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John Hynes

Nashville Predators Extend John Hynes

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May 19: Predators general manager David Poile officially announced a two-year contract extension for Hynes today.

May 18: After reaching the playoffs for the third time in as many years under John Hynes, the Nashville Predators faced some uncertainty at the Head Coach position, with John Hynes on an expiring contract that included a one-year team option. However, those concerns seem to be gone, as The Athletic’s Adam Vingan tweets that he believes the club has agreed to a multi-year extension with Hynes to keep him behind the bench in Nashville. The contract has yet to be officially confirmed, though that may be a topic of discussion when Hynes and General Manager David Poile meet the media on Thursday (link).

In three seasons under Hynes, Nashville has failed to miss the playoffs, but has also failed to win a playoff round. The team lost in the first round this year to the Colorado Avalanche and last year to the Carolina Hurricanes. The team also lost the qualifying round in the bubble in 2020 to the Arizona Coyotes. Despite the success, some had wondered if Hynes would be back with Nashville next season given the team’s failure to have playoff success in that time. Given those concerns, a multi-year extension when the team had the ability to exercise a one-year option, is all the more interesting.

Perhaps one of Hynes’ biggest strengths as a coach can be seen in his stars’ ability to elevate their game under him. There may be no better of an example of that than this year, where Filip Forsberg had a career high 84 points, 20 more than his previous career-high of 64, in just 69 games. A struggling Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen both rebounded this year, with Duchene hitting career-highs in goals, with 43 and points, with 86. Defenseman Roman Josi, already a superstar in his own right, shattered his previous career-high 65 points with 96 this year, a mark that was among the best seasons ever for a defenseman.

Turning back to Hynes’ days as the head coach of the New Jersey Devils, he saw a rebuilding New Jersey Devils team to a playoff berth in 2017-18, which featured a Hart Trophy season from Taylor Hall, who had a career-best 93 points, a mark he has not been able to repeat since. Though he has yet to win a playoff series as a head coach, Hynes has proven that he is capable of getting the most out of his star players. The Predators are also, notably, a franchise that has several high-profile, star players, three of whom (Josi, Duchene, and Johansen) are signed to long-term contracts. Another of those stars, Forsberg, Nashville is in the process of trying to sign long-term.

This story will be updated as more details emerge on the expected extension. Hynes and Poile will address the media for their end-of-season availability Thursday morning.

West Notes: Gaudreau, Hynes, Perunovich

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The Flames are facing an interesting cap crunch for next season.  Matthew Tkachuk is owed a $9MM qualifying offer, Andrew Mangiapane’s 31 goals plus arbitration eligibility has him looking at a sizable raise, and top scorer Johnny Gaudreau is set to become an unrestricted free agent.  Sportsnet’s Rory Boylen tried to peg where Gaudreau’s price tag should be on his next deal, suggesting an $8.5MM AAV could be the right fit for him and Calgary which would represent a $1.75MM jump on his current cap hit.  The 28-year-old is in the middle of a career year that sees him with 101 points in 74 games but with only mild salary cap increases coming over the next couple of seasons, it’s possible that it limits Gaudreau’s leverage if he tries to aim closer to the $10MM mark.

More from the West:

  • Discussions on a new contract for Predators head coach John Hynes won’t begin until the season is over, reports Adam Vingan of The Athletic (subscription link). Nashville has played to an 89-61-8 record since he took over partway through the 2019-20 season so there’s little reason to think a coaching change is on the horizon.  The Preds have a team option for next season which would likely be exercised if the two sides are unable to reach an agreement on a longer-term deal.
  • Blues defenseman Scott Perunovich has resumed skating, relays Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The youngster underwent wrist surgery in early March and is expected to be re-evaluated at the eight-week mark.  We’re still a little more than two weeks away from that point so he’s still a long way from being cleared to return to the lineup for the playoffs.  In 19 games this season, the rookie has six assists while averaging 15:27 of ice time per contest.

Snapshots: Nemeth, Fines, Boeser

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The New York Rangers have moved Patrik Nemeth to injured reserve, and Mollie Walker of the New York Post reports that it is believed to be due to lingering effects from COVID-19. Nemeth has not played since January 22, missing six games during his current absence. He dealt with a symptomatic bout of COVID in December.

The 30-year-old defenseman signed a three-year, $7.5MM contract last July and has suited up 38 times for the Rangers this season. Always known as a stay-at-home option, he has just two points during that time and is averaging just over 17 minutes a night. It is not clear when he will be ready to return to action and the team has not confirmed Walker’s report.

  • The NHL has handed out a pair of fines today, one to a player and one to a coach. Nashville Predators head coach John Hynes was fined $25K for “inappropriate conduct” following Tuesday’s game against the Washington Capitals. The league did not release any specifics about the incident, though there have been other fines handed out to coaches including Rod Brind’Amour of the Carolina Hurricanes and Rick Bowness of the Dallas Stars. While Hynes is out $25K, Calgary Flames forward Adam Ruzicka will have to pay $2,004.17 for his elbow on Kevin Shattenkirk last night. That is the maximum allowable by the current CBA based on Ruzicka’s salary.
  • Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff has added Brock Boeser to his board of trade targets, even wondering if the New Jersey Devils could be a fit for the Vancouver Canucks sniper. Notably, Boeser is due a $7.5MM qualifying offer this summer as a restricted free agent, a salary that outpaces his production from this season. Still, since Bruce Boudreau took over in Vancouver there has been a noticeable improvement from the sniper, including four goals and eight points in his last seven games.

Predators, Red Wings Announce COVID Protocol Absences

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The sweeping outbreaks of COVID-19 continue, this time with the Nashville Predators and Detroit Red Wings. The Predators have announced that six players and six staff members have been placed in the COVID protocol. Mikael Granlund, Ryan Johansen, Matt Luff, Michael McCarron, Philip Tomasino, and Ben Harpur are now unavailable for the team, along with head coach John Hynes, assistants Dan Lambert and Todd Richards, and goaltending coach Ben Vanderklok.

For now, Nashville is still scheduled to take on the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow night. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff tweets that the team is preparing to make the necessary recalls from the AHL (including coaches) to play.

Not to be outdone, the Red Wings have announced that Robby Fabbri and Michael Rasmussen have entered the protocol. Both players were in the lineup last night against the New York Islanders.

The Red Wings are scheduled to take on the Carolina Hurricanes tomorrow, a game that was in doubt after yesterday’s postponement. That doubt has been cleared up, at least for now, as the Hurricanes did not have any further positive tests today. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that the plan is for Carolina to play short two skaters, given how tight they are to the cap ceiling.

The NHL appears ready to push through these outbreaks as best they can, hoping to not disrupt the schedule for the entire league.

USA Hockey Announces Olympic Coaching Staff

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Now that the NHL has officially agreed to go to the 2022 Winter Olympics, work can start on selecting the rosters. Just a few hours after news broke about NHL participation, USA Hockey has introduced the full coaching staff that will travel to Beijing. It had already been announced that Mike Sullivan of the Pittsburgh Penguins will serve as head coach; he will be joined by John Hynes, David Quinn, Todd Reirden, and Ryan Miller.

The U.S. Olympic team general manager Stan Bowman released a statement on the staff:

We’ve got a great coaching staff in place. It’s a group that knows what it takes to be successful, and through their unique and varied backgrounds will help put our team in the best position to win the gold medal.

Hynes, who is also the head coach of the Nashville Predators, will serve as an assistant and was an obvious addition. He has a long track record with the program, including being part of gold medal-winning efforts at the U18 and U20 World Juniors. Hynes was the head coach of the 2016 World Championship squad, an assistant at the 2016 World Cup, and an assistant at the 2019 World Championship. He also spent several seasons as the head coach of the National Team Development Program.

Many of the same things could be said about Quinn, who will also serve as an assistant on Sullivan’s staff. He has been an assistant several times at the World Championship and was in the NTDP at the same time as Hynes. Quinn was previously head coach of the New York Rangers for three seasons and was an extremely successful college coach.

Reirden will bring a certain level of familiarity for Sullivan, given as he serves as an assistant with the Penguins already. He actually has not made an appearance coaching internationally in the past, which makes this appointment somewhat surprising. Not many coaches get a chance to step right into the Olympics, but that’s what Reirden, a Stanley Cup-winning assistant with the Washington Capitals, will do next spring.

Even more impressive is Miller, who not only is going to the Olympics as an assistant coach for the first time, but it is his first experience as a coach at any level. The veteran goaltender only announced his retirement earlier this year after a long, successful career that included two Olympic performances as a player. He won the silver medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and was named the most valuable player of the tournament.

Ryan Johansen Heading To Injured Reserve

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The Nashville Predators were without Ryan Johansen when they took on the Florida Panthers Friday, but at the time he was listed as just day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Now it appears that his absence will stretch out a bit, as head coach John Hynes told reporters including Adam Vingan of The Athletic today. Johansen will be out “week-to-week” and is going onto injured reserve for the Predators.

A pessimistic Predators fan might tell you that they’ve been without Johansen all season, as the 28-year-old center certainly hasn’t been playing up to his full capabilities. He has four assists in ten games, all of them on the powerplay, and has yet to find the back of the net himself. In fact, Johansen has only generated 16 shots on goal during those ten games, despite averaging more than 18 minutes a night before his game on Friday was cut short.

While it has been a long time since he was a real goal-scoring threat—Johansen scored a career-high 33 times in 2013-14, but has averaged just 14 per season over the last five years—his lack of even-strength offense this season has been a huge reason why the Predators now sit at 5-6 on the season, ahead of only the Detroit Red Wings in the Central Divison.

Losing him for weeks though certainly won’t turn his season around. Johansen’s role will now have to be filled internally, and though the Predators have some interesting candidates to receive increase ice time, their depth will be tested without one of their highest-paid players in the lineup.

COVID Notes: Kapanen, Granlund, Gulls-Reign

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Pittsburgh Penguins off-season re-acquisition Kasperi Kapanen has not yet been on the ice with his teammates, but his return is imminent. Kapanen was removed from the NHL’s COVID Protocol on Friday but was still held out of practice on Saturday. However, Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports that Kapanen took his fourth COVID test today and a fourth negative result will make it his final test. He will be able to re-join the team immediately, with head coach Mike Sullivan stating that they will have him in uniform as quickly as they can once that test result is received. Kapanen, 24, recorded 80 points combined over the past two seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and is expected to skate with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel on the Penguins’ top line.

  • Mikael Granlund remains on the NHL’s COVID Protocol list for the Nashville Predators, but progress is being made toward getting him on the ice. Granlund’s return to Nashville was initially delayed due to immigration issues that caused him to miss all of training camp. According to The Athletic’s Adam Vingan, he has now arrived in Nashville and has begun the mandated quarantine following commercial travel. At no point has Granlund tested positive for Coronavirus and he should be eligible to return to the lineup as soon as his quarantine ends. Head coach John Hynes has stated that he expects Granlund to return to a top-six role for the Predators after he recorded 30 points in 63 games last season, more than half of which came after Hynes took over.
  • The San Diego Gulls and Ontario Reign, AHL affiliates of the Anaheim Ducks and L.A. Kings respectively, had intended to begin their preseason tonight with an exhibition game in Irvine, California. However, that game has been canceled due to precautions related to Coronavirus and in adherence with local health protocols. The two teams are scheduled to play on Sunday as well, but no determination has been made on that game yet.

Nashville Predators Hire Todd Richards

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The Nashville Predators have hired another assistant coach, adding Todd Richards to John Hynes’ staff. Richards joins Dan Lambert and Dan Hinote as the other assistants in Nashville. Predators GM David Poile released a statement on the hire:

We are extremely pleased to be able to bring in Todd and his expansive coaching background to our staff. He not only has an experienced resume, but a winning one as well, and further added to it this past season by winning the Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay. He began his rise through the professional ranks in our organization with the Milwaukee Admirals, and we are happy to have him back with us to complete John Hynes’s coaching staff.

Richards comes to Nashville just a few weeks after raising the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning, an organization he had been with for the last four seasons. Prior to that, he had served as head coach in both Columbus and Minnesota, where he reached the playoffs only once.

Even though his time running an NHL bench didn’t result in much postseason success, Richards did register a 204-183-37 record in parts of seven seasons as a head coach. He also took the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins deep in the playoffs twice, reaching the Calder Cup Final in 2008.

As a player, Richards spent almost his entire career in the minor leagues, suiting up just 19 times for the Hartford Whalers.

Nashville Predators Officially Name Dan Hinote As Assistant Coach

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As anticipated, the Nashville Predators have made the official announcement that former NHL forward Dan Hinote has joined the team as an assistant coach. Hinote has spent the past two season as an assistant with the U.S. National Team Development Program and ironically is set to replace Dan Muse on head coach John Hynes’ staff after Muse was named a head coach for the USNTDP. Hinote rounds out a staff that also includes Dan Lambert and Rob Scuderi. Hynes said of his new addition:

Hinote’s character, personality, as well as playing and coaching experience will be a great fit for our team and players. As a player, Dan brought energy and leadership to his teams, winning a Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2001, and his experience as a coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets and USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program will be of great value to our organization.

GM David Poile, who has always had a soft spot for the USNTDP, added his own support for Hinote’s hire, stating:

In this assistant coach position, we were looking for a former player who was fairly recently retired but still had coaching experience, and Dan fit that description perfectly. He builds strong connections with players – including Ryan Johansen in his time in Columbus – and has played with Predators alumni and Hall of Famers Paul Kariya and Peter Forsberg in Colorado, as well as Predators Director of Player Development Scott Nichol, Preds broadcaster Chris Mason and Kariya again in St. Louis. Dan complements John and the rest of our current staff nicely, and I trust he will be a tremendous asset to the team.

As mentioned, prior to his time with the USNTDP Hinote spent eight seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets, splitting his time between working as an assistant coach and a pro scout for the organization. Hinote joined Columbus immediately after retiring in 2010. While he spent his final playing season in Sweden, Hinote spent nine seasons in the NHL as a hard-working and intelligent two-way forward. He hopes to bring those same hallmarks to his position with the Predators and impart them on the players.

 

Nashville Goalies Prepare To Face Off

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The Nashville Predators are mentally preparing to take on the Arizona Coyotes in their Stanley Cup Qualilfier whenever play resumes, a matchup that would presumably paint the Preds (.565 winning percentage) as favorites over the Coyotes (.529 winning percentage). Before that matchup, however, the Predators have to decide on a lead netminder for the five-game series. Both rostered goaltenders will get an equal shake at nabbing the top spot, per NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale. One of Pekka Rinne or Juuse Saros will start the series against the Coyotes in the net, but it’s going to depend on who is the most ready.

Based on resume alone, Rinne would be the easy choice. He’s anchored the Predators defense since 2008-2009, won the Vezina Trophy just two seasons ago, and the 37-year-old is 21st all-time with 2.42 Goals Against Average.

But in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately department, Saros might have the edge. The 24-year-old started a career-high 34 games this season while registering a .914 save percentage. By contrast, Rinne got the starting nod in 35 games but managed just a .895 save percentage. There are a couple of teams facing this brand of a changing of the guard in goal – the Golden Knights and Capitals, for example – and the decision is a peculiar one for these clubs.

Rinne has the track record, without a doubt, and Saros could very well be the goaltender of the future, but the task at hand for the Predators is deciding who will be more ready for playoff action under these peculiar circumstances. It might be that the younger Saros will be able to get his body up to speed faster. Or it could be that the veteran Rinne is more capable of handling the mental challenge of maintaining focus amid a global pandemic. It’ll be up to the Predators’ brain trust to decide.

Morreale provides this quote from Nashville coach John Hynes: “It’s a different thing for players now; they’ve got to leave their families, go to a hub city. Families aren’t going to be part of it. You’re not coming home after games, so this is all about the team, it’s all about the Nashville Predators and playing for the guy next to you. It’s also playing for their families and how do we incorporate this to commit to the level you need to commit to win in the playoffs.”

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