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Bob McKenzie

Senators Notes: Groulx, Roy, Mann, Potential Targets

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According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, new Senators head coach D.J. Smith is expected to hire his own staff in Ottawa. Although GM Pierre Dorion made the final decision on hiring Smith, the team is in the process of finding a President of Hockey Operations and, until that is completed, it appears Dorion will stick with player personnel decisions while Smith is given control of the remaining coaching hires. The one exception though is goaltending coach Pierre Groulx. McKenzie adds that Groulx has already been confirmed as returning to the team next season in the same capacity. Groulx has spent the past three seasons as the Senators’ goalie coach and has a close relationship with veteran starter Craig Anderson. He also had success with Anders Nilsson last season, whose play improved noticeably following a mid-season trade from the Vancouver Canucks. Even if the decision were up to him, it is unlikely that Smith would have opted to move on from Groulx, who was one of the few things that worked well in Ottawa last year.

  • Patrick Roy won’t be the next head coach of the Senators obviously, despite so much evidence pointing in that direction. But he won’t be the team’s President of Hockey Operations, either. TSN reports that Roy will return to his post as head coach and general manager of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts. Roy purchased the Remparts in 1997 and served as GM and later head coach from 2004 to 2014 before being hired as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche. Roy resumed his role with the Remparts this past season and has decided to stay on with the team rather than continue to pursue other NHL opportunities.
  • One interesting decision for Smith will be what to do with current AHL head coach Troy Mann. Mann was also in consideration for the Senators’ head coaching gig alongside Smith, but did not make the cut. Another relatively young coach like Smith, Mann has spent more than a decade now in the minor leagues with a number of different teams and varying degrees of success. However, he garnered some extra attention last year due to his strong work with the young members of the AHL’s Belleville Senators in his first season as the head coach. Mann remains under contract with the Senators it is up to Smith to decide how best to use a valued asset. With many of those top young players expected to play regular roles in Ottawa next season, he could make Mann an assistant on his staff to help with that transition. However, if he feels that Mann is better suited for the minor league level – or wants to avoid a challenge of authority from a fellow candidate – he may instead opt to leave Mann where he is in Belleville.
  • One of the more exciting aspects of adding a new head coach, especially at this time of year, is the possibility of their former players being interested in playing for them once again. The Senators’ whopping $37.7MM in projected cap space means they are more or less a blank slate this off-season when it comes to exploring the free agent and trade markets. So who has ties to Smith, a long-time coach for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires and Oshawa Generals? Well, one of Smith’s stars in his early days as an assistant in Windsor just so happens to be a known fixture on the trade block as well. The Anaheim Ducks’ Adam Henrique played three seasons under Smith and could very likely be on the move this summer as the Ducks seeks to shed salary. Smith could definitely push to acquire Henrique, who would immediately step into a top scoring role with Ottawa. Another name on the rumor mill who played for Smith briefly in Windsor is Zack Kassian of the Edmonton Oilers. Signed for one more year, Kassian would be an affordable, low-risk acquisition to bring some depth, experience, and toughness to the Ottawa lineup. A player who is not being forced out for salary reasons, but has nevertheless outstayed his welcome is the New York Islanders’ Michael Dal Colle. Dal Colle was one of Smith’s best players and leaders with the Generals and was selected No. 5 overall in 2014 due to his production in Oshawa. Yet, five years later, Dal Colle has seven points in 32 NHL games and is no longer considered part of the Islanders’ future core. They may be willing to sell low to the Senators, where the 22-year-old may have better luck under his old coach. On the free agent market, the defensive-minded Tom Kuhnhackl is a former Smith student who fit well under his old coach, but the intrigue here really lies with Smith’s Toronto connections. The man who ran the defense and penalty kill for the Maple Leafs could take a run at two high profile free agent defensemen – Jake Gardiner and Ron Hainsey – as well as two-way forward Par Lindholm, who Smith entrusted with ample shorthanded time in his first NHL season. Smith and the Senators may also flirt with the idea of an offer sheet for Toronto RFA Kasperi Kapanen, who Smith valued as a PK option but also brings a dynamic offensive game. The Leafs may have trouble matching an offer sheet for Kapanen against their tight cap crunch. Two other Toronto players with close ties to Smith are Nikita Zaitsev and Connor Brown, also potential trade casualties of the impending Toronto cap dilemma.

Maple Leafs Hire Paul McFarland As Assistant Coach

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One assistant out, one assistant in for Mike Babcock and his staff. Sources including both Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported earlier that the Toronto Maple Leafs were expected to announce that Paul McFarland has been hired by team, and the team did just that not long after. This news comes soon after the official announcement that D.J. Smith has been hired away from the team to become the new head coach of the Ottawa Senators.

While these two hires come in close proximity, they may not actually be connected at all. Smith worked with defensemen and the penalty kill units for Toronto, while McFarland ran the power play for the Florida Panthers last season. In fact, McFarland played for the Windsor Spitfires when Smith was an assistant and later served as an assistant himself under Smith with the Oshawa Generals to begin his coaching career. McFarland was likely set to re-join his mentor with the Maple Leafs before Smith made the decision to depart for Ottawa. The real driving force behind McFarland’s hire is the anticipated departure of Jim Hiller, who ran Toronto’s power play this season. Hiller was given permission to seek other opportunities and as of earlier this month was linked to the Nashville Predators. Regardless of where he ends up, he was not expected back in Toronto and certainly won’t be now that McFarland is in the fold.

McFarland, 33, is more than just the beneficiary of opportunity in this situation, though. The former head coach of the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs is considered a rising star in the coaching ranks and his dismissal from the Panthers was tied more to his connection to former head coach Bob Boughner than his performance. Actually, Florida ranked second in the NHL this season on the power play at 26.8% and received a greater proportion of their goals man-up than any other team in the league. McFarland did an excellent job, but seemingly didn’t fit into the plans of new head coach Joel Quenneville. Florida’s loss is Toronto’s gain, as the Ontario native returns home and brings his power play expertise with him to a roster chock full of potent offensive talent.

Even with McFarland’s addition, there will still be speculation that the departures of Smith and Hiller will leave the Maple Leafs in need of another coach. The most obvious option would be current AHL head coach Sheldon Keefe, a popular name in coaching circles who is currently guiding the Toronto Marlies through another deep playoff run. Toronto does not want to let Keefe leave the organization, which could mean they choose to promote him to Babcock’s staff, where he can take over some of the duties left behind in Smith’s absence.

Dave Tippett Still Favorite For Edmonton Oilers Coaching Job

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The Edmonton Oilers have conducted several interviews in their coaching search, and could have a decision in the next few days. Ryan Rishaug and Bob McKenzie of TSN, and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic have all heard that Friday is a clear deadline given GM Ken Holland’s plan to spend next week preparing for the draft combine. If a decision isn’t made by then, it may have to wait until the beginning of June when the combine is complete.

McKenzie goes so far as to say that he believes Dave Tippett is currently the only remaining candidate for the job, though there is still a negotiation to be done on contract terms which means nothing is for certain yet. The Oilers have been searching for a coach since Holland took over earlier this month and confirmed that Ken Hitchcock would not be behind the bench next season. Tippett immediately was linked, given the news that he was interested in coaching again had interviewed for the Buffalo Sabres job before they gave it to Ralph Krueger.

The 57-year old Tippett has been working with the management of the Seattle expansion franchise, but has a long history as an NHL coach. He was the head coach of the Dallas Stars from 2002-2009, before taking the job with the Phoenix Coyotes the following season. In 2017 when the Coyotes made an ownership and several management changes, Tippett was let go in favor of Rick Tocchet.

Unfortunately, that long resume has not included much success of late. Tippett last took a team to the playoffs in 2012, when a Mike Smith-led Coyotes group shocked the NHL by making it all the way to the Western Conference Final. Overall, the veteran coach has a 553-413-28-120 record as a head coach in the NHL, though much of that success came in Dallas. He won the Jack Adams trophy for Coach of the Year in 2010, his best regular season with the Coyotes.

Ottawa Senators To Interview Dallas Assistant Rick Bowness

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The Ottawa Senators continue their search for a head coach as the team has asked and received permission to interview Dallas Stars assistant coach and former Ottawa head coach Rick Bowness, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie. He is the sixth coach to receive an interview with the Senators.

Bowness, the Senators first-ever head coach, coached Ottawa in between 1992 and 1995, finished his tenure with the Senators with a 39-178-18 record, although expectations weren’t as great back then considering that expansion franchises didn’t get the same advantages that the Vegas Golden Knights have received and soon-to-be Seattle franchise will receive. Bowness has been the head coach of several struggling franchises over the years, including coaching the original Winnipeg Jets, Boston Bruins, New York Islanders and Phoenix Coyotes, with an overall coaching record of 123-289-48 record. His last coaching gig was a 20-game stint with the Coyotes back in 2004 as the team’s interim coach after the team fired Bob Francis.

However, while his head coaching record may not be stellar, Bowness has made a name for himself as a top assistant coach, who helped the Vancouver Canucks in their glory years from 2006 to 2013, including one trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. He then moved over to work with Jon Cooper and the Tampa Bay Lightning for the next five years before joining the Jim Montgomery and the Dallas Stars last summer, helping the Stars reach the second-round of the playoffs this year.

Bowness, 64, will be the sixth coach interviewed as the Senators have already interviewed Marc Crawford, Troy Mann, Jacques Martin, D.J. Smith and Nate Leaman. McKenzie added that there is no hurry for Ottawa to hire a head coach as he could see the team waiting until the end of the month before hiring a coach.

Charlie McAvoy To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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The Boston Bruins were triumphant last night and moved on to the Eastern Conference Finals, but they’ll have to battle the Carolina Hurricanes a man down. Charlie McAvoy will have a disciplinary hearing to determine a suspension for his hit on Columbus Blue Jackets forward Josh Anderson last night. McAvoy was given a two minute minor penalty for an illegal check to the head, but is expected to receive supplementary discipline.

McAvoy has been a force for Boston in these playoffs, averaging nearly 25 minutes a night while often taking on the other team’s best forwards. The 21-year old defenseman has added six points in 13 games, and has 30 hits including several of the devastating variety. In trying to lay another one of those big hits, he caught Anderson’s chin forcefully which snapped the Blue Jackets forward’s head around—the usual telling sign for the Department of Player Safety.

The league usually specifies if the hearing is of the in-person variety, meaning McAvoy is likely looking at a suspension of fewer than five games. He has never been suspended or fined in his career, which will have a positive impact on the decision.

Mike Babcock To Return As Toronto Maple Leafs Head Coach

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Despite plenty of fans calling for his head, and some recent speculation given his connection with Ken Holland, Mike Babcock will be the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019-20. Bob McKenzie of TSN spoke to Toronto GM Kyle Dubas, who gave a full vote of confidence to his head coach:

We’re all in on Mike and Mike is all in on us. We’ve had productive management meetings as an organization and Mike and I have had some really good meetings as well since the season ended. It’s our very strong belief Mike is the one to lead us, that’s the reality of it.

Babcock, 56, still has four years left on his eight-year deal with the Maple Leafs, one which pays him $6.25MM per season. That kind of commitment wasn’t made without considerable faith in the veteran head coach, and won’t be dismissed so easily.

Speculation started when the Maple Leafs were eliminated in the first round for the third consecutive season, and Dubas refused to guarantee the coaching staff would be back, instead deflecting the question and explaining that everyone from the top down would be evaluated. It still would have been very surprising to see Toronto move on, given the growth they’ve experienced since Babcock joined the team.

Hired in 2015, the former Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings head coach promised pain to the fan base when he joined the club given the state of the team at the time. The Maple Leafs finished last in the NHL during that first season and won the draft lottery for the chance to select Auston Matthews, before immediately surprising the league in Babcock’s sophomore season. Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and other rookies carried the team to the playoffs where they showed plenty of fight against the Washington Capitals, only to lose in six games. Two consecutive seven-game series against the Boston Bruins followed, but the Maple Leafs eclipsed the 100-point mark in each year.

The vote of confidence in Babcock did not extend one way or the other to the assistant coaches, which is important to note given the presence of a Dubas hire sitting in the minor leagues. Sheldon Keefe, who worked with Dubas with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL, has the Toronto Marlies undefeated in the Calder Cup playoffs and looking like they might repeat as AHL champions. Keefe could be a potential option for several coaching vacancies around the league, which only fueled the speculation around Babcock further.

More Changes Coming In Tampa Bay, Detroit Front Offices

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The Tampa Bay Lightning recently saw senior adviser Steve Yzerman head home to Michigan to re-join the Detroit Red Wings, leaving GM Julien BriseBois in charge of the ship moving forward. Immediately there was speculation that Yzerman could bring some of the Lightning front office with him, given that he had hired many of them when he took the job in 2010. It seems that speculation was correct, as AGM Pat Verbeek will be heading to Detroit to join Yzerman, while Jamie Pushor, Stacy Roest and Al Murray are all staying with the Lightning. All three have received AGM titles, while Mathieu Darche has also been hired as director of hockey operations.

Yzerman had this to say about Verbeek:

Pat Verbeek is one of the brightest minds and hardest workers in the game and has been a trusted and valued resource to me throughout my management career. He played a pivotal role in helping build the Lightning into a Stanley Cup contender throughout his tenure with the organization. I’m very excited to have Pat on board in Detroit and look forward to continuing to work alongside him.

The two have been together for some time, with Verbeek serving as a pro scout for the Red Wings between 2006-10 before following Yzerman to Tampa Bay. Even before that the two were teammates with Detroit, and obviously bring a great working relationship to their new task. Verbeek has consistently been mentioned for possible GM roles of his own, but will join Yzerman in trying to turn around the Red Wings and build them back into a Stanley Cup contender.

For Tampa Bay, holding onto some of their core staff was key. The three men work in separate divisions of the front office, as Pushor serves as director of player personnel, Roest is director of player development and Murray is director of amateur scouting. Each of them have proven their worth over the years, turning late-round picks into NHL stars while maintaining a tenable cap situation. BriseBois has some tough decisions to make over the next few months after a disappointing playoff exit, but will at least have a good chunk of his team still in place to help.

Kelly McCrimmon Promoted To Vegas GM

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The Edmonton Oilers will not be hiring Vegas Golden Knights assistant general manger Kelly McCrimmon. That’s because the Golden Knights have promoted him to GM, while George McPhee will remain as President of Hockey Operations. Team owner Bill Foley released a statement:

This is a very exciting announcement for our club and Vegas Golden Knights fans around the world. George and Kelly are a fantastic team. From the mock draft exercises and preparation leading up to the Expansion Draft, building out our coaching staff, and continually improving our team through the draft, trades, signings and free agency, the work they have done over the last three years has been remarkable. Together they have constructed a championship-caliber team in a very short time. This personnel move ensures that our hockey operations group stays intact and positions our organization for long term success.

The Golden Knights have experienced unprecedented success for an expansion team, and a huge part of that has been the work that McCrimmon did as assistant GM. McPhee and McCrimmon were almost flawless in their execution of the expansion draft strategy that netted them players like Jon Marchessault, Shea Theodore and Nate Schmidt, and turned that strategy into a Stanley Cup Final appearance in their first season.

A promotion like this ensures that McCrimmon stays with the Golden Knights, something that wasn’t so clear before the announcement.  Edmonton who were reportedly interested in hiring McCrimmon for their front office vacancy, will now shift their focus somewhere else and perhaps back to interim GM Keith Gretzky. The team had wanted to interview several candidates for the opening, and have had at least two with former Toronto Maple Leafs assistant GM Mark Hunter. Hunter’s name is exactly who Darren Dreger of TSN suggests in a tweet, while also listing Gretzky and former NHL goaltender and Arizona Coyotes executive Sean Burke.

The next expansion franchise in Seattle will also have to cross McCrimmon’s name off the list, as they were another team with reported interest in bringing him aboard. That made a lot of sense given his experience in the process, but the new organization will have to find another way to navigate their expansion draft and inaugural season.

Snapshots: Callahan, Makar, Hamilton, Johansson

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With the loss of star forward and likely Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov for Game 3 on Sunday due to a one-game suspension handed down today, The Athletic’s Joe Smith (subscription required) writes that the team will bring in veteran Ryan Callahan to fill in the roster spot for a team that both its games at home and now must rebound with a pair of away games in Columbus. Of course, other players will likely move up the team’s lineup with Callahan staying in the bottom six. Callahan has last played a week ago, but only played 4:13 in that game and has only played more than 13 minutes once in the last month.

  • TSN’s Bob McKenzie suggests that the Colorado Avalanche may have a tougher decision on what it wants to do with NCAA star Cale Makar, who the team is rumored to be signing within the next 24 hours. McKenzie writes that if Makar signs a contract, he will automatically burn the first year of his entry-level deal. However, and possibly more important, McKenzie adds that if Makar plays even one playoff game this season, he would need to be protected in the Seattle expansion draft. If the team opted not to play him in the playoffs this year, he wouldn’t be available to be taken by Seattle.
  • The Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan reports that she has heard from a source that Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton will hear from the Department of Player Safety Sunday after elbowing Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov during the second period.
  • While many people were worried that Boston Bruins forward Marcus Johansson was hurt when he didn’t appear during warm-ups, the Bruins announced not long afterwards that the veteran forward was expected to miss Saturday’s game due to the flu. The 28-year-old trade deadline acquisition didn’t record a point in Game 1, but still played 16:20 of ice time for the Bruins. David Backes took Johansson’s spot.

Todd McLellan No Longer In Consideration For Buffalo Sabres

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The Buffalo Sabres conducted interviews with Todd McLellan this week as the coach was in town for the Frozen Four, but will not be hiring him to be their next head coach. Bob McKenzie of TSN reports that McLellan is no longer in consideration for the position and that the team never did formalize an offer for him. Instead, McLellan is expected to be hired by the Los Angeles Kings, though that has not been formally announced either. The Sabres will continue their search for a new head coach.

If McLellan does end up with Los Angeles, it would be his third Pacific Division team in five years after previously coaching with the San Jose Sharks and Edmonton Oilers. The Kings are looking for a coach to help turn around their franchise after a dreadful season, and informed interim coach Willie Desjardins that he would not be getting the job. The 51-year old McLellan was fired by Edmonton after going 9-10-1 through the first 20 games of this season, but has an overall coaching record of 434-282-90.

The Sabres meanwhile are looking to replace Phil Housley after just two seasons on the job. The Hall of Fame defenseman was considered an outstanding assistant coach with the Nashville Predators but failed to put together much success in his time in Buffalo. The Sabres rode a winning streak all the way to first place in the NHL early in the 2018-19 season, but ended up with an overall record of 33-39-10, a huge disappointment for GM Jason Botterill and his staff.

While Buffalo hasn’t had much success over the last several years, there are definitely parts of the roster that should appeal to any prospective head coach. Captain Jack Eichel set a career high with 82 points in 77 games this season while first-overall pick Rasmus Dahlin was as advertised and stepped into a top-pairing role almost immediately. The 18-year old defenseman—he’ll turn 19 tomorrow—recorded 44 points in 82 games while logging more than 21 minutes a night and should be in consideration for the Calder Trophy.

Still, there will be immense pressure on whoever the Sabres do bring in to replace Housley as the team hasn’t experienced a winning season since 2011-12 and hasn’t made the playoffs since 2010-11.

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