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Philadelphia Flyers Name Ian Laperriere As AHL Head Coach

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The Philadelphia Flyers have not wasted any time with finding a replacement for their AHL head coach vacancy. While many other teams continue to interview coaches for roles without any formal hires, the Flyers have made the first major coaching decision of the off-season. After parting ways with Scott Gordon less than three weeks ago, the team has announced that Ian Laperriere has been named the head coach of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Of course, this means the Flyers now have another position to fill. Laperriere has served as an assistant coach for the NHL club since 2013-14, working under Craig Berube, Dave Hakstol, and Alain Vigneault, as well as briefly under Gordon, the man he is now replacing. Before that, he was the director of player development for the organization, which ties into his new role overseeing the Flyers’ pro prospects. The move thus comes as no surprise, as Philadelphia decides to stay internal with a trusted name, but also allowing Vigneault to bring in a new face for his staff.

Laperriere, 47, transitioned directly from his playing career into his professional career with the Flyers, hanging up his skates in 2012 after playing his final three years in Philadelphia. However, complications from a concussion suffered during the 2010 postseason actually kept him from competing in those final two seasons. Instead, he stayed on in a support role to the organization and was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for his efforts. In total, Laperriere played over 1,000 games in the NHL as a fearsome enforcer and two-way forward. His experience both on and off the ice has him set up well to coach the Flyers’ AHL prospects, currently a deep and talented group.

Injury Notes: Evans, Stastny, Seguin, Rossi

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It was a scary moment at the end of Game One between the Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets, as the Habs’ Jake Evans had to be stretchered off the ice after receiving a massive hit from the Jets’ Mark Scheifele as the result of a charge. Scheifele was suspended for four games and with Montreal up 2-0 and playing at home the next two games, he may not play again this season. Regardless of the series length though, it seemed certain that Evans would not play again this season. Fortunately, Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme did have good news this morning, relaying that Evans is doing better since his trip to the hospital on Wednesday. Ducharme added that there is still no timeline for a return, as one might expect, but it is still good to see improvement from Evans following such a frightening check. Hopefully Evans will make an appearance in the arena to root on his teammates in the near future.

  • The Jets are hoping to stay alive in the series but face an uphill battle down two games and on the road, missing one of their best players in Scheifele. They are hoping to get one player back sooner rather than later though in Paul Stastny. Stastny has missed each of the first two games of the North Division finals with an undisclosed injury, but TSN’s Sara Orlesky spoke with head coach Paul Maurice and confirmed that Stastny made the trip to Montreal. Maurice stopped short of making any claims about his availability for Games Three and Four, but the 35-year-old would not have traveled if he was not at least in consideration for game action. Needing to replace Scheifele down the middle, Stastny would be a major addition to the lineup for Winnipeg if he is able to go. Update: Stastny is IN for Game Three.
  • After returning for the final three games of the regular season, Tyler Seguin is back to work on his rehab this summer. Following hip and knee surgeries last fall, Seguin missed almost all of the season in recovery, but was deemed fit to make a brief return at the end of the year for the Dallas Stars. The goal now is to make sure that his surgically-repaired lower body is completely up to speed for the beginning of next season, writes Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News. Seguin is now able to train at full strength this summer to get back into game shape, telling DeFranks that his skating was still lacking even when he returned to the lineup at the end of the season. The Stars need Seguin at his best if they want to return to the postseason next year following a disappointing 2020-21 campaign.
  • In a momentous development following a very difficult year, Minnesota Wild prospect Marco Rossi skated for the first time on Saturday after battling Coronavirus complications this season. Rossi was sent home to Austria at the beginning of the season as he endured serious medical side affects related to a COVID diagnosis months earlier and continued that fight throughout the year. Rossi was finally medically cleared last month and NHL.com reports that Wild GM Bill Guerin has been in close contact with his budding young star and is happy with his progress. Guerin states that Rossi is “incredibly healthy” and “looking very good” as he begins his training to get back into game shape. The Wild hope that the 2020 No. 9 overall draft pick and OHL scoring champion will be ready for training camp and can make a difference for the club next season.

David Krejci Receives Max Fine For Slashing

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One penalty call from Friday night’s Game Four between the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders has gone through quite the roller coaster review process and yet questions still remain. The NHL Department of Players Safety has announced that Bruins forward David Krejci has received a maximum $5,000 fine for “slashing” on Islanders forward Mathew Barzal in the second period last night.

Slashing though was not even the original call. The penalty in question was called when Krejci used his stick to jab Barzal between the legs in last night’s contest. The initial call on the ice was a major penalty for spearing. However, when the officials reviewed the call, they reduced the penalty to a minor for slashing. Player Safety seemingly felt that the play deserved further scrutiny and decided on supplemental discipline for Krejci, but they too considered it slashing.

Upon further review, it is hard to watch the play and call it anything less than spearing. With that said, the reduction in the penalty may have also been partially a make-up call by the on-ice officials. The crew missed repeated cross-checks by Barzal against Krejci before the veteran decided to deliver his own brand of justice against the youngster. Upon reviewing the play, the officials may have decided that their own inaction led to the penalty and felt that Krejci did not deserve five minutes in the box. It also seems likely that Barzal helped the penalty along with some acting.

The officials missing calls against the Bruins has been a storyline in this series (and last) as well. Boston head coach Bruce Cassidy spoke out after the Game Four loss, stating that he didn’t think his team was getting a fair amount of calls in their favor during the postseason. Krejci was also critical of the officiating and of Barzal. The question now is whether the comments of the respected coach and veteran will make any impact when the Bruins and Islanders start fresh with a tied series in Game Five on Monday.

Coaching Notes: Sullivan, Ducks, Lambert

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When the Pittsburgh Penguins went down in the first round, losing to the New York Islanders after a brutal game six by Tristan Jarry, the question emerged whether head coach Mike Sullivan would be back. It’s now been four straight early exits for the Penguins since their back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, but Sullivan isn’t going anywhere just yet.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Sullivan will be back behind the bench next season and is a likely candidate to lead the U.S. Olympic team next year. Sullivan still has three years left on his contract, but will have to perform for his new president and GM.

  • The Anaheim Ducks will also bring back their head coach next season, confirming earlier this month that Dallas Eakins is staying. That doesn’t mean there won’t be change though, as Friedman notes that the Ducks are looking to mix up their assistant coaches.
  • One name that continues to come up in regards to coaching searches is Lane Lambert of the New York Islanders, including for the Arizona Coyotes according to Friedman. Lambert is off-limits for as long as the Islanders continue to battle in the postseason, meaning if a team is really interested in interviewing him they’ll have to put their search on hold.

Playoff Notes: Wahlstrom, Merrill, Lauzon, Foligno, Reaves

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It’s the postseason which of course means injuries. And while players often try to play through their ailments come playoff time, it’s not always possible. This appears to be the case for young New York Islander forward Oliver Wahlstrom. The dynamic winger was injured in Game Five of the Isles’ first round series with the Pittsburgh Penguins and did not appear in Game Six. Per Newsday’s Andrew Gross, head coach Barry Trotz stated on Friday that Wahlstrom is trying to work his way back into the lineup, but remains “doubtful” for Game One against the Boston Bruins. Saturday’s morning skate did not bring any update and it appears as though Wahlstrom will miss at least one more outing. Whatever injury he has sustained, New York is clearly concerned that it many linger. They have yet to disclose any details about Wahlstrom’s condition, likely to protect him should he fight through the pain and return to the lineup.

  • While the Montreal Canadiens hope to stay alive on Saturday night in order to see a Game Seven with the rival Toronto Maple Leafs, defenseman Jon Merrill will need much more than just one or even two wins if he is to see the ice again this postseason. The Canadiens have announced that Merrill will not play in Game Six, replaced in the lineup by Brett Kulak, and further comments by interim head coach Dominique Ducharme suggested that Merrill’s timeline for return is likely 7-to-14 days. If the Canadiens are to survive another week or two in the playoffs, they not only will need to complete an unlikely comeback against Toronto, but will also have to be the first team to defeat the Winnipeg Jets this postseason. It’s a tall task, especially without their solid deadline acquisition on the back end.
  • The Boston Bruins announced the opposite news this morning, with head coach Bruce Cassidy welcoming defenseman Jeremy Lauzon back to the lineup, according to The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa. Lauzon missed most of the team’s first round series with the Washington Capitals after taking a shot off the hand in Game One. With Kevan Miller also sidelined following a head injury in the series, Lauzon’s return will provide the Bruins with much-needed support on their bottom pair and adds a top penalty killer back to the lineup.
  • Nick Foligno was a full participant in morning skate for the Toronto Maple Leafs and was wearing a regular practice jersey, but TSN’s Kristen Shilton warns not to read into that too much. Foligno has appeared to be ready for previous games in this series, but has nevertheless missed each of the past three match-ups with a lower-body injury. Shilton adds that he did not look comfortable at morning skate. Head coach Sheldon Keefe also noted that Foligno remains a game-time decision, so Shilton appears to be right to caution any expectation that the big deadline addition will suit up.
  • Vegas Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves was the cause of an injury on Friday night, shoving Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter face-first into the post. The check earned him a two-minute penalty for interference, but there was plenty of speculation that it could result in a suspension, especially given Reaves’ spotty reputation. However, it appears the grinder will move forward with his postseason scot-free. Adrian Dater of Colorado Hockey Now reports that Reaves will not have a hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety and as such will not receive any supplemental discipline. The stars of the Colorado Avalanche will have to watch for Reaves (and watch out for their faces) in Round Two.

Snapshots: Ducks, Kings, Desruisseaux

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The Anaheim Ducks will not be making any changes at the general manager or head coaching positions, according to Eric Stephens of The Athletic. Ducks GM Bob Murray indicated today that both he and Dallas Eakins will return for the 2021-22 season, despite the struggles the team has gone through on the ice. The team finished 17-30-9 on the season but do have some nice building blocks in young players like Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale.

Eakins, who now has an 82-126-32 record as an NHL head coach, is only signed through next season. With the team going through a rebuild, it seems as though he may end up being the sacrificial coach before a more experienced or successful name is brought in to really compete. Of course, if the Ducks turn things around and make the playoffs next year that could all change.

  • The Los Angeles Kings have made four additions to their hockey operations staff hiring Ryan Kruse as Vice President of Research and Development, Jake Goldberg as Senior Director of Hockey Operations, Vukie Mpofu as Manager of Hockey Operations, and Legal Affairs and Rosie Yu as Software Engineer for Research and Development. The group has a varied history, but in terms of NHL experience, Goldberg is coming from the Arizona Coyotes where he served as Director of Hockey Operations and Assistant to the General Manager.
  • The Laval Rocket have announced a one-year, two-way minor league contract for Cedric Desruisseaux, who will join the club for the 2021-22 season. Though he stands only 5’8″ 165-lbs, Desruisseaux dominated the QMJHL this season, recording 42 goals and 78 points in 40 games. That easily led the league in both categories, though the undrafted 21-year-old will have a much tougher time putting up those kinds of numbers in professional hockey. Still, he’ll get a chance to show what he can do in the Rocket organization.

Vegas Reassigns Cody Glass To AHL

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The Vegas Golden Knights were without Max Pacioretty, Tomas Nosek, and Ryan Reaves for their Game Six loss to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday and will likely be without at least Reaves for a crucial Game Seven on Friday after he and rookie Peyton Krebs landed on the league’s COVID Protocol list. Pacioretty and Nosek currently remain “game-time decisions”. Vegas called upon young Cody Glass to help fill the void on Wednesday and it was expected that he would remain in the lineup for as long as necessary.

Well, that might not be the case after all. Vegas has announced this evening that Glass has been demoted to the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights in order to take part in their Pacific Division Final match-up. While this is a pivotal game for Henderson, down 1-0 in a best-of-three series, the Knights would not be prioritizing their farm team’s success over their own. The move indicates that Glass will not be in the lineup for Vegas on Friday, as the team would not put him on short rest if they had another choice.

How will Vegas fill the gap up front then if Reaves, Pacioretty, and Nosek are unable to go? Barring a recall of offset Glass’ reassignment, the team is actually without a healthy extra forward on the roster. This could imply that the Knights expect at least one of the injured trio to be available. The team could also employ a seven-defenseman lineup or could play defender Dylan Coghlan up front, as they have previously experimented with. Whatever the decision, the pressure is on head coach Peter DeBoer to field the right lineup to get a win or else risk another first-round upset this season. The first call that he has made is that he feels his options are all better than the 2017 No. 6 overall pick. Will it pay off?

Latest On Rick Tocchet

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One of the most in-demand coaching candidates this offseason is Rick Tocchet, who has already been linked to the New York Rangers, Seattle Kraken, and Buffalo Sabres. Add the Columbus Blue Jackets to that list, as Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider reports that Tocchet will interview there next week. The former Coyotes head coach interviewed with the Rangers today and will meet with the Sabres on Thursday, according to Morgan.

The reason Tocchet quickly parted ways with the Coyotes at the end of the season was to start taking interviews and it appears as though his name is on the shortlist of almost every vacancy in the league. Of course, wherever he ends up, Tocchet will be looking to turn around his head coaching career after struggling to find any real success at each of his first two stops.

In 2008-09, Tocchet replaced Barry Melrose as head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning after 16 games and would last through the following season. He had a 53-69-26 record in those two seasons and missed the playoffs both years. It wasn’t until 2017 when he returned to the head coaching ranks with Arizona, but it was much of the same. He posted a 125-131-34 record with the Coyotes and only led them to the playoffs in last year’s bubble.

Make no mistake, Tocchet has plenty of respect around the league, especially from his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was known as something of a “Kessel Whisperer” there, an assistant who could get the best out of enigmatic talents. At the midpoint last year, with the Coyotes sitting at 21-16-4, a PHWA poll had him as the runaway favorite to win the Jack Adams Trophy as Coach of the Year. The team would, unfortunately, go 12-13-4 after that point and Tocchet would not receive a single vote for the award, which ended up going to Bruce Cassidy.

On his last deal, Tocchet was paid a total of $6MM over four years with the Coyotes. It seems likely that he’ll receive a raise wherever he ends up, given how more established coaches are earning nearly that much in a single year.

Central Notes: Chicago Goalies, Quenneville, Detroit Prospects

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The Blackhawks went into this season with plenty of uncertainty between the pipes with Malcolm Subban and Collin Delia battling for the number one role with Kevin Lankinen serving as a third option.  Of course, by the end, Lankinen had established himself as the starter but there is still plenty of uncertainty regarding the viability of this trio.  Despite that, Phil Thompson and Chris Sosa of the Chicago Tribune feel that the team would be justified sticking with that same goalie group for next season which would allow them to evaluate Lankinen’s potential viability as a long-term starter while determining if one of Subban or Delia is worthy of a full-time backup spot.  All three netminders are slated to become unrestricted free agents in the 2022 offseason.

More from the Central:

  • Still regarding a Chicago goaltender, USA Hockey announced that prospect Drew Commesso has been added to their roster for the World Championships, replacing Anthony Stolarz who was injured in Sunday’s victory over Canada. The 18-year-old was a second-round pick of the Blackhawks (46th overall) back in 2020 and had a .915 SV% in 11 appearances in his freshman year at Boston University.
  • The fact that Seattle has yet to name their inaugural head coach is somewhat of a surprise given the veterans that have been available and the fact that GM Ron Francis wants an experienced voice behind the bench. However, Larry Brooks of the New York Post suggests the reason for that could be that the Kraken are interested in Panthers bench boss Joel Quenneville, positing that Florida might be willing to let him go for financial reasons.  Considering the season that they’ve had, it’d be tough to imagine that they’d simply let him go to save some money but if there is even a remote possibility of it happening, Francis’ patience in naming a coach would be justified.
  • While many expect Red Wings top prospects Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond to make the jump to the NHL next season, Detroit GM Steve Yzerman told MLive’s Ansar Khan that the youngsters aren’t pencilled into a spot on the roster. While he acknowledged that Seider – recently named the SHL’s defenseman of the year – should be ready to jump into the NHL lineup, Detroit has preferred a slower development approach in recent years which could result in the youngsters getting some AHL time first.

Vancouver Canucks, Travis Green Reach Contract Extension

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The Vancouver Canucks finished last in the North Division, a brutal turnaround after their second-round playoff run in last year’s bubble postseason. Many believed it would lead to substantial changes in the organization, but it appears as though they’ll give it another crack with the same management and coaching group. General manager Jim Benning was retained and now head coach Travis Green has signed a multi-year extension with the team. Benning released a statement:

We are excited to have Travis Green continue to lead the Canucks as head coach and move forward from a challenging year to focus on future seasons. Our plan has always been to draft and develop a young core and surround them with supporting players who can help us win. We have some of the best young players in the NHL and I believe Travis is the right coach to help us achieve team success and a return to the playoffs.

Now, Green was certainly not the reason for the disastrous season and many players spoke up in favor of bringing him back at the Canucks’ end-of-season media availability. Captain Bo Horvat said the team would “love to see him back” and explained that Green had been “awesome” toward them. There were also many who speculated that Green would not be unemployed for long if the Canucks let him go, especially with the number of other vacancies around the league.

Still, it is certainly surprising that no one is losing their job after a season like the Canucks just endured. While they did have a brutal schedule, cut up with a late-season COVID outbreak, they finished 20-26-3, ranked 25th in goals for and 24th in goals against. The team’s powerplay put them 25th, their penalty killing 18th, and save percentage ranked them 20th in the league. By almost every metric, the Canucks were one of the worst teams in the league.

In fact, they have been for a while now. Even with the team’s Cinderella-like run last season, Green’s overall regular season record with the Canucks sits at 122-129-31 and he has reached the playoffs just once in four years. If he and Benning are both coming back, it’s obvious that the real organizational change will have to come at the roster level (though perhaps that’s really the only place to effect real short-term change in any situation.).

With so much cap already tied up and new contracts for Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes to come, making that tangible change will be difficult. The only notable unrestricted free agents the team has are Brandon Sutter and Alexander Edler, who both expressed a desire to return to Vancouver earlier today. Most of the roster is still signed for the 2021-22 season, with more than $66.5MM already committed. Green is returning, but it may be difficult to turn things around in Vancouver right away.

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