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Paul Maurice

Morning Notes: Jets, Jarry, Stamkos

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The Winnipeg Jets are going home a little earlier than they had hoped after losing game four to the Calgary Flames last night. Eliminated from the playoffs, they could finally reveal what happened to Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine, explaining to Sara Orlesky of TSN that neither one is expected to miss an extended period of time. Head coach Paul Maurice doesn’t believe there is any Achilles damage for Schiefele, who yelled in pain on the ice after colliding with Matthew Tkachuk in game one. Maurice called it “a crush” not a cut, but did admit that his top center is still undergoing further testing.

Laine meanwhile sprained his hand in the opener and couldn’t hold a stick, but Maurice believes he’ll only be out for a few weeks. Mason Appleton, who isn’t quite as important to the team as the former two, will also be out just a few weeks with a shoulder injury. The Jets will finally say goodbye to a 2019-20 season that was quite the rollercoaster, starting with Dustin Byfuglien’s disappearance and ending with two of their offensive leaders watching from the stands.

  • If the Pittsburgh Penguins are to avoid the same fate, they’ll need to stave off elimination against the Montreal Canadiens today. To do so they’ll call upon Tristan Jarry, starting him in game four over Matt Murray who has lost two of the first three. Murray did post a .914 save percentage in those games but received endless online criticism for how he played a shot from Jeff Petry, which ended up being the winning goal. After starting his career out with two Stanley Cups before his rookie status expired, Murray now has just two wins in his last 12 playoff contests. Jarry meanwhile will be making his playoff debut in an elimination game and has just 62 appearances at the NHL level under his belt.
  • Steven Stamkos won’t be playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning when they face the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow in a winner-takes-all round-robin game. The Lightning and Flyers have both won the first two round-robin contests, meaning whoever takes tomorrow’s game will be the top seed in the Eastern Conference for the duration of the playoffs. Stamkos won’t be able to help, and though he is working hard and rehabbing, head coach Jon Cooper told reporters including Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer that the captain will be out indefinitely.

Injury Notes: Scheifele, Schmaltz, Fast, Hamilton

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The Winnipeg Jets may have lost their top center and top sniper in the same game, as both Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine left last night’s test against the Calgary Flames with an injury. Scheifele’s in particular looked serious, as he collided with Matthew Tkachuk and fell to the ground bellowing in pain. The hit got quite the response from head coach Paul Maurice, who indicated today that both players were still undergoing examination, and updates would be issued later in the day.

If the Jets do lose Schiefele for the rest of the qualification round they’ll have to figure out an answer on the top line and find a way to dig themselves out of the early hole after losing to Calgary last night. Here’s more info about injuries around the league:

  • Nick Schmaltz will not play in game one for the Arizona Coyotes after taking a high hit from Vegas Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves in the exhibition match. Schmaltz, the Coyotes leading scorer from the regular season, played in four playoffs games with Chicago in 2017 but hasn’t seen the postseason since. Youngster Barret Hayton will be making his own playoff debut after suiting up just 20 times this season.
  • The New York Rangers are still not sure of Igor Shesterkin’s availability for game two according to Dan Rosen of NHL.com, but will not have Jesper Fast in the lineup. Fast was hit hard by former teammate Brady Skjei and was forced from yesterday’s game after just a minute of ice time. The depth winger is a key part of the Rangers leadership group and recorded 29 points in 69 games this season.
  • Dougie Hamilton is getting better according to head coach Rod Brind’Amour, but won’t be in the lineup for Carolina tomorrow. The Hurricanes did just fine without their top offensive defenseman, but relied heavily on their top two pairings—Jake Gardiner played just 11:55 while Jaccob Slavin logged 24:40.

Winnipeg Jets Sign Paul Maurice To Multi-Year Extension

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6:40pm: Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the deal is for three years.

12:05pm: The Winnipeg Jets won’t be making a change behind the bench for a while. The team announced a multi-year contract extension for head coach Paul Maurice, who has been leading the squad since 2013.

There has been chatter all season about Maurice’s future with the Jets, given the team’s performance so far. Though loaded with talent, Winnipeg sits fourth in the Central Division with a 29-24-5 record and is no sure thing to make the playoffs. Connor Hellebuyck’s performance in net has been one of the biggest reasons why the team is even within a sniff of the postseason, but obviously management believes that Maurice has done a strong enough job.

It certainly shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that Winnipeg would choose to stick with Maurice. The veteran coach has a 264-186-53 record with the Jets since arriving in 2013, and actually ranks seventh on the all-time coaching list in wins with 724. Though he doesn’t have the winning percentage of some of the names around him on that list, there is little doubt that he can be an effective coach at the NHL level.

The one question now for Maurice is whether he can get over the playoff hump. Despite coaching in nearly 1,600 regular season games, he has just 80 appearances behind the bench in the postseason, and a 36-44 record in them.

Central Notes: Jets, Mitchell, Strome, Gurianov

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In each of the last two seasons, the Jets have made big splashes at the trade deadline to bring in rental centers Paul Stastny and Kevin Hayes.  If head coach Paul Maurice has his way, they’ll go with a different approach at this year’s deadline.  Speaking with reporters, including Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun, Maurice indicated he’s hoping the team doesn’t part with a top young asset for someone that’s set to be unrestricted in July:

So paying a high price for a rental, I don’t know that that makes a whole lot of sense for us. If we get a guy that can come in and play maybe more than the rest of the season, you’d think about doing that.

Winnipeg’s cap situation is tricky with the uncertainty surrounding the status of injured (and suspended) defenseman Dustin Byfuglien with a grievance on the horizon.  After years of playing it safe, Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has been more aggressive at recent deadlines but that may not be the case this time around.

More from the Central Division:

  • Blackhawks prospect Ian Mitchell told Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times that his intention remains to turn pro at the end of his current college season. The 2017 second-round pick is having a strong junior season with Denver while faring well in an international stint with Canada at the Spengler Cup.  If Denver’s season ends before Chicago’s does, it’s quite possible if not probable that they will opt to burn the first year of his entry-level deal in 2019-20 which would give them an intriguing youngster to use down the stretch.
  • Still with the Blackhawks, center Dylan Strome has resumed skating, notes Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago. He has missed the last three weeks to an ankle injury.  The 22-year-old is producing at a slightly lesser clip than he did after being acquired last season but with 10 goals and 20 assists in 40 games, he sits fifth on the team in scoring.
  • Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News examines a bit of a tricky contract situation for Stars winger Denis Gurianov. While he’s in his fourth year in their system, he has just 67 NHL games under his belt though 45 of them have come this season where he ranks fourth on the team in goals with 13.  There are several single-season statistical comparables for this summer when he’s a restricted free agent but since he doesn’t have anywhere near the experience that most of them do, it makes it a tougher one to project.

Snapshots: Copp, Seabrook, Mikheyev

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The Winnipeg Jets have announced that Andrew Copp is out on a week-to-week basis with an upper-body injury, ruling him out until after Christmas at the earliest. The 25-year old Copp left last night’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes after a collision with Jordan Staal. Jets head coach Paul Maurice told reporters today including Ken Wiebe of The Athletic that the injury is not a concussion, but that more tests needed to be completed to understand the severity.

Copp has 14 points in 34 games this season and once again has been an integral part of the Jets’ penalty killing efforts, averaging more short-handed ice time than any forward other than Adam Lowry. Winnipeg has been struck by the injury bug several times this season, but right now are stretching their depth up front very thin.

  • Good news for Chicago Blackhawks fans is bad news for Brent Seabrook. Duncan Keith will return tonight for the Blackhawks, meaning someone else had to come out of the lineup. That’s going to be Seabrook, who will be healthy scratched for the third time this season. The 34-year old Seabrook still has four more years on his current contract with the Blackhawks after 2019-20 and carries a $6.875MM cap hit.
  • Ilya Mikheyev has scored in consecutive games for the Toronto Maple Leafs and now has six goals and 19 points through 35 games. That’s more than anyone could have expected from him in his first year in North America, but the Maple Leafs weren’t the only team that saw a future for the speedy winger when he was playing in the KHL. In fact, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that about 20 teams showed interest in Mikheyev before he chose Toronto, suggesting that Chicago and the Vegas Golden Knights were among those who pursued him the hardest. Mikheyev is on just a one-year entry-level contract with Toronto and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

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.

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.

 

Injury Notes: Mantha, Little, Rantanen

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The Detroit Red Wings will be without Anthony Mantha for a “couple of weeks” according to head coach Jeff Blashill. The power forward will not require surgery however, a good sign for his eventual return to the team and continued development this season.

Mantha, 25, is off to the best start of his NHL career this season with 23 points in 25 games and looks like he will be a mainstay at the top of the Detroit lineup for a long time. The 6’5″ winger now has an impressive 80 goals in 242 career NHL games after taking a few years to get his feet under him as a professional.

  • There is still no real timeline for the return of Bryan Little to the Winnipeg Jets lineup as he continues to recover from the perforated eardrum that put him in a hospital earlier this month. Little took a puck to the head on November 5th and head coach Paul Maurice explained to reporters including Mitchell Clinton of NHL.com today that his veteran forward is still in “that healing phase.”
  • Mikko Rantanen was back at practice with the Colorado Avalanche today without a non-contact sweater, but that doesn’t mean he’s ready to return quite yet. The big winger will sit out tomorrow’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, but could be back on the ice Friday. Rantanen had 12 points in his first nine games before suffering a gruesome lower-body injury.

Mark Letestu Out For Six Months With Myocarditis

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The Winnipeg Jets are in the news again today, this time announcing that veteran forward Mark Letestu will not be playing hockey anytime soon. Head coach Paul Maurice explained to reporters including Mitchell Clinton that Letestu has been diagnosed with myocarditis, a virus that attacks the heart. Expected to make a full recovery, Letestu will be allowed only to do light activity for six months.

It’s a tough break for a player who was just trying to keep his NHL career in tact after playing almost all of 2018-19 in the minor leagues. Letestu signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Jets at the start of free agency and has suited up seven times for them this season.

Obviously everyone hopes that he can return, but a six-month layoff at this point in his career may spell the end of Letestu’s time in the NHL. The 34-year old is a great example of perseverance, working his way up from being an undrafted college free agent to a regular in the league. Over 567 regular season games he has scored 210 points, adding another 15 in his 36 postseason appearances.

For the Jets, this just takes another one of their depth pieces off the board for the rest of the season. While Letestu wasn’t expected to make a huge contribution, it still means his experience won’t be available for the team if they run into other injury concerns.

Poll: Which Head Coach Has The Hottest Seat Entering 2019-20?

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Every game has a winner and a loser and not every team can meet or exceed expectations each year. Even entering a new season in which every team has a clean slate, it’s not incorrect to state that some NHL teams will struggle in 2019-20. And when that happens, the head coach is usually the first one to go. There are 31 head coaches in the league and one of them will inevitably be the first one fired this season. Who has the best chance of earning that unfortunate title?

Several names can likely be ruled out immediately – although anything can happen. Anaheim’s Dallas Eakins, Buffalo’s Ralph Krueger, Edmonton’s Dave Tippett, Florida’s Joel Quenneville, L.A.’s Todd McClellan, Ottawa’s D.J. Smith, and Philadelphia’s Alain Vigneault are all beginning their first season with a new team. In most cases, that affords them at least one year of job security before their seat can start warming up. However, in the event of a massive collapse or poor locker room dynamics, it’s not unheard of in hockey for a coach to be one and done.

It was a strong season for rookie head coaches last year though. Calgary’s Bill Peters, Carolina’s Rod Brind’Amour, Chicago’s Jeremy Colliton, Dallas’ Jim Montgomery, Washington’s Todd Reirden, and of course, reigning Jack Adams Award-winner Barry Trotz of the New York Islanders all excelled in their first year on the job. It’s hard to imagine any of the group having a hot seat, barring a major disappointment against expectations. The New York Rangers’ David Quinn had a much tougher task for a team that internally had an eye on moving assets and developing young players, but the former top college coach will likely be given another year to work with a revamped lineup.

Other names whose seats are probably very cold: Stanley Cup combatants Craig Berube of the St. Louis Blues and Bruce Cassidy of the Boston Bruins. Both exceeded expectations last year and were rewarded with multi-year extensions in the off-season. Gerard Gallant, whose Golden Knights made a magical run to the Cup Final two years ago in their inaugural season, is likely safe as well.

Who does that leave as a candidate for the hottest of seats? Despite a record-breaking regular season, all eyes will be on Jon Cooper and the Lightning as they look to bounce back from a shocking first-round sweep. Cooper is the NHL’s longest-tenured head coach, but he could lose that mantle if Tampa Bay isn’t a top-ten team all season and at least an Eastern Conference finalist. Similarly, Toronto and Mike Babcock had a strong regular season, but again could not fight their way past Boston in the first round. Babcock may to avoid any regular season struggles to even get back to a likely postseason re-match with the Bruins, as many feel his seat has warmed considerably. John Tortorella got his franchise their first ever playoff series win last year, but the Blue Jackets watched a ton of talent walk away this summer and Tortorella faces the tough task of getting the team back to the postseason. Winnipeg’s Paul Maurice, the second-longest tenured coach behind Cooper, faces the same difficulty of leading a team whose Stanley Cup hopes have been shaken this summer. Jared Bednar’s Avalanche were a surprise in the playoffs as well, but moved in the opposite direction this off-season and are a popular dark horse pick to win it all this year. High expectations demand results and Bednar’s job could hang in the balance if Colorado cannot take a step forward this year. The Devils’ John Hynes is certainly under a lot of pressure as well, as New Jersey missed the playoffs – by a wide margin – last year and responded with arguably the most impressive off-season in the league. Many will expect the Devils not only to make the playoffs, but to be competitive. Other coaches whose teams need to take a step forward via playoff success are Nashville’s Peter Laviolette, San Jose’s Peter Deboer, and perhaps even Pittsburgh’s Mike Sullivan. Coaches whose jobs could depend on making the playoffs include Arizona’s Rick Tocchet, Minnesota’s Bruce Boudreau, and Montreal’s Claude Julien.

The two outliers of the group: the Red Wings’ Jeff Blashill and the Canucks’ Travis Green. Neither team is expected to be a legitimate playoff contender, but at the same time both men need to show a marked improvement in their teams. Blashill has been in Detroit for four years but has little to show for it. Green enters his third season in Vancouver having fallen short of ownership and management’s lofty expectations in the previous two. It’s hard to set benchmarks for what would either save or end both coaches’ jobs.

All 31 coaches have a seat to start the year. Whose is hottest and in the most danger of being lost before the others?

Mobile users, click here to vote.

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