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Chicago Blackhawks To Interview Peter Chiarelli For GM Vacancy

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Buckle up, Blackhawks fans. As Chicago prepares to begin interviews this week for their current vacancy at General Manager, at least one big name has been confirmed as a candidate. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that former Boston Bruins and Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli will interview for the Blackhawks’ GM job. In fact, the club sought out the experienced executive, currently the Vice President of Hockey Operations with the St. Louis Blues, and requested that he apply. Dreger adds that the interview process could move quickly with the NHL Trade Deadline approaching next month. If Chiarelli is deemed to be Chicago’s top option, he could be named leader of the front office within weeks.

Even after more than three years removed from his last GM job, Chiarelli remains a polarizing figure in the hockey community. As a young GM, he built a Stanley Cup winner (and shortly thereafter a finalist again) in Boston – and that is something that can’t be taken from him. Chiarelli built the core of that championship team from scratch and his fingerprints are still all over the current Bruins. His efforts included signing Zdeno Chara, Marc Savard, Andrew Ference, and Torey Krug; trading for Tuukka Rask, Adam McQuaid, Johnny Boychuk, Mark Recchi, Dennis Seidenberg, and Nathan Horton; and drafting Phil Kessel, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, Matt Grzelcyk, Tyler Seguin, Dougie Hamilton, and David Pastrnak. However, in building a winner he also made some questionable deals that cost the Bruins Blake Wheeler, Kris Versteeg, Boychuk, and most notably Kessel and later his return, top-ten picks Seguin and Hamilton. High-value picks he dealt away turned into the likes of Rickard Rakell, Jason Dickinson, current Bruin Derek Forbort and more. Chiarelli was also wrong more often than he was right in the draft, which wasn’t helped by his willingness to give up picks.

When Chiarelli arrived in Edmonton with plans on turning the historically bad club into contenders, he walked right in to drafting Connor McDavid first overall in 2015. While the book is still out on some of Chiarelli’s later draft picks, the obvious McDavid selection was one of his few hits, with Jesse Puljujarvi, Kailer Yamamoto, and Tyler Benson hardly living up to their draft billing. Chiarelli also struggled in free agency, giving too much to old friend Lucic and unproven Mikko Koskinen while failing to provide McDavid and Leon Draisaitl with suitable wingers. Yet, what Chiarelli is most infamous for are his trades in Edmonton, with none more talked about than the Taylor Hall–Adam Larsson swap. He also sent away Justin Schultz, Jordan Eberle, and Ryan Strome in lopsided deals and gave away a first-round pick (Mathew Barzal) for Griffin Reinhart. Yet, the Oilers did improve under Chiarelli and his extensions for McDavid and Draisaitl now look like bargains. If he had just avoided a few of his mistakes, the Oilers might have made a run to the Cup just like Boston.

So is it time for another chance? Dreger notes that the Blackhawks do have many candidates and by no means does he insinuate that Chiarelli is already the front-runner. Current interim Kyle Davidson will get a look, as could Seattle Assistant GM Jason Botterill, who was reportedly the runner-up for the Anaheim job. Displaced interim Ducks GM Jeff Solomon could also be in consideration, as could a number of others who were in the mix for the recently-filled jobs in Montreal and Vancouver. However, there is no doubt that for entertainment’s sake, having Chiarelli back in the GM chair would be fun to watch.

Snapshots: Coyotes, Botterill, Flyers

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Under new general manager Bill Armstrong, the Arizona Coyotes took a very clear path last summer. They shed long-term commitments while providing a cap haven for teams struggling to put together a roster in the current financial situation the league finds itself in. Taking on short-term bad-money contracts like Loui Eriksson, Andrew Ladd, Antoine Roussel, Shayne Gostisbehere, Anton Stralman, and Jay Beagle netted them a whole variety of draft picks, and they’re ready to do it again.

Chris Johnston explained this week on TSN’s Insider Trading that the Coyotes are “eyeing a chance to be an important go-between at this deadline” as other teams deal with a tight cap situation. With plenty of cap space themselves, they could take on more bad contracts or even retain salary in a three-way deal. Notably, however, they can only use that latter strategy once. After retaining money on both Darcy Kuemper and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, the Coyotes can only be involved in one other retained salary transaction this season. Kuemper’s agreement ends at the end of the year, meaning they could jump back into that ring in the summer.

  • While Pat Verbeek eventually landed the Anaheim Ducks general manager job, another assistant GM was apparently close. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Jason Botterill, AGM of the Seattle Kraken, was a finalist for the Ducks position. It would have been Botterill’s second chance in charge of a front office after his short stint with the Buffalo Sabres, one which did not go well. In three years leading the Sabres, the team finished no higher than sixth in the Atlantic Division and his draft results were certainly mixed. While he did land Rasmus Dahlin and Dylan Cozens, other high picks were used on Casey Mittelstadt (8th, 2017), Marcus Davisson (37th, 2017), Mattias Samuelsson (32nd, 2018), and Ryan Johnson (31st, 2019), all players who have either struggled or been unable to quite make their mark at the NHL level just yet.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers officially made a few changes to the front office. Alyn McCauley has been promoted to director of player personnel, while Tom Minton is now the director of hockey operations. McCauley has been with the Flyers for five years as a pro scout, while Minton was previously the director of hockey information and video. Recently, general manager Chuck Fletcher explained that the team is doubling the size of their analytics department and investing more in development staff.

More On The Pittsburgh GM Search

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have begun conducting interviews to fill their vacant general manager position, with Kevin Weekes of NHL Network and interim GM Patrik Allvin reportedly among the first few. Chris Drury, who had been considered a top candidate withdrew his name from consideration, wanting to remain with the New York Rangers instead. The Penguins were also denied access to New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald.

Today, more reports have emerged to clarify the remaining candidates. Darren Dreger of TSN tweets that Ron Hextall will have a virtual interview with the Penguins brass today, after the team received permission from the Los Angeles Kings to speak with him. Hextall currently works as an advisor for the Kings, but was previously the GM of the Philadelphia Flyers. The Penguins did not however receive permission from the Seattle Kraken to speak with Jason Botterill, according to Bob McKenzie of TSN. Botterill, who previously served as an assistant GM in Pittsburgh, recently took an AGM position with the expansion franchise after losing his job as GM of the Buffalo Sabres.

There are many other candidates expected to be involved, but things are expected to progress quickly. The Penguins are hoping to have a GM in place in the coming weeks, though that is obviously made more difficult by the fact that the season is in progress and the travel requirements/protocols to have anyone interview in person.

Snapshots: Penguins, Lapointe, WHL

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The vacant general manager position in Pittsburgh is a tricky but appealing role for many executives around the hockey world, and Pierre LeBrun rattled off an early list of candidates on the latest edition of TSN’s Insider Trading. Jason Botterill, Chris Drury, Mark Hunter, Tom Fitzgerald, Ron Hextall, Peter Chiarelli, Scott Mellanby, Mike Gillis, Laurence Gilman, John Ferguson, and Mike Futa are all on Pittsburgh’s radar and LeBrun believes the team wants to have the next GM in place over the next few weeks.

In the same segment, Darren Dreger speculates on the future of Pittsburgh’s star players and believes whoever comes in would owe it to Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang to have a conversation about the direction of the franchise. Don’t jump to conclusions and think that Crosby is all of a sudden on the trading block, given CEO David Morehouse’s claim that the team is still in “win-now” mode, but if Pittsburgh misses the playoffs this season they will be a fascinating situation to keep an eye on.

  • One front office member likely not on that list of candidates? Martin Lapointe, who has signed a three-year extension with the Montreal Canadiens to continue as director of player personnel through the 2023-24 season. Lapointe will also take on the role of director of amateur scouting, making him even more integral to the operation in Montreal. The former NHL forward was first hired as director of player development in 2012 and has worked his way up the front office ladder. He is on track to be a GM of his own down the road if he wants to be.
  • The WHL has been granted approval to return to play in the province of Alberta, starting their season on February 26. The five WHL clubs based in Alberta—the Red Deer Rebels, Edmonton Oil Kings, Lethbridge Hurricanes, Medicine Hat Tigers, and Calgary Hitmen—will form the Central Division and play a 24-game regular season entirely within the province. The league continues to work with the health officials in the other provinces and states to try and establish a start date for East, B.C., and U.S. divisions this season. There are WHL teams based in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Washington, and Oregon.

Sabres Fire GM Jason Botterill

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The Buffalo Sabres have relieved General Manager Jason Botterill of his duties after three years in the role, per a team release. Senior Vice President of Business Administration Kevyn Adams will take over as Botterill’s permanent replacement.

The move comes as a bit of a surprise as we’re just three weeks removed from ownership announcing a plan to keep Botterill in his role. Botterill joined the Sabres as a respected hockey mind from the Penguins organization.

Sabres’ owners Terry and Kim Pegula released a statement this morning with the news, reasoning the change thusly: “This morning, we informed Jason Botterill he will no longer be the General Manager of the Sabres. This decision was made after many candid discussions with Jason during a full review of our hockey operation. We recognized we have philosophical differences regarding how best to put ourselves in a position to compete for a Stanley Cup. So, we decided to make this change.”

The statement goes on to thank Botterill for his time with the Sabres. During his three years span, Botterill signed star Jack Eichel to a long-term contract (8-years, $80MM), but the Sabres failed to finish higher than 6th in the Atlantic Division. This season, they finished 25th overall, just one spot out of the 24-team playoff. They haven’t reached the postseason since the 2010-2011 season – the longest active postseason drought in the NHL.

More changes could be afoot for the Sabres, as Botterill’s firing did not happen in a vacuum. Wholesale changes are being made to the Sabres’ hockey operations department. Assistant GM Randy Sexton as also let go by the club, per the Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. Steve Greeley was another casualty, tweets Frank Seravalli of TSN Sports, though Seravalli thinks Greeley and Sexton should have no trouble catching on with another organization.

Trade Deadline Primer: Buffalo Sabres

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With the trade deadline now less than a month away, we will be taking a closer look at the situation for each team over the coming weeks.  Where do they stand, what do they need to do, and what assets do they have to fill those needs?  Next up is a look at the Buffalo Sabres.

After another incredible start, the Sabres have struggled to score goals and are slipping further and further away from an Atlantic Division playoff spot. They’ve already completed one deal to bring in some help at forward by acquiring Michael Frolik, but may well need another boost if they want to compete in the postseason tournament.

Record

22-20-7, tied for fifth in the Atlantic Division

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

$2.57MM in a full-season cap hit (using LTIR), 0/3 used salary cap retention slots, 45/50 contracts per CapFriendly

Upcoming Draft Picks

2020: BUF 1st, BUF 2nd, BUF 4th, BUF 5th, BUF 7th, DAL 7th
2021: BUF 1st, BUF 2nd, BUF 4th, BUF 5th, BUF 6th, BUF 7th

Trade Chips

The Sabres have a glut of NHL defensemen on the roster even after selling off Marco Scandella for a fourth-round pick and would like to move out some of that surplus to add more speed and offense up front. The problem is that many of the options on the blue line don’t come with a ton of trade value, unless you’re looking at one of the team’s young core pieces.

Zach Bogosian has already requested a trade when he was healthy scratched by head coach Ralph Krueger, but with his $5.14MM cap hit it is hard to see him actually bringing back anything for the Sabres. Colin Miller and Jake McCabe each hold a little more value than that, but Rasmus Ristolainen likely remains the biggest piece the team could potentially move.

Ristolainen has many detractors, but is still logging close to 23 minutes for the Sabres and has 23 points in 49 games. The 25-year old is also carrying a positive +/- rating for the first time in his career, and is a right-handed option that teams may see as an upgrade in the top four. Unfortunately, he comes with a $5.4MM cap hit and two more years on his contract, making him a tough player to add midseason.

Beyond the defensive group, the Sabres also received a trade request from Evan Rodrigues and they do have plenty of other expiring forward contracts that could be moved. It seems unlikely that the team would give up someone like Casey Mittelstadt even though he has struggled at the NHL level.

The team has its first-round pick for this year and next, but with the playoffs a clear uncertainty any deal would likely have to have lottery protection in it.

Five Players To Watch For: D Zach Bogosian, D Jake McCabe, D Colin Miller, D Rasmus Ristolainen, F Evan Rodrigues

Team Needs

1) Scoring Punch: The team will get Jeff Skinner back in the lineup tonight for the first time since December, but if he can’t reach the same level that he showed last season the Sabres will desperately need to add some finish before the deadline. Skinner has just 11 goals in 39 games after scoring 40 last season. Victor Olofsson, the team’s goal-scoring rookie, is still a few weeks away from a return. Players like Marcus Johansson, Jimmy Vesey, Conor Sheary and Kyle Okposo just aren’t putting the puck in the net enough at this point for the team to reliably create an offensive push behind Jack Eichel.

2) Speed Up Front: GM Jason Botterill was very clear when he spoke with reporters on Tuesday; he needs to find some help at forward. Botterill explained that he needed not just offensive scoring touch, but an upgrade to the overall speed at forward. A name like Chris Kreider obviously brings that kind of impact, but it’s not clear if Botterill wants to head down the rental road.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Poll: Which GM Will Be Fired Next?

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Despite missing the playoffs in each of the last four seasons, the Vancouver Canucks decided to extend GM Jim Benning today. The reasons for that are complicated—and obviously do not hinge entirely on his postseason record—just as they were when the Minnesota Wild made the decision to fire Paul Fenton just 14 months into his tenure with the team. The inner workings of an NHL front office are almost never made public (unless there is an intrepid reporter like Michael Russo of The Athletic who gets the incredible story), and it is hard to see why some decisions are made.

Still, even the most casual fan can see the seat of specific executives and coaches heating up. When the Edmonton Oilers decided to move on from Peter Chiarelli during another disappointing season, it didn’t come as much of a surprise. On the other hand, it was easy to see why the Carolina Hurricanes recently locked up Don Waddell after he interviewed for another job.

Looking around the league, who is next? Which GM will be let go, either this year or next summer?

It might be easy to look at the teams that have struggled recently, but many of them have replaced their top hockey operations executive over the last few seasons. The Oilers brought in Ken Holland to change the culture in Edmonton, while Steve Yzerman returned to the Detroit Red Wings to bring a new voice to a stagnant team. Florida has gone through quite a bit of turmoil in the front office since their ownership changed but Dale Tallon now seems to be entrenched as a veteran leader.

There are others though that may not be so lucky. The Ottawa Senators are heading in a new direction after shedding their previous core, but if the young talent doesn’t develop as hoped Pierre Dorion could be held responsible. John Chayka was the youngest GM in history when he took over the Arizona Coyotes in 2016, but they still haven’t made the playoffs under his watch and now have new ownership of their own. Jason Botterill was expected to have success in Buffalo after finding so much of it in Pittsburgh, but the Sabres haven’t been able to build a full roster around Jack Eichel despite some outstanding individual players.

Nothing is certain when it comes to front offices however. Cast your vote below and explain just why you think they’ll be the first to go!

[Mobile users click here to vote]

*We’ve used Kelly McCrimmon as the Vegas GM, though he won’t officially take that title from George McPhee until September

Latest On Rasmus Ristolainen

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For some reason, Rasmus Ristolainen can’t seem to escape trade rumors. Seemingly every summer there is some sort of report that has his name in trade talks, and this year has been no different. Today, Ristolainen popped up in reports from two different reporters on opposite sides of the continent. First, Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet tweeted that the Vancouver Canucks are speaking with the Buffalo Sabres about a defenseman, and suggested that it was either Ristolainen or Bogosian. Then, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) wrote that not only have the the Tampa Bay Lightning shown interest in the Buffalo defender once again this offseason, but they are “far from the only team.”

While LeBrun notes that the Sabres “aren’t going to deal [Ristolainen] unless the package is absolutely right” it is interesting that his name is out there at all. The 24-year old has three years left on a contract that carries a $5.4MM cap hit, and has carried a heavy load for the Sabres over the last few seasons. While the team did go out and add Brandon Montour last season, it’s not like Buffalo is overflowing with capable defenders ready for more minutes. In fact, three of their veteran defensemen—Bogosian, Marco Scandella and Matt Hunwick—are under contract for just the 2019-20 season, meaning the team will need to find replacements before long.

The Sabres are in a tricky spot, trying to take the next step in their rebuild and contend for a playoff spot. From the massive contract they recently handed Jeff Skinner, it’s obvious that they want to stop selling off top assets just for future potential, but perhaps a Ristolainen trade could work out for both sides. After all, even with all of his offensive upside, Ristolainen has been anything but a lock-down defender during his time in Buffalo. While plus-minus obviously has its flaws as a metric, it’s still hard to overlook the -41 mark that Ristolainen recorded last season or the -143 he has for his six-year career.

Jeff Skinner, Buffalo Sabres Agree To Long-Term Extension

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9:27 PM: It is official now and McKenzie was right on the mark with the terms. The Buffalo Sabres have announced an eight-year, $72MM extension with leading goal scorer Jeff Skinner. Skinner’s eight-year term is the NHL maximum and one only the Sabres could have awarded him. His new $9MM AAV is one that only 13 other forwards have topped, including teammate Jack Eichel. The Sabres hope that this investment can keep those two stars playing together on the team’s top line and dominating the competition en route to a return to the postseason.

8:46 PM: It was widely assumed that the Buffalo Sabres and star forward Jeff Skinner would eventually come to terms on a contract extension. After all, both sides benefited from the partnership in year one. Skinner enjoyed one of his best seasons to date, including potting a career-high 40 goals, while the Sabres landed a surefire top-line forward, who finished third on the team in scoring and found chemistry with young centerpieces Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart. Now, it appears that this speculation is about to pay off. TSN’s venerable insider, Bob McKenzie, reports that Buffalo is closing in on signing Skinner to an eight-year extension, thought to be in the realm of $9MM AAV.

If this $72MM deal comes together, Skinner could wind up in the upper echelon of NHL players when it comes to contract value. P.K. Subban, the only other player in the league with a $9MM cap hit, is currently ranked 16th in the league in AAV. The next players on the list are at $9.5MM, likely outside of the projected ranger for Skinner, but anything between a $9MM and $8.7MM AAV would put Skinner right there with Subban. Among those Subban would pass up include Sidney Crosby, Leon Draisaitl, Steven Stamkos, Claude Giroux, and Logan Couture. Obviously, the salary cap ceiling is increasing and Skinner’s cost is a function of that, but this is still a considerable leap for a player whose last contract was a six-year deal with a $5.75MM AAV with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Whether or not Skinner’s reported new value is a fair representation of his ability is up for debate. What’s not up for debate is that Buffalo can afford to offer this contract and possibly overpaying is better than the alternative. The Sabres are currently ranked 25th in committed salary cap entering the off-season with more than $29MM in space and Skinner is arguably their only priority free agent. Buffalo is a team that desperately want to improve, especially after a hot start was followed by an embarrassing second half and would up in yet another disappointing finish. Letting Skinner walk in free agency would be a nightmare for the team and GM Jason Botterill would rather gamble with his job down the line than almost surely lose it in the present if he failed to retain or somehow substantially replace Skinner. Will the 27-year-old be worth $9MM when he’s 35 years old? Almost certainly not, but that’s the trade-off of every long-term UFA contract. In the short-term this would be a great deal to hold on to a talented player who has been a great fit.

Latest On Jeff Skinner

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The biggest question of the Buffalo Sabres offseason, at least now that the head coaching vacancy has been filled, is whether or not GM Jason Botterill can get Jeff Skinner under contract. The star forward is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and would be one of the very best available players on the open market. Buffalo has maintained since they acquired him last year that they want to re-sign Skinner long-term, but to this point nothing has been set in stone. That might be changing soon, as Bob McKenzie said on NBC Sports last night that the two sides are getting closer:

The sense seems to be that there’s optimism, but not to the point where either side is entirely comfortable with the numbers that they’re exchanging. I do expect that there is likely to be more dialogue between Skinner’s [representatives] and the Buffalo Sabres. For quite some time now I’ve been saying that I think the sweet spot for a number is an eight-year deal somewhere between $8.5MM per year and $9.5MM per year. 

Buffalo certainly wants him back, and Skinner would like to come back but they’ve just got to get the final massaging of the numbers to the point where both sides are happy. So it’s very close, but it’s not done. And until it’s done, it’s not done.

Skinner of course is coming off the best season of his career, scoring 40 goals and 63 points for the Sabres while finding instant chemistry with Jack Eichel. There is every reason in the world for the Sabres to want to retain Skinner, given how they’ve watched talented players like Ryan O’Reilly and Evander Kane sent packing in recent years but still haven’t found much success on the ice. Buffalo needs to start keeping their talent around if they ever want to stop the perpetual rebuild they’ve found themselves in for so long.

Still, an eight-year deal for any player comes with plenty of risk. While Skinner is one of the youngest free agents on the market, he also is a relatively one-dimensional player that doesn’t provide much if his goal scoring ability ever dries up. That has led to underwhelming seasons in the past, including his final one in Carolina in which he scored just 49 points in 82 games and ended up in a trade north. He only turned 27 a few weeks ago, but those 40 goals came on a likely unsustainable 14.9% shooting percentage. If that drops his career average of 11.2%, a $9MM+ contract might be a bit tougher to swallow.

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