Overseas Notes: Cameron, Lewis, Huska
Dave Cameron did not stay unemployed for very long, though his new position is far from where he has made his living for the last thirty-odd years. The Erste Bank Liga (EBEL), a lower-tier European league based mostly in Austria, has announced that Cameron has been named the new head coach of the Vienna Capitals, the league’s reigning regular season champions. Cameron had been working as an assistant coach for the Calgary Flames for the past two seasons, but was relieved last month alongside head coach Glen Gulutzan. Prior to that position, he has served as the head coach for the Ottawa Senators after working his way up from long-time assistant. Even before that, Cameron was showing the breadth of his hockey mind as both the head coach and GM of several OHL franchises. Yet, this new job is his first outside of North America and brings with it the challenges of a brand new market and caliber of player. However, Cameron is an experienced coach and should find his way in no time at all in Vienna.
- Another coach has not been so lucky. Dave Lewis, most well known for a long stint as assistant and head coach of the Detroit Red Wings from the late 80’s through the mid-2000’s, has lost his job with the Belarus national program, per insider Igor Eronko. Lewis, who also had a short-lived stint as Boston Bruins head coach and brief stops as an assistant with the Los Angeles Kings and Carolina Hurricanes, has been working for Belarus in various roles since 2014. He had guided four IIHF World Championship teams, an Olympic qualifying bid, and the team’s World Juniors appearance this season. However, just three games into the ongoing Worlds, national officials have clearly decided that they have had enough with the lack of success out of their long-time coach. Lewis has struggled to find results as a head coach over the years and the next step for the 64-year-old is a mystery.
- Although Adam Huska likely has two years left at the University of Connecticut, HK Sochi of the KHL may have made a shrewd move in acquiring the KHL rights to the Slovak goaltender today. The team reported this morning that Huska’s rights had been transferred to Sochi from Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in exchange for forward Dmitri Lugin. Huska was a seventh-round pick of the New York Rangers in 2015, but given the team’s depth in goalie prospects – Alexandar Georgiev, Brandon Halverson, and mostly Igor Shestyorkin – it’s quite possible that Huska could choose to return home to Europe, in which case Sochi will gain a talented, young netminder. Huska posted a .912 save percentage and 2.59 GAA in 27 starts last year and should only continue to thrive in net for UConn before he makes his decision on turning pro.
Injury Notes: Backes, Thornton, Backstrom
While the Boston Bruins fight to try and stay alive in their second round matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning (the tea m is down 2-1 in Game 5 as of this writing), they’ll have to do it without the help of David Backes. He won’t return to the game today after a collision with Tampa’s J.T. Miller.
Though the series is certainly important, Backes’ long-term health is a bigger concern. The veteran forward went down holding his head, and immediately left the ice with help from players and the training staff. As Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet points out, Backes has already had two publicly known concussions in his career, including one last season while with the Bruins. The 34-year old forward has three years remaining on his current contract with the Bruins, and registered 33 points this season.
- Though there was hope that Joe Thornton could return to the San Jose Sharks lineup tonight, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reports that won’t be happening. Head coach Peter DeBoer has already ruled Thornton out, meaning the Sharks will need to stave of elimination without the help of one of their top forwards. The veteran center played in just 47 games for the Sharks this season and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent again this summer. He could have played his last game with San Jose should they be unable to win against the Vegas Golden Knights tonight in Game 6 of their series.
- The Washington Capitals don’t expect to be in the same situation, as head coach Barry Trotz explained today. Despite suffering an upper-body injury, the team expects Nicklas Backstrom to play in Game 6 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Andre Burakovsky still isn’t travelling with the team, but having Backstrom in the lineup gives the Capitals their best chance at finally eliminating the Penguins and moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Snapshots: Stars Goaltending, Guentzel, Kane, Shalunov
Armed with a new head coach, the Dallas Stars can begin to get to work to fixing their team after the team failed to qualify for the playoffs despite a flurry of offseason moves last year. While, the team has many issues to deal with, one key area of need is finding a quality back-up goaltender.
The team is finally released from a five-year, $29.5MM deal it gave to eventual backup Kari Lehtonen. However, the $5.9MM AAV for a player who produced a 2.56 GAA and a .912 wasn’t worth it. On top of that, at age 34, the team needs a backup that can take over the workload for oft-injured starter Ben Bishop.
SportsDay’s Mike Heika writes there are several potential options for Dallas, but the best-case scenario would be for the Stars to chase Carter Hutton, who backed up Jake Allen last year. Hutton, who could easily fill in full-time in case Bishop gets hurt, could also be expensive as the 32-year-old veteran may hope to land a starting job somewhere. He was 17-7-3 last year with a 2.09 GAA in 32 games this past year in St. Louis. Other options would consist of Jonathan Bernier, Andrew Hammond, Michael Hutchinson and Anton Khudobin.
- While it may not come as a surprise, the Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan reports that the NHL Department of Player Safety does not intend to have a hearing with Pittsburgh Penguins Jake Guentzel, who hit John Carlson during Saturday’s game against the Washington Capitals. Despite complaints from Capitals head coach Barry Trotz, Khurshudyan the league felt it was a full-body hit.
- With the season on the line, The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) writes that while San Jose Sharks’ trade deadline acquisition Evander Kane has been highly successful since coming over from Buffalo, that hasn’t been the case during the team’s second-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights. Kane has scored just one point in the series and the team will need them to pull off a two-game sweep to advance to the conference finals. Kurz wonders whether Kane’s health has been an issue as he has skipped the morning skate for both of the team’s last two games.
- Chicago Blackhawks prospect Maxim Shalunov has been improving steadily in the KHL and the 2011 fourth-round prospect is looking more interesting, but The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required) writes that the 25-year-old is still two years away from reaching Chicago after he signed a three-year extension to remain in the KHL last offseason. As Shalunov has developed in Russia, he’s also received more attention recently from the Russian national team and while he didn’t get the invitation to the Olympics that he was hoping for, he did get the invite to play in the World Championships.
Toronto’s Babcock Travels To Arizona To Talk With Auston Matthews
It looks like there was some truth between the reported rift between the Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock and star Auston Matthews afterall. Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada reported Saturday evening that Babcock travelled to Arizona (Matthews home) for a family vacation, but plans to sit down and clear up any issues that Matthews may have with the coach, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.
“The expectation is the two of them are going to talk or have talked this weekend as they try to air things out and fix things between them,” Elliotte Friedman said during Hockey Night’s “Headlines” segment on Saturday.
The rift was first reported by Nick Kypreos after Game 7 of the first-round playoff series between the Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins. Both player and coach denied the accusation.
While Babcock’s trip to Arizona is being passed off as a family trip, Kypreos feels differently.
“It is common for star players sometimes to battle with their coaches for things such as ice time,” Kypreos said during intermission of the Penguins-Capitals game on Saturday. “But what isn’t that common is a week after [exit meetings]. It’s clear that this is a priority for Babcock, who’s hoping to smooth things out so come training camp, everyone’s on the same page.”
LeBrun, however, tweeted that Babcock also has plans to visit goaltender Frederik Andersen in Denmark soon as well.
Boston’s Torey Krug Ruled Out For Series
5:39 p.m. — The Boston Bruins released an update that Krug will miss the rest of the series with the Tampa Bay Lightning. According to team physician Dr. Peter Asnis, Krug suffered an ankle injury and will require more testing to determine the severity of the injury.
3:53 p.m. — The news doesn’t look good for the Boston Bruins. Already down to their last game as they trail the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1, the Boston Bruins learned today that they will be without star defenseman Torey Krug for Game 5, according to The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa.
The blueliner went down with a lower-leg injury when he crashed into the boards Friday in Game 4 and was forced to leave the game, although he was able to walk off on his own. However, the injury could also be enough to rule him out for the season as well.
“He’s out [for Game 5],” said Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy (via the Bruins). “He’s still getting evaluated, but doesn’t look good that it will be short term.”
A loss of Krug will be devastating as the team has used him to play big minutes all season, especially for the playoffs. He even played 25:16 in Game 3 against the Maple Leafs. Krug, who was one of the team’s healthiest defensemen this season, finished the season with 14 goals and 45 assists in 76 games. He has been an even greater offensive spark for his team with three goals and 12 points in 11 games. With a team that has already lost Brandon Carlo for the season with a fractured ankle, the team will have to step up if they have any hopes of winning three in a row. The team will move veteran Nick Holden into the lineup to play alongside Adam McQuaid.
NHL Warns Marchand, Bruins About Licking Players
The NHL’s vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell spoke to both the Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney and Brad Marchand today, warning the veteran forward that his actions of licking players is unacceptable and another incident like that will result in supplementary discipline, according to the NHL.
Marchand, who has been accused for licking a player for the second time in the Stanley Cup playoffs this year, was seen checking Tampa Bay’s Ryan Callahan into the boards and when Callahan shoved back, Marchand responded by licking him. He was accused of the same thing in the first round of the playoffs during Game 1 by the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Leo Komarov. Marchand was not penalized for either incident, but the league is stepping in now.
According to Rule 75.4 (iii), “Any player who persists in any course of conduct designed to incite an opponent into incurring a penalty,” which means the league could start handing out 10-minute misconduct penalties immediately for any similar actions, according to TSN’s Frank Seravalli.
“There’s absolutely no place in this game for that,” Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper said (via Joe Smith). “I don’t understand it.”
Even Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said Marchand needs to stop.
“Brad has to stop licking. That’s the end of the story,” said Cassidy (via Chris Johnston).
Jim Montgomery Named Head Coach Of The Dallas Stars
Friday: The Stars have announced Montgomery as their next head coach, the eighth since moving to Dallas.
Wednesday: In a surprise turn of events, Francois Gagnon of RDS is reporting that Jim Montgomery will be named head coach of the Dallas Stars by the end of the week. Montgomery, born in Montreal, has been the head coach of the University of Denver since 2013 and had been connected recently with both the Stars and New York Rangers head coaching vacancies. Sean Shapiro of The Athletic also believes the move is likely, though can’t confirm anything just yet.
A highly touted coaching prospect, Montgomery leaves DU just a year after interviewing for several NHL jobs last spring. A veteran of 122 games in the NHL, he has found incredible success in the coaching ranks including multiple USHL titles and a National Championship with Denver in 2017. He’ll be taking over for a legendary coach in Ken Hitchcock, and walking into a situation filled with talented—if underperforming—players.
The Stars missed the playoffs again this season, despite great individual offensive seasons from their best players. Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov all broke the 70-point mark, while John Klingberg recorded 67 points as one of the most dangerous offensive defensemen in the league. Still, they didn’t get enough contributions from the rest of the roster and had trouble finding any consistency in their play. Going on wild streaks in both directions, the team needs to find a way to improve for next year or risk wasting some of their prime inexpensive years with Seguin, who is an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Montgomery will also be tasked with developing some of the team’s younger players, including the prize of last year’s draft, Miro Heiskanen. Heiskanen, along with Klingberg, Julius Honka and Esa Lindell should form the core of a very good group of defenders for the next several years and will come at a relatively inexpensive price. If Montgomery can bring the best out of them, perhaps a return to the postseason in 2018-19 isn’t just a dream.
Many people, including Gagnon, believed that Alain Vigneault would be the next choice for the Stars head coaching position. Now, with the hiring of Montgomery instead, it’s not clear which direction the Rangers will go for their vacancy or where Vigneault will eventually land. Regardless, the Stars apparently feel strong enough about Montgomery’s future in the league to install him in a very important season, and hope he can orchestrate a quick turnaround for the organization.
Snapshots: Torrey, Quinn, Predators
The hockey world is saddened today, as it learned of the passing of Bill Torrey. A legendary executive, Torrey was the architect of the New York Islanders dynasty and first GM of the Florida Panthers. Not only was he an outstanding general manager and president, but he was beloved by nearly the entire hockey community. A outpouring of grief has come from former players, media and executives, all sharing their favorite stories and memories.
At PHR, as with the rest of the hockey world, we extend our condolences to the Torrey family and friends. He was 83.
- David Quinn, coach of Boston University, has been rumored as a potential candidate for several NHL vacancies including that of the New York Rangers. Today, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that though he hasn’t told the Rangers, Quinn has indicated to friends that he’ll return to BU next season. Quinn is also set to coach Team USA at the World Juniors next year, something he obviously wouldn’t be able to do should he take an NHL job.
- The Nashville Predators look like they’ll shake up their lineup for Game 4, inserting Yannick Weber and Scott Hartnell. Adam Vingan of the Tennessean reports that Alexei Emelin and Kevin Fiala were both on the ice late doing extra work, and appear to be coming out for the matchup against the Winnipeg Jets. The Predators are down 2-1 in the series and need to find a way to steal a game in Winnipeg to even the series, or face elimination on home ice Saturday night.
Front Office Updates: O’Hearn, Minnesota GM Search, Nill
The Arizona Coyotes are moving on from a top executive. The team announced today that they would not renew the contract for Assistant GM Chris O’Hearn. O’Hearn had been with the Coyotes for eleven years and was in his third year as AGM. O’Hearn handled much of the legal and administrative operations for Arizona, such as contract negotiations, salary arbitration, and cap management. GM John Chayka will now have to find a replacement or delegate those duties to others in the front office.
- Perhaps O’Hearn can throw his hat in the ring for the Minnesota Wild GM job. Owner Craig Leipold is certainly expanding his search, adding two new names to the mix alongside Nashville Predators’ AGM Paul Fenton and Columbus Blue Jackets’ AGM Bill Zito. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports that Boston Bruins’ AGM John Ferguson Jr. interviewed for the position today, while New Jersey Devils’ AGM Tom Fitzgerald will make his case tomorrow. Ferguson Jr. was previously the GM and Vice President of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the mid-2000’s and has entered the potential-GM market in a big way this week, now connected with both Minnesota and the Carolina Hurricanes’ vacancy. Fitzgerald had already dropped out of the Hurricanes’ hunt, citing “bad timing”, but the timing appears to be right for a potential move to Minneapolis. The Wild now have four legitimate candidates for Leipold to choose from and he may not be done yet.
- Another job search is ongoing in Dallas, as GM Jim Nill has his hands full finding a new head coach. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that Nill is considering at least ten different candidates to take over for Ken Hitchcock as the Stars’ new bench boss. That was in response to TSN’s Frank Servalli’s note that University of Denver head coach Jim Montgomery is the newest addition to the list. Montgomery has been dominating college hockey over the last five years, leading the Pioneers to a NCAA Tournament berth each year and winning the National Championship last season. Montgomery has been a popular candidate the last couple of years and would be an excellent choice for Dallas.
Poll: Which Open Coaching Job Is Best?
It was an uncommon year in the NHL with no coaches being fired in-season. Some of the worst teams in the NHL – the Buffalo Sabres, Arizona Coyotes, and Vancouver Canucks – had coaches in their first seasons and were willing to reserve judgement at least into a second season. Others, like the Ottawa Senators (confirmed today), Montreal Canadiens, and New York Islanders are willing to wait and see with relatively new staffs.
Entering the first full month without regular season activity, the season is over for all but eight teams. Yet, only two coaches have been fired: the New York Rangers’ Alain Vigneault and the Calgary Flames’ Glen Gulutzan. The Dallas Stars’ Ken Hitchcock retired and the Carolina Hurricanes’ Bill Peters opted out. Peters then quickly took the Flames job and what is left are just three coaching openings in the NHL.
The Carolina Hurricanes, under new ownership, are still looking for a GM and likely will wait to make a decision on a head coach until after that initial decision has been made. However, for those free agent coaches, the ‘Canes do offer an attractive mix of long-term depth and talent on defense, youth and skill on offense, a solid prospect pipeline, and mass amounts of cap space to get better. However, Carolina lacks two of the hardest things to find in hockey: a legitimate starting goaltender and a bona fide #1 star center. Any coach who is excited about the team’s potential has to look at Peters’ inability to turn it into wins and wonder if the few pieces missing in Carolina are the most important ones.
It took a late season collapse for the Dallas Stars to miss the postseason this year. The team has three superstars in Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and John Klingberg and a handful of very good players behind them like goalie Ben Bishop, defensemen Marc Methot and Esa Lindell, and forwards Alexander Radulov and Radek Faksa. They also have the potential for a quick turnaround if Jason Spezza and Martin Hanzal can bounce back. Beyond that group though, the team is lacking in depth on the roster and there doesn’t appear to be real game-changing talent in the pipeline either outside of Miro Heiskanen. They’re also right at the top of the salary cap limit. The Stars have the appearance of a team that is close to being a contender, but may not be able to get much better than they already are.
The New York Rangers are this year’s rebuild option for a coaching candidate. After trading away both impending free agents and core players at the deadline, the Rangers are left with a young-top nine that bring energy and skill but lacks experience and top-end talent and defense corps with veteran leadership surrounded by youth and potential but also lacking any high-end ability. However, they still have an all-world goalie in Henrik Lundqvist and are now loaded with prospects at every position and a wealth of draft picks. The Rangers may not look like much now but have a lot to offer down the road.
So, if you were a top head coach candidate with no particular style preference, which team would you choose?