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Maple Leafs Hire Paul McFarland As Assistant Coach

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One assistant out, one assistant in for Mike Babcock and his staff. Sources including both Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported earlier that the Toronto Maple Leafs were expected to announce that Paul McFarland has been hired by team, and the team did just that not long after. This news comes soon after the official announcement that D.J. Smith has been hired away from the team to become the new head coach of the Ottawa Senators.

While these two hires come in close proximity, they may not actually be connected at all. Smith worked with defensemen and the penalty kill units for Toronto, while McFarland ran the power play for the Florida Panthers last season. In fact, McFarland played for the Windsor Spitfires when Smith was an assistant and later served as an assistant himself under Smith with the Oshawa Generals to begin his coaching career. McFarland was likely set to re-join his mentor with the Maple Leafs before Smith made the decision to depart for Ottawa. The real driving force behind McFarland’s hire is the anticipated departure of Jim Hiller, who ran Toronto’s power play this season. Hiller was given permission to seek other opportunities and as of earlier this month was linked to the Nashville Predators. Regardless of where he ends up, he was not expected back in Toronto and certainly won’t be now that McFarland is in the fold.

McFarland, 33, is more than just the beneficiary of opportunity in this situation, though. The former head coach of the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs is considered a rising star in the coaching ranks and his dismissal from the Panthers was tied more to his connection to former head coach Bob Boughner than his performance. Actually, Florida ranked second in the NHL this season on the power play at 26.8% and received a greater proportion of their goals man-up than any other team in the league. McFarland did an excellent job, but seemingly didn’t fit into the plans of new head coach Joel Quenneville. Florida’s loss is Toronto’s gain, as the Ontario native returns home and brings his power play expertise with him to a roster chock full of potent offensive talent.

Even with McFarland’s addition, there will still be speculation that the departures of Smith and Hiller will leave the Maple Leafs in need of another coach. The most obvious option would be current AHL head coach Sheldon Keefe, a popular name in coaching circles who is currently guiding the Toronto Marlies through another deep playoff run. Toronto does not want to let Keefe leave the organization, which could mean they choose to promote him to Babcock’s staff, where he can take over some of the duties left behind in Smith’s absence.

Ottawa Senators Name D.J. Smith As Head Coach

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So much for those rumors linking Patrick Roy to the Ottawa Senators’ head coaching vacancy. The Senators announced this morning that former Toronto Maple Leafs assistant D.J. Smith has been named the team’s new head coach. Smith has agreed to a three-year contract to lead Ottawa, his first head coaching position in the NHL.

Smith, 42, may be a surprise pick to be the next bench boss of the Senators, but he is certainly as qualified as any first-time NHL head coach. Smith played eight seasons of pro hockey, suiting up for 45 NHL games but more memorably manning the blue line for the former St. John Maple Leafs of the AHL for parts of seven season. Smith retired from playing hockey in 2004 and immediately stepped into a role as an assistant coach for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires, his hometown team with whom he had played his own junior hockey. Smith spent eight years in Windsor, two of which ended in Memorial Cup championships, before taking the head coach job for the rival Oshawa Generals in 2012. Smith’s time in Oshawa was short, but definitely effective. He compiled a record of 135-53-3-13 over three seasons with the Generals, won a Memorial Cup, and was named the OHL’s Coach of the Year. In 2015, Smith joined Toronto to begin his NHL coaching career as an assistant to Mike Babcock. Babcock made it known early on that he saw the potential in Smith and was grooming him to be a head coach and would not stand in the way of any move. Smith surely learned a lot from Babcock, but also contributed much to the team himself on the defensive side of the game.

Now, as he takes his talents to Ottawa, the Senators feel he can continue his upward trajectory. Smith’s history of winning, experience with young players, and focus on competent defense will all serve to benefit Ottawa greatly as they continue through a difficult rebuilding process. In the team’s release, GM Pierre Dorion states the following:

D.J. Smith is a winner. We believe he is the best person to drive the development and success of the Ottawa Senators. D.J is a great communicator and an exceptional strategist. His passionate approach, coupled with his ability to teach the game, is exactly what we were looking for throughout the process. We’re thrilled to welcome D.J. and his family to Ottawa.

Circling back to those Roy rumors, don’t close the door on the Hall of Fame goaltender joining the Senators just yet. The team is still in the hunt for a President of Hockey Operations and Roy would fit that description as well. One of the main reasons he left his last NHL post with the Colorado Avalanche was due to a lack of input in player personnel decisions, so he very well may be intrigued by a front office position. There’s also the slim but possible chance that the Senators would like to bring Roy in as an assistant to Smith, to help guide him through his start as a head coach. There is sure to be more movement in Ottawa this off-season, but their biggest move is completed with the hiring of a rival assistant to be their new head coach.

Dave Tippett Still Favorite For Edmonton Oilers Coaching Job

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The Edmonton Oilers have conducted several interviews in their coaching search, and could have a decision in the next few days. Ryan Rishaug and Bob McKenzie of TSN, and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic have all heard that Friday is a clear deadline given GM Ken Holland’s plan to spend next week preparing for the draft combine. If a decision isn’t made by then, it may have to wait until the beginning of June when the combine is complete.

McKenzie goes so far as to say that he believes Dave Tippett is currently the only remaining candidate for the job, though there is still a negotiation to be done on contract terms which means nothing is for certain yet. The Oilers have been searching for a coach since Holland took over earlier this month and confirmed that Ken Hitchcock would not be behind the bench next season. Tippett immediately was linked, given the news that he was interested in coaching again had interviewed for the Buffalo Sabres job before they gave it to Ralph Krueger.

The 57-year old Tippett has been working with the management of the Seattle expansion franchise, but has a long history as an NHL coach. He was the head coach of the Dallas Stars from 2002-2009, before taking the job with the Phoenix Coyotes the following season. In 2017 when the Coyotes made an ownership and several management changes, Tippett was let go in favor of Rick Tocchet.

Unfortunately, that long resume has not included much success of late. Tippett last took a team to the playoffs in 2012, when a Mike Smith-led Coyotes group shocked the NHL by making it all the way to the Western Conference Final. Overall, the veteran coach has a 553-413-28-120 record as a head coach in the NHL, though much of that success came in Dallas. He won the Jack Adams trophy for Coach of the Year in 2010, his best regular season with the Coyotes.

Snapshots: Bruins, Roy, Kochetkov

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As the Boston Bruins continue to wait for the Western Conference Final to wrap up, the organization thinks they’ve found a way to stave off lethargy and stay on routine during this long stretch of inactivity. The team has announced that they will hold a public intra-squad scrimmage on Thursday night, exactly one week since they last took the ice for Game Four of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes. After sweeping Carolina, the Bruins faced an eleven-day break before the start of the Stanley Cup Final series on Monday and have opted to break up that span by simulating a game day. The Bruins, including their AHL depth recalls, will split their available players in half and square off in two 25-minute periods. With fans in the stands and officials on the ice, Boston hopes this will as closely as possible resemble a true game day, but head coach Bruce Cassidy also acknowledged that he will fabricate specific game situations during the scrimmage to ensure that his special teams units also get work in. There is no doubt that any team entering the Stanley Cup Final would rather have more rest than less and the Bruins are no different. With Zdeno Chara, David Krejci, Noel Acciari, and John Moore among the players nursing minor injuries, not to mention Chris Wagner hoping he can return to game shape at some point during the series, Boston will gladly take the nearly two weeks off. However, they hope for those trying to stay focused and in game condition that the scrimmage on Thursday will be enough to be ready from the start on Monday night.

  • After the report earlier that both the Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers were close to naming their new head coaches, The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Senators GM Pierre Dorion was spotted in Montreal with Patrick Roy today. Roy interviewed for Ottawa’s head coach position on Monday, only to again meet with Dorion and Assistant GM Peter MacTavish today. According to witnesses, the trio left a hotel together in Montreal this afternoon after what can only be assumed is a follow-up meeting about the vacancy. This new obviously vaults Roy, who is the seventh known person to interview for the head coach position, as the clubhouse leader. Roy, who last coached in the NHL with the Colorado Avalanche in 2016, left the post due to his lack of input in player personnel decisions. With the Senators known to also be looking for a President of Hockey Operations, it could be that Dorion also spoke to Roy today about taking on some front office responsibilities as well as coaching duties if hired.
  • Although passed up in the NHL Draft prior, 19-year-old Russian goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov was ranked as the top European goalie in this draft class by NHL Central Scouting in their final rankings. Kochetkov was lights out for Russia at the World Juniors earlier this year, named the tournament’s Best Goaltender behind a .953 save percentage and 1.45 GAA. He also performed extremely well in the VHL, the KHL’s minor league, and looked comfortable in two KHL games with HK Sochi. As impressive a season as he had this year, Kochetkov has a chance to accomplish even more next season. KHL powerhouse SKA St. Petersburg announced today that they have acquired Kochetkov and the teen keeper is expected to serve as the primary backup to NHL veteran Magnus Hellberg next season. Even though he is an over-ager, Kochetkov was always likely to stick around in Europe for a few years before making the jump to North America, so his commitment to SKA next season and beyond won’t deter interested NHL teams. To the contrary, Kochetkov has a great opportunity to grow and learn in St. Petersburg with one of the top teams in the KHL and when he does arrive in the NHL could be a very promising and polished prospect.

Western Notes: Dunn, Kampf, Stralman, Brown

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The St. Louis Blues will be without defenseman Vince Dunn on Sunday for the ever-important Game 5 as Blues head coach Craig Berube said the 22-year-old won’t travel with the team to San Jose after taking a puck to the face during Game 3 on Wednesday, according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Tom Timmermann.

Berube added that Dunn will be day-to-day with an upper-body injury and he is believed to be dealing with concussion issues. He was well enough to attend Friday’s Game 4’s 2-1 victory, however.

“It’s great,” Berube said after the game. “Dunner’s back here and he’s around his teammates. … It’s awesome to see him. It’s a day-to-day thing right now. I’m not sure exactly when he’s gonna be available to play. So we’ll have to see how that goes, but it’s good to see him around for sure.”

The team did have some good news as winger Sammy Blais is expected to play in Game 5 despite having to leave Game 4 Friday after taking a Brent Burns’ shot off his foot.

  • The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required) writes that the Chicago Blackhawks have begun negotiating with restricted free agent center David Kampf. The 24-year-old was signed to a two-year entry-level contract out of the Czech Republic League and has been a success in Chicago, but after making $925K the past two years, he’s in line for a slight raise. While Kampf’s eight goals and 30 points in 109 NHL games isn’t impressive, the forward has been one of Chicago’s best defensive forwards and is expected to be the team’s third or fourth-line center next season. He is eligible for arbitration if the two sides can’t agree to terms.
  • The Province’s Patrick Johnson writes that although Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman will be one of the more interesting defensemen on the free agency market this summer, he doubts that the 33-year-old defenseman would be a good fit for the Vancouver Canucks. Even with a full season of star prospect Quinn Hughes, the team desperately needs to upgrade its defense. However, Johnson writes with the team trying to re-sign Alexander Edler and trying to get one more year out of veteran Chris Tanev, the team likely won’t want to add another veteran defenseman to their lineup.
  • The Athletic’s Allan Mitchell (subscription required) writes that the Edmonton Oilers should consider helping the Toronto Maple Leafs with their salary cap issues by taking forward Connor Brown off their hands. The scribe believes that the 25-year-old Brown, who has seen his offensive numbers drop in each of the last years, might be the perfect addition for a team that is loaded at the center position, but could use plenty of talent at the wing position. Brown was a former junior teammate of Connor McDavid, suggesting he might make the perfect winger for the star center. Brown scored 20 goals in his first full season with the Maple Leafs back in the 2016-17 season, with many believing he could be a consistent 20-goal scorer. However, that number dropped by six in each of the next two years, to 14 in 2017-18 and then to just eight goals this season. Brown will make $2.1MM next season before becoming a restricted free agent, but the scribe believes that if teamed with McDavid, Brown could easily go back to his 20-goal scoring ways and give the Oilers another offensive weapon that they desperately need. Of course, everything depends on what Toronto would be asking for Brown.

Senators Expected To Interview Patrick Roy For Vacant Coaching Position

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It had been suggested in recent days that there was one more candidate that had yet to be interviewed for Ottawa’s vacant head coaching position.  Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Patrick Roy will be the final person to receive an interview for the role which is expected to occur sometime next week.

Roy has been out of the NHL since abruptly resigning his post as head coach of Colorado in August of 2016 after three seasons with the team.  He had stayed out of coaching until this past season when he returned to the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL where he first began his coaching career back in 2005 and spent eight years with the team before joining the Avalanche where he won the Jack Adams Award for Coach of the Year in his first season.

Having considerable experience working with younger players could certainly work in Roy’s favor.  The Senators are fully in the midst of a rebuild and will have a young and inexperienced roster for the next couple of years, headlined by winger Brady Tkachuk plus defensemen Thomas Chabot and Erik Brannstrom.  Player development will be criticial and Roy should be comfortable working in that type of environment.

Part of the reason that Roy left Colorado was a lack of input in player personnel decisions but Garrioch reports that this time around, the 53-year-old will be content with strictly being a coach and not being involved in managerial decisions as he was in his time at the junior level.

GM Pierre Dorion has conducted a thorough search and is known to have interviewed Marc Crawford (who finished the season in the interim role), AHL Belleville’s Troy Mann, Providence College’s Nate Leaman, plus NHL assistants Rick Bowness (Dallas), Jacques Martin (Pittsburgh), and D.J. Smith (Toronto).  A final decision is expected by next month’s NHL Entry Draft.

Sabres Hire Ralph Krueger As Their New Head Coach

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Buffalo’s coaching search has come to an end.  Ralph Krueger will be the next head coach of the Sabres.

Krueger has largely been out of hockey for the last few years as he had served as the Director and Chairman of Southhampton FC since 2014.  His only coaching during that time was with Team World at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey where they surprisingly reached the Gold Medal game.

The 59-year-old has three years of NHL coaching experience with Edmonton.  He spent two years with them as an Associate Coach after being hired in 2010 following more than a decade with Switzerland’s national team.  Krueger was then promoted to head coach for the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign but was dismissed following the season.  Interestingly, he’s already familiar with one of Buffalo’s assistants as Steve Smith was part of the staff during his time with the Oilers.

Krueger will be taking the place of Phil Housley who was let go at the end of the season.  The Sabres have had a bit of a coaching carousel in recent years; this is the fifth new bench boss Buffalo has had since 2013.

As was the case during his time with Edmonton, Krueger will be tasked with trying to instil some structure to the Sabres.  Despite changing their goaltending tandem over the summer, they still struggled to keep the puck out of the net as they ranked 23rd in the league in that category and their back end was prone to some untimely lapses in their own zone.

The heat will likely be on pretty quickly as Buffalo has now missed the playoffs for the last eight years and there isn’t much patience remaining from ownership to turn things around.  However, GM Jason Botterill clearly feels that Krueger is the right one for the job; Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that the interview process was a thorough one with seven coaches getting considered.

Snapshots: Lantosi, Worlds, Lambert

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At the IIHF World Championship every year, you will find countless scouts and front office executives from the NHL in attendance to try and get a glimpse of the best international free agents. While hyped draft-eligible players like Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko are thrilling the fans with their potential, general managers are trying to find the 24-year old who has been overlooked for too long and deserves a chance at the highest level. One of those this year may be Slovakian forward Robert Lantosi, who Darren Dreger of TSN reports is drawing NHL interest.

Lantosi, 23, certainly wouldn’t have been a total unknown to scouts in the crowd. As an alternate captain of HK Nitra this season in Slovakia he registered 58 points in 56 games, good enough for fifth in the entire league. Lantosi recorded an assist today against the Canadian team, while playing on a line with Winnipeg Jets minor league forward Marko Dano.  Dreger does not reveal which teams are interested in Lantosi, but it makes sense that someone would take a chance on the 5’11” winger. Signing him to an entry-level contract represents very little risk, and if he shows the capability to produce offensively in the NHL he could be a cheap upgrade.

  • Speaking of the World Championship, a couple of teams have some late additions to the roster. Zach Werenski will join Team USA at the tournament after initially refusing the invitation, while Gabriel Landeskog will join Team Sweden according to Colorado Avalanche teammate Nikita Zadorov. Werenski’s decision to play is particularly interesting, given that he is scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer. That contract status was part of the reason he gave for not committing to the tournament in the first place, something many players do because of the chance of injury. Werenski’s change of heart could potentially mean a deal is already worked out, though obviously nothing has been officially announced at this point.
  • Lane Lambert has been a fixture next to Barry Trotz for nearly a decade, serving as his assistant and then associate coach in Nashville, Washington and New York. Now perhaps it is time for Lambert to branch out and take on an NHL head coaching position of his own, and John Shannon of Sportsnet reports that the Anaheim Ducks will interview him for their vacancy. The prevailing thought was that the Ducks were just waiting for Dallas Eakins to finish his Calder Cup playoff run with the San Diego Gulls before promoting him, but that speculation may be a bit premature.

Coaching Updates: Buffalo, Edmonton, Toronto

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As usual, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet has produced another edition of “31 Thoughts” that is chock full of insider information. With the postseason ongoing and free agency yet to begin (officially anyway), a considerable focus this week is on head coaching vacancies. And the coaching news is coming in fast. Less than 24 hours after initially naming Ralph Krueger as a candidate for the vacancy with the Buffalo Sabres, Friedman writes that he is now considered the favorite. The former Edmonton Oilers head coach, and most recently soccer executive, has ties to GM Jason Botterill and has the experience that the Sabres reportedly seek. Friedman also believes that Pittsburgh Penguins assistant Jacques Martin is out of the running for the Buffalo job, which may have moved Krueger up the board. He also adds that Tampa Bay Lightning assistant Todd Richards is no longer being considered.

  • Long-time NHL head coach Dave Tippett is still a candidate in Buffalo, but Friedman believes that he has become the favorite in Edmonton and is more likely to take over as the Oilers’ head coach. Tippett has been working with the Seattle expansion team ownership group of late, but has been itching to get back to coaching. In 14 years of coaching, Tippett finished above .500 11 times and made the playoffs eight times. That alone is a major step up for Edmonton, who have done neither of those things in nine of the past ten years. Joining Tippett in Edmonton as an assistant could be recent Florida Panthers head coach Bob Boughner, Friedman adds. By many accounts Boughner was fired not due to his own performance, but due to Joel Quenneville’s availability, so he would be a major addition as well.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs may not need to worry about losing highly-touted AHL head coach Sheldon Keefe. Keefe’s name has been relatively quiet on the coaching market thus far, but that could be due to the fact that Friedman believes he is unwilling to leave Toronto unless there is a better chance for him to succeed. Keefe could be in line to replace Mike Babcock as Leafs head coach when his contract ends (or sooner) and step into a talented Toronto lineup. However, assistant D.J. Smith remains a candidate in Ottawa and fellow assistant Jim Hiller has been granted permission to interview elsewhere, Friedman reports. Friedman does not expect Hiller to be back in Toronto next season and mentions the Nashville Predators as a potential landing spot. Hiller’s power play expertise could certainly help a Predator’s man advantage that was the worst in the NHL this season. The potential loss of both Smith and Hiller would hurt for the Maple Leafs and could force them to move Keefe to the NHL as an assistant.
  • Friedman has no news about the vacancies in Ottawa and Anaheim. As it stands now, the Senators are considering Smith, Martin, Dallas Stars assistant Rick Bowness, Providence College’s Nate Leaman, and internal candidates Troy Mann and Marc Crawford. As for the Ducks, it appears to be Dallas Eakins, whose AHL San Diego Gulls are still alive in the Calder Cup playoffs, or bust.

Ottawa Senators To Interview Dallas Assistant Rick Bowness

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The Ottawa Senators continue their search for a head coach as the team has asked and received permission to interview Dallas Stars assistant coach and former Ottawa head coach Rick Bowness, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie. He is the sixth coach to receive an interview with the Senators.

Bowness, the Senators first-ever head coach, coached Ottawa in between 1992 and 1995, finished his tenure with the Senators with a 39-178-18 record, although expectations weren’t as great back then considering that expansion franchises didn’t get the same advantages that the Vegas Golden Knights have received and soon-to-be Seattle franchise will receive. Bowness has been the head coach of several struggling franchises over the years, including coaching the original Winnipeg Jets, Boston Bruins, New York Islanders and Phoenix Coyotes, with an overall coaching record of 123-289-48 record. His last coaching gig was a 20-game stint with the Coyotes back in 2004 as the team’s interim coach after the team fired Bob Francis.

However, while his head coaching record may not be stellar, Bowness has made a name for himself as a top assistant coach, who helped the Vancouver Canucks in their glory years from 2006 to 2013, including one trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. He then moved over to work with Jon Cooper and the Tampa Bay Lightning for the next five years before joining the Jim Montgomery and the Dallas Stars last summer, helping the Stars reach the second-round of the playoffs this year.

Bowness, 64, will be the sixth coach interviewed as the Senators have already interviewed Marc Crawford, Troy Mann, Jacques Martin, D.J. Smith and Nate Leaman. McKenzie added that there is no hurry for Ottawa to hire a head coach as he could see the team waiting until the end of the month before hiring a coach.

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