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Matt Moulson Joins Maple Leafs Front Office, Signaling Retirement

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Longtime NHL and AHL forward Matt Moulson has joined the Toronto Maple Leafs as a pro scout, per the team’s website. The move to scouting signals that Moulson has retired from hockey after a 16-year professional career that included 605 NHL games.

Moulson hasn’t played in the NHL since 2017-18 with the Buffalo Sabres, but he’s been floating around the AHL with the Ontario Reign and Hershey Bears since then, maintaining a solid professional career, although falling short of a Calder Cup. A three-time 30-goal scorer, Moulson did his best work with the New York Islanders alongside current Maple Leafs captain John Tavares.

The point production burnt out quickly after turning 30, though, notching no more than 14 goals or 41 points in a season during his four NHL seasons spent in Buffalo after departing the Islanders during the 2013-14 season. Waived and loaned to Ontario in 2017-18, Moulson made a home for himself tutoring youngsters in the minors, aiding both Los Angeles’ and Washington’s development systems along the way.

Moulson finished a strong AHL career with 424 games played, 159 goals, and 350 points, including a trio of seasons spent with the Manchester Monarchs early in his career, back when he was the property of the Kings in the mid-2000s. Now 38, Moulson will make a swift transition to scouting with the Leafs.

Prospect Notes: Beck, Nelson, Lucius, Guhle

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Hockey Canada has made some changes to their National Junior Team summer development camp roster, from which the organization will select their contingent for the 2023 World Junior Championship in December. In lieu of San Jose Sharks defense prospect Gannon Laroque being unable to participate due to injury, Hockey Canada has added a pair of 2022 draft-eligible prospects in forward Owen Beck and defenseman Ty Nelson to their list.

Beck, ranked 33rd in TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s final scouting poll, netted 51 points in 68 games for the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads in 2021-22. The public opinion on him is rather skewed, with some listing Beck in the mid-to-late first while some have him deep within the second round. Regardless, he’s one of the better OHLers available in this year’s class. He’ll rely on his strong skating and transitional play to try and improbably work his way onto the final roster. Nelson, who hails from the OHL’s North Bay Battalion, was ranked 50th in McKenzie’s consensus rankings after a 51-point season.

  • A second Lucius brother has officially left the University of Minnesota program. 2022-eligible Cruz Lucius, the younger sibling of Winnipeg Jets prospect Chaz Lucius, has switched his college commitment to rival Wisconsin. Cruz’s draft stock was hurt by injury this season, but he still managed eight points in six games for the U.S. at the U18 World Juniors and 25 points in 33 games with the U.S. National Development Team Program. If McKenzie’s consensus rankings are a proper indication, he’s slated to hear his name called in the mid-to-late third round.
  • Anaheim Ducks defense prospect Brendan Guhle won’t be staying in North America for 2022-23 after signing a contract with the DEL’s Eisbären Berlin. Guhle, originally selected 51st overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 2015, will still belong to the Ducks organization if they issue the pending restricted free agent a qualifying offer. Guhle has just 65 NHL games to his name at this point, tallying 14 points. He had just seven points in 37 games last season in the AHL with San Diego.

Gatineau Olympiques Acquire Olivier Nadeau

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While the NHL Draft is still a few days away, the 2022 QMJHL Draft is underway tonight. There’s some big action on the trade floor as well, as the Gatineau Olympiques have acquired Buffalo Sabres forward prospect, Olivier Nadeau, from the QMJHL champion Shawinigan Cataractes in exchange for this year’s 14th overall pick, a 2023 first-round selection, a 2023 second-round selection, and 2005-born defense prospect Thomas Hebert.

Nadeau, Buffalo’s 97th overall selection in 2021, led Shawinigan in regular-season scoring with 78 points in 65 games. While he finished ahead of teammates like Edmonton’s Xavier Bourgault and Dallas’ Mavrik Bourque, they both played in considerably fewer games and had higher playoff point totals.

That doesn’t discount Nadeau’s role on the team, though. Serving as an alternate captain, Nadeau is a powerful, versatile forward who knows how to use his 6′ 2″ frame. A smart and skilled passer, Nadeau boasts solid middle-six upside and is a good transitional talent. In what will be his last year of juniors, Nadeau will get a chance to shine on Gatineau, who suffered a first-round playoff loss this year.

Latest On Victor Olofsson

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  • As part of his 32 Thoughts blog, Friedman reported on quite a few extension situations across the NHL, touching on Larkin as well as Buffalo Sabres winger Victor Olofsson. Olofsson, who turns 27 this month, played 2021-22 on a $3.05MM cap hit and could be looking for a raise after a strong offensive season. Olofsson’s negotiation is an important one for the Sabres and GM Kevyn Adams, as Olofsson is an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent who is precariously close to a trip to unrestricted free agency. A native of Ornskoldsvik, a Swedish hockey hotbed, Olofsson scored 20 goals and 49 points in 72 games this past season and also has an impressive 42-point 54-game rookie campaign. Per Friedman, the Sabres “are making progress” on an extension with Olofsson, and have “boatloads of cap space” to get it done. All indications point to the talented sniper remaining in Buffalo for the foreseeable future.

Buffalo Sabres Extend Craig Anderson

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The Buffalo Sabres drew Craig Anderson out of retirement last offseason and after a strong performance, he’s coming back for another go-round. Anderson has signed a new one-year deal with the Sabres, this time worth $1.5MM, twice what he made in 2021-22.

Since the end of the season, Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams has done nothing but speak highly of the 41-year-old netminder, explaining that he was a huge part of the leadership group in Buffalo this year, helping the young team take positive steps. “He gave us a chance to win,” said Adams earlier this week.

Still, though Anderson did play better than expected, his overall numbers were still well below league average. Partly due to the Sabres play in front of him, and partly because of a late-season swoon, Anderson ended the year with an .897 save percentage in 31 appearances.

Different from last year though is that Anderson likely isn’t going to be expected to carry the lion’s share of the goaltending load. Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News still expects the team to acquire a proven NHL goaltender one way or another to pair with the veteran, allowing prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to start in the AHL once again.

Clearly, there is a desire from Buffalo to be more competitive in 2022-23, but it remains to be seen whether Anderson–who could be the oldest player in the league this season, depending on Zdeno Chara’s decision–can actually continue to give them that status.

He will get a chance to climb even higher on the all-time lists though. Anderson is currently tied with Pekka Rinne for 32nd in games played and could become just the 31st goaltender in history to crack the 700-game mark with 17 more appearances.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Buffalo Sabres Sign Sean Malone

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The Buffalo Sabres are bringing back AHL standout Sean Malone for another year, inking him to a one-year contract worth $750K. The minor league forward was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Malone, 27, was great for the Rochester Americans this season, scoring 20 goals and 37 points in just 39 regular season games. His strong play continued into the playoffs, when he added another seven points in ten games, giving the young minor league squad a reliable veteran leader in the middle of the ice.

While the Americans were driven by talents like JJ Peterka, Jack Quinn, and Arttu Ruotsalainen, Malone, along with Michael Mersch, Ethan Prow, and others offered a more experienced group to help the on-ice development of the top prospects. That can continue next season now, as he returns on a no-risk one-year deal.

There’s also a chance that Malone earns some time with the big club, though it has been five years now since he signed out of Harvard and he has just two games to his name at the NHL level. One of those actually came with the Nashville Predators, during the year he was away from the Sabres organization. A Buffalo native, Malone came back in 2021 and is now getting a chance to continue with his hometown club, even if it’s mostly for minor league action.

East Notes: Quinn, Devils Front Office, Sabres

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Eyebrows raised leaguewide when the Boston Bruins fired Bruce Cassidy, letting him walk to the Vegas Golden Knights in coaching free agency. Now, they seem to have zeroed in on a replacement. Although he’s been interviewed and/or linked to multiple teams so far, The Fourth Period’s Shawn Hutcheon reports that the Bruins have made former New York Rangers head coach David Quinn their leading candidate for the role. While other names like former Providence head coach Jay Leach had been rumored, they seem to have opted for another “hometown” coach.

While a Rhode Island native, Quinn has extensive experience in the Boston area, spending multiple years as an associate coach and head coach with Boston University. Quinn did not coach this past season after the Rangers replaced him with Gerard Gallant this past offseason, aside from serving as the head coach for the United States at the Olympics and World Championships.

  • The New Jersey Devils seem to have quietly cleaned out some front office names, removing the roles of Patrick Rissmiller (player development coach), Pierre Mondou (amateur scout), and Andrey Plekhanov (European scout) from their website. Rissmiller will leave the only front office job he’s ever known, holding the role with New Jersey since he retired as a player in 2015. Mondou, 66, was let go after nearly 20 years of scouting for New Jersey. Plekhanov had been with the team for four seasons.
  • As the Buffalo Sabres look to finally take that next step forward in 2022-23, the team has announced the dates for their development camp. The session for fringe prospects and rookies will be held July 13-15, with a three-on-three tournament to be held on the 16th.

Kim Pegula “Progressing Well” From Undisclosed Health Issue

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There was some dark news in the Buffalo Sabres community a handful of weeks ago when it was announced that Sabres (and Buffalo Bills) owner Kim Pegula was receiving serious medical treatment as a result of “unexpected health issues.” As it had been a considerable amount of time since that announcement with no update, fans were becoming increasingly concerned with her health status.

Now, via the Sabres, the Pegula family said in a statement today that Kim is “progressing well,” resting, and rehabbing from her health issue, asking fans to continue to respect their privacy. The full statement is as follows:

Kim is progressing well and is resting and rehabilitating from a health issue. We are grateful for the medical professionals providing her care and to everyone for their prayers and well wishes. We ask that you please continue to respect our need for privacy during this time.

Pegula, 53, has been the owner of the Sabres since the 2015-16 season when she was transferred principal ownership of the team from her husband Terry. She was also named team president in 2018-19 and has also served in that role for their AHL affiliate in Rochester.

PHR sends their best wishes to the Pegula family and the Sabres community for her continued recovery.

Ben Bishop Open To Dallas Return In Front Office Role

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After injuries forced him into retirement during the 2021-22 season, it was clear Ben Bishop wouldn’t suit up for the Dallas Stars again. This month, the final year of his $4.9MM average annual value contract was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for salary cap relief entering 2022-23. While not part of the Dallas organization anymore on paper, Bishop has expressed interest in returning to the team in a front-office role, said general manager Jim Nill.

[Bishop] would like to get into some type of management position. His resume, how he conducts himself, he’s a well-spoken man, got a passion for the game. He’d like to continue to be in the game. We’re having some discussions with him about different positions, start to get his feet wet and see what comes of it.

It’s evident that Bishop wants to have a long career within the sport, and he’d apparently like to start it with the team that gave his career a second wind after being shipped out of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization in favor of Andrei Vasilevskiy.

He could learn on the job from another former high-end Dallas netminder — Marty Turco. After a nine-season stretch with the Stars, Turco has joined the team as a senior advisor in the past few seasons.

Carter Hutton Retires From NHL

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A journeyman netminder has hung up his skates today. Veteran Carter Hutton announced his retirement from the NHL today, talking with Tom Annelin of the Chronicle Journal.

Speaking with Annelin today, Hutton had the following to say on his decision:

Honestly, I’ve been preparing myself for hockey to be over in some aspect for a while… The NHL has evolved into a young man’s league. The average age is now in the early 20s, so I know that this job wouldn’t be a lifelong one for me. Ultimately, I suffered an ankle injury in early 2021, which made the decision a lot easier for me. It restricted a lot of the mobility I needed to be as effective as I once was. This, compiled with a few other things helped me decide on retirement.

The news isn’t surprising in any aspect. Hutton appeared in just three games at the beginning of the season with the Arizona Coyotes, earning a 0-2-0 record and .741 save percentage. He spent the majority of the rest of the season injured before he was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of the trade deadline for injury insurance there, but the team loaned him back to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners. He did spend a few days at Leafs practice, however.

An undrafted free agent, Hutton had a long and arduous path to NHL success. Hutton spent four years developing at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell before signing an entry-level contract with the San Jose Sharks for 2010-11. Hutton was the backup for the AHL affiliate in Worcester that season, posting a .902 save percentage. A restricted free agent, he was left unqualified and settled for an AHL contract with the Rockford IceHogs in 2011-12.

Strong play there got him an NHL contract later in the season and again with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2012-13, when he made his NHL debut at age 27. As an unrestricted free agent in 2013, the Nashville Predators snapped up Hutton in free agency, where he broke into the NHL and never looked back. After stops with the Predators, St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres, and Coyotes, Hutton retires with a career 94-90-27 record in 235 games played (207 starts), .908 save percentage, and 2.76 goals-against average, and 13 shutouts. For an undrafted free agent who wasn’t a full-time NHLer until 28, it’s an improbable and impressive resumé.

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