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Snapshots: DeBoer, Boqvist, Raymond, Peel

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Many coaches have lost their jobs already this season and several of them may not coach in the NHL ranks again. However, that certainly won’t be the case for former San Jose Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer, who lost his job four days ago after the team’s poor start to the season.

Regardless, DeBoer has been an excellent coach, who has put up an impressive record of 415-329-111 record throughout 11+ seasons with San Jose, New Jersey and Florida and has taken the Sharks to the playoffs all four years he’s been with the franchise, which included a Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2015-16.

While many coaches prefer to sit out the remainder of the season and look at their options the following year, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday night that the 51-year-old DeBoer is willing to listen to teams if they want to hire him now.

“Sometimes coaches want to take time, maybe the rest of the season before they come back,” Friedman said. “The word is, however, that depending on the situation, Peter DeBoer is willing to listen and will consider coaching this year.”

Of course, there is another likely possibility as The Athletic’s Eric Duhatschek (subscription required) suggests that he could consider joining the Seattle franchise as their future head coach, a similar move that Gerard Gallant did after being fired from Florida and then taking on the expansion Vegas Golden Knights position not long after.

  • Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports writes that Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Adam Boqvist will appear in his 10th game today against the Wild, meaning the team intends to burn the first year of his entry-level contract after he plays the game. With the team opting to keep Boqvist around rather than loan him to Sweden for the World Junior Champsionships, this was the obvious outcome.
  • Sweden has already lost Boqvist and could lose Rasmus Sandin for the World Junior Championships. However, the team has gotten even more bad news as the status of top prospect forward Lucas Raymond is in jeopardy. According to Goteborgs-Posten (translation required), Raymond, considered a top five pick in the 2020 NHL draft (and possibly higher), has been suffering from a viral infection and hasn’t appeared in a game since the end of November and is likely to miss the entire tournament. Raymond has three goals and five points in 16 games in the SHL as a 17-year-old. He also played 10 SHL games as a 16-year-old, scoring two goals.
  • NHL’s John Shannon reports that the NHL are now without two referees as referee Tim Peel fractured his fibula Thursday in Glendale between the Arizona Coyotes and the Chicago Blackhawks. Peel was run into by Jonathan Toews, who was falling and came down on Peel’s leg with his stick. The scribe writes that Peel had surgery, but is likely to miss the entire season. The NHL also lost Jon McIsaac as well, meaning the league will likely try to hire back some retired refs or bring some up from the AHL.

 

Snapshots: Kings, Moore, Honka

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Los Angeles Kings prospects Rasmus Kupari and Tobias Bjornfot were both named to their respective country’s World Junior rosters last week, but seeing as both are under contract and playing in the AHL, the duo had to officially be loaned by the Kings to participate. That permission officially came down today, as L.A. announced that Kupari would play for Finland and Bjornfot would play for Sweden in the upcoming WJC tournament. Bjornfot, a first-round pick back in June, played in three games with the Kings earlier this season and has eight points in 20 games with the Ontario Reign. The athletic defenseman joins an impressive unit on the blue line for Sweden at the WJC. Kupari, L.A.’s top pick two years ago, played for the Gold Medal-winning Finnish entry in last year’s WJC, recording five points in seven games, and overall enjoyed a strong season in his native country. However, his first season in North America has gotten off to a slow start, with just seven points in 24 AHL games for the talented forward. While there was no indication in the Kings’ release, Kupari could be a candidate to remain overseas following the tournament. But first he will join another star-studded Finnish roster in pursuit of a repeat title.

  • With the Boston Bruins playing the Washington Capitals tonight in the first of a back-to-back set that includes a match-up with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night, Connor Clifton has drawn back into the lineup. The Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont reports that John Moore, who just recently made his season debut following off-season shoulder surgery, will be eased back into regular action, according to head coach Bruce Cassidy. Splitting back-to-backs or occasional nights off could become commonplace for the veteran defender. The Bruins are more cognizant than most when it comes to the value of healthy defense, as they struggled with continuous injury issues on the back end last season and are still waiting on the return of Kevan Miller. Cassidy recently stated that the Bruins are a better team with Moore active, even though it causes a surplus of lefties in the lineup, but that could mean he prioritizes keeping Moore healthy long-term rather than playing him in every game and risking re-injury to his damaged shoulder. Fortunately, the team has the luxury of young Clifton, who played well in Moore’s stead to begin the year and is more than deserving of spot starts.
  • Before the calendar flipped to December, making him ineligible to play in the NHL this season, it seems the trade market for unsigned Dallas Stars RFA defenseman Julius Honka was not as dead as it seemed. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman writes that the Carolina Hurricanes were the team with the most interest in the enigmatic rearguard and were in heavy pursuit. However, the team ultimately decided that they were not willing to meet the Stars’ demand of draft picks or young, unsigned prospects rather than a fellow AHL prospect. Ironically, the Hurricanes drafted Honka’s younger brother, Anttoni, in the third round this past year, which could keep them interested in the elder Honka this off-season.

 

San Jose Sharks Fire Peter Deboer

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9:00pm CT: The Sharks have officially named Boughner as interim head coach and have confirmed the dismissals of Deboer, Barr, Spott, and Hedberg. Joining Boughner’s staff are former Sharks players and development coaches Mike Ricci and Evgeni Nabokov, as well as AHL head coach Roy Sommer. Sommer’s vacated newposition will shared by Jimmy Bonneau and Michael Chiasson, the Barracuda announced.

7:00pm CT: NHL head coaches continue to drop like flies. Refreshingly, this latest move is reportedly purely a hockey decision. Several sources, including Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, report that the San Jose Sharks have fired head coach Peter Deboer. Deboer, who was in his fifth year with the Sharks, had one more year remaining on his current contract.

While the team has yet to confirm any personnel moves, many sources believe that assistant Bob Boughner, the former Florida Panthers head coach, will take over as the head coach in San Jose. However, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that the organization is set to clean house otherwise. Assistants Dave Barr, Steve Spott, and Johan Hedberg are also reported to have been fired.

In 361 games with the Sharks, Deboer coached the team to a 198-129-34 record. He took San Jose to the playoffs in each of his four full seasons, including a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2017 and Western Conference Final berth just this past year. However, the team has gotten off to a poor start with a 15-16-2 record through 33 games. The Sharks are just 12th in the conference standings and sport the worst goals against average in the West as well.

While management felt that the team’s struggles could be addressed by a coaching change, critics of this decision will point to the poor play of goalies Martin Jones and Aaron Dell for well over a year now – the pair have the NHL’s worst even strength goals against average this season – and the decision by the front office not to address the position as the core source of the problems in San Jose. However, the Sharks are dealing with more issues that just goaltending this year, as they are 24th in scoring and 23rd in power play efficiency as well.

Luckily for the Sharks, Boughner is not your typical interim head coach. The former NHL defenseman was replaced in Florida not because of his performance so much as the availability of Joel Quenneville. He was then a serious candidate for the Buffalo Sabres’ vacancy this summer before returning to San Jose. Boughner enjoyed a long career as a shutdown defender and has a strong grasp on those aspects of the game. Seeing as the Sharks have just two positive plus/minus players in their starting lineup in Logan Couture and Barclay Goodrow, the team can certainly stand to play a tighter defensive game. Barring a change in personnel in goal, Boughner could be the next-best option for the Sharks to stop allowing so many goals.

With Deboer’s dismissal, there have now been five head coaches fired in the NHL this season, all of which have come within the past 22 days. Beginning with Toronto relieving Mike Babcock on November 20, Calgary’s Bill Peters, New Jersey’s John Hynes and, just yesterday,  Dallas’ Jim Montgomery have all lost their jobs as well. Sadly, the news today out of San Jose had to be qualified as “a hockey decision”, given the recent spotlight on coach abuse in hockey, which led to Peters’ firing, and the murky details on the behavioral issues that forced out Montgomery. All sources who have reported on the Sharks’ coaching decision have reiterated that there were no other factors in play other than the performance of the team.

New York Islanders Looking For Scoring Help

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The New York Islanders are about the last organization in the NHL you’ll hear many rumors from, given the tight-lipped nature of any Lou Lamoriello-led front office. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet though reports that the team is looking for “a scorer,” but doesn’t go into any detail on who they may be targeting.

The Islanders are currently sitting third in the Eastern Conference with 42 points and a 20-7-2 record, but have done it once again on the back of tight defense and solid goaltending. The team ranks among the lowest-scoring groups in the league with just 86 goals for through 29 games, but have limited opponents to just 69 over the same stretch, easily the best in the NHL.

Just like last season, when the team’s leading scorer Mathew Barzal had just 62 points in 82 games, the Islanders under Barry Trotz refuse to sell out for offense and are willing to win with an extremely structured system. That said, there’s always room for a little more skill up front when it gets to the playoffs.

If the Islanders are on the hunt for another forward, they have plenty of ammunition. The team owns all of their draft picks and have several top-end prospects developing in the minors or junior. They also have Joshua Ho-Sang still waiting for a trade out of the organization, though it’s unclear what value if any he has at this point. Arthur Staple of The Athletic (subscription required) recently examined several options both internal and external that could help the team’s forward group, including the complicated scenario that would be acquiring Taylor Hall.

One of the biggest weapons that Lamoriello has at his disposal this season is a simple one–cap space. The Islanders left enough room in the offseason to bring in a potential big name like Artemi Panarin or Sergei Bobrovsky, and have plenty left over after missing on both. The team could easily fit in any of the projected trade deadline rentals with room to spare.

Dallas Stars Fire Jim Montgomery

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Wednesday: Sean Shapiro of The Athletic confirmed today that the radio appearance many have pointed to over the last 24 hours had nothing to do with Montgomery’s firing. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the rest of Montgomery’s contract, which continued through the 2021-22 season, has been terminated with cause.

Tuesday: The Dallas Stars have become the next team to fire their head coach this season, dismissing Jim Montgomery today. The Stars did not make this decision due to on-ice performance however. GM Jim Nill released a statement explaining the move:

The Dallas Stars expect all of our employees to act with integrity and exhibit professional behavior while working for and representing our organization. This decision was made due to unprofessional conduct inconsistent with the core values and beliefs of the Dallas Stars and the National Hockey League.

Assistant coach Rick Bowness has been named interim head coach, while Derek Laxdal will move up from the Texas Stars to serve as an assistant with the NHL club. Neil Graham will become the head coach of Texas.

This move comes just after NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the league “will not tolerate abusive behavior of any kind” and instituted several levels of training for their coaches and executives, along with a hotline for players or employees to report any incidents of abuse. The league however was asked directly by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet if there were any ongoing investigations, which they denied. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic also tweets that the Montgomery situation is not related to the program Bettman announced.

Nill at a press conference explained that there is no connection to any current or former players. He was made aware of “a material act of unprofessionalism” over the weekend, which did not involve any other Stars employees.

The Stars had turned around their season dramatically from a disastrous start and now sit 17-11-3 on the year. The team has lost in regulation just four times in their last 22 games and are one point out of a divisional playoff spot.

LeBrun reports that Montgomery had two years left on his contract, however it is unclear what kind of termination this is. The Stars used “dismissed” in the release instead of “relieved of coaching duties” as most do when they are honoring the contract.

Bowness meanwhile will take over with plenty of experience behind the bench. With nearly 500 games as an NHL head coach and plenty more as an assistant, he will certainly not be overwhelmed by the moment. The Stars will play the New Jersey Devils today.

Snapshots: Kravtsov, Hartley, Sanford, Pelletier

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New York Rangers prospect Vitaly Kravtsov has been demoted to the VHL by the KHL’s Chelyabinsk Traktor, their minor league affiliate, the team announced (Twitter link, translation required). Kravtsov has struggled significantly this season as he started the season with the Rangers with many expecting him to win a roster spot out of training camp.

Instead, he was sent to the Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL where he had just one assist in five games and struggled to gain playing time. He opted to enact his European Assignment Clause and returned to Chelyabinsk Traktor team in the KHL with which he played 50 games last season as a 18-year-old. However, Kravtsov has struggled there as well, scoring just two goals in 11 games.

Sport-Express’ Igor Eronko reports that Traktor isn’t actively trying to trade Kravtsov’s rights, but they are willing to listen to offers for the 19-year-old.

  • Eronko also reports that former NHL head coach Bob Hartley is closing in on signing a two-year extension with Omsk Avangard in the KHL. Hartley has his team currently in second place in the Eastern division with 18 wins and 50 points in 37 games. Avangard hired Hartley, a head coach with the Colorado Avalanche, Atlanta Thrashers and the Calgary Flames, back in May of 2018.
  • The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford reports that the injuries in St. Louis continue to mount as St. Louis Blues forward Zach Sanford didn’t skate Sunday and is doubtful to play on Tuesday. Alex Steen and Oskar Sundqvist are both expected to join the Blues for their trip to Buffalo, but neither is expected to play, which means the team will be forced to recall a player from the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL before then.
  • Ryan Pike of FlamesNation reports that Calgary Flames prospect and 2019 first-round pick Jakob Pelletier is expected to miss the World Junior Championships after the 18-year-old suffered a lower-body injury Thursday in his QMJHL game. Pelletier, who is having a dominant season with the Moncton Wildcats, was invited to Canada’s World Junior selection camp, and while the injury isn’t considered to be serious, it will be enough to keep him out of next week’s camp, which means he cannot make the team.

WJC Notes: Gustafsson, Switzerland, USA

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With December underway, it is officially U-20 World Junior Championship season and teams have begun to announce their preliminary camp rosters for the tournament beginning later this month. When Sweden made its reveal on Wednesday, the roster was incomplete, as the team was hoping to add some other players to the list once they were granted permission to compete by their NHL clubs. Among those players the Swedes are hopeful to bring in is Winnipeg Jets forward David Gustafsson. Gustafsson, 19, played on the highly-hyped Swedish entry last year that faltered in the quarterfinal round of the tournament and the team would like to bring him back for another try. However, the 2018 second-round pick has surprisingly emerged as a regular in his rookie season with Winnipeg, already skating in 22 games. That’s not to say that Gustaffson is excelling in the NHL – he has just one point to date – but he is a piece that the Jets have relied upon. For that reason, The Athletic’s Murat Ates relays from head coach Paul Maurice that the team will put their own needs this season ahead of Gustafsson’s individual developmental needs when it comes to deciding whether or not to loan him to Team Sweden. If the Jets feel that they would be short-handed by losing the rookie for several weeks over the course of the WJC, the team will likely opt to keep him, despite his lack of production. However, Ates does not believe that this will be the case. Citing the recent waiver claim of Nick Shore and the improving health of several sidelined forwards, Ates feels that Winnipeg will wind up sending Gustafsson to the WJC, where they hope he can re-discover his scoring touch against more equal competition. After the tournament, the Jets could bring him back, but Ates would also not be surprised if he finishes the year out in Sweden, for the same developmental reasons. The decision will be made, one way or another, in short time.

  • Switzerland has announced their preliminary roster for the upcoming World Junior tournament, which includes a number of NHL prospects. The Swiss made a surprise run to the semifinals last year with a young, unheralded roster. This year, they will bring much of that core group back in hopes of taking another step forward. Goaltenders Akira Schmid (NJD) and Luca Hollenstein will be back, as will top defensemen Nico Gross (NYR) and Tim Berni (CLB) and talented forward Valentin Nussbaumer (ARI). However, youth could be the x-factor again for the Swiss in the form of two highly-regarded draft prospects. Forward Simon Knak of the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks is expected to be a mid-round pick in 2020 and could play a key scoring role at the WJC. Potentially even more exciting is the inclusion of 17-year-old defenseman Giancarlo Chanton of the OHL’s Niagara Ice Dogs, already being talked about as a first-round pick in 2021. The Swiss will again be an intriguing dark horse in this year’s tournament.
  • With Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, and Canada having already announced their preliminary rosters, attention now turns to the Americans. Team USA suffered a heart-breaking loss in the final last year to a Finland team that they had beaten earlier in the tournament and are out to get what narrowly eluded them this year. Following a historic 2019 draft class, this year’s entry could be an embarrassment of riches for the U.S. and the team is certainly making the most of their official roster announcement. USA Hockey will reveal their  WJC squad on the NHL Network in a 4:00pm ET segement on Monday featuring head coach Scott Sandelin. The excitement will likely only continue to build after that until the puck drops on this year’s tournament.

Dallas Stars To Scratch Alexander Radulov

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The run of expensive healthy scratches continues in the NHL this season, with the Dallas Stars now getting in on the action. Sean Shapiro of The Athletic reports that the Stars are set to scratch Alexander Radulov for tonight’s game against the Winnipeg Jets, adding that head coach Jim Montgomery said it’s what’s best for the team. Radulov declined to comment.

The 33-year old Russian forward has been a disappointment this season after back-to-back 72-point campaigns. Not only is his offensive production down—15 points in 29 games works out to a 42-point full season pace—but he is among the league leaders in minor penalties with 15 already.

Some may see a scratching like this and immediately think about potential trade destinations, but not so fast with Radulov. Not only does he have a full no-movement clause at the moment which he could use to block any deal, but his contract still has two more seasons after this one at a $6.25MM cap hit. Though the actual salary declines in those years, it would be hard for any team to justify acquiring him for the full cap hit with the way he’s played this season.

In the summer of 2017, Radulov turned a strong return to North America with the Montreal Canadiens into a five-year deal with the Stars in free agency. Though the Canadiens were reported to have offered a similar deal, he turned down the team to go play in Texas. Perhaps the Canadiens should be counting their blessings at this point, given their strong cap situation and young core.

While this is probably not the end of Radulov in Dallas, it is a clear message from Montgomery that he will ice the team he believes has the best chance to win on a given night, salary be damned. The Stars turned around a dreadful start with a 14-1-1 run recently, but have now dropped their last four straight and are in need of another shake up.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Injury Notes: Kulikov, Keith, Granlund

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As if the Winnipeg Jets needed any more concerns on the blue line, yet the team’s short-handed defense corps was dealt another blow on Tuesday. Head coach Paul Maurice announced that Dmitry Kulikov has suffered an upper-body injury that is expected to leave him sidelined for upwards of two months. Maurice expects the veteran defender to return after the All-Star break in late January. Kulikov suffered the injury, speculated to be related to his left arm, on Friday night and did not play Saturday. However, there was hope that he would return to the lineup shortly, but that will not be the case. Kulikov, 29, had been enjoying a bit of a career resurgence early this year after dealing with injuries in each of this past three seasons. The former Panthers standout is third among Jets starting defensemen in time on ice and first in Corsi For, while leading the entire team in blocked shots. Personally, Kulikov was also on pace for the highest point total of his stint in Winnipeg. However, it now appears that it could be more of the same for the physical, but fragile rearguard. With Nathan Beaulieu already injured and the team still coping with the absences of Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, and Ben Chiarot, Kulikov’s loss is a major blow for the Jets. Winnipeg has held their own to this point in the season, but one has to wonder when their luck will run out considering their depleted blue line.

  • The Chicago Blackhawks are another team dealing with a slew of injuries. So much so in fact that they were forced to ice only eleven forwards and six defensemen on Monday night after a roster full of short-term injuries and a sick goalie necessitated the call-up of AHL keeper Kevin Lankinen without enough room to make any other additions. While Robin Lehner is back on his feet, one of those other injured players is going to be out for a while longer. Blackhawks beat writer Carter Baum reports that top pair defenseman Duncan Keith is expected to miss at least another two games with a lingering groin injury. Keith will not travel with the team on their two-game road trip, extending what has already been a two-game absence. Groin injuries tend to stick around, so Keith could remain sidelined beyond the next two games and could also deal with the issue throughout the season. It’s a difficult situation for Chicago, who desperately needs their ice time leader and defensive mainstay to be active as much as possible if they wish to push for a playoff spot this season.
  • Kyle Turris is back in the lineup for the Nashville Predators, but not because head coach Peter Laviolette has changed his mind about the under-performing veteran. Instead, Turris has drawn in to replace Mikael Granlund. The Predators announced just prior to their game on Tuesday night that Granlund would not be in the lineup and is considered day-to-day with an undisclosed lower-body injury. Not much is known about Granlund’s status as of yet, but an extended absence could very well cost him his spot as a top-six forward for the team. Granlund has just 11 points in 26 games, only two more points than Turris has in 19 games. Granlund has been a disappointment since coming over from Minnesota last season, but even if Nashville has no intention of re-signing him, the impending free agent has ample incentive to get healthy and try to find his way back to an elite level of play.

 

Coach Behavior To Be Main Topic At NHL Board Of Governors Meetings

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It has been a whirlwind few weeks in the NHL coaching ranks. After the Toronto Maple Leafs fired head coach Mike Babcock back on November 20, several former players used the opportunity to criticize the veteran coach’s tactics and the way he treated some of his players. Former NHLer Akim Aliu used these comments as a jumping off point to make his own accusations of mistreatment against former AHL coach and then-Calgary Flames head coach Bill Peters. Aliu’s recollection of racists epithets from Peters while with AHL Rockford were also echoed by stories of physical abuse from former players of Peters with the Carolina Hurricanes and confirmed by current Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’amour. Peters ended up resigning last week. The latest coach to be exposed is Chicago Blackhawks assistant Marc Crawford, who faces allegations of physical abuse from some of his former players with the Los Angeles Kings. Crawford has left the team temporarily while under investigation.

The behavior of coaches has been brought to the forefront of NHL headlines and is not going to be a conversation that disappears quickly. In fact, the NHL Coaches’ Association – which ironically includes Babcock and Peters as executive members – addressed these ongoing issues with a statement earlier today:

We believe the NHL is a league built on hard work, respect, and teamwork. It is a coach’s job to understand how best to motivate players while respecting them as individuals and valuing them as people. Coaching philosophies differ from coach to coach, and season to season, but there are lines that cannot be crossed and there is certainly no room in the NHL, or anywhere else, for abusive behavior of any kind… The NHLCA is committed to working with the NHL and NHLPA to ensure respectful working environments for everyone.

TSN’s Darren Dreger adds that coach behavior will be the biggest topic of conversation among NHL owners at the upcoming Board of Governors meeting in California next week. He believes that coach behavior has never been scrutinized to this extent and that these meetings could produce a substantive change to how coaches are governed by the NHL. Commissioner Gary Bettman has already met with Aliu, who came away from the meeting with a positive reaction and a feeling that changes are coming. One possible shift, suggested by Dreger’s colleague Bob McKenzie, is enhanced vetting when hiring coaches and deeper background checks, including interviews with former players and assistants. One way or another, these incidences and allegations have made clear that there has been an ongoing issue related to coach behavior in the NHL that has flown under the radar but now must be addressed.

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