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Jets Name Scott Arniel Head Coach

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The Winnipeg Jets have officially named Scott Arniel as the fifth head coach in modern franchise history (Twitter link). The deal was first reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger (Twitter link). Arniel served as an associate coach under Rick Bowness this season, stepping in during Bowness’ two personal leaves this season.

Arniel presided over 18 games in relief of Bownesss, posting a 10-5-3 record. It was his first time serving a head coach since the 2012-13 season, when he led the AHL’s Chicago Wolves to an 11-25-5 record. That season capped off a seven-year span of head coaching roles for Arniel – including two seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets where he posted a combined 45-60-18 record. Arniel moved on from head coaching to join the New York Rangers as an associate coach in the 2013-14 season – bolstering the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Finals. He’d go on to serve five seasons with the Rangers before flipping to the division rival Washington Capitals, where he spent another four seasons.

Bowness would bring Arniel onto his staff when he joined Winnipeg in 2022. The pair have since led the Jets to two first-round exits, though they’ve posted a 98-57-9 record. Arniel, who played in six seasons with the Jets during his 11-year playing career, was reportedly a front-runner for Winnipeg’s vacant head coach role ever since Bowness announced his retirement. And while the club did look externally, holding interviews with Todd McLellan and Craig Berube, their next bench-leader will come from within the organization.

Arniel will take on an incredibly talented Jets lineup, headlined by star forward Mark Scheifele and goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who both signed long-term extension with the club last summer. But it’s a lineup subject to change, with the Jets currently carrying 10 pending free agents – including Cole Perfetti, Sean Monahan, and Tyler Toffoli – with just $13.353MM in cap space. The team is reportedly considering moving top winger Nikolaj Ehlers’ $6MM cap hit to help free up some cap space – a potentially substantial move following Ehlers’ 61-point season. Arniel will luckily have strong supporting cast to lean on even without Ehlers, with Winnipeg still boasting each of Kyle Connor, Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, and Josh Morrissey under contract for next season.

It’s been four years since the Jets advanced past the first round of the playoffs, and they’ve only made the Western Conference Finals once in the 13 years since taking over for the Atlanta Thrashers. Arniel will look to buck that trend next year with a strong roster next year, though cap constraints could make it a tougher lift than he’s hoping for.

Canucks Announce Offseason Plans

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Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin and head coach Rick Tocchet spoke with the media on Thursday about the team’s plans for the upcoming off-season. Coming off their most successful season in nine years, Allvin started interviews by emphasizing that the team needs to enter the summer with the mindset that they only managed to reach the second round. As shared by Pass It To Bulis’ Daniel Wagner, Allvin said “I’m not happy sitting here today…we lost our last game and it was only in round two.” 

The team’s off-season plans will reflect that high bar, with Allvin most notably sharing that they’re looking to bring in a top-six winger, shares Sportsnet’s Brendan Batchelor (Twitter link). Allvin added that the team is also looking to bring in more speed, while Tocchet spoke to needing more creativity and shooting out of the lineup. Each of those attributes could be met by pending Carolina Hurricanes free agent Jake Guentzel, who Vancouver was reportedly very interested in ahead of the Trade Deadline.

The Hurricanes ultimately acquired Guentzel in exchange for Michael Bunting, top prospects Vaisili Ponomaryov and Cruz Lucius, and second-and-fifth-round picks in 2024. That’s a tall price to pay for a Spring rental, and there’s no doubt Carolina will make a hardy push to extend Guentzel after he posted a combined 34 points in 28 games with the club. But Guentzel left the door open to other destinations in his exit interview, acknowledging that hockey is ultimately a business. He’ll almost assuredly be due for an enthusiastic call from Allvin, should he decide to enter the open market.

The search for a top-six winger will headline Vancouver’s summer, with Allvin sharing that the team wants to retain its pending free agents otherwise, per Batchelor (Twitter link). Allvin went on to name Nikita Zadorov, Tyler Myers, and Dakota Joshua as specific free agents the team is looking to retain. There shouldn’t be any pushback from the player’s side, with Joshua’s agent expressing a desire to return on the Donnie & Dhali Show while Zadorov speaking openly about his love for Vancouver during exit interviews. The trio are a part of Vancouver’s 11 pending free agents – a list that most notably includes Elias Lindholm and backup goaltenders Arturs Silovs and Casey DeSmith. The Canucks paid a pretty penny to acquire Lindholm earlier this season, while Silovs earned expanded opportunity with his fantastic playoff run. If and how the Canucks are able to lock up both players will be a major factor in how their 2024-25 roster is constructed.

Among his other thoughts, Allvin also made sure to mention the team’s top prospects – sharing that the team wants to create opportunity for those players. While he didn’t name any players outright, it’s not hard to reason that reigning SHL ’Rookie of the Year’ Jonathan Lekkerimaki is among the top to earn a chance. Lekkerimaki recorded 31 points in 46 SHL games this season, adding two points in six AHL games following the end of Orebro’s season. He signed a three-year, $4.3MM entry-level contract in early May and could be one of Vancouver’s most exciting breakout candidates next season. Other top prospects Aatu Raty, Danila Klimovich, and defenseman Elias Pettersson could also push for an added role.

Vancouver’s postseason berth was just their second of the last nine seasons, and just their seventh time making it to the second round this century. It seems the team’s leadership core is ready to carry that winning mentality forward, looking at making impacts with externally, internally, and prospect decisions.

AHL Notes: Konowalchuk, Armstrong, Forrest

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The AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds have named Steve Konowalchuk as their head coach. Konowalchuk becomes the fourth head coach in Springfield’s seven-year history, taking the torch from interim coach Daniel Tkaczuk, who took over for Drew Bannister following his promotion to the St. Louis Blues in December. Tkaczuk led the Thunderbirds to a 18-29-3 record, following Bannister’s 12-8-0 start. The Thunderbirds haven’t yet provided details on which assistant coaches Konowalchuk will retain.

Konowalchuk is best known for his years as a player, becoming a staple of the Washington Capitals lineup between 1992 and 2003. He was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in the 2003-04 season and was forced to retire due to a heart condition in 2006, after missing much of the 2005-06 campaign. He returned to the team in the 2009-10 season, spending two years as an assistant coach before moving into a head coaching role with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. Seattle was where Konowalchuk made his mark, leading the team to the playoffs in five seasons straight – capped off with a WHL Finals appearance and championship win respectively in his final two seasons. Konowalchuk managed an impressive list of Thunderbirds alums, including Shea Theodore, Mathew Barzal, Keegan Kolesar, and Ethan Bear. He’d move back to the NHL in the year following his 2017 WHL Championship, joining the Anaheim Ducks as an assistant coach for one season before returning to the WHL and then spending last season in an AHL assistant role.

Konowalchuk will now take on his biggest role yet, taking the reigns of a Springfield Thunderbirds team just two years removed from a race to the Calder Cup Finals. They’d ultimately get swept by the Chicago Wolves but have held on to their playoff hopes in the seasons since. Konowalchuk found consistent success the last time he coached a Thunderbirds roster, and could be poised for big opportunity should he find a groove again.

Other notes from around the minor leagues:

  • The Florida Panthers have signed forward Jamie Armstrong to a one-year, two-way contract. He’s expected to join the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, adding to their long list of depth forwards. Armstrong – son of Utah general manager Bill Armstrong – is coming off of his graduate year at Boston College, where he recorded 12 points in 32 games. It was his first year as an Eagle, having spent the previous four years of his collegiate career across the road with Boston University. He totaled 26 points across 84 games with Boston University, filling in as stout bottom-six depth.
  • Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach J.D. Forrest is a candidate to fill the Rochester Americans’ coaching vacancy, shares Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News (Twitter link). Lysowski added that the Buffalo Sabres are hoping to have their AHL coach solidified prior to June’s NHL Draft. Forrest would take over for former Rochester coach Seth Appert, who was promoted to Lindy Ruff’s staff in early May. Both Forrest and Appert have deep roots in USA Hockey, with Appert previously serving as the head coach of the U.S. National Team Development program (NTDP), while Forrest is a former NTDP assistant coach and led Team USA to a Silver Medal at the 2022 IIHF U18 World Championship.

Hurricanes Reach Extension With Rod Brind’Amour

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After weeks of speculation, the Hurricanes have indeed finalized their coaching situation for next season.  The team announced that they have agreed to multi-year extensions with head coach Rod Brind’Amour along with assistants Jeff Daniels and Tim Gleason, Chris Huffine, and Paul Schonfelder.  GM Don Waddell released the following statement:

Rod has been instrumental to the success we’ve had over the last six seasons. Ever since he joined the organization 24 years ago, Rod has embodied what it means to be a Hurricane. We hope to keep him a Hurricane for life.

While this deal doesn’t make Brind’Amour a Hurricane for life, it will keep him around for the foreseeable future as Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that this deal will run for the next five years.

A few weeks ago, a report from TSN’s Darren Dreger indicated that the Hurricanes had pulled an extension offer for Brind’Amour off the table, but that extension talks were advancing after the initial report. After Carolina was ousted from the playoffs at the hands of the New York Rangers, speculation began to emerge that Brind’Amour and the Hurricanes organization may be headed their separate ways.

The speculation advanced so much in the last few days, that Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun reported that the Toronto Maple Leafs would be postponing their search for head coach to see if Brind’Amour would ultimately become available. However, their getting a deal done sheds some light on the Maple Leafs’ pivot towards Craig Berube as their next head coach.

A legendary part of the Hurricanes organizational history, Brind’Amour began his coaching career as Carolina’s Director of Player Development during the 2010-11 NHL season, one year after he retired as a player. Beginning in the 2011-12 season, Brind’Amour was named an assistant coach, a position he would hold until the 2018-19 season.

Taking over as the head coach at the beginning of the 2018-19 season, Brind’Amour helped turn around a Hurricanes team that experienced several years of mediocrity. In his first year behind the bench, he would coach Carolina to the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals before eventually being swept by the Boston Bruins.

The Hurricanes would reach the Eastern Conference Finals once more under Brind’Amour’s reign, this time being eliminated by the Florida Panthers in another sweep. Throughout his six-year tenure as head coach for Carolina, Brind’Amour has amassed an impressive 278-130-44 in the regular season, along with three Metropolitan Division crowns.

If there is one, the major drawback of Brind’Amour’s track record in Carolina is the lack of Stanley Cup Finals appearances. The Hurricanes have become one of the deeper teams on paper, but have been unable to conquer the Eastern Conference up to this point.

In 74 postseason games as a head coach, Brind’Amour and the Hurricanes have only recorded 38 wins, a 10% dropoff from their regular season success. With their last Stanley Cup Final appearance coming nearly 20 years ago, the time is now for Brind’Amour to coach this team to the promised land.

ESPN’s Kevin Weekes was first to report that Brind’Amour and his assistants received contract extensions. 

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

USA Hockey Names Mike Sullivan Head Coach For 2025 4 Nations Face-Off And 2026 Olympics

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Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan is one of the longest-tenured coaches in the NHL and has plenty of international experience.  That made him a strong candidate to be named head coach for the upcoming key events, the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Olympics.  USA Hockey indeed will be going with Sullivan as the organization announced that he has been named head coach for both events.  GM Bill Guerin released the following statement:

We’re excited to have Mike guiding our teams. He is one of the very best coaches in the game and his background, including with international hockey, is well-suited to help put our team in the best position to win.

Sullivan has been behind the bench in Pittsburgh for the last nine seasons with the Penguins winning a Stanley Cup title in his first two years.  His teams have played to a combined 375-219-77 record in that stretch, good for a .616 points percentage while he is the winningest coach in franchise history.  However, the Pens have also narrowly missed the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.

Sullivan is one of three American-born head coaches to reach the 400-win mark, joining John Tortorella and Peter Laviolette.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see at least one of them on Sullivan’s staff once it’s finalized.

Internationally, Sullivan most recently worked as an assistant coach at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.  Most of his experience in the international game came well before that, however.  He was an assistant coach for the U.S. at the 2006 Olympics while working in two World Championships soon after, serving as the head coach in 2007 and an assistant one year later.

The NHL 4 Nations Face-Off will take place instead of the All-Star break next season, consisting of a seven-game event played over nine games between February 12th to the 20th while the Olympics will be held between February 6th to the 22nd in 2026.

Toronto Maple Leafs Officially Name Craig Berube Head Coach

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have named Craig Berube the 41st head coach in franchise history (Twitter link). He will begin a four-year contract with the team next season, shares Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (Twitter link). The team will hold a press conference on Tuesday to officially introduce Berube.

This news caps off a head coaching pursuit that quickly developed into a saga. The Leafs dismissed Sheldon Keefe on May 9th, following the fourth First Round exit of his five-year tenure with the team. Toronto has since engaged multiple candidates, including former Los Angeles Kings coach Todd McLellan and even acting Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour. But in the end, there was no hiding that Keefe’s dismissal was closely tied to postseason success, and so the Leafs now replace him with one of the only coaching candidates to coach a Stanley Cup winner.

Berube formed the St. Louis Blues into a powerhouse when he took over their coaching role in the 2018-19 season. The Blues managed an impressive 38-19-6 record under his guidance, after starting the year at 7-9-3. That gave St. Louis plenty of momentum for the postseason, carried on the back of then-rookie goalie Jordan Binnington and the commandeering style of Berube. Those forces were strong enough to push St. Louis through 26 playoff games – just two shy of the longest a playoff run can go – ultimately culminating in a Game 7 win over the Boston Bruins to win the first Stanley Cup in Blues franchise history. Berube has served as St. Louis head coach in the four seasons since, leading the team to postseason appearances each season between 2020 and 2022 but missing the last two playoffs.

Berube will now move to a Toronto club with much more starpower than the Blues. It seems changes are still incoming for the Leafs – with Mitch Marner a rumored trade candidate and Tyler Bertuzzi rumored to return – but there’s no doubting that the trio of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and John Tavares has Berube excited. Berube should also be a good match for Toronto’s gritty young forwards like Matthew Knies, Connor Dewar, and Fraser Minten. Berube accrued 3,149 penalty minutes in 1,054 career games during his own playing career and carried over that hard-nosed mindset into his coaching style. At the least, his appreciation for physical, endurance-based hockey should be a welcome change in perspective as Toronto gears up for another strong playoff push next season.

Kings Mutually Part Ways With Assistant Coach Trent Yawney

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The Los Angeles Kings have announced they’ve mutually parted ways with assistant coach Trent Yawney, adding that a replacement will be sought after the team hires their next head coach (Twitter link). The news brings an end to Yawney’s five-year tenure in Los Angeles.

Yawney has a storied career in the NHL, beginning with his third-round selection in the 1984 NHL Draft. He’d go on to play 12 seasons in the league – spending half with the Chicago Blackhawks – and total 129 points and 783 penalty minutes in 593 career games. He even served as Team Canada’s captain during the 1988 Winter Olympics. Yawney retired during the 1998-99 season, only to return to the Blackhawks as an assistant coach in the 1999-00 season. He’s been closely tied to the NHL ever since, serving as either an AHL head coach or an NHL assistant coach in each of the last 25 seasons. He even earned a brief stint as the Blackhawks head coach in 2005-06, though he was replaced by Denis Savard midway through the following season.

This move is a backward step for the Kings, who face a head coach vacancy after parting ways with Todd McLellan in February. He was replaced by Jim Hiller, who remains a top candidate for the permanent role. Hiller led the Kings to an impressive 21-12-1 record, even earning a playoff appearance. The Edmonton Oilers eliminated the Kings in just five games, though their success showed their playoff potential. And while it’s hard to replace the near-40 years of experience Yawney has in the league, the space for one more hire offers enticing flexibility as the Kings look to maintain a staff capable of a postseason push.

San Jose Sharks Linked To Jeff Blashill

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Since losing in the 2019 Western Conference Finals to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions, St. Louis Blues, the San Jose Sharks have failed to make a postseason appearance, and have produced a dismal regular season record of 123-199-50 under three different head coaches. At the end of this season, General Manager of the Sharks, Mike Grier, announced that the team would be parting ways with head coach David Quinn after two years behind the bench.

After winning the NHL Draft Lottery last week, San Jose has the opportunity to select forward Macklin Celebrini with the first overall selection, allowing them to take one leap forward in their ongoing rebuild. However, another integral part of the organization’s development and future success will be the choice of the next head coach of the organization.

Following up on a report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his recurring ’32 Thoughts’ podcast, Sheng Peng of SJ Hockey Now confirms that the Sharks organization has an interest in naming Jeff Blashill as the team’s next head coach. Currently, Blashill has been serving as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning since the beginning of the 2022-23 NHL season.

Before his career led him to western Florida, Blashill had experienced a good amount of success in the NCAA and the AHL. After serving as an assistant coach with Ferris State University and Miami University (Ohio) for several years, Blashill got his first opportunity as a head coach in the NCAA with Western Michigan University for the 2010-11 season.

Blashill led the Broncos to a 20-13-10 record in his first season at the helm, coaching Western Michigan to an appearance in that season’s NCAA Frozen Four Tournament. After only one year, the Detroit Red Wings brought Blashill on as an assistant coach for the 2011-12 NHL season, before naming head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, a role he held for three years.

Coaching the Griffins to a Calder Cup Championship in 2013, Blashill quickly became the heir-apparent behind the bench to longtime Red Wings coach, Mike Babcock. When Babcock eventually left for the head coaching position with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2015-16, Blashill was named the next head coach for Detroit.

Ultimately, Blashill was not put in a position to succeed with the Red Wings, as the roster began deteriorating quickly after he became head coach, with the organization’s last playoff appearance coming in the 2015-16 NHL season. After producing a 204-261-72 record with Detroit from 2015-2022, the Red Wings decided to move forward in their rebuild without Blashill, relieving him of his duties after the 2021-22 season.

With plenty of available head coach candidates this offseason, the Sharks will have their work cut out to find the correct candidate. In Blashill, he has shown the ability to work well with younger talent at all levels of the game but has not yet had the opportunity to coach an up-and-coming roster at the NHL level.

Kraken Linked To Todd McLellan

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Add Todd McLellan’s name to the list of coaching candidates for the Kraken this summer. He and internal promotion options Dan Bylsma and Jay Leach are the current favorites to be named the franchise’s second head coach, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on Wednesday’s “32 Thoughts” podcast.

McLellan is on the market after the Kings fired him midseason. He’s also been linked to the Maple Leafs’ coaching vacancy and is considered one of two finalists alongside ex-Blues coach Craig Berube.

Seattle fired Dave Hakstol late last month after he served behind the bench for the team’s first three NHL seasons. The Kraken signed Hakstol to a two-year extension last summer that was set to kick in for 2024-25 after winning their first-ever playoff series, but they fell back out of the postseason picture this year with a 34-35-15 record.

If he lands the role, McLellan will stay in the Pacific Division as he has for his entire head coaching career. Over three stops with the Sharks, Oilers and Kings, McLellan has accumulated a 598-412-134 record in 1,144 regular-season games, good for a .581 points percentage. He’s won just one playoff series since his days in San Jose, though, a first-round victory with Edmonton over the Sharks in 2017.

The Kraken can offer him a squad similar to what he had in Los Angeles. They don’t have the high-ceiling firepower of an Anže Kopitar, Kevin Fiala or Adrian Kempe, but they do have solid scoring depth spread out across all four lines and a largely stout defense group in front of sometimes dominant but inconsistent goaltending from year to year. Seattle hopes the younger Joey Daccord, who took over as their starter this season with a .916 SV% in 50 appearances, can erase that last statement.

McLellan did good work in L.A. to guide them out of a rebuild after coaching a contender in San Jose and failing to get Edmonton to the playoffs consistently in the early days of the Leon Draisaitl/Connor McDavid era. The Kings have finished third in the Pacific in all three seasons since the pandemic, although this year was aided by interim Jim Hiller taking over past the halfway point. He had L.A. off to a torrid start this season, posting a 16-4-3 record through their first 23 games, but a 4-8-6 skid between Christmas and the All-Star break cost him his job.

Leach, whose name has been bandied about for some other vacancies this summer, has been with the Kraken as an assistant since their inception. Bylsma, who won the Stanley Cup as a head coach with the Penguins in 2009, has been the head coach of AHL Coachella Valley since they began play in 2022-23, leading them to a 94-32-18 record in their first two seasons.

Ducks Make Multiple Front Office Moves

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The Ducks will have a new face at the helm of their AHL affiliate in San Diego next season. Rick Paterson is being promoted to the role of AHL general manager after serving as Anaheim’s director of professional scouting on and off since 2005. Assistant general manager Rob DiMaio, who’d also managed San Diego since joining the club in 2022, won’t be back with the team next season for personal reasons.

While Paterson will replace DiMaio’s duties in San Diego, he isn’t taking over his AGM title under Ducks GM Pat Verbeek. That role is going to Mike Stapleton, who’s been with the Ducks as a scout since 2014 and served as their director of player personnel the last two seasons.

Part of their responsibilities in their new roles will be helping Verbeek and head coach Greg Cronin replace some vacancies on his bench. The Ducks also announced Tuesday that they’re not renewing the contracts of assistant coaches Newell Brown and Craig Johnson.

The promotion continues Paterson’s lengthy run of front office work. The 66-year-old played over 400 games for the Blackhawks in the 1980s, but his first off-ice work came with the Penguins immediately after retiring in 1988. He was an assistant coach during their back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 1991 and 1992 before being reassigned to their minor league affiliate, the IHL’s Cleveland Lumberjacks, in 1993. Paterson served as their head coach for four seasons before heading to the Lightning.

As he’s been in Anaheim, Paterson was a jack of all trades for the Bolts from 1997 to 2005. He began as an assistant coach, briefly serving as interim head coach in 1998, before transitioning to a scouting role in 1999. He got his third Stanley Cup ring in Tampa in 2004 as their director of professional scouting and landed his fourth and most recent with the Ducks in 2007.

Stapleton is much newer to the front office game, landing his first off-ice role in junior hockey as an assistant coach of the NAHL’s Traverse City North Stars in 2005. His 697-game NHL career ended after the 2000-01 season, but he played a few seasons in Europe before hanging up the skates in 2004. He bounced around other coaching roles in the OHL and AHL before landing with the Ducks as a pro scout.

DiMaio exits as AGM after only two seasons in SoCal, a role he got after 14 seasons with the Blues as a scout and, later, their director of player personnel.

Brown, 62, ends his third stint with the Ducks after three seasons. He was an assistant coach under Randy Carlyle when Anaheim won their Stanley Cup in ’07, part of his second tenure with the club that spanned from 2005-06 to 2009-10. His first chance in Anaheim was a two-year run as an assistant in 1998-99 and 1999-00, his second NHL job after serving on the Blackhawks’ bench for two seasons prior. He’s also spent time with the Blue Jackets, Canucks and Coyotes, all in assistant coaching roles. If he doesn’t land a role on an NHL bench next season, it’ll be his first year out of the league since 1995-96.

Johnson joined the Ducks a year after Brown, only serving as an assistant the last two seasons. He’d been an assistant coach with the AHL’s Ontario Reign, the primary affiliate of the Kings, for two seasons before heading down the freeway to Anaheim. Brent Thompson, who only joined the Ducks last summer, is the only returning assistant next season.

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