Rick Bowness Has “Earned The Right To Come Back” As Head Coach Of Stars
As they stormed back last night to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, it’s easy to forget that the Dallas Stars are still operating with an interim head coach behind the bench. Rick Bowness took over control of the Stars after just 31 games this season and has now led them to the promised land with an incredible playoff run, but still had that interim tag on his job title.
The company line all postseason has been that GM Jim Nill and Bowness would sit down and discuss his future after the team stopped playing, but the front office executive was a little more forthcoming when speaking to the media today. As Sean Shapiro of The Athletic reports, Nill explained that Bowness has “definitely earned the right to come back” as head coach next season.
That’s not a new contract, but it does seem as though Bowness can take the reins of the Stars again if he chooses to in 2020-21 (whenever that season happens). His focus is squarely on the challenge that is in front of him and it’s not like he would have been out of work anyway. Bowness first became an assistant coach at the NHL level in 1984 and has been employed ever since, spending time with the Winnipeg Jets, Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders, Phoenix Coyotes, Vancouver Canucks, and Tampa Bay Lightning before joining the Stars as an assistant in 2018.
One of the other big contributors this postseason and potentially a clubhouse favorite for the Conn Smythe also doesn’t have much certainty surrounding his future in Dallas. Anton Khudobin, who has been outstanding in the postseason with a .920 save percentage in 19 appearances, is scheduled for unrestricted free agency in October. Shapiro tweets that Nill hopes to re-sign Khudobin this offseason. The journeyman goaltender is 34 and has played 237 regular season games, split between six different organizations.
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Adin Hill Signs With Arizona Coyotes
The Arizona Coyotes have reached an agreement with one of their organizational goalies, signing Adin Hill to a one-year, one-way contract. The financial details were not released by the team, but Pierre Lebrun of The Athletic quickly reported the contract is worth $800K. Hill was scheduled to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights, but will now kick the free agency can down the road a year.
Hill, 24, appeared to be the goalie of the future at one point for the Coyotes when they used the 76th overall pick in 2015 to select him out of the WHL. As the team moved to Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper, both All-Star options, Hill has been somewhat pushed onto the back burner, but he still represents an interesting option for the Coyotes.
In fact, with Raanta entering his final season under contract and Kuemper down to just two years left on his deal, there has been near-constant rumors swirling that the Coyotes will look to move one of them this offseason. That would save money for a team in turmoil, while also providing Hill with an opportunity to show what he can do at the NHL level once again.
Every time he’s been asked, he’s responded to this point. In 30 NHL appearances, Hill has a .907 save percentage but showed he had taken a step forward this season when he posted a .918 in 13 games while the team dealt with injuries to their regular starters. He played his best hockey at the minor league level as well, posting a 15-5 record in 20 games with the Tucson Roadrunners.
As with any goaltending signing these days, the upcoming expansion draft also may play a role. The Coyotes can only protect one goaltender from selection in the 2021 Seattle Kraken draft, but also need to leave at least one that is signed through 2021-22 unprotected. Kuemper is the only goaltender who currently fills that requirement, while Hill may be the better option to protect anyway if they believe he can be a long-term option in the NHL.
At $800K, he certainly represents an inexpensive option if they do move one of their two other goaltenders this offseason.
Fabian Zetterlund Loaned To HC Vita Hasten
The New Jersey Devils have sent another prospect overseas, loaning Fabian Zetterlund to HC Vita Hasten of the Swedish second league. Zetterlund is heading into the second year of his entry-level contract and coming off his first year of professional hockey in North America. He can be recalled in time for the 2020-21 NHL season.
Just 21, Zetterlund was a third-round pick (63rd overall) by the Devils in 2017 and spent the 2019-20 season with the Binghamton Devils of the AHL. In 46 games there the forward recorded 19 points, a relatively disappointing output that continued a pattern to this point in his career.
Though an excellent skater, Zetterlund has not been able to translate his speed and work ethic into much offense at almost any level, only really impressing during the 2016-17 junior season in Sweden. Even at the World Juniors in 2019 where he was a returning player and wearing an “A” as an alternate captain, Zetterlund was held completely scoreless. In his 66 games at the SHL level he had just 11 points, though he was much younger than most of the competition.
While there is a place in the NHL for hard-working forwards who are excellent on the forecheck, Zetterlund will have to start seeing some offensive improvement if he’s ever to really push for a spot with New Jersey. Perhaps a return to the Allsvenskan, a lower-tiered league than he is used to, will spark his scoring touch and get him back on the right development path.
Peter Laviolette Hired By Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals wanted an experienced head coach to lead them next season, and they’ll have it. The team has announced the hiring of Peter Laviolette, who will take over the bench from Todd Reirden who was let go earlier this summer. Laviolette has signed a three-year contract worth just under $15MM total according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, which will include the full $2.5MM he was still owed by the Nashville Predators.
Capitals GM Brian MacLellan released a statement on his new coach:
Peter is a successful NHL head coach who has won a Stanley Cup and brings a wealth of experience to our team. We feel he is a great communicator who will motivate our players to play with passion, structure and discipline, while helping our young players reach their potential. In addition, he is a high-character individual who is highly respected for his coaching pedigree, all of which make him the ideal person to lead our team to compete for the Stanley Cup.
Laviolette, 55, has been a head coach in the NHL for two decades, recording a 637-425-25-123 record in his 1,210 regular season games. Those 1,200 games put him 20th on the all-time list and he has taken his club to the Stanley Cup Finals three times, winning in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Capitals had shown interest in other experienced names like Gerard Gallant and Mike Babcock, but will move forward with a coach that had a .616 winning percentage at his last stop but still got fired after a mediocre start to 2019-20. Laviolette and the Predators were 19-15-7 when they made the move to hire John Hynes, leaving him looking for another opportunity.
Reirden, the Capitals outgoing coach, has already found work with his old team the Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant. That experiment didn’t work out nearly as well as the Capitals hoped when they let Barry Trotz leave months after winning the first Stanley Cup in franchise history, only to hand the reins to a rookie head coach. Reirden lasted just two seasons behind the bench while Trotz is now in the Eastern Conference Finals with the New York Islanders.
Hiring Laviolette will serve as an attempt to fix that mistake, but the Capitals core is now two years older and Alex Ovechkin is heading into the final year of his deal. There are certainly young exciting players in Washington like goaltending phenom Ilya Samsonov, but the last two years seem like wasted opportunities for this group now that they’ve paid up for an experienced head coach after all.
Long-Term Injuries Represent Continued Opportunity For Cash-Rich Teams
The NHL’s salary cap ceiling will be $81.5MM for 2020-21 and will not increase until the league’s hockey-related revenue surpasses $3.3 billion once again. Even then, the number will grow slowly as the difference in escrow is slowly paid off. Despite that cap being the theoretical number that teams can spend to, many around the league will be icing rosters that are quite a bit cheaper.
Frank Seravalli of TSN reported just a few days ago that the Buffalo Sabres, Arizona Coyotes and Pittsburgh Penguins could all be operating with an internal budget much lower (with the Coyotes perhaps going “just south of $70MM”). They aren’t the only three, which could potentially open up even more opportunities for cash-rich organizations that have strong financial backing. Not only will they be able to bring in a roster that adds up to the salary cap ceiling, but players that are earning more money than their cap hits in 2020-21 could potentially be available in trade at a bargain price.
The other opportunity is one that has existed for some time but could be amplified this offseason: long-term injured reserve.
For years now, teams have traded in “dead contracts” in various situations. Trading for players who are under contract but will never play again has been a routine occurrence for teams like the Coyotes and Toronto Maple Leafs—though the two use those opportunities in very different ways. The Maple Leafs have used a strong financial situation to take on the contracts of players like Nathan Horton and David Clarkson, giving them a bit more flexibility when it comes to the salary cap. No, these dead contracts are not just bonus cap space as some imply, but they can create some creative ways to provide wiggle room around the hard cap.
It’s hard to use this to your advantage when you’re already working on an internal budget, especially with contracts that are not fully insured. But for those teams still able to flex their financial might, there will be some obvious candidates this offseason should they want to pursue these LTIR opportunities and can figure out a way to make it benefit their individual situation.
Ryan Kesler has two seasons remaining on his contract with the Anaheim Ducks, which is set to pay him $6.675MM annually. The 36-year-old forward is not expected to play again thanks to multiple hip surgeries, which ended his playing career in 2019 after he battled through pain to reach the 1000-game mark. Kesler does have a full no-movement clause for this season (which will switch to an eight-team no-trade clause in 2021), but that has been worked around in past transactions like this.
The Coyotes themselves still have Marian Hossa on the books for one more season at a $5.275MM cap hit, though his actual salary is still just $1MM for 2020-21. Hossa hasn’t played since a skin condition forced him into retirement in 2017 and could potentially be used as a trade chip if another team is looking for help reaching the salary cap floor this year. Henrik Zetterberg, is another player whose salary is just $1MM in 2020-21, though he carries a $6.08MM cap hit. The Red Wings have moved on from legendary players in this situation before, trading Pavel Datsyuk‘s dead contract to the Coyotes in 2016.
Marian Gaborik is much the same, having last played in the 2017-18 season with the Ottawa Senators. The 38-year-old Gaborik is still under contract for next season and carries a $4.875MM cap hit, but is owed just $3.075MM in actual salary. According to a Postmedia report from 2018, approximately 80% of Gaborik’s salary is covered by insurance, making it an inexpensive way for the Senators to build up their commitments, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be used in a deal to get him completely off the books this summer.
One of the newest additions to this retired-but-still-active group is Brandon Dubinsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who missed all of the 2019-20 season with a chronic wrist injury. That injury is expected to keep him from ever playing again, but he is still owed $5.85MM for the 2020-21 season.
Of note, the Maple Leafs, who have been the team most notably acquiring these heavy LTIR contracts, will see both Clarkson and Horton come off the books this offseason. That doesn’t by any means indicate that they will go this route again, but don’t be surprised if you see some movement this offseason on players that will never actually hit the ice in an NHL game again.
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Contract Notes: Miller, Thompson, Gallagher
Ryan Miller may have turned 40 this summer but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s done with a playing career that has him climbing the all-time lists. The Anaheim Ducks backup goaltender is without a contract for next season and will wait to see what the 2020-21 season looks like before making a decision on his future, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. Quite succinctly, Miller explained that if the NHL moves to full-season bubbles it wouldn’t be fair to his family for him to sign up and leave for nine months, a notion that is likely shared by many around the league.
Miller is currently 15th on the all-time wins list for NHL goaltenders, just two behind another former Buffalo Sabres legend, Dominik Hasek. That was a player Miller was hoping to catch as recently as May, though it’s still unclear if he’ll get that chance. Even at his age, the veteran of 17 NHL seasons recorded a .907 save percentage in 2019-20, better than many backups around the league.
- Nate Thompson isn’t put off by the Philadelphia Flyers disappointing playoff loss, in fact, he’s “very interested” in returning to the team next season if possible. Thompson told reporters today that he wants to be a part a “window of winning” that he sees in Philadelphia. The 35-year-old forward was outstanding in the faceoff dot for Philadelphia this postseason, winning more than 60% of his 168 draws. He’s coming off a one-year contract worth $1MM and recorded 15 points in the regular season.
- Though his contract doesn’t end until 2021, Brendan Gallagher was asked today about his future with the Montreal Canadiens. As he spoke to reporters including Arpon Basu of The Athletic, Gallagher (who is still recovering from a broken jaw), explained that his agent has had preliminary discussions with the team about his next deal. Gallagher, 28, has turned into one of the biggest bargains in the entire league at his current cap hit of $3.75MM, given he has scored 86 goals over his past 223 regular season games (an 82-game pace of nearly 32 goals). Add in all the intangibles he brings to the team, including leadership and his innate ability to get under the opponent’s skin and Gallagher is one of the Canadiens’ most important players.
Washington Capitals Loan Axel Jonsson-Fjallby To Vastervik IK
The Washington Capitals have sent another prospect overseas for the next few months, loaning Axel Jonsson-Fjallby to Vastervik IK of the Swedish second league. Jonsson-Fjallby is expected to be recalled in time for NHL training camps before the 2020-21 season, though it isn’t clear exactly when that will be at this point.
The 22-year-old forward is coming off his first full season in North America in which he played 61 games for the Hershey Bears of the AHL. Scoring 12 times and recording 23 points, the fifth-round pick showed that he can compete at the professional level and potentially be a depth option for the Capitals down the road. Jonsson-Fjallby is heading into the final season of his three-year entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent next summer.
Given that he has already played multiple seasons in the SHL, the Allsvenskan should be even easier for Jonsson-Fjallby. The higher Swedish league decided not to take any more short-term loans of players on NHL contracts, meaning clubs around North America are scrambling to find minutes for their young prospects. The AHL season is completely up in the air at this point, with no concrete dates or plans in place thanks to an ever-changing COVID-19 situation in both the United States and Canada.
NHL Issues Update On COVID-19 Testing
As the NHL has done each Monday in recent weeks, they have released an update on the COVID-19 testing being done in the bubble cities. For the seventh straight week, there have been zero positive tests. Their statement reads as follows:
The NHL completed the seventh week of its Phase 3 Return to Play with no positive test results for COVID-19 among the 1,357 tests administered. Tesating was administered on a daily basis to all members of the Clubs’ 52-member travelling parties, including Players, during the period from September 6-12. The NHL will continue to provide regular updates on COVID-19 testing results. The League will not be providing information on the identity of any individuals or Clubs.
There have now been over 30,000 tests administered in the NHL’s bubble, with zero positive results. As teams are eliminated the number of weekly tests decreases and could very well be down to just two teams travelling parties by tomorrow night.
As things stand, the league seems destined to get through their return to play without experiencing another outbreak, though things can obviously change in an instant.
Geoff Ward Named Calgary Flames Head Coach
The Calgary Flames have decided to remove the interim tag from Geoff Ward‘s position, officially naming him the 20th head coach in franchise history. Ward took over behind the bench when Bill Peters resigned earlier this season, moving from his previous position of associate coach.
Ward, 58, commanded the Flames to a 24-15-3 record in the regular season, landing them in the postseason tournament and defeating the Winnipeg Jets in the qualification round. The team wasn’t able to change their disappointing recent playoff history though, bowing out timidly to the Dallas Stars in the first round. Still, Ward will get a chance to really impose his style and leadership on the team moving forward. He certainly got more out of the team than Peters early on, as the Flames were 12-12-4 when the switch was made.
A longtime NHL assistant, Ward has had stops with the Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, and New Jersey Devils before coming to Calgary in 2018. Interestingly, his coaching career has also taken him overseas several times as a head coach in Germany, most recently with Adler Mannheim of the DEL (where he won the league title and Coach of the Year). That experience was enough to get him a role with the German national team, where he served as an assistant at four World Championships and some Olympic qualifying matches.
Ward has signed a new two-year contract with the Flames, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.
Latest On Alex Pietrangelo’s Free Agency
While an early look at the free agent pool each year often results in wild speculation and amazement at the talent potentially available, by the time the offseason actually rolls around there isn’t a lot to actually choose from. Top names are given huge extensions to stay put or dealt to a contender at the deadline who uses their three-plus months to re-sign the star. That’s why it has always seemed like Alex Pietrangelo‘s availability was a bit of a pipe dream for every team other than the St. Louis Blues.
The captain of the reigning Stanley Cup champions, in his prime at age-30, coming off a season where he logged more than 24 minutes a night. It was hard to imagine the Blues letting that go in free agency, but as we now stand in mid-September, Pietrangelo doesn’t have a contract for next season.
Speaking to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Pietrangelo called it “a little disappointing” that nothing had been done to this point, and explained “there hasn’t been much in terms of progress” on a new contract. While neither side has ruled anything out—LeBrun even suggests that the Blues will be making another offer soon—the star defenseman has already discussed next steps with his wife should he end up on the open market in a few weeks.
There is no doubt that Pietrangelo is still a game-changing force in the NHL. The Blues captain scored double-digit goals (16) for the fourth straight season and registered 52 points in 70 games. Those 24 minutes a night included more than three on the powerplay and almost two on the penalty kill, coming in as one of the most effective players on the team in both situations. His playoff track record is outstanding, with a league-leading 16 assists last year and another strong performance in the 2020 restart. While he may not be running around hitting opponents, his 6’3″ frame is still more than enough to battle physically when required.
There is a lot to like in Pietrangelo, but that all-around game will also deserve a hefty paycheck wherever he lands. That is likely the sticking point in St. Louis, given the flat salary cap and the fact that the team has already committed $76MM to next season’s roster. Expensive extensions for Justin Faulk and Brayden Schenn have eaten up a lot of the room left by Pietrangelo’s expiring contract, though there are obvious ways to create enough money to bring the captain back, if they want to.
Instead, it seems more and more likely by the day that Pietrangelo will be a free agent on October 9th, with LeBrun speculating that the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, and Florida Panthers could all be in the mix given their respective situations. The connection to Toronto has been discussed constantly (Pietrangelo is from King City, just north of Toronto and once played minor hockey with John Tavares), but the Maple Leafs would have to battle a long list of suitors for the 30-year-old’s services.
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