurricanes to keep their star. That meant turning down a substantial package of picks, and locking Aho into a deal that was certainly not very team-friendly. In response, the Hurricanes signed Jesperi Kotkaniemi to a one-year deal worth more than $6.1MM last summer, something the Canadiens just couldn’t match. They received first- and third-round picks in exchange, while the Hurricanes recently signed Kotkaniemi to a long-term deal that drops his cap hit considerably.

Offer sheet compensation is based on the average salary of the league, and as CapFriendly reports, this year’s thresholds have increased a little more than two percent. Below is the full breakdown, with the contract’s average annual value placing it in one of seven tiers:

$1,386,490 or less No compensation
$1,386,491 to $2,100,472 Third-round pick
$2,100,473 to $4,201,488 Second-round pick
$4,201,489 to $6,302,230 First and third-round picks
$6,302,231 to $8,402,975 First, second and third-round picks
$8,402,976 to $10,503,720 Two firsts, a second and third-round picks
Over $10,503,721 Four first-round picks

It is important to note that any team trying to sign a player to an applicable offer sheet must use their own draft picks for compensation, not ones that have been acquired. That rules several teams out already from signing high-profile RFAs unless they were to work to reacquire their picks before submitting the contract. An offer sheet’s average annual value is also calculated slightly differently than a normal contract; if the contract is of a length greater than five years, the total salary is still divided by five to determine the AAV. That would mean a seven-year contract worth $8MM per season would actually carry an AAV of $11.2MM for purposes of offer sheet compensation.

There are some restricted free agents, like Montreal’s Alexander Romanov, that have not accumulated enough time in the NHL to be eligible for an offer sheet. For more information about the details of offer sheets, check out CapFriendly’s FAQ.

Dallas Stars Sign Fredrik Olofsson

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The Dallas Stars have convinced an interesting player to come back to North America, signing Fredrik Olofsson to a one-year, $750K contract for the 2022-23 season. Olofsson has played the last two seasons with Oskarshamn IK in the Swedish Hockey League.

Originally selected 98th overall in 2014 by the Chicago Blackhawks, Olofsson is an interesting case of a Swedish forward that spent his most important developmental years in the U.S. After playing minor hockey with the Colorado Thunderbirds, he spent parts of three seasons in the USHL and then all four years of his college eligibility at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. After he graduated, Olofsson failed to reach an agreement with the Blackhawks on an NHL contract, so his rights expired in the summer of 2019.

That’s when he returned to Sweden to play with the famed MODO program, which had been relegated to the second tier. In his first year back in Sweden he racked up 34 points in 52 games, and earned himself a chance at the SHL level. Now, after two strong years with Oskarshamn–and an appearance at the Olympics–he’s finally getting that NHL contract.

In 49 games this season, Olofsson–who is the brother of Charlotte Checkers defenseman Gustav Olofsson–scored 42 points. He’ll now get a chance to prove himself at the professional level back in North America, though there’s obviously still a long road ahead of him before he makes that kind of impact. As a waiver-exempt player, he can be sent to the minor leagues at any time, making it more difficult for him to crack the Stars roster out of camp. Still, with only two games of AHL experience under his belt, some time with the Texas Stars may not be a bad thing.

Los Angeles Kings Extend Rob Blake

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The Los Angeles Kings surprised a lot of people this season, reaching the postseason and pushing the Edmonton Oilers to seven games. The fact that the team also has arguably the best prospect pool in the entire league and cap room to spend this offseason puts them in an enviable position and one that has resulted in a nice reward for the Kings’ architect.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that general manager Rob Blake has signed a three-year contract extension with the Kings, though the deal is not expected to be announced for another week or two. Blake was in the final season of his current contract, one which was set to expire at the end of June.

It wasn’t always glowing reviews for Blake, who took over in 2017 and was immediately welcomed by years of on-ice struggles. The Kings missed the playoffs in each of the three seasons previous to this one, posting winning percentages well below .500 in the process.

That, along with some moves to sell off high-priced assets including Jeff Carter, Alec Martinez, Tyler Toffoli, and Jake Muzzin, allowed the team to collect a huge number of prospects and draft picks that have quickly turned their aging core into an extremely young one.

Now, Blake will have the task of turning a playoff team into one that can legitimately challenge for the Stanley Cup, and much of that work will have to be done with restricted free agent negotiations this summer. Adrian Kempe leads the way in that regard following his breakout 35-goal season, but others like Mikey Anderson, Sean Durzi, and Carl Grundstrom will also be interesting cases to monitor.

San Jose Barracuda Make Coaching Change

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It’s another end of an era in San Jose. After the organization parted ways with long-time NHL general manager Doug Wilson, there is a huge change coming in the AHL as well. The San Jose Barracuda have appointed John McCarthy as their new head coach, announcing that Roy Sommer will move into a senior advisory role.

Sommer, 65, has been the head coach of the Sharks’ top affiliate for the past 24 seasons. That time includes years with the Kentucky Thoroughblades, Cleveland Barons, Worcester Sharks, and Barracuda, which resulted in the most wins of any AHL coach and an AHL Coach of the Year award in 2017. In his new role, he’ll assist Barracuda general manager (and acting Sharks GM), Joe Will, in scouting and player development.

McCarthy meanwhile is moving up from his role as a development coach with the Barracuda, but has a history with the organization that goes back long before he took on those responsibilities. Selected 202nd overall by the Sharks in 2006, he was the epitome of hard work and dedication, carving out a long professional career that included 88 NHL games and five years as captain of the Barracuda.

The young coach released the following statement on his new job:

I am honored to be named the head coach of the San Jose Barracuda. I have been a member of this organization for 13 years and could not be happier to have this opportunity. I’d like to thank the organization for putting their faith in me to lead this group, and I’m excited to get to work on developing the next wave of players for the Sharks.

San Jose also announced several other coaching changes. Assistant coach Jimmy Bonneau has been moved back to his previous role as a professional scout, assistant Michael Chiasson has accepted a position as an agent with CAA Hockey, and goaltending coach Dany Sabourin will not return to the organization next season.

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