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Central Notes: Bowness, Johns, Fiala, Kubalik

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The Dallas Stars were placed in a tough position back on Dec. 11 when they fired head coach Jim Montgomery due to off-ice, personal issues. The team installed assistant coach Rick Bowness in as interim coach, but general manager Jim Nill recently said that despite there being several big-name coaches available suddenly after a number of firings, he has no intention of making a second coaching change during the season.

However, The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro (subscription required) wonders whether Nill and the Stars might reconsider that stance with their bye-week coming up now that former Vegas coach Gerard Gallant has become available, as well as others like Mike Babcock and Peter Laviolette. The scribe writes that while it might create more unrest in the locker room, the team might not be able to resist a coach like Gallant, while Bowness might be OK with returning to his assistant coach role regardless.

  • Sticking with Dallas, Stars defenseman Stephen Johns fared well in his debut after missing 22 months due to post-concussion headaches. He played 18:29 against the Minnesota Wild with two shots on goal, two hits and a blocked shot, but told NHL.com’s Mike Heika that he intends to treat the upcoming bye-week and all-star break as his own training camp to get back into form. “I’m going to treat this bye week like a training camp for me,” said Johns. “Obviously, I need to get in better shape, I was breathing pretty hard out there today. It’s not really a break for me, which I’m fine with. I’ve had a long break.”
  • Sarah McLellan of the Star Tribune writes that almost a year after coming over from Nashville via trade, Minnesota Wild forward Kevin Fiala has found himself trying to develop himself as a complete player. While he has great offensive potential, he has often found himself as a healthy scratch due to his in-game mistakes and has made it clear he wants to change the way he plays. “I want to be a package, the full package, for sure,” Fiala said. “[But] I want to be me. I want to be offense.”
  • The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus (subscription required) writes that Chicago Blackhawks forward Dominik Kubalik has forced his way into the Calder Trophy discussions after scoring nine goals in the last seven games. The 24-year-old, whose rights came to Chicago in a trade with Los Angeles a year ago for a 2019 fifth-round pick, arrived from the NLA this summer and currently leads all rookies with 20 goals. Of course Colorado’s Cale Makar is the obvious first choice for the Calder, but the scribe writes that Kubalik is getting comfortable in the NHL now and might continue to improve.

Nashville’s Austin Watson Moved From Healthy Scratch To First Line

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It has now been a week and a half since John Hynes replaced Peter Laviolette as the head coach of the Nashville Predators. In that time, it has been a mixed bag of results. Hynes lost his debut mere hours after his hire became official, but it came at the hands of the Boston Bruins, one of the league’s best teams. The Predators then scored a convincing win over the Chicago Blackhawks and a hard fought two points against the Winnipeg Jets. Just when it looked like the coaching change could be paying immediate dividends, Nashville dropped their past two games to the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks.

Hynes has apparently decided that major lineup changes may be in order to get the team to play up to their expectations and he plans to begin those experiments on Saturday night against the Buffalo Sabres. After already demoting Viktor Arvidsson to the third line, Hynes is set to roll out another major lineup change. Austin Watson goes from healthy scratch for four of the five games of Hynes’ young tenure to the first line, joining Ryan Johansen and Calle Jarnkrok. He replaces Craig Smith, who is set to fall all the way to the fourth line with Kyle Turris and Colin Blackwell, with Yakov Trenin getting the healthy scratch due to Watson’s addition.

Hynes’ thinking with this move may not be as focused on offense as it is on defense. In fact, while many Nashville forwards have been disappointing on an individual basis this season, the team is tied for eighth in the NHL in goals for per game. The same can’t be said for goals against, where the Predators are ranked 24th. Nashville simply has not been a difficult team to play against this season and the loss of Colton Sissons has only exasperated that fact. There has been an obvious lack of physical response and energy from the forward group many nights. As they struggle to get a more balanced, two-way effort out of their forwards, Hynes may be hoping that a refreshed Watson, who leads the team in hits by a wide margin despite sitting six games (and Sissons is in second) can add some punch to the top line. Meanwhile, Smith can bring some experience and scoring threat to the fourth line, where maybe he can even get Turris re-energized.

Perhaps more important than strategy is that this moves by Hynes sends a message that no one’s role is safe under the new coach. The effort has to improve and no one is irreplaceable if they don’t perform. If the team continues to lose, don’t be surprised to see GM David Poile send the same message to his roster by the trade deadline.

Snapshots: Williams, Tryamkin, Sorenson, Luukkonen

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The Carolina Hurricanes are close to getting their former captain back as Justin Williams is expected to return to the ice on Sunday against the New York Islanders, according to News & Observer’s Chip Alexander. While head coach Rod Brind’Amour did state that Williams will go through pre-game warmups before he made a decision on whether to play Williams, the scribe writes that everyone, including Brind’Amour believes that Williams will make his debut on Sunday.

“I’m nervous before every game I play so I’m going to have nerves,” Williams said. “But the one thing you never question is your ability and that’s one thing I’m never going to question. I’m going to go out there and work my tail off and let my instincts take over.”

The 38-year-old Williams signed a one-year deal 11 days ago and has been working with the team trying to get into game shape. Williams is coming off a solid season in which he scored 23 goals and 53 points last season and likely will take a bottom-six role to start.

  • The Vancouver Canucks still remain hopeful they can bring back defenseman Nikita Tryamkin, who left the team three years ago after his dissatisfaction with his playing time and refusal to play in the AHL. The Canucks have hoped to bring back the 6-foot-7, 265-pound blueliner back after several successful seasons in the KHL. The 25-year-old might be open to coming back, according to his agent, Todd Diamond (via TSN’s Rick Dhaliwal. “It’s very much on the table, the goal and desire is to sign in Vancouver, that’s what we have had discussions about,” said Diamond. “I don’t want to disrupt his season. There is plenty of time to talk when his season is over.”
  • San Jose Sharks head coach Bob Boughner changed up the lines of his team, which also included listing forward Marcus Sorensen as a healthy scratch. Boughner used the word “message” when addressing the media, according to The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz, suggesting he needs more “relentlessness” and for him to play “more on the inside.” After a 17-goal campaign, the 27-year-old is struggling this season with just five goals and has just one point in the last 19 games.
  • Buffalo Sabres goaltending prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made his season debut in the AHL Saturday, stopping 24 of 27 shots in the Rochester American’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Cleveland Monsters. The Buffalo News’ Bill Hoppe writes that the plan has been to allow Luukkonen to stay with the team for a week before they return the top prospect to the ECHL, where he will play in their all-star game. The team may give him one more start before sending him back.

Vegas Golden Knights Fire Gerard Gallant, Hire Peter DeBoer

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Thursday: Gallant was supposed to coach the Pacific Division All-Star team at this month’s event, but will be replaced by Rick Tocchet of the Arizona Coyotes.

Wednesday: In shocking news this morning, the Vegas Golden Knights have decided to fire the first coach in franchise history, Gerard Gallant, and replace him with Peter DeBoer. Gallant’s assistant Mike Kelly has also been relieved of his duties. General manager Kelly McCrimmon released a statement on the move:

In order for our team to reach its full potential, we determined a coaching change was necessary. Our team is capable of more than we have demonstrated this season. We would like to thank Gerard and Mike for their service to the Vegas Golden Knights. They were both instrumental to the success we have enjoyed in our first two-plus seasons and we wish them all the best moving forward. In Peter DeBoer, we have a proven, experienced head coach who we believe can help us achieve our ultimate goal. We are excited to welcome Peter and his family to the Vegas Golden Knights organization. We look forward to a strong finish to the 2019-20 season with Peter at the helm and a successful tenure in the seasons to come.

Gallant was hired to lead the Golden Knights into their first season in 2017, and did more with a roster of misfits and castoffs than anyone expected. The expansion club got off to a fast start and never looked back, riding strong goaltending and breakout performances all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. Though they would lose in five games to the Washington Capitals, a 51-24-7 season was considered an unparalleled success for the expansion franchise and proved that Vegas was already a contender in the Western Conference.

That expectation of success only continued last season, when the Golden Knights once again made the playoffs with a 43-32-7 record. While that was a step backwards, the team still had 93 points and was within a goal of going to the second round after a brutal loss to the San Jose Sharks. This season saw more of that success, though a four-game losing streak now has the Golden Knights sitting just outside the playoff picture, tied with the Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets but having played two more games.

Perhaps it is that losing streak that did him in, as Gallant’s dismissal has been called completely “performance based.” The team has regressed in terms of points percentage since they started, but how much you can blame that on the coach is unclear. It’ll be DeBoer’s opportunity to show that he can turn things around, with a third of the season still remaining.

Speaking of DeBoer, he gets a new job after only being fired himself a month ago. The former Sharks bench boss is back in business after being let go earlier this season, and will start in with his fourth team. The two-time Stanley Cup finalist has never won the ultimate prize, but does have a .550 winning percentage across 855 career games behind the bench.

Minor Transactions: 01/10/20

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It’s a quiet Friday evening around the NHL with only three games scheduled, though one of them is still appointment viewing. When the Pittsburgh Penguins head to Colorado to take on the Avalanche, it’s always a fireworks show between friends Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon. The former has been injured for some time, but after traveling with the team there is hope he’ll be able to suit up tonight. As they and the other four teams prepare for tonight’s action, we’ll keep track of the minor moves.

  • The Minnesota Wild have returned Kaapo Kahkonen to the minor leagues after he served as an emergency backup for Alex Stalock last night. The Wild don’t play again until Sunday, and will hopefully have Devan Dubnyk available.
  • There was also a minor league trade today, as John Stevens was dealt to the Utica Comets in exchange for future considerations. The 25-year old forward has five points in 16 games for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers this season.
  • Joel Hanley has been returned to the minor leagues by the Dallas Stars, a good sign that John Klingberg is close to returning. Klingberg hasn’t played since suffering a lower-body injury in the Winter Classic.
  • The Arizona Coyotes have returned Ivan Prosvetov to the AHL, after he helped fill in for some injuries in net. Though he didn’t actually get into a game with the Coyotes, he can use this experience with the big club as motivation as he continues his development.
  • Alexander Volkov has been recalled by the Tampa Bay Lightning, returning after spending the last two months in the minor leagues. Volkov played four games for the team earlier this season but has spent most of the year with the Syracuse Crunch, scoring two goals and 15 points in 25 games.

Nashville Predators Announce John Hynes As New Head Coach

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After firing Peter Laviolette last night, the Nashville Predators have worked quickly to secure their next head coach. The team has hired John Hynes as the third head coach in franchise history. Hynes of course was also fired earlier this season by the New Jersey Devils. GM David Poile released a short statement on the hire:

John Hynes is bright young coach and great leader who has a track record of both effectively developing young players and successfully motivating veterans. We love his coaching resume and are confident that he has learned from every stop during his career, and has the best skill set to get the maximum potential out of our team.

Hynes was hired by the Devils in 2015 after a successful run as head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL, and actually led the team to an immediate improvement. New Jersey posted a winning season at 38-36-8, though still weren’t good enough to qualify for the playoffs. That would come in 2017-18 when Hynes took them from near the bottom of the standings to a 97-point finish on the back of Taylor Hall’s Hart Trophy performance, and everything looked to be on track for the Devils to continue a strong rebuild.

Unfortunately, that rebuild took a huge step backwards last season and even after bringing in high profile players was a disaster again this year. The Devils were 9-13-4 when they fired Hynes, meaning his overall record at the NHL level sits at 150-159-45.

Even with that mediocre record, Hynes’ hiring in Nashville comes as little surprise. Many around the hockey world immediately thought of him when Laviolette was let go, in part because of the connection to Poile. The two have worked together in the USA Hockey system and Ray Shero, who hired Hynes when he was with Pittsburgh and then again with New Jersey, is a former protege of Poile from his time in Nashville.

That familiarity will come in handy as Hynes and Poile try to right the ship in Nashville. The team has a ton of talent all over the roster, but currently sit sixth in the Central Division with a 19-15-7 record. While that is certainly not out of the race, a much more dominant season was expected by the Predators after signing Matt Duchene in the offseason to a huge free agent contract.

The start of the Hynes era in Nashville starts tonight when they take on the Boston Bruins.

Nashville Predators Fire Peter Laviolette

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The Nashville Predators have decided to move in a different direction. The team announced that head coach Peter Laviolette has been relieved of his coaching duties, along with associate coach Kevin McCarthy. General manager David Poile released a short statement:

Under the leadership of Peter and Kevin, our organization reached unprecedented heights – from our franchise-altering run to the Stanley Cup Final to a Presidents’ Trophy and our first two Central Division titles. Their passion for the game, ability to motivate a team and drive to be the best makes this a difficult decision. On behalf of the entire organization, I would like to thank Peter and Kevin for all their contributions to the Nashville Predators over the past five-and-a-half seasons.

Just a few days ago Poile had claimed that Laviolette’s job was not in jeopardy, but that apparently didn’t last long. The Predators lost again last night in a shootout to the Anaheim Ducks, putting them at 19-15-7 on the season despite a positive goal differential. Their stars have been good, but the team can’t seem to get any sustained success, only once having a winning streak of more than two games. Perhaps most embarrassing was a loss to the Dallas Stars in the Winter Classic, even after getting out to a 2-0 lead.

Amazingly, the Predators are now looking for only their third coach in franchise history. Barry Trotz coached the team for their first 15 seasons, and Laviolette has been in charge since 2014. In that time he led the team to the Stanley Cup final and compiled a regular season record of 248-143-60, but clearly wasn’t the choice for the team at this point. A team representative told reporters including Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet that the head coach for the Predators’ game tomorrow night is “to be announced” as there was no interim coach named in the release.

It will be interesting to see if Laviolette quickly lands somewhere else in the NHL, as he has had an extremely successful career behind the bench. A Stanley Cup winner in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes, he has an all-time head coaching record of 637-425-25-123 in the regular season and 75-68 in the playoffs.

Poll: Which Coach Leads The Jack Adams Race?

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The NHL has hit the mid-way point of the season and while nothing has been determined yet (of course), there are several coaches who seems to have made quite a difference to their teams so far this year. That bodes the question of which coach is leading the Jack Adams’ race at this point?

Arizona Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet has needed a couple of years to get the team in a position to take the Coyotes back to the playoffs, but the 2019-20 season seems to be the year that Arizona is likely to make the playoffs. Often considered a bottom-feeder in the Pacific Division, Arizona finds themselves in second place in the Pacific, only behind the Vegas Golden Knights. However, with offensive additions of Phil Kessel and Taylor Hall, as well as the healthy return of Nick Schmaltz, a solid defense and an impressive goaltending tandem of Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta, the Coyotes are now for real. Tocchet has had a lot to do with that, putting defense first and now developing an offensive game to compete a solid team.

It might seem unlikely, but the 2018-19 Jack Adams Award winner, Barry Trotz, could win the award for a second straight year. After last season’s impressive run, the New York Islanders were predicted to fall back to mediocrity as many felt that New York wouldn’t be able to surprise teams as easily this year with their impressive season and in a battlefield in the Metropolitan Division, there was no way the Islanders could continue to find themselves at the top of the division. Instead, the Trotz has the Islanders back in the thick of the playoffs in a tie for second place as the team’s offense continues to improve. Only the dominant Washington Capitals stand in their way.

One other significant surprise would be the coaching of Mike Sullivan, who has somehow managed to keep his team in the playoff hunt as they are tied with those Islanders in that second-place tie in the Metro. The Penguins are almost playing on a skeleton roster with the number of injuries, which includes playing large stretches of games without Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, Patric Hornqvist, Nick Bjugstad, Bryan Rust, Alex Galchenyuk, Kris Letang, Justin Schultz and Brian Dumoulin. Yet regardless, Sullivan had the team playing well even with multiple players from their AHL affiliate in the lineup almost on a daily basis.

There are a number of other top coaches who are doing well as well, including Washington’s Todd Reirden, St. Louis’ Craig Berube, Toronto’s Shelden Keefe and  Edmonton’s Dave Tippett.

Of course, it’s still early and much could change, but who is the leading candidate for the Jack Adams?

Which coach leads the Jack Adams race?
Mike Sullivan 32.77% (352 votes)
Someone else 32.03% (344 votes)
Rick Tocchet 20.39% (219 votes)
Barry Trotz 14.80% (159 votes)
Total Votes: 1,074

Pro Hockey Rumors app users, click here to vote.

West Notes: Predators, Hjalmarsson, Kuemper, Flames

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After adding Matt Duchene in free agency this summer, the Predators were expected to once again be one of the top teams in the Central Division.  However, that hasn’t come to fruition as Nashville is tied for last in the division (though they’ve played the fewest games in the conference).  Speaking with 104.5 The Zone (audio link), GM David Poile indicated that he’s “open for business” when it comes to the trade market and acknowledged that if things don’t turn around quickly, they could be sellers for the first time in quite a while.  When asked about the possibility of making a coaching change, Poile stated that replacing Peter Laviolette is “not in my game plan right now”.  Laviolette is in his sixth season with the team and they have made the playoffs in each year that he has been there.

More from the West:

  • Coyotes defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson has resumed skating in a non-contact jersey, notes Richard Morin of the Arizona Republic. He has been out since suffering a broken fibula in their fourth game of the season.  GM John Chayka mentioned that there’s still no set timeline for his return but that he’s now more day-to-day than week-to-week.  Meanwhile, goaltender Darcy Kuemper has resumed skating on his own but it’s still uncertain if he’ll be cleared to play by the All-Star break.
  • While there isn’t an imminent trade on the horizon, Flames GM Brad Treliving told reporters, including Sportsnet’s Eric Francis, that he fully intends to use the cap room freed up by the Michael Frolik trade and went as far as to call that the return in the trade and not the fourth-round pick they received. Calgary didn’t retain any of his $4.3MM cap hit in the move which puts them with nearly $5MM in total cap room to work with between now and the deadline.

Latest On The Firing Of Jim Montgomery

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Dallas Stars fans received some clarity today on the abrupt and unexpected firing of former head coach Jim Montgomery back on December 10th. At the time, the team would only state that Montgomery was dismissed for “unprofessional conduct inconsistent with [its] core values and beliefs.” Now, information has finally emerged that can begin to fill the holes of the mysterious situation and the club’s vague response. Montgomery released a public statement today, announcing that he is entering an inpatient residential program for alcohol abuse, implying that this led to his firing, which he says was “the appropriate call”:

Losing my job as head coach of the Dallas Stars last month was a wake-up call. It was also the appropriate call. I let the team’s front office, staff and players down. More importantly, I let my wife and my family down. The team’s decision to end my role forced me to look into the mirror and decide whether I wanted to continue living a damaging lifestyle or get help. I decided to get help. I turned to professionals in the field of alcohol abuse for their guidance and counseling. It has been an overwhelming and a very humbling experience knowing that I am not alone.

Today, with the unconditional support of my wife and family, and many close friends, I took another step forward by admitting myself into an inpatient residential program, where I intend to take the steps to be a better husband, father, friend, coach and mentor – one day at a time.

Whether or not his alcoholism is the only factor that contributed to Montgomery’s firing – and it is doubtful that those full details will ever be disclosed – it seems that the loss of his job has inspired Montgomery to make positive changes in his life. His former employer continues to support him in this pursuit as well, as Dallas GM Jim Nill stated today that the organization is “supportive of this decision by Jim and we hope that by pursuing this help, he and his family will be stronger for it.” We here at PHR certainly wish him well in his path toward recovery.

Meanwhile, the Stars have continued to excel under new head coach Rick Bowness. Dallas is 6-3-1 since the change behind the bench and have shaken off the early season struggles. The team is now on pace for a 100-point season and could make waves in the postseason. Bowness, currently the interim head coach, is likely to shed that “interim” tag before too long with the way he has the Stars playing. Both he and the team deserve credit for not allowing the ongoing issues with Montgomery and the subsequent distraction of his firing to derail their season.

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