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Darryl Sutter

Snapshots: Kravtsov, Pastrnak, Flames

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The New York Rangers and winger Vitali Kravtsov were both hoping that the former top prospect could finally make an NHL impact this season in a top-six role. Unfortunately for Kravtsov, his season has gotten off to a rough start. After taking a hit early in the first period of tonight’s season opener from Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, the Rangers said that Kravtsov would not return to the game with an upper-body injury.

The ninth overall pick in 2018 returned to North America this season after spending last year with Traktor Chelyabinsk in the KHL, recording 13 points in 19 games. He made his season debut tonight skating on a line with Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck. Kravtsov played just 1:28 before leaving the game.

  • Talks remain amicable between the Boston Bruins and David Pastrnak on an extension. Still, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported today that the Bruins have yet to make a specific offer to Pastrnak’s camp. It makes sense, all things considered, as Pastrnak has publically said multiple times since he was eligible for an extension that his main focus is on starting the season strong. The team will need to rely on him heavily, of course, with Brad Marchand out of the lineup. Dreger cited Jonathan Huberdeau’s recent eight-year, $84MM extension as a reasonable comparison.
  • Speaking of the Calgary Flames, head coach Darryl Sutter said today that the team has “no need” to name a captain ahead of the 2022-23 season. The Flames have not had a captain since the 2021 offseason when Mark Giordano was claimed in the expansion draft by the Seattle Kraken. New acquisition Huberdeau was a commonly discussed candidate for the role, as well as longtime Flame, Mikael Backlund.

Flames Sign Darryl Sutter To A Two-Year Extension

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Darryl Sutter’s second stint with the Flames will be lasting a little while longer as the team announced that they’ve signed their bench boss to a two-year contract extension.

Sutter spent parts of nine seasons with Calgary in the early 2000s as both their head coach and general manager.  He somewhat surprisingly returned to the team in the 2020-21 campaign as he took over for Geoff Ward.  The 64-year- signed a three-year deal at that time with the final season of that deal coming in 2022-23.

While Sutter’s return may have been surprising, this particular news shouldn’t be.  Calgary has thrived with Sutter behind the bench with the team posting a 65-36-11 record under his tutelage.  On top of that, the Flames won the Pacific Division last season with a points percentage of .677, the second-best in franchise history.  That helped Sutter take home the Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year for 2021-22.

Sutter will be at the helm of a team that has undergone some significant changes this summer, ones that often aren’t seen from a reigning division winner.  Long-time core players Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk have moved on while Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri, and MacKenzie Weegar all came to town and inked long-term deals in recent weeks.  As a result, there could be some early-season struggles as those players adapt to his system but Calgary still projects to be one of the top teams in the West this season.  Sutter currently sits 11th in NHL history for victories (699) and will only be going up on that list over the next few years.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Snapshots: Extension Talks, Sutter, Border Mandates

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There are several players around the league that have been involved in extension talks over the summer, including the likes of MacKenzie Weegar and Bo Horvat. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet touches on several of these situations in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast, giving his thoughts on whether in-season negotiation will be an option.

In Weegar’s case, Friedman notes that there is a feeling that once the season begins, extension talks will be shelved to the end of the year. The 28-year-old defenseman is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and is coming off a career-best 44 points last season. While Horvat’s situation is a bit murkier, Friedman believes that David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins is open to talking throughout the year.

  • Another important member of the Calgary Flames is in the final year of his contract but he isn’t a player. Friedman believes that Darryl Sutter will likely be extended at some point, as his three-year deal approaches expiry. Sutter was hired in 2021, making the first year of his deal the end of the 2020-21 season, and has had a strong effect since returning to Calgary. Under his leadership, the team went from missing the playoffs with a sub .500 record in 2020-21 to winning the Pacific Division and reaching the second round.
  • The Canadian government is dropping all vaccine requirements for non-citizens entering the country as of October 1, meaning that unvaccinated players in leagues like the NHL, NBA, and MLB should now be able to travel with their teams for games in Canada. Last season, for instance, the Detroit Red Wings were forced to leave Tyler Bertuzzi behind when they went on road trips north of the border, something that may well have cost him the team lead in scoring, given the pace he produced at through 68 games. Hopefully, the league will not need to deal with these limitations in the future, as health officials continue to reduce restrictions.

Darryl Sutter Wins 2022 Jack Adams Award

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Calgary Flames coach Darryl Sutter has won the 2022 Jack Adams Award, given to the coach of the year. It’s the first time in his illustrious career that he’s won the award.

Beating out finalists Andrew Brunette (Florida Panthers) and Gerard Gallant (New York Rangers), Sutter is in the second year of his second stint as head coach of the Flames. In 112 games since stepping back behind the Flames bench, Sutter’s now guided the team to a 65-36-11 record, including a Pacific Division title this year. This year’s 50-win campaign was the first such season for Calgary since 2018-19, when the team lost in the First Round. The team’s .677 points percentage this season, though, is the best since the team won the Stanley Cup in 1988-89. Despite bowing out in the Second Round to the Edmonton Oilers, Sutter created a deep, hard-working team out of players who largely underperformed last season in the COVID-shortened year.

Per The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta, Sutter had 54 first-place votes for the award. Brunette had 31, while Gallant had 12. Other coaches receiving first-place votes were Minnesota’s Dean Evason (seven), Colorado’s Jared Bednar (six), Los Angeles’ Todd McLellan (five), Carolina’s 2021 winner Rod Brind’Amour (two), Pittsburgh’s Mike Sullivan (two), Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper (one), and Nashville’s John Hynes (one).

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.

Trevor Lewis Signs With Calgary Flames

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The Calgary Flames have signed Trevor Lewis to a one-year, $800K contract according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The veteran forward will be reunited with head coach Darryl Sutter, with whom he won two Stanley Cup championships during their time in Los Angeles.

If it wasn’t a Sutter roster before, the Flames are focused on making it one, acquiring bottom-six names like Lewis, Tyler Pitlick, and Blake Coleman in recent days. Even if Lewis isn’t the twenty-something that won those championships, he showed for the Winnipeg Jets last season that he can still be effective in a limited role. Though he scored just five goals and ten points, he happily welcomed tough defensive minutes and logged more penalty-killing time than all but two Jets forwards.

In the system that Sutter became famous for, the fourth-line isn’t there to contribute offensively. They slow the game down to a crawl and make sure nothing dangerous happens at either end. That’s all Lewis will be asked to do again in Calgary, and it’s a job he has done quite well over the years. Now that he’s 34 he might not be in the lineup for all 82 games, but for $800K it poses basically no risk to bring him aboard.

Sean Monahan To Undergo Hip Surgery

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The last four games of the season for the Calgary Flames are not really worth anything, given the North Division playoff spots are already decided. So why not get a head start on injury rehab? Sean Monahan will not play again this season and is scheduled for hip surgery next week. The Flames expect Monahan to be a full participant in training camp for next season.

It was a disappointing year for the 26-year-old center, who scored just ten goals in 50 games and registered a career-low 28 points. Monahan had scored at least 22 goals in every season of his career to this point, a pace he wasn’t on even if this season had been a full 82. He actually had 15 points in his first 20 games of the year, but managed just five goals and ten points in the 26 games with Darryl Sutter behind the bench. His ice time in those games was also greatly reduced, totaling fewer than 15 minutes on several occasions down the stretch.

While a hip injury could obviously be a part of those struggles, Sutter wasn’t afraid of calling out his best forwards when they couldn’t find the back of the net. Monahan was moved to the wing for the Flames a few days ago, a surprise that complicates the offseason even further. The team quite obviously needs a refresh if they want to compete for the postseason next year, but Monahan has been entrenched as a center for the last eight years in Calgary. If Sutter, who it should be noted has also pointed out the positives in Monahan’s game several times during his tenure (and even before it), believes that he’s no longer best-suited for the middle of the ice, perhaps they target another center to take his place.

Monahan has two years remaining on his contract and carries a $6.375MM cap hit. His deal also includes a 10-team no-trade list.

Calgary Flames Fire Geoff Ward

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Late last night, after a huge win, the Calgary Flames decided to make a coaching change. Geoff Ward has been relieved of his duties and will be replaced by Darryl Sutter, who joins the Flames for his second stint behind the bench. Sutter worked with the Flames between 2002-2006 and last coached with the Los Angeles Kings in 2017.

The firing of Ward shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, though the timing does seem a bit odd. The Flames scored seven goals against the Ottawa Senators last night to even their record at 11-11-2, but it wasn’t enough to save the coach. Ward was only just given the full-time position in September when the Flames removed the interim tag. He had taken over last season when Bill Peters was forced to resign and led the team to a 24-15-3 record, but things were quite obviously not the same this time around.

Calgary has been a disorganized mess this season, even after spending a substantial amount of money in the offseason. The team brought in Chris Tanev and Jacob Markstrom on long-term deals but still haven’t figured out the right mix. They’ve had up-and-down performances from their best players, including Matthew Tkachuk who went five games in a row last month without even a point. The team has tried to kickstart Sam Bennett’s game by placing him on the top line, only to see him fail and end up in the press box once again.

In Sutter, they’ll certainly be bringing in a lot of experience. The 62-year-old coach sits 17th on the all-time list for wins with 634 (though also 15th in losses with 467) and won two Stanley Cup championships with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014. He also was the Flames coach during their last deep postseason run, when they made it to the Final in 2004.

The team had considered him previously for the opening but obviously felt now a change couldn’t wait. The good thing for Flames fans is that even with their mediocre record, the team is by no means out of the playoff race in the North Division. Calgary sits just two points back of the Montreal Canadiens and four points back of the Edmonton Oilers for the last two playoff spots. If Sutter can squeeze out some wins in the short term, the team will be right back in the fight.

Anaheim Ducks Sign Poturalski, Pietila; Add Sutter To Staff

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The Anaheim Ducks were totally quiet on July 1st, the only team in the league not to formally sign any players. They’ve made up for it this afternoon, confirming one expected signing, announcing another, and adding a legendary coach to their organization. The Ducks announced that they have signed forwards Andrew Poturalski and Blake Pietila to matching one-year, two-way $700K contracts, while also naming Darryl Sutter as an adivsor to the coaching staff.

Poturalski, 25, was named the MVP of the Calder Cup Playoffs this year after recording a league-high 23 points in 18 playoff games en route to a championship for the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers. Poturalski was also one of the top regular season scorers, netting 70 points in 72 games. Yet, the University of New Hampshire product did not see any NHL time with the Carolina Hurricanes this season and was expected to depart in search of better opportunity. Anaheim is a team collecting affordable depth options up front and Poturalski could emerge as a regular player for the team.

Pietila, 26, comes from the opposite situation in New Jersey. The Devils were forced to use Pietila, as well as a number of his AHL teammates, frequently last season, but the former Michigan Tech standout did little with the opportunity. In fact, Pietila has just four points in 38 career NHL games. However, he did set a career high in AHL production this past season, recording 46 points in 50 games with the Binghamton Devils. The Ducks hope he can continue to be a near point-per-game player in the minors with the potential to put up offense in the NHL.

Sutter, 60, needs little introduction. A veteran of close to 1,300 games behind the bench, Sutter is a former rival of Anaheim’s as the two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach of the Los Angeles Kings, not to mention past stops in Calgary, San Jose, and Chicago as well. Working as an adivsor to Dallas Eakins and his staff, Sutter is one of the wisest minds in hockey and will be a major asset for the Ducks.

Darryl Sutter Announces Retirement From Coaching

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He hasn’t been behind the bench for an NHL game in over a year, and now Darryl Sutter has decided he won’t be coming back. The Stanley Cup champion from a legendary hockey family has hung up his clipboard, and exchanged his suit and tie for a more comfortable life on his Alberta farm. According to Eric Francis of Sportsnet, Sutter won’t be considered for the new vacancy in Washington, and has decided to spend his days with his family instead of the grind of an NHL schedule.

Sutter, 59, won two Stanley Cups as the head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, a role he was relieved of last summer when the organization brought in new management. Many have speculated about his return, and his name has been linked to almost every coaching vacancy in the last year. His physical, defensive teams set a model in the Western Conference that has been replicated—to varying degrees of success—by almost the entire league at one point or another, and his hilariously low-key and tight lipped media appearances were always entertaining regardless of how the team was doing on the ice.

It’s important to note that he’s taken several years away from hockey in between jobs before, and with coaching nothing ever seems final. As the years go on there will likely be rumors about him coming out of retirement, but for now the plan seems to be set for Sutter. He’ll end his NHL coaching career with a 634-467-83 record with 101 ties, putting him 14th on the all-time list for coaching wins.

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