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Bob Hartley Hired By KHL’s Avangard Omsk

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Veteran coach Bob Hartley is headed back to the professional ranks. European hockey insider Igor Eronko reports that Hartley has been hired by Avangard Omsk of the KHL. This marks his first pro head coaching job since he was fired by the Calgary Flames back in 2016.

Hartley has had a highly successful coaching career and brings an immense amount of pedigree to Omsk. After working his way up through the QMJHL and AHL, Hartley was given his first NHL head coaching gig by the Colorado Avalanche in 1998. In his first four seasons with the Avs, Hartley guided the team to four straight conference finals and a Stanley Cup championship in 2001. When Hartley was fired mid-season by Colorado in 2002-03, he was hired almost immediately by the Atlanta Thrashers, where he coached for parts of six seasons. Hartley was out of the NHL for just one season – during which he won the NLA championship with the ZSC Lions – before he returned as the head coach of the Calgary Flames in 2012. Hartley won the 2015 Jack Adams Award as the best coach in the league for his work reinvigorating the Flames. Altogether, Hartley has a .568 winning percentage in the NHL and has reached the postseason six times.

For the past two years, Hartley has been working for the Latvian national team. He was the head coach for each of their past two World Championship entries and also consulted on their junior program. In this most recent World Championships, Latvia surprised many with a 3-1-1-2 record and seventh-place finish. Hartley’s coaching was back in the eye of the mainstream media and it is no surprise that he has landed a new job as a result. With Avangard, Hartley will take over a roster that has some good pieces, including a very solid defense, but is quite far from being a true contender. If he is able to turn the team around and improve on a twelfth-place finish last year without any further additions to the roster, it will be yet another impressive addition to his coaching resume. Don’t be surprised to see Hartley back in the conversation for an NHL job in the near future if he finds success during his KHL tenure.

Pacific Notes: Boeser, Viveiros, Cammalleri, Carrier

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While most people have been under the impression that rookie sensation Brock Boeser would be ready for the start of the 2018-19 season, general manager Jim Benning confirmed that, according to an NHL.com report.

Boeser suffered a back injury back on March 5 when he hit his back on an open bench door and broke a transverse process, a spur that projects off the side off each vertebrae. The injury, which Boeser once referred to as “career threatening,” ended a dominant rookie season to that point. In 62 games, he tallied 29 goals and 55 points. On top of all of that, he also was dealing with a wrist injury he suffered in February, which required platelet-rich plasma injections and four weeks of immobilization.

“My understanding is he’ll be 100 percent for training camp,” Benning said. “My understanding is the cast was taken off a week ago. I haven’t talked to Brock about it, but I believe the cast had to be on a month. The doctor that he went back to see in Minnesota is the Vikings’ hand specialist and that’s the doctor that did Brock’s surgery two years ago. We were able to get an appointment for him and we wanted to get him in there and have the doctor have a look at him. The worst-case scenario was that he would require another surgery, but he didn’t need to do that.”

  • Edmonton Journal’s David Staples writes that the Edmonton Oilers’ hiring of WHL Swift Current head coach Emaneul Viveiros is an underrated hire after the team announced their new assistant coaches Friday. What impresses the scribe the most is the way Viveiros’ Broncos, which captured the WHL title this season, had the league’s best power-play unit with a 29.4 percent success rate. If he can bring that ability to an Oilers team that struggled immensely in the last year in special teams play, Edmonton could be on their way to a rebound season. Staples himself adds that he believes the team was misusing both Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the power play as they were usually placed in the right face-off circle, a position that didn’t benefit either player.
  • Sticking with the Oilers, the Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins analyzes the value of bringing back forward Mike Cammalleri for next season. The soon-to-be 36-year-old veteran joined the Oilers in a November trade with the Los Angeles Kings and will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1. While his numbers on offense (seven goals and 22 assists in 66 games last year) don’t stand out, they are actually quite solid for bottom-tier forward. His experience and IQ on the ice could prove valuable to a team with a lot of young players. His suspect defense doesn’t help his cause, but his solid face-off skills even out some of that. The scribe concludes that if the Oilers consider bringing him back, it should only be for the league minimum.
  • While a report yesterday stated that Vegas Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said that he expects forward William Carrier to be available for the Stanley Cup Finals, it looks doubtful that he’ll be available for Game 1 on Monday, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. Carrier was wearing a red no-contact sweater in practice today, suggesting he’s likely not ready yet to rejoin the team. He missed the entire Western Conference Finals against the Winnipeg Jets with an undisclosed injury.

 

Snapshots: Canadiens’ Center Search, Huska, Carrier

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With the Montreal Canadiens looking to fill their holes at the center position this offseason and little immediate value at that position with their No. 3 pick in the 2018 draft, Montreal could find themselves looking long and hard to find a quality center to fit into their lineup this offseason. Assuming they don’t get star John Tavares to bite on July 1, the team might have no choice but to make a deal for a center to fill their need.

The Athletic’s Arpon Basu (subscription required) writes that there are two legitimate possibilities for the Canadiens on the trade market, including Ryan O’Reilly of the Buffalo Sabres and Elias Lindholm of the Carolina Hurricanes. The scribe writes that after recent end-0f-the-season comments he made about being more accepting of losing, O’Reilly is trying to force his way out of Buffalo and might be a perfect fit in Montreal. While he would likely make a better No. 2 center, O’Reilly is very talented and the team might be able to package together a combination of picks and young forwards to take on O’Reilly’s contract of $7.5MM over the next five years. The 27-year-old still put up some of the best numbers in his career this year with 24 goals and 61 points.

With the Carolina Hurricanes open for business, Lindholm might be a player the Canadiens take a chance on. The restricted free agent has had a promising start to his career, but also an inconsistent one, but likely would get a big payday after a 16-goal, 44-point season. If Carolina would like to avoid handing Lindholm a big contract, Montreal might be able to step in and give them an alternative as a combination of Lindholm and Jonathan Drouin would give them a solid young core up the middle for years.

  • Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun writes that the Calgary Flames are on the verge of announcing their assistant coaches that will aid new head coach Bill Peters this season after the team let assistants Paul Jerrard and Dave Cameron go when they fired Glen Gulutzan on April 17. While he didn’t have any specifics other than the announcement will come some time next week, Francis did speculate that the team might be leaning towards promoting Stockton Heat head coach Ryan Huska.
  • The Vegas Golden Knights are likely to get one of their players back from injury for the Stanley Cup Finals as William Carrier practiced today in a non-contact jersey, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. In fact, Schoen writes that head coach Gerard Gallant announced that he expects Carrier to be available for the Stanley Cup Finals. Carrier didn’t play in the Western Conference Finals due to an undisclosed injury has been a key member of the team’s fourth line.

Capitals’ Barry Trotz Likely To Cash In On Big Pay Day

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Washington Capitals head coach Barry Trotz might be the ultimate free agent. With many thinking early on that the Capitals planned to move on from their long-time coach after this season, Trotz instead has bet on himself and taken the Capitals for a long playoff ride, taking a once dejected and weakened Washington team this season and leading them to a surprising Stanley Cup Finals berth.

And despite the fact that Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said Friday that Trotz’ contract extension will not be addressed until the end of the season, Trotz looks to be in a great position to get a big raise from the $1.5MM that the 55-year-old coach is making this season, according to The Washington Times’ Matthew Paras.

The team had a two-year window which ended last season after two straight playoff losses to the rival Pittsburgh Penguins. With the window closed, the team lost multiple players in the offseason as defensemen Kevin Shattenkirk and Karl Alzner along with winger Justin Williams all walked in free agency. The team even traded winger Marcus Johansson to the New Jersey Devils to free up cap room and then lost defenseman Nate Schmidt to the Vegas Golden Knights. Yet, the Capitals have made an unlikely Stanley Cup run and now have a chance to win the title under Trotz’ direction.

“He’s probably going to benefit from this too,” MacLellan said. “It’s not all not good for him. I think he’s done a good job managing it. To come in this year with so many questions — not from my point of view, the lineup questions were that big a deal — but just the emotional state of our team coming in to start the year and how to handle that, I think he’s done an outstanding job.”

Trotz admits that he’s made changes, including being more loose and relaxed during the playoffs and has made some key strategic moves that seems to have motivated the team, including the key decision to turn the goaltending reigns back to Braden Holtby in the playoffs after initially taking his starting job away. Another key decision was when the coach scratched a struggling Andre Burakovsky and then re-inserting him into the lineup where he notched two goals in Game 7 against Tampa Bay.

Trotz said he isn’t worried about his contract status and didn’t have much to say when asked what he would do if he wasn’t brought back.

“I’ll move on. So be it,” Trotz said.

 

Trade Speculation Surrounds Phil Kessel, Pittsburgh Penguins

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Every year when a team is eliminated early in the playoffs, speculation starts to pop up about any underperforming stars. Will they return next season? Is the time now to move on? What could they fetch in return? This time around, it’s a two-time Stanley Cup Champion coming off a 92-point season that is the target of much trade speculation. Recently, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Ron Cook penned a piece suggesting that a divide had been formed between Phil Kessel and Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan, one that “torpedoed” the team’s chances at a third consecutive Stanley Cup. Today, Tim Benz of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review pointed us in the direction of radio host Mark Madden of 105.9, who suggests that the Penguins are trying to trade Kessel and that the enigmatic winger is “okay with that.”

It’s not the first time Kessel has been involved in trade speculation in his career. The 30-year old winger was first shipped out of Boston after a breakout 36-goal, 60-point season for the Bruins in 2008-09, only to find himself traded once again by the Toronto Maple Leafs six years later. The situation in Toronto had deteriorated to a point where they needed a reset on the ice and in the dressing room, and Pittsburgh was happy to take him off their hands—Toronto even retained some of the salary on his expensive, long-term deal.

Kessel is coming off the best season of his career with 34 goals and 92 points, but was able to muster just one goal in the playoffs for the Penguins (though he added eight assists in 12 games). If GM Jim Rutherford were to trade him away, it would be a stark indictment of all the success this group has had the last few seasons. Kessel especially flourished this season, finishing three points ahead of Sidney Crosby and just six behind Evgeni Malkin for the team lead.

That big-money contract that Kessel signed in Toronto still has four years remaining on it, with the Penguins carrying just a $6.8MM cap hit after Toronto’s retained portion. He also holds a modified no-trade clause that would allow him to block trades to all but eight teams, though, if Madden is correct, perhaps he’d waive the clause to find his way out of town.

At this point in the season all the speculation regarding star players should be taken with a grain of salt. If, however, Kessel does enter the trade market there would be no shortage of teams interested. The Penguins do still have a cap crunch going forward, with several restricted free agents needing contracts with little cap room to spend. Trading Kessel would certainly open up some room, and he would likely generate a big return. Usually big trades like this don’t happen until the entry draft, meaning even after the upcoming Stanley Cup Finals we likely will have to wait a bit to see if there is anything to these trade rumors. If Pittsburgh really is considering it, Kessel could quickly become the offseason’s most intriguing story.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Edmonton Oilers Hire Glen Gulutzan, Trent Yawney, Manny Viveiros

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Friday: The Oilers have made the hirings official, and Viveiros is indeed the third assistant coach. Edmonton likely had to wait until his Swift Current Broncos were eliminated from the Memorial Cup, which happened with their Wednesday defeat at the hands of the Regina Pats. Viveiros led Swift Current to a WHL championship this year, after a 48-17-7 season, and will now get his first opportunity to coach in the NHL.

Thursday: The Edmonton Oilers have been on the lookout for new assistant coaches for Todd McLellan, and have apparently settled on some familiar names. John Shannon of Sportsnet and Jason Gregor of TSN are both reporting that Glen Gulutzan and Trent Yawney are expected to be announced in the near future as new assistant coaches, while Manny Viveiros could be the third name.

Gulutzan of course was most recently the head coach of the Calgary Flames, but was fired after just two seasons on the job. Despite his 83-68-14 record while there, the Flames failed to reach the playoffs the season and needed a change. He’ll join Edmonton and attempt to bring the same sort of high possession results he enjoyed in Calgary, though he’ll be working under McLellan.

Yawney had worked with the Anaheim Ducks organization for the last several years, but failed to receive a contract renewal after the team was eliminated early. The former NHL defenseman has worked all over the Western Conference, spending time in Anaheim, San Jose and Chicago over the years. He’ll likely be tasked with improving the production from the blue line for the Oilers, who struggled to find much consistency last season from a talented group. It will be interesting to see if that group stays together through the summer, as there are continual rumors that Edmonton might be interested in acquiring another big-name option.

Todd Nelson Eyeing NHL Assistant Jobs

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The head coach of the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins, the 2017 Calder Cup champions, has his eye on greener pastures. According to The Athletic’s Craig Custance, Todd Nelson is a hot name on the coaching market right now among teams in need of an NHL assistant. Nelson is reportedly considering offers from many teams. Custance describes Nelson as an AHL coach who has proven himself ready to be an NHL head coach, but is facing the dilemma of deciding how best to position himself for that move.

Nelson, 49, has a long history with the Griffins and will not be quick to choose an NHL assistant position if the fit is not perfect. The former defenseman spent much of his playing career in the minor leagues, wrapping up his career in Grand Rapids in 2002. He immediately jumped into coaching as an assistant with the Griffins the next year. While he left the team after just one year, Nelson found his way back to Grand Rapids in 2015 as the head coach and took home a title last year. In his decade away from the team, Nelson spent time as an assistant with the Atlanta Thrashers, was the long-time head coach of the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons, and even briefly served as the interim head coach of their then-parent club, the Edmonton Oilers. While Nelson’s Oilers won just 17 of 51 games under his guidance, it was an invaluable experience and strays greatly from Nelson’s other head coaching outcomes, in which he has a career .611 points percentage in the AHL.

It’s possible that Nelson could land in the same scenario as Oklahoma City if he stays in his current position, possibly taking over for Jeff Blashill of the Detroit Red Wings, who have struggled of late, during or after the next season. However, this time he would likely be given a longer tryout as head coach for Detroit given his improved coaching pedigree. Nelson could also get a jump on that process by simply becoming one of Blashill’s assistants, the same path that Jack Adams candidate Bruce Cassidy took, moving from head coach of the Providence Bruins to an assistant in Boston before taking over. Yet, Custance hears that Nelson is still considering a move. “By no means am I unhappy in Grand Rapids,” Nelson told Custance, but added “I just want to see what the next step might present… My goal is to be a head coach in the National Hockey League. Maybe it means going with a different organization where I’m more visible.” Teams reportedly chasing Nelson include the Dallas Stars, and new head coach Jim Montgomery, and at least one other Western Conference team, per Custance. Only time will tell what choice Nelson makes, but he is certainly a name to keep an eye on in the coming years as a top head coach candidate in the NHL.

New York Rangers Officially Hire David Quinn As Head Coach

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Though it had been expected for some time, the New York Rangers have officially announced David Quinn as their next head coach. The former Boston University coach will be the 35th head coach in Rangers history, and try to take the team in a new direction after a disappointing 2017-18.

New York has had a tumultuous few months, since finding themselves out of the playoff race relatively early. After telling their fans in an open letter that a rebuild was coming, the team traded away several key pieces including Ryan McDonagh, Rick Nash, J.T. Miller, and Michael Grabner, collecting draft picks and prospects for their future seasons. At the end of the year, Alain Vigneault was let go as head coach, with an expectation that a fresh new voice would be introduced as the next head coach. That could have been Jim Montgomery, who reportedly turned down a bigger offer from the Rangers to go and coach the Dallas Stars, but will instead be Quinn, fresh off another successful season with BU.

Quinn, 51, will jump right from the college ranks after five seasons as the head man for BU. He has just one season of NHL assistant coaching experience, and three years as the head coach of the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL. The Monsters finished out of the playoffs in two of those years, and were knocked out in the first round in the third. Quinn never played in the NHL, despite being a first-round pick of the Minnesota North Stars. After starring at BU as a defenseman he was diagnosed with Haemophilia B and was forced to retire, though he returned to the game briefly a few years later, playing 19 games in the AHL.

Still, there are many who believe Quinn can find success in the NHL despite his relative lack of experience. Players like Jack Eichel, Clayton Keller and Charlie McAvoy all speak highly of their time playing under him in the NCAA, and believe he was an integral part of their development into NHL players. The Rangers will hope he can do similar things for some of their young players as they try to turn the franchise around quickly.

After trading McDonagh and others, the Rangers find themselves with three first-round picks this season and several high-profile prospects in the pipeline. That’s after already selecting twice in the first round last season, and seemingly hitting on both Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil. If the team can find some more talents in the first round, and develop the likes of Brett Howden, Libor Hajek and Ryan Lindgren, it might not take long for them to be back among those fighting for the playoffs. Quinn will be tasked with helping a roster that could lose even more veteran presence this summer compete in both the short and long-term.

Poll: Should Pittsburgh Have Traded For Derick Brassard?

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With the Eastern Conference Finals set to continue on Monday between the Washington Capitals and the Tampa Bay Lightning, one team that hasn’t been sitting around for the last couple of years is the Pittsburgh Penguins. Entering the playoffs red-hot after a key trade deadline acquistion, many people thought that the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins might make their third-straight trip to the Stanley Cup. Instead, they were ousted by the Capitals, who are fighting for their life.

The Penguins felt they hit the jackpot after making a big three-way trade between the Ottawa Senators and the Vegas Golden Knights to acquire that second-line center they desperately needed in Derick Brassard. While he seemed to be a good fit early during the final part of the regular season when he put up eight points in 14 games, Brassard suffered through an undisclosed “difficult injury,” near the end of the season and struggled throughout the playoffs. He managed just one goal and four points in 12 playoff games.

“I don’t know if we ever got there, to the comfort level where we know he’s capable of being the player he is,” said head coach Mike Sullivan following the season.

In exchange for Brassard, the Penguins gave up quite a bit to the Ottawa Senators and Vegas Golden Knights, including defenseman Ian Cole (who was subsequently flipped to Columbus), goaltending prospect Filip Gustavsson, enforcer Ryan Reaves, a 2018 first-round pick, a 2019 third-round pick and the Vancouver Canucks’ 2018 fourth-round pick.

Cole fit in nicely with Columbus and became a key piece to the Blue Jackets’ defensive core and his gritty play and leadership may have been missed from the Penguins lineup, although defenseman Chad Ruhwedel did a solid job replacing him. While many won’t miss Reaves, his size and leadership also may have been underestimated as he eventually was a key figure in the Vegas Golden Knights’ playoff run, scoring the game-winning goal to clinch the team’s first trip to the Stanley Cup. And while the Penguins are overloaded in prospects, Gustavsson finished his season, came over to the U.S. and already on the Senators’ AHL roster getting valuable playing time.

That doesn’t include the picks that the Penguins have given up, not including the fact that Pittsburgh will have drafted in the first round just once in the past six years (and Kasperi Kapanen was traded not long after to Toronto).

On a positive note, the Penguins have one more year to show that Brassard was worth the haul they gave up. He still has one more year at $3MM (after Vegas retained some of his salary) suggesting he’s on a very affordable contract.

So, did the Penguins make the right decision in trading for Brassard?

Should the Penguins have traded for Derick Brassard?
Yes. The Penguins had to go for it as their window is closing. 54.94% (662 votes)
No. They gave up too much for a 30-year-old center. 45.06% (543 votes)
Total Votes: 1,205

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Coyotes Notes: Team Upgrades, Ekman-Larsson, Kruger

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With a strong second half, the Arizona Coyotes are ready to take that next step from cellar dweller to competitive team. The hope is that now that head coach Rick Tocchet has held the coaching reigns for a full season, he can help Arizona take that next step. While the importance of signing of star defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson is critical to the long-term success of the team is key (he has been rumored to be considering and eight-year extension), the team must continue to upgrade its roster.

According to Tocchet, in an interview with Arizona Sports’ Craig Morgan, the team has several key needs with center being at the top of the list, followed by another top-five defenseman and a scoring wing. The team upgraded at center a year ago when it went out and traded defenseman Anthony DeAngelo and their first-round pick in a package deal for Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta. Stepan put up solid numbers as the team’s top center, scoring 14 goals and adding 42 assists in his first year for Arizona. However, the team might want a stronger, more veteran presence for the No. 2 center spot, which was held by Christian Dvorak last season. Dvorak had just 22 assists last season.

Despite a solid nucleus on defense starting with Ekman-Larsson and Alex Goligoski as well as the strong additions of veterans Jason Demers and Niklas Hjalmarsson in the offseason and the improved play of youngster Jakob Chychrun, the team would like to add more to their defense. While the team might address that with the fifth-overall pick this year, the team wouldn’t mind adding another player to their group, which might have to come via trade.

  • Tocchet said he has worked hard to form a relationship with Ekman-Larsson over the past year. “In December, we had a really frank 30 or 40 minute talk,” said Tocchet. “I’m not a big meeting guy but we just talked about life and everything. I wanted him to have more of a voice in how we do things. What time should we have practice? Do you like the day off here? Should we travel at 2 PM? I want him to be proactive in those decisions. I want him to take responsibility and I think he understands that now that I want more from him.”
  • In the same article, Tocchet said that the addition of veteran Marcus Kruger is important due to his leadership skills. While the veteran struggled in his one year in Carolina with just six points in 48 games, Kruger did admit he played the entire year with a hernia. However, fully healed, he should give the Coyotes some grit on their fourth line. “The Chicago coaching staff loved him. I hear his hockey IQ is high and he’s a leader in the sense that he does the right things, practices hard. Since I’ve started, hockey IQ to me is bigger than I ever thought it was. When you add players with high hockey IQ, the chemistry comes quicker. He can probably help some young guys with that,” Tocchet said.

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