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Afternoon Notes: Shattenkirk, Dobson, Kopitar, Sharpe

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Boston Bruins defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk has been fined $2,734.38 for unsportsmanlike conduct in last night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins (Twitter link). It is the maximum allowable fine under the collective bargaining agreement. Shattenkirk earned the fine when he reached over the bench and slashed Bunting on the wrist as he was skating by, after Bunting tripped Linus Ullmark. Shattenkirk wasn’t assessed a penalty during the game and went on to score Boston’s third goal in their eventual 6-4 victory.

This is just the second run-in Shattenkirk has had with the Department of Player Safety in his 950 career games, with his last punishment being a two-game suspension for charging Los Angeles Kings defenseman Kevin Gravel in March of 2017.

Shattenkirk has managed four points across his last five games, heating up at the perfect time. Boston will be glad he avoided suspension, as they chase the top spot in the Atlantic Division with two games left in the season.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The New York Islanders may need to finish their season without top defender Noah Dobson, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury per head coach Patrick Roy and Newsday’s Andrew Gross (Twitter link). Roy also shared that forward Kyle MacLean felt sick after practice, though he’s still expected to play tomorrow. The Islanders have two games remaining in their season, and could technically still lose their playoff spot – if they drop both games and both the Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals win-out. Robert Bortuzzo will step back into the lineup in Dobson’s absence.
  • Los Angeles Kopitar captain Anze Kopitar missed the team’s practice once again, remaining day-to-day with an undisclosed injury that held him out of the team’s Saturday night win over the Anaheim Ducks, per Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider (Twitter link). Dooley adds that the team doesn’t seem concerned about Kopitar’s availability. That’s certainly good news, with the future Hall of Famer certain to be a main factor in their postseason success, after posting 26 goals and 70 points in 79 games this season. The Kings opted to ice seven defensemen in Kopitar’s absence, returning Jacob Moverare to the lineup. They could continue that approach in their final two games of the season, though Arthur Kaliyev is their extra forward should they want to ice four full lines.
  • The Toronto Marlies have signed defenseman Chas Sharpe to a two-year, minor-league contract set to begin in 2024-25 (Twitter link). Sharpe, 20, joins the team as an undrafted free-agent, having spent the last four seasons with the Mississauga Steelheads. He recorded 19 goals and 53 points in 67 games this season, and served as Mississauga’s captain.

Islanders Fire Lane Lambert, Name Patrick Roy Head Coach

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Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello is no stranger to making big in-season changes and he has done so again.  The team announced that they have fired head coach Lane Lambert.  Taking his place will be Patrick Roy who has been named the full-time bench boss.  No assistant coaches have been dismissed.

Lambert was in his second season behind the bench of the Isles after taking over for Barry Trotz who was let go following the 2021-22 campaign.  While Lambert had coached alongside Trotz for a significant portion of his career (including four seasons as the associate coach to Trotz with the Islanders), the hope was that he could get the team to be more of a threat offensively while not necessarily losing its defensive structure.

New York got a dozen more goals last season but only moved up from 24th to 23rd in that regard while they were ousted in the first round of the playoffs by Carolina.  This year, the Islanders sit 22nd in the NHL in goals scored so the offensive improvement as a team hasn’t been there, even with a resurgent season from Mathew Barzal, a full year with Bo Horvat, and Noah Dobson contributing a point per game from the back end.

While the Islanders sit fifth in the Metropolitan Division and are only two points out of a Wild Card spot, they’ve won just 19 of 45 games so far with 11 overtime or shootout losses helping to keep them within striking distance of a postseason position.  Clearly, Lamoriello determined that maintaining the status quo behind the bench wasn’t going to help them gain ground in the second half of the season.  Lambert departs with a 61-46-20 record as head coach, good for a .559 points percentage.  He’s the fifth bench to lose his job this season, joining Jay Woodcroft (Edmonton), Dean Evason (Minnesota), Craig Berube (St. Louis), and D.J. Smith (Ottawa).

Roy, meanwhile, hasn’t been behind an NHL bench for the better part of a decade.  He coached in Colorado from 2013-14 through 2015-16, finishing with a combined record of 130-92-24.  He also won the Jack Adams Award in 2013-14 as NHL Coach of the Year.  However, he abruptly departed the organization near the start of the 2016-17 season, stating that he didn’t have enough of a “say in the decisions that impact the team’s performance” and that he was no longer on the same page as the organization.  It was the second shocking exit of his career going back to his playing days when he informed Montreal’s management in 1995 after being pulled from a game that he had played his last game for the team.

The 58-year-old has spent a lot of his time coaching at the major junior level with two stints behind the bench of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts from 2005-06 through 2012-13 and 2018-19 through 2022-23; he served as the team’s GM for most of that time.  He stepped down following last season with Eric Veilleux taking over as coach and long-time NHL winger Simon Gagne filling the GM title.  Over his junior coaching career, Roy’s teams played to a 524-255-66 record while also picking up a Memorial Cup title.

Roy will now be tasked with getting more out of a veteran group that has a lot of money tied up in defensive or physical players while also dealing with several injuries at the moment including key blueliner Ryan Pulock.  In his time with Colorado, Roy had one season where the Avs finished in the top five in goals scored but the team slipped into the bottom ten in that regard in his final two campaigns.  He’ll also try to get more out of starting netminder Ilya Sorokin who was stellar over his first three seasons in the NHL but has struggled so far this season, posting a save percentage of .908; while that’s above the NHL average, it’s a far cry below the .924 mark he put up over those first three campaigns.

The Islanders are currently using LTIR for Pulock’s injury and will have limited cap space when he returns.  Making the change now will give Lamoriello ample time to assess how the team responds to their new head coach before determining what he might try to do before the March 8th trade deadline.  His first game behind the bench will come Sunday against Dallas.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Patrick Roy Resigns From QMJHL’s Québec Remparts

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9:56 a.m. CT: Roy told the media this morning that “absolutely [no]” NHL team has reached out to him yet about a coaching position.

9:35 a.m. CT: NHL head coaching hopeful Patrick Roy announced today he’s leaving his post with the QMJHL’s Québec Remparts, reports TVA Sports. Roy and his Remparts just won the 2023 Memorial Cup, defeating the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds with a shutout win in the final game.

It’s quite auspicious timing for the announcement, given the sale of the Ottawa Senators to Michael Andlauer was agreed upon in principle this morning. Roy, who’s been connected to Senators coaching vacancies in the past, could be a leading candidate if the team decides to move on from D.J. Smith behind the bench this summer under new ownership.

Roy last coached in the NHL in 2016, serving as the head coach and VP of hockey operations for the Colorado Avalanche before abruptly quitting during training camp preceding the 2016-17 campaign. He was succeeded by Jared Bednar, who guided the Avalanche to their first Stanley Cup in over two decades in 2022.

After taking two years off, Roy returned to the Remparts as GM and head coach in 2018. Before joining the Avalanche, he had been Québec’s coach between 2005 and 2013 and general manager since retiring from the NHL in 2003. He also owned the Remparts from 1997 to 2014.

Roy has a penchant for a defensive style of play as a coach, an area where the Senators have struggled in recent seasons. One would argue, though, with the standout individual defensive performances of players like Artem Zub, that it’s more of a personnel issue than a coaching one. Nevertheless, if he does end up behind the Senators’ bench, improving the team’s defensive systems would be his first priority.

Coaching Notes: Roy, Flames, Strand

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As the New York Rangers remain on the search for a new head coach, an interesting name appeared in rumors. Patrick Roy, who has been the head coach of the QMJHL Quebec Remparts for the last five seasons, recently winning the 2023 Memorial Cup, was thought to be a proper candidate to take over for the Rangers behind the bench.

Today, Mollie Walker of the New York Post, reports that New York is not considering Roy for the role, and he will not be given an interview for the position. Although Roy has indicated this year will be his last in Quebec, it was unknown whether or not he was interested in the Rangers head coaching position. Aside from a three-year stretch as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche in the mid-2010s, Roy has been involved with the Remparts in some fashion since 1997.

Currently, the Rangers are only one of two teams without a head coach for the 2023-24 NHL season, joining the Calgary Flames. In recent reporting, it appears that New York has whittled their list down to two candidates, John Hynes, and Peter Laviolette. Up to this point, there have been no links drawn between Roy and Calgary, but they still remain in the early stages of their search compared to New York.

Other notes:

  • Continuing on with the Flames’ head coaching search, Ryan Pike of Flames Nation reports that Calgary is down to “4-5 candidates” and will begin the second round of interviews this week. With two major positions to fill this summer, it is not surprising that the Flames are taking a bit longer to fill their head coaching role, after naming former player Craig Conroy as General Manager late last month. Calgary appears to have a desire for a newer face in the league, likely eliminating names like Laviolette, Gerard Gallant, and Bruce Boudreau from contention.
  • Today, USA Hockey announced the head coach of their 2023 United States U18 Select Team, which will be competing in the 2023 Hlkina Gretzky Cup. Luke Strand, who was also recently named head coach of the Minnesota State University men’s team, replacing the void left by Mike Hastings, who took a job at the University of Wisconsin, will take over behind the bench. It has been quite the rise for Strand over the last several years. After having spent five seasons as the head coach of the Sioux City Musketeers in the USHL, he spent last season as an assistant coach for Ohio State University.

 

East Notes: Killorn, Orlov, Rangers

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The Lightning are believed to have made a long-term, low AAV offer to pending unrestricted free agent winger Alex Killorn, notes Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his latest 32 Thoughts column.  The 33-year-old is coming off a career year that saw him put up 27 goals and 37 assists in 82 games and has the most points of any player set to hit the open market.  After playing on a $4.45MM AAV deal that has been team-friendly the last couple of seasons, Killorn will have a chance at a sizable increase in free agency.  Tampa Bay would undoubtedly love to keep him in the fold but with minimal cap space to work with this summer, they can’t afford to pay market value.  Accordingly, their most realistic chance to keep him is a long-term agreement that would almost certainly be an overpayment by the time it expires but a low enough AAV that they can squeak him in under the Upper Limit.  Even so, that will be a tough sell.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • While the Bruins would likely want to keep defenseman Dmitry Orlov in the fold if they could free up enough cap space to do so, the veteran told Sport-Express’ Alexey Shevchenko that he’s looking forward to seeing what’s available in free agency. The 31-year-old is coming off another strong season, notching 36 points in 66 games between Washington and Boston while logging 22:33 per night, the second-highest ATOI of his career.  Orlov, who also indicated that he’s not planning to sign in the KHL, is coming off a contract that carries a $5.1MM AAV and is likely to get a fair bit more than that on the open market with a long-term agreement.
  • The Rangers have not yet interviewed Patrick Roy for their coaching vacancy, reports Larry Brooks of the New York Post. However, it’s worth noting that Roy is still coaching with his QMJHL team, Quebec, set to play the final game of the Memorial Cup on Sunday so perhaps at that time, GM Chris Drury might reach out to his former teammate.  Roy has some NHL experience under his belt having spent three seasons behind the bench in Colorado before abruptly resigning in 2016.  Among coaches still available New York has already interviewed Peter Laviolette and Jay Leach and the team is set to do so soon with John Hynes if they haven’t already done so.

Columbus Blue Jackets Closing In On New Head Coach

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The Columbus Blue Jackets are on the verge of naming their new head coach this week, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch today. It will culminate a weeks-long search that began April 15, when the team announced they fired previous head coach Brad Larsen after finishing last in the Eastern Conference.

One name that has been gaining traction in the rumor mill is former NHL player and coach Patrick Roy. The highly accomplished netminder, who enjoyed an up-and-down coaching stint with the Colorado Avalanche in the mid-2010s, has reportedly been interviewed for the Blue Jackets’ coaching position, per Hedger. However, it’s worth noting that Sergei Fedorov, another prominent former player associated with the franchise in recent reports, was not interviewed for the job, Hedger said.

Roy was last seriously linked to an NHL job in 2019, as he was a leading contender for the Ottawa Senators’ vacancy. Noise has never really gone away about a potential NHL return, though, and he’s currently coaching his Québec Remparts of the QMJHL in the Memorial Cup.

To begin his three-season spell with Colorado, Roy demanded a significant front-office role, assuming the position of Vice President of Hockey Operations in addition to his head coaching duties. However, after just one playoff appearance in three years, Roy abruptly resigned a month before training camp in 2016-17, citing the team’s failure to act upon his roster recommendations as the primary reason for his departure.

Given Roy’s past demands for an expanded role and subsequent fallout with the Avalanche, it remains to be seen if the Blue Jackets’ management would be receptive to his aspirations for a dual position or if Roy would be willing to relinquish some responsibility. Mike Babcock, Peter Laviolette, and Pascal Vincent are other names linked to Columbus throughout their coaching search.

Patrick Roy Interested In NHL Return

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Patrick Roy is a Hall of Fame goaltender and a former NHL head coach and executive. However, since 2016 he’s been out of the league entirely. He’s now hoping to change that. According to agent Neil Glasberg, who was recently hired by Roy, the experienced hockey mind is looking for a way back to the top league in the world and he’ll take any opportunity that presents itself.

Roy is currently the head coach and general manager of the QMJHL’s Quebec Ramparts, a role he returned to in 2018 after previously working in those roles for the team since 2003. Of course, Roy was also the head coach and vice president of hockey operations for the Colorado Avalanche from 2013 to 2016.

With so much experience in various departments, Roy is not looking to focus on just one type of NHL opportunity. “He could be a president of hockey ops. He could be a GM. He could be a co-GM. He could be a head coach,” Glasberg stated. “It’s going to be situational.”

Roy had previously been linked to head coach and president opening with the Ottawa Senators and could circle back with the team on a potential role. His hometown Montreal Canadiens are currently operating with an interim head coach, as are the Buffalo Sabres, while there could be openings with the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets among other this summer. In the front office, any number of teams could have openings – or make openings – in order to add Roy to the staff. As Glasberg notes, they will wait to see what becomes available this off-season and make a decision from there. With so many possibilities, the hope is to see Roy back in the NHL soon.

Senators Notes: Groulx, Roy, Mann, Potential Targets

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According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, new Senators head coach D.J. Smith is expected to hire his own staff in Ottawa. Although GM Pierre Dorion made the final decision on hiring Smith, the team is in the process of finding a President of Hockey Operations and, until that is completed, it appears Dorion will stick with player personnel decisions while Smith is given control of the remaining coaching hires. The one exception though is goaltending coach Pierre Groulx. McKenzie adds that Groulx has already been confirmed as returning to the team next season in the same capacity. Groulx has spent the past three seasons as the Senators’ goalie coach and has a close relationship with veteran starter Craig Anderson. He also had success with Anders Nilsson last season, whose play improved noticeably following a mid-season trade from the Vancouver Canucks. Even if the decision were up to him, it is unlikely that Smith would have opted to move on from Groulx, who was one of the few things that worked well in Ottawa last year.

  • Patrick Roy won’t be the next head coach of the Senators obviously, despite so much evidence pointing in that direction. But he won’t be the team’s President of Hockey Operations, either. TSN reports that Roy will return to his post as head coach and general manager of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts. Roy purchased the Remparts in 1997 and served as GM and later head coach from 2004 to 2014 before being hired as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche. Roy resumed his role with the Remparts this past season and has decided to stay on with the team rather than continue to pursue other NHL opportunities.
  • One interesting decision for Smith will be what to do with current AHL head coach Troy Mann. Mann was also in consideration for the Senators’ head coaching gig alongside Smith, but did not make the cut. Another relatively young coach like Smith, Mann has spent more than a decade now in the minor leagues with a number of different teams and varying degrees of success. However, he garnered some extra attention last year due to his strong work with the young members of the AHL’s Belleville Senators in his first season as the head coach. Mann remains under contract with the Senators it is up to Smith to decide how best to use a valued asset. With many of those top young players expected to play regular roles in Ottawa next season, he could make Mann an assistant on his staff to help with that transition. However, if he feels that Mann is better suited for the minor league level – or wants to avoid a challenge of authority from a fellow candidate – he may instead opt to leave Mann where he is in Belleville.
  • One of the more exciting aspects of adding a new head coach, especially at this time of year, is the possibility of their former players being interested in playing for them once again. The Senators’ whopping $37.7MM in projected cap space means they are more or less a blank slate this off-season when it comes to exploring the free agent and trade markets. So who has ties to Smith, a long-time coach for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires and Oshawa Generals? Well, one of Smith’s stars in his early days as an assistant in Windsor just so happens to be a known fixture on the trade block as well. The Anaheim Ducks’ Adam Henrique played three seasons under Smith and could very likely be on the move this summer as the Ducks seeks to shed salary. Smith could definitely push to acquire Henrique, who would immediately step into a top scoring role with Ottawa. Another name on the rumor mill who played for Smith briefly in Windsor is Zack Kassian of the Edmonton Oilers. Signed for one more year, Kassian would be an affordable, low-risk acquisition to bring some depth, experience, and toughness to the Ottawa lineup. A player who is not being forced out for salary reasons, but has nevertheless outstayed his welcome is the New York Islanders’ Michael Dal Colle. Dal Colle was one of Smith’s best players and leaders with the Generals and was selected No. 5 overall in 2014 due to his production in Oshawa. Yet, five years later, Dal Colle has seven points in 32 NHL games and is no longer considered part of the Islanders’ future core. They may be willing to sell low to the Senators, where the 22-year-old may have better luck under his old coach. On the free agent market, the defensive-minded Tom Kuhnhackl is a former Smith student who fit well under his old coach, but the intrigue here really lies with Smith’s Toronto connections. The man who ran the defense and penalty kill for the Maple Leafs could take a run at two high profile free agent defensemen – Jake Gardiner and Ron Hainsey – as well as two-way forward Par Lindholm, who Smith entrusted with ample shorthanded time in his first NHL season. Smith and the Senators may also flirt with the idea of an offer sheet for Toronto RFA Kasperi Kapanen, who Smith valued as a PK option but also brings a dynamic offensive game. The Leafs may have trouble matching an offer sheet for Kapanen against their tight cap crunch. Two other Toronto players with close ties to Smith are Nikita Zaitsev and Connor Brown, also potential trade casualties of the impending Toronto cap dilemma.

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.

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.

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