Latest On Buffalo Sabres’ Coaching Search
The Buffalo Sabres brought in San Jose Sharks assistant coach Bob Boughner for an interview yesterday according to Pierre LeBrun of TSN. The Sabres continue to search for their next head coach after firing Dan Bylsma earlier this spring. Boughner has been with the Sharks for two seasons, and had two lengthy runs as head coach of the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL.
Before entering coaching, Boughner played 630 games in the NHL including three seasons for the Sabres. The tough defenseman put up just 72 points in his NHL career, but is considered an up-and-coming head coach that will eventually land a job somewhere around the league.
Earlier updates…
- Former Edmonton Oilers head coach Ralph Krueger had been linked to the job, though he has no intention of returning to the NHL just yet. Now chairman of a soccer team in the EPL, Krueger apparently has already turned down two different offers this year to return and is quite happy with his current situation.
- Todd Reirden has been mentioned in connection with the job, but his close ties to the outgoing Bylmsa may pose an issue. While obviously the two don’t coach exactly the same, they have worked together at several stops and would likely bring many of the same messages. As Buffalo tries to rebuild its identity, bringing someone in from the same coaching bubble may not be the ideal move.
- Clark Donatelli, the man Botterill hired to replace Mike Sullivan when he was promoted in Pittsburgh has also been linked to Buffalo. Donatelli could also be in the running for the AHL job after the Sabres fired Dan Lambert the incumbent head coach.
- Finally, Phil Housley has been connected to the vacancies in both Florida and Buffalo but teams are waiting for him to finish his Stanley Cup run with the Nashville Predators. Housley was drafted and made his debut with the Buffalo Sabres, playing eight seasons with the club at the beginning of his career. For what it’s worth (which isn’t very much), he even uses a photo of himself playing for the Sabres in his Twitter profile. It would be a solid marketing move to bring back one of the greatest defensemen ever to play for the franchise as its next head coach, but Florida will likely give ample competition for his services.
Kings Name Dave Lowry As Assistant Coach
It’s been a big day for NHL assistant coaching news already with Scott Gomez joining the New York Islanders staff and Scott Stevens leaving his post with the Minnesota Wild. Yet, the news continues to break. The Los Angeles Kings, new GM Rob Blake, and recently named head coach John Stevens today announced that Dave Lowry has joined the team as an assistant coach. Lowry joins goalie coach Bill Ranford on Stevens’ staff, one that will surely grow more as the off-season continues.
Lowry is no rookie when it comes to coaching; he has had his fair share of experience in the NHL and elsewhere. The 52-year-old began his coaching career as an assistant with the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen in 2005, eventually working his way into the head coaching position during the 2008-09 season and guiding the team to the WHL Championship round. Lowry then stayed in Calgary, but instead worked for his former NHL club, the Flames, from 2009 to 2012 in his first taste of big league coaching. Lowry returned to the junior game in 2012 as the head coach of the WHL’s Victoria Royals, a position he held until today’s announcement. In that time, Lowry won WHL Coach of the Year twice and helped his team to fourth place or better divisional rankings and a playoff berth every season. In 2016, his success also earned him the job of coaching Canada’s National Junior Team at the IIHF World Championships.
The Kings are one of the oldest teams in the NHL and have one of the league’s worst prospect pipelines, so Lowry will not be coaching kids like he has of late. However, the WHL is traditionally known a heavier league than it’s CHL counterparts with more physicality and less speed, much like the style of the Kings under Darryl Sutter. If Stevens also feels that his players are better suited to that pace, it is one that Lowry has ample experience with as a coach. It’s also similar to how Lowry played as an NHL player during his long 18-year career. Lowry, a left winger, was not so much known for scoring as he was for his physical two-way play. A Kings penalty kill that already ranked fifth in the league last year could be potent in 2017-18 and beyond with Lowry in the mix. Lowry was also an effective checking threat and a force in the crease at just 6’1″ and often less than 200 pounds, so he should be able to help the likes of young, similarly sized players like Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli to round out their defensive games and rebound efficiency.
New York Islanders Hire Scott Gomez As Assistant Coach
The New York Islanders have continued to add to their coaching staff, hiring former NHL forward Scott Gomez to work with Doug Weight as an assistant coach this season. The team had previously hired Luke Richardson this spring to work behind the bench, and is still rumored to be interested in bringing Kelly Buchberger on board.
Gomez, though he will be remembered for the relatively weak end of his career, was an outstanding player during his prime. The 2000 Rookie of the Year, Gomez broke out with 70 points in his first season and would go on to score 756 over his career. Winning Stanley Cups in both 2000 and 2003, he was one of the elite playmakers in the league for nearly a decade.
His career ended in 2015-16 after bouncing around from team to team, suiting up for the Devils, Rangers, Canadiens, Sharks, Panthers, Blues and Senators throughout his career. He’ll be remembered most as a Devil, but will now join the Islanders for the next chapter in his hockey career. Though his Players’ Tribune piece “Not Done” near the end of the 2014-15 season turned out to be a bit ironic in its timing—though Gomez was finishing up something of a renaissance in New Jersey, he would play just 34 NHL games the next season, his last, scoring nine points—it does outline the incredible work ethic that was instilled in him as a Devil, one that he will likely bring to New York next season.
Edmonton Oilers Notes: Nugent-Hopkins, Sekera, Bear
The Edmonton Oilers, coming off a successful season in which they improved by 16 victories, and reached the second round of the playoffs (losing to the Anaheim Ducks in seven games), feel that some of their young players have more to learn and improve on as they look towards the 2017-18 season. Oilers head coach Todd McLellan was quoted recently on NHL.com that he feels that center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins must continue to improve, especially on the offensive end.
The former No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 draft has already played six full seasons with Edmonton and yet is still only 24 years old. The defensive center, needs to take more chances, according to McLellan and, while the coach praised the young forward for his all-around game, he must learn that it’s OK to take risks, especially now that he has a very talented team around him.
Nugent Hopkins finished with 18 goals and 25 assists for 43 points in 82 games this past season, which was his one his least productive seasons, offensively. He produced 19 goals in 2013-14 and then 24 goals in 2014-15 before only scoring 12 in 2015-16 in 55 games. He was not able to take his game to a new level as he told his coach that he was more focused on his defensive play. His playoff performance this was also disappointing as he didn’t score in 13 games and only finished with four assists.
“… we need him to be a little more productive so we’re going to encourage him to take a little more risk to try and be a little more productive offensively,” McLellan said. “Not at the cost of losing a game or anything like that, but mistakes are going to happen and you have teammates that have to cover for you sometimes.”
- McLellan also tried to look on the bright side of the loss of their top defenseman Andrej Sekera, who will be out six to nine months after tearing his ACL in Game 5 of the second-round series against the Ducks. The coach said that while the loss is tragic and the team will miss his veteran presence over the first half (or more) of the season, this might allow some young defensemen to get a chance they otherwise would never have gotten. Matt Benning is one name that came up in the interview. Benning, 23, who played in his first season with the Oilers after suiting up for Northeastern University for three years, got increased playoff time after Sekera went down and showed his is up for the challenge. Darnell Nurse, 22, also could see increased playing time as well in the first half of the season.
- Speaking of young defensive players, Oilers’ defensive prospect Ethan Bear’s season came to an end after his Seattle Thunderbirds were eliminated from the Memorial Cup. The former 2015 fifth-round pick had a breakout year in the WHL, finishing with 28 regular season goals. If you add his 17 playoff games to his totals, Bear finished his season with 34 goals and 62 assists for 96 points. The 20-year-old will now focus on NHL training camp with the hope of sticking with the Oilers. If not, he will be expected to join the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL.
Mike Kelly To Join Golden Knights’ Coaching Staff
Former Florida Panthers Assistant Coach Mike Kelly will be joining Gerard Gallant behind the bench in Las Vegas this fall.
This news comes from TSN insider Darren Dreger, who says an official announcement regarding Kelly and other assistant coaches is a few weeks away.
Read more: Gerard Gallant Named Vegas’ Head Coach
Kelly has previously served alongside Gallant when the pair were in Florida from 2014 to 2016. Both men were fired last November after the Panthers won 11 of their first 22 games.
Prior to his time in Florida, Kelly spent four years with the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs, spending two years as the Director of Hockey Operations and Associate Head Coach before being promoted to Head Coach and General Manager. The Sea Dogs won the Memorial Cup in 2011. Kelly has also been a head coach or assistant in the AHL, OHL, WHL, Canadian University hockey, and both the U-18 and U-20 Team Canada teams.
Steve Ott Ends Playing Career, Takes Position With St. Louis Coaching Staff
In surprising news, Steve Ott, just a few weeks removed from a playoff run with the Montreal Canadiens, has been hired as an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues. Ott will join newly hired Darryl Sydor behind the bench with Mike Yeo, ending his playing career at age 34. Ott played with the Blues from 2014-16, skating with many of the players who he’ll now be in charge of coaching. Lou Korac of NHL.com adds that the contract is for three years.
Ott has been in the NHL since the 2002-03 season when he broke in with Dallas, the team who made him a first-round pick (25th overall) in 2000. He was coming off an 88 point season in junior hockey as the captain of the Windsor Spitfires, and actually would climb to respectable point totals in the NHL over the years. In 2008-09, Ott put up 46 points in 68 games playing mostly with Mike Ribeiro—who would lead the club with 78 points—and Jere Lehtinen. He would score a career-high 22 goals the next season and be made an alternate captain, a role he kept until a trade to Buffalo for Derek Roy in the summer of 2012.
Though his time with St. Louis came near the end of his career, Ott had this to say about the franchise in the press release:
I am very proud of my playing career and will devote the same work ethic to my coaching career. The Blues organization is very special to me and my family and I’m excited to take the next step in my hockey career with this franchise.
Ott, thought more of as a pest than a scoring threat, will end his career with 288 points in 848 games, along with 1,555 penalty minutes. He never won a Stanley Cup, though did play 61 playoff games and reached the Conference Finals with Dallas in 2008.
Rookie Colin White Draws In For Senators In Game Six
In a decisive Game 6 match-up of the Eastern Conference Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Ottawa Senators have decided to go outside the box. Following an embarrassing 7-0 loss in Game 5, head coach Guy Boucher has made the call that the team needs a different look tonight, and that means rookie center Colin White will get the call. This is the third NHL game for white and, obviously, the first playoff game of his young career. Will he be a game-changer for the Senators?
White may be making his NHL postseason debut, but he’s actually played postseason hockey already this season. White signed his entry-level contract with Ottawa on April 2nd, after his NCAA season with Boston College came to an end. White, the 21st overall pick in 2015, was nearly a point-per-game player for BC this season, with 16 goals and 17 assists in 35 games, and helped to lead the Eagles to finals of the Hockey East conference tournament. However, White’s squad fell to the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, and without the automatic bid, did not have the resume to qualify for the NCAA tournament.
Since then, White has played in just five games – two scoreless outings with Ottawa and three games (with three points) for the AHL Binghamton Senators, who missed the playoffs – and he is now being called on to enter the Eastern Conference Final cold and provide a spark on offense. White’s inclusion is not so much the result of injury, although Alexandre Burrows remains sidelined, but instead a decision of pace and positioning. Ottawa dressed seven defenseman for Game 5, which was undoubtedly their worst performance of the 2017 postseason, and Bocher decided not to continue that practice. He also declined to dress slower physical veteran forwards like Chris Kelly or Chris Neil in favor or the young White, hoping that his youthful energy would help to keep pace with the speedy Penguins. White is a well-rounded prospect with high-end possession ability and good visions and hockey intelligence. However, he’s being thrown into the fire in this situation, as the Senators are desperate for all the help they can get to stay alive tonight.
Colorado Avalanche Make Changes To Coaching Staff For 2017-18
The Colorado Avalanche will stick with Jared Bednar as their head coach for next season, but he’ll be surrounded by a different group. Francois Allaire, Tim Army and Dave Farrish will not return for 2017-18. The Avalanche obviously wanted to shake up at least part of the staff after the complete disaster that was the past season. Bednar will now be able to be part of the hiring process to try and build a cohesive team.
Allaire had been the team’s goalie coach for four seasons, hired by the team after an explosive exit from the Maple Leafs in which he was criticized for his performance. Allaire claimed that he had been micro-managed, with his coaching being interfered with by the front office. Known for his butterfly style that created a Conn Smythe winner in Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Allaire faced criticism from Brian Burke on his exit from Toronto. Semyon Varlamov, Calvin Pickard and Giguere himself had found great success in Allaire’s first three years with the team, though the club finished second last in save percentage this season.
Farrish also spent time with the Maple Leafs, but was similarly let go while Randy Carlyle remained the head coach after a disappointing season. The former NHL defenseman has been coaching professional hockey since 1989 when he took over as head coach of the Moncton Hawks of the AHL. He had been with Colorado for two seasons and will likely find another landing spot around the league in no time.
Army had been with the Avalanche for six seasons and is a long-time assistant coach in the league. Between stints as the head coach for his alma mater Providence College he has served on the benches of Anaheim and Washington. He also spent three seasons as the head coach of the AHL’s Portland Pirates (now the Springfield Thunderbirds).
Blues Owner Gives GM Vote Of Confidence
If anyone thought the status of St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong was up in the air after recent coaching turnover and the up-and-down season the Blues endured last year, don’t count on it. In an interview with the St. Louis Post Dispatch, team owner Tom Stillman said he never second-guessed the general manager and even though Armstrong has only one year remaining on his deal, the owner believes that Armstrong is the man for the job.
“No,” Stillman said about whether he was considering replacing Armstrong during the season. “You need to keep a longer view on things like that. You don’t evaluate the performance of a top-level manager based on the latest current losing streak or a rough patch. I felt confident that Doug was making the right decisions and looking at the long-term, and that’s our focus, being competitive not just this year but next year and the following year. In fact, I think Doug is unusual in that he was so focused on the long-term.”
The Blues struggled early in the season, going 24-21-5 which led to the firing of Ken Hitchcock on Feb. 1. Armstrong then promoted Mike Yeo and the team immediately won six of their first seven games. Looking to the future, the team then traded defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk to the Washington Capitals and kept winning, eventually qualifying for the playoffs with a 46-29-7 record, good for third in the Central Division. They then knocked off the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the playoffs, only to fall to the Nashville Predators in six games in the second round.
“I don’t know that it surprised me because when you’re in that situation you know it could go any number of ways, but I will say that it impressed me,” Stillman said. “It impressed me the way the coaching staff performed … the way the players dug in. They were in a tough position and then we made it a little tougher on them by trading a top player and yet everybody dug in. They played for each other, played for the team and carved out a playoff position and played two rounds in the playoffs.”
Stillman continued by saying that promoting Yeo was a key move and the improved play of the team’s youth, including defensive pair Colton Parayko and Joel Edmundson as well as forwards Ivan Barbashev and Zach Sanford were a testament to Yeo’s coaching.
Golden Knights Notes: Expansion Draft Targets, Gallant, Yakupov
The NHL purposefully designed the rules regarding the expansion draft to give the league’s newest member the best possible chance to compete right away. Teams have two options in terms of whom to protect from their current roster: they can either choose to protect seven forwards, three defensemen and a goalie or they can go the alternate route of eight skaters and one goalie. Any player with two seasons or less of experience playing professional hockey in North America are exempt. Undoubtedly, many teams will confront some tough choices when it comes to whom they potentially lose to the Golden Knights later next month.
Rob Vollman, writing for ESPN.com, examines who among the four Stanley Cup semi-finalists Vegas GM George McPhee is most likely going to garner significant interest from the veteran hockey executive. From the reigning champion Penguins, Vollman suggests that unless the club can convince Marc-Andre Fleury to waive his NMC and subsequently trade him to another club looking for a #1 between the pipes, one of Pittsburgh’s goaltenders would be the best choice for McPhee and the Golden Knights. However, should the Penguins proactively move one of their ‘tenders – almost assuredly Fleury – prior to the expansion draft, Vollman suggests blue liner Brian Dumoulin as the best choice given his penalty killing prowess and ability to play solid defensively.
According to the scribe, Anaheim, barring some shifty maneuvering, may risk losing Josh Manson or Jakob Silfverberg to their new division rivals. Manson, as a right-hand defenseman who can move the puck and plays with bite, would be an excellent addition for Vegas.
Because of their defensive depth, Nashville will likely choose to protect eight skaters, with four being blue liners. This means the Golden Knights will probably have their pick from a group which includes forwards Calle Jarnkrok, Craig Smith and Colin Wilson. Ultimately, Vollman thinks Jarnkrok would be the sensible choice given his affordable cap hit ($2MM annually through 2021-22) and his strong two-way play.
Given the lack of proven goal scorers likely to be available to McPhee in the expansion draft, Vollman wonders whether Vegas could be convinced to take the onerous contract of Bobby Ryan off of Ottawa’s hands. Ryan, who has five years – at which point the winger will be 35 – and an annual cap charge of $7.25MM, has struggled since joining Ottawa four years ago and finished with just 13 goals in 62 contests this past season. However, he has played better in the playoffs recording five markers and 14 points in 16 games. Vollman doubts McPhee would take that hefty contract on without the Senators offering them further incentive to do so but also notes the $7.25MM price tag would make it much easier to reach their targeted floor of $43.8MM in salaries. And at 30, there is hope Ryan can provide at least a few seasons of solid offensive production for a club who will likely struggle to put the puck in the net.
In other Golden Knights news:
- The Golden Knights have done well in hiring veteran coach Gerard Gallant to be the franchise’s first bench boss, at least if some of his former charges and current contemporaries are correct. NHL.com’s Brian Hedger penned an article on Gallant, who is currently an assistant with Canada’s entry in the 2017 IIHF World Championship, which included quotes from Michael Matheson and Nick Bjugstad, who each played for Gallant in Florida. Matheson, a young defenseman who rejoined Gallant on Team Canada for this tournament, said: “He’s a tremendous coach and I loved my time with him. He just gives his players a lot of confidence. He realizes that you’re going to make mistakes but that it’s not the end of the world. He’s just going to put you back onto the ice because he has confidence in you.” For his part, Bjugstad said: “He’s one of my favorite coaches ever,” and indicated he was well-liked in the room in Florida. “Everyone respected him. He had a young team with us, and it didn’t take him long to kind of push us to that next level, the next step. There’s no reason he can’t do it with the next team.” Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper also offered up strong praise for Gallant: “I think it’s a great get for Las Vegas. I got to meet Gerard at the [World Cup of Hockey 2016], and that’s a big reason he’s here with us today. He’s extremely knowledgeable about the game, the guys play hard for him and I think he’ll do a [great] job in Vegas.” Gallant’s ability to help develop young players and earn the respect from his charges should do him well in his new position. While the Golden Knights will have access to quality NHL talent via the expansion draft, the organization will still likely rely on building with youth through the draft and it may be a few seasons before they are ready to compete regularly for the postseason.
- With the probable lack of proven goal scorers available to Vegas in the expansion draft, the club will likely look for other ways to add offensive talent to the organization. The Golden Knights have already inked free agent center Vadim Shipachyov, a skilled Russian who was expected to draw significant interest from several NHL clubs this summer. He may well slot in as the team’s #1 center to begin the season. But, as talented as Shipachyov might be, he is more of a playmaker than a goal scorer and Vegas will have to add more talent around their new #1 pivot. Luke Fox of Sportsnet suggests that former top overall draft pick Nail Yakupov is just the sort of player Vegas should take a chance on as they search for impact offensive talent. Yakupov, who suffered through the worst season of his career with St. Louis in 2016-17, scoring just nine points in 40 games, has said he has no desire to return home and play in the KHL. Fox believes the 23-year-old winger is worth a short-term, small money deal for Vegas, or for another team starved for cheap offense, perhaps L.A. Signing Yakupov would certainly make a lot of sense for Vegas. The presence of Shipachyov could help ease Yakupov’s adjustment to the desert and provide the talented winger with the type of setup man that could help him thrive.