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Latest On Columbus Blue Jackets Coaching Search

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After firing head coach Brad Larsen last month, the Columbus Blue Jackets have embarked on an intensive search for a new head coach and goaltending coach, also needing to replace Manny Legace, whose contract was not renewed by the team. Things seem to be heating up in said search, as general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said today the interview process will continue throughout the week, with no immediate assumption of finalizing hires before Kekalainen’s departure for the IIHF Men’s World Championship on Sunday. His quote comes after reporting last weekend indicated Kekalainen wanted to have the hire finalized before then.

The Blue Jackets have a meticulous approach in mind, though, and Kekalainen told reporters today the hiring decisions might be delayed until after his return following the conclusion of the medal round on May 28. Yesterday, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun disclosed reporting on who those hires might be.

Per LeBrun, at least three individuals have already been interviewed for the vacant coaching positions, including current associate coach Pascal Vincent, whom Kekalainen said the team was considering last week. The others are the experienced but extremely controversial Mike Babcock, who has previously coached the Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Peter Laviolette, whose resume spanning five different clubs needs no introduction, including his most recent stint with the Washington Capitals, has also been interviewed, said LeBrun.

After an internal hire that didn’t pan out as they hoped with Larsen, it makes sense the Blue Jackets are swinging toward the opposite end of the spectrum in this round of coaching searches while still doing their due diligence on people familiar with the organization.

If Babcock is hired, the choice would immediately receive a fair amount of scrutiny from fans and media alike. Since he was fired by the Maple Leafs in late 2019, multiple revelations surrounding current and former NHL players alike have come forward about Babcock creating toxic playing environments, including Red Wings legends Chris Chelios and Johan Franzén and current Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner.

Laviolette, on the other hand, maintains a solid reputation league-wide after decades’ worth of service and also boasts multiple Stanley Cup Final appearances on his résumé (2006, 2010, 2017).

Mike Babcock Retiring From Coaching

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A day after the news broke that Mike Babcock had resigned as the Head Coach of the University of Saskatchewan’s men’s hockey team, Babcock himself is providing some more clarity as to why he made that decision. In an interview today on 650 CKOM radio in Saskatchewan, Babcock discussed his decision and his future plans. When asked if he would seek an NHL opportunity if a team approached, Babcock said “[n]o, that’s sure not the plan.”

The former NHL bench boss elaborated, saying he had discussed his plans with his wife, noting that they had decided to retire when they both turned 60, and with Mike at age 59, “[b]asically, that’s what it is.” While Babcock reiterated that future opportunities for him are not in his family plans, he didn’t close the door with absolute certainty, adding “[i]f things change, I guess they change, but surely that’s not the plan.” Babcock’s tenure with Saskatchewan was brief, albeit successful, coaching the Huskies to a playoff berth. A Saskatchewan native, Babcock said the opportunity to be close to home and family was “a spectacular experience.”

Considered one of the premier head coaches of his generation, Babcock amassed a record of 700-418-19-164 over 1,301 career regular season NHL games between the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, the Detroit Red Wings, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Perhaps most impressive, all but three of Babcock’s teams made it to the playoffs under his watch, leading to a 90-74 record in those playoffs, including three appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals and a championship with the 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings. Babcock last coached in the NHL during the 2019-20 season before he was let go by the Maple Leafs after a 9-10-4 start to the season. As recently as the 2020 offseason, he had been a candidate of interest for available NHL head coaching positions. If this is indeed the end of the road for Babcock, Hall of Fame debates are very likely part of his near future.

Snapshots: Wild, Babcock, Trouba

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Questions are sure to arise this offseason in the State of Hockey. The Minnesota Wild, although they forced the series to six games, were dealt with pretty handily in the final days of their season by the St. Louis Blues, capped off by a 5-1 rout in Game 6.

Now, with the full effect of the controversial Zach Parise/Ryan Suter buyouts kicking in next season, many wonder how the Wild will be able to manage their cap space moving forward. NBC Sports’ James O’Brien looks at a few routes the Wild could go down to manage their salary cap situation next season. The buyouts take up a combined $12.74MM next season, and although the team’s cap situation is fuzzy due to the amount of playoff Black Aces still on the active roster, they’ll surely have less than $10MM to work with this offseason. That includes signing Kevin Fiala, who’s a restricted free agent with arbitration rights (again), to a new deal, and finding a goalie to replace (or to-resign) Marc-Andre Fleury. While Fiala could be dealt, especially after an underwhelming playoff performance, they could also look to clear out some depth names. O’Brien names Dmitry Kulikov, who carries a $2.25MM cap hit next season, as another trade piece, although he does have an eight-team no-trade list (somehow).

  • While there hasn’t been any official link, and there likely won’t be knowing the tight-lipped Lou Lamoriello, The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz names former NHL bench boss Mike Babcock as a potential fit for the New York Islanders’ coaching vacancy. Kurz references Lamoriello’s history with Babcock in Toronto, and Lamoriello’s history of opting for tougher, more aggressive voices in the room as a solution to unsatisfactory team performance. Since then, he’s served as a senior adviser at the University of Vermont and the head coach of the University of Saskatchewan.
  • After Jacob Trouba’s controversial hit that gave Sidney Crosby a reported concussion, The Athletic’s Eric Duhatscheck looked at whether the NHL could examine a potential rule change to penalize similar hits in the future. Duhatschek notes that penalizing all hits to the head is extremely unlikely, as evidenced by current NHL leadership’s hesitation against cracking down on body contact. While illegal head contact exists in the NHL, by its definition, the league viewed Trouba’s hit as legal.

Mike Babcock Named University Of Saskatchewan’s Head Coach

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It appears as if Mike Babcock has found his next head coaching job but it won’t be in the NHL or the professional ranks at all, for that matter.  Instead, the veteran bench boss has been named the head coach of the University of Saskatchewan in Canada’s college ranks, per a release from the school.  He received a two-year deal on a volunteer basis.

Babcock has been looking for a new coaching opportunity since being fired by Toronto midway through last season with Sheldon Keefe taking over and had been doing some television work for NBC this season.  Now, it’s a return back to his roots as Babcock is from Saskatoon, played for the school back in 1981-82, and received an honorary degree from them back in 2016.

The 57-year-old is one of only eight head coaches in NHL history to record 700 career wins and has spent parts of 17 seasons behind the bench.  He’s also quite decorated internationally and is the only member of the ’Triple Gold’ club among coaches (Olympics, World Championships, and a Stanley Cup).  However, he didn’t receive any serious consideration for the vacancies that existed over the offseason.  He’s still receiving his full $5.875MM salary from Toronto until his contract with them runs out following the 2022-23 season (the same time this contract ends) and now will be able to work closer to home for the time being although Babcock will have to wait for next season to start as the U SPORTS season was cancelled back in October.

TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report the hiring.

Snapshots: Hurricanes, Babcock, Avalanche

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Not only have the Carolina Hurricanes had three forwards test positive for COVID-19 today, but Sara Civian of The Athletic also confirms that the reason Jordan Staal was placed on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list was because of a positive test result last week. Staal, who played the Red Wings the night before his positive result, has missed the last two games and is still in Detroit according to Civian. The three new players are likely to isolate in Nashville, while the rest of the team—those who have tested negative—fly back to Raleigh.

Though the Dallas Stars have still not begun their season thanks to an outbreak in training camp, this is the first incident of games being postponed day-of. It almost certainly won’t be the last.

  • Mike Babcock has broken his media silence, as he prepares to work with the NBC broadcast team this weekend. In an exclusive interview with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Babcock talks about the much-publicized incidents with Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner and Detroit Red Wings forward Johan Franzen. The veteran coach also explains that it is very unlikely that he would be back in the NHL this season and notes that it is “someone else’s turn” behind the bench for Canada at the Olympics, scheduled for next year in Beijing.
  • If you noticed some late-night roster movement by the Colorado Avalanche and wondered why they would need a goalie on an emergency recall, it was answered today when the team announced that Pavel Francouz is out with a lower-body injury. He’s joined on the sideline by Andre Burakovsky who is dealing with an upper-body ailment, with both players listed as day-to-day. The Avalanche will go with seven defensemen tonight and Hunter Miska will serve as the backup to Philipp Grubauer in net.

Washington Capitals Interview Mike Babcock, Gerard Gallant

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Reports surfaced a week ago that the Washington Capitals received permission to interview veteran coach Peter Laviolette for their open head coaching position. However with three big-name coaches available, many felt GM Brian MacLellan would also interview the other two, to fill the vacancy left after the team fired Todd Reirden.

Last night during Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Washington has already interviewed former Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock:

“Last week the reports got out that the Washington Capitals had permission to interview Peter Laviolette for their vacant head coaching job, this week it’s believed that they interviewed Toronto’s former head coach Mike Babcock,” Friedman said. “And he is a legitimate candidate for the position.”

Babcock certainly would provide the Capitals with a ton of experience. The 57-year-old coached the Anaheim Ducks for two seasons before taking on the Detroit Red Wings for 12 years, which included winning the Stanley Cup in 2008. He spent four and a half years with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but failed to lead the team through a round of the playoffs. Throw in a sluggish start to the 2019-20 season and he was fired in November. He has a combined 351-173-133 regular season record.

However, it doesn’t end there as Friedman also noted later on in the segment that the Capitals have also interviewed former Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights’ head coach Gerard Gallant. The veteran coach coached each team for two full seasons each before getting fired in the middle of his third season with each team. However, he did win the Jack Adams award in 2018 in Vegas’ inaugural season when he took the expansion team to the Stanley Cup Finals. He was also the runner-up for the Jack Adams with Florida in 2016.

The Capitals are in a good position with so many veteran coaches available. The team, who has a history of hiring inexperienced coaches, has made it clear they are willing to bring in a coach with plenty of experience as the window for the team is starting to close. Star forward Alex Ovechkin will be turning 35 years old in 11 days and likely only has two to three years remaining at his peak and with little youth in the system, Washington will need a coach that can light a fire under them in the next few years.

Snapshots: Hurricanes, Dvorak, Vermont

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With the Carolina Hurricanes exiting the postseason this afternoon following a Game Five loss to the Boston Bruins, the conditions surrounding their acquisition of defenseman Sami Vatanen have been finalized. Initially, the ’Canes had traded for Vatanen from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Janne Kuokkanen, Fredrik Claesson, and a conditional draft pick with the following conditions: the Devils would get a 2020 fourth-round pick if Vatanen appeared in at least five regular season games and a 2020 third round pick if Vatanen played in 12 regular season games or 70% of the team’s playoff games; if Vatanen did not appear in at least five regular season games for Carolina, then the Devils would get no pick at all. However, these conditions had to be altered due to Vatanen being unable to suit up for a regular season game with Carolina prior to the league’s pause. These new conditions locked in a fourth-round return for New Jersey as long as Vatanen played in at least two games of the Hurricanes’ qualifying round series with the New York Rangers, which he did. In order for the pick to bump up to a 2020 third-rounder, Vatanen had to play in 70% of the Hurricanes’ remaining playoff games. Four of five games against the Bruins met that benchmark, meaning Carolina will send their own 2020 third-round pick to the Devils, as outlined by CapFriendly. While Vatanen’s three points in a three-game sweep of the Rangers was a nice ’Canes debut for the defender, his zero points and -3 rating against the Bruins makes the increased cost of his acquisition somewhat of a bitter pill.

  • As always, news of injuries emerges as series are completed. A quick note following tonight’s dismissal of the Arizona Coyotes comes directly from head coach Rick Tocchet. ’Yotes beat writer Craig Morgan relays that center Christian Dvorak played the entirety of the team’s first-round series against the Colorado Avalanche and the latter half of their qualifying round series versus the Nashville Predators with a separated shoulder. Dvorak was a non-factor in the first round, being held off the score sheet entirely and limited to 14 minutes of ice time or less in four of five games. This injury undoubtedly contributed to Dvorak’s struggles against the Avalanche, but his efforts would not have made much of a difference in somewhat of a one-sided series.
  • Is the impact of Mike Babcock joining the staff at the University of Vermont already showing? Jeff Cox of The New England Hockey Journal reports that Jordan Kaplan, one of the top scorers at Sacred Heart this past season, will transfer to Vermont. Kaplan’s 24 points this year would have been considerably better than anyone on the Catamounts and will be a major boost to a struggling program. Additionally, the program announced their recruiting class and it includes another transfer in Miami’s Noah Jordan as well as 2020 NHL Draft prospect Raimonds Vitolins, a Latvian standout who could hear his name called in November. If he is drafted, Vitolins would be just the second player on the current Catamounts roster to have been drafted, joining Minnesota Wild pick Bryce Misley, who is entering his senior season with little to show for the past three years.

Mike Babcock Joins UVM As Volunteer Advisor

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The highest-paid coach in the NHL will be back on a staff next season, but not at the professional level. Mike Babcock has taken a volunteer position as an “advisor” with the University of Vermont’s coaching staff. Babcock joins head coach Todd Woodcroft and assistants Jeff Hill and former NHL defenseman Mark Stuart.

Babcock will not be paid by Vermont, but still receives his salary from the Toronto Maple Leafs after he was fired as head coach earlier this season. The veteran coach is still under contract through the 2022-23 season, though a new position in the NHL could take over part of that deal or buy it out completely.

For now, he’ll be helping shepherd the young men coming through the college level. Babcock does have experience with student-athletes from his days as head coach of the University of Lethbridge in 1993-94.

The Vermont release terms Babcock’s role as “a resource for the coaching staff, lending his experience and perspective as one of the top hockey minds in the world.” He has previous experience with Woodcroft form their time together with Team Canada in 2004, when they won a gold medal as part of the coaching staff at the IIHF World Championship. At that tournament, however, Babcock was the head coach and Woodcroft just a video coach–things will be different this time around.

New Jersey Devils Trim Head Coach Search To Four

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The New Jersey Devils got off to another disappointingly slow start in 2019-20. After missing the playoffs in three of their first four seasons under head coach John Hynes, the team decided not to continue a fifth campaign with their bench boss. Hynes was fired on December 3rd with the Devils 9-13-4 on the season, a points percentage of .423. Assistant Alaine Nasreddine took over as head coach and the team did improve over the rest of the season, finishing with a .493 points percentage and just one win shy of a .500 record. However, the question is whether that improvement of .07 percentage points is enough for Nasreddine to keep his job. Or will the Devils focus more on their last-place finish in the Metropolitan Division and look elsewhere for a new head coach?

According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, Nasreddine is at least still in the mix for the position. Although New Jersey is facing down a very long off-season as one of the seven teams not to qualify for the expanded postseason (ironically Hynes’ Nashville Predators qualified), they are moving quickly in their coaching search. LeBrun reports that the Devils have spoken with eight to ten candidates for the position, but have whittled it down to just four finalists, one of which is Nasreddine. Who the remaining three names might be is unknown, but Gerard Gallant was one of the first to interview and has to be considered a front-runner given his recent success with the Vegas Golden Knights. Other big names available on the coaching market include Peter Laviolette, Mike Babcock, Bruce Boudreau, John Stevens, and Mike Yeo.

Potentially complicating the hiring process could be the status of the GM position. Tom Fitzgerald, like Nasreddine, is another assistant who was promoted but handed an interim tag this season. He has done an admirable job thus far, but his status remains in limbo. The team has reported talked to some outside candidates, including former Canucks GM Mike Gillis, and may be waiting to make a call on head coach until they know who is leading the organization as GM. However, they have plenty of time ahead of them to make these decisions, even though they appear to be making progress on their hunt for a head coach.

Toronto Marlies Hire Greg Moore As Head Coach

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Since the promotion of former head coach Sheldon Keefe to the same position with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the AHL affiliate Toronto Marlies have been searching for his replacement. The team has decided to go outside of the organization to tab their next bench boss, a rare move in-season, and have announced that Greg Moore has been named head coach. Moore was hired away from the USHL’s Chicago Steel midway through his second season with the team.

Moore, 35, is very familiar with developmental hockey. A young head coach, Moore was himself an NHL prospect not long ago. The Maine native played for the U.S. National Team Development Program in the early 2000’s and then played his college hockey at home at the University of Maine. He was drafted by the Calgary Flames after his freshman year, but his rights were traded to the New York Rangers before he turned pro. Moore made his NHL debut with the Rangers in 2007-08 overall made ten NHL appearances with the Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets over five pro season in North America. He also played a leadership role with nearly every AHL club he played for. Moore moved to Germany in 2011 and extended his playing career another four years before calling it quits in 2015. He immediately jumped into the coaching ranks, becoming an intern assistant coach with the USNTDP. After two seasons as an intern, he became full-time in 2017-18 only to be named head coach for USHL rival Chicago a year later.

Moore is well-regarded among young NHL coaching prospects. His Steel team went all the way to the Clark Cup in his first season and recorded a 52-25-5 record overall in 82 games with Moore behind the bench. His name had already been in the mix for possible NCAA openings this off-season, but he gets an even better deal with an AHL promotion mid-season. The Leafs organization has seemingly had an eye on Moore for some time, as they invited him to be a guest coach at development camp this summer and worked quickly to hire him just ten days after the firing of Mike Babcock and promotion of Keefe. Moore will be in the spotlight with the Marlies, but has a bright future ahead of him following this major career move.

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