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Peter Laviolette

Michael Peca Hired By Washington Capitals

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The Washington Capitals have added a fresh face to the organization, hiring Michael Peca as a player development coach. Peca is expected to work primarily with the players on Washington’s taxi squad this season.

If you remember the Buffalo Sabres team that made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 1999 (only to lose to the toe of Brett Hull), you remember Peca. A whirlwind of offensive talent, defensive responsibility and devastating open-ice hits, Peca made the most of his relatively small frame.

In 864 career games he recorded 465 points, including a career-high 60 with the New York Islanders in 2001-02. He won his second Selke Trophy that season while playing under Peter Laviolette, who happens to be the Capitals head coach. If Peca can instill any of that defensive responsibility—he finished in the top-five of Selke voting for seven straight seasons—in the Capitals depth players, he’ll be a valuable coaching asset.

Several Capitals Players Expected To Miss Four Games

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1:40pm: Samantha Pell of the Washington Post reports that Samsonov tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday night. It triggered a contact tracing probe, which confirmed that the four Russian players spent time together in a Pittsburgh hotel room where they “watched sports and played video games.” According to Pell, the NHL is not expected to postpone Friday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres.

12:25pm: The four Washington Capitals players that were placed on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list yesterday, Alex Ovechkin, Ilya Samsonov, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Dmitry Orlov, are now in quarantine. All four are expected to miss at least the next four games, according to head coach Peter Laviolette, who spoke with reporters including Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press. Laviolette also explained that there was a positive virus case among the Capitals players, which led to contact tracing. The team was also fined $100,000 for the protocol breach yesterday.

Though there will be plenty of debate over how the players were punished for gathering in a hotel room, the fact is the Capitals will now have to navigate the next part of the schedule without several key players. The team is set to welcome in the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders for two games each over the next week, all matches expected to take place without the foursome. That certainly puts a lot of pressure on someone like Vitek Vanecek, the team’s backup goaltender, who has just two NHL appearances under his belt. Craig Anderson has been recalled from the taxi squad to join him in net for the time being.

Yesterday, Ovechkin released an apology that read:

I regret my choice to spend time together with my teammates in our hotel room and away from the locker room areas. I will learn from this experience.

To be clear, it has not been revealed who (if any) on the team tested positive. The four players were added to the CPRA list and will be unable to practice with the team until they are cleared by the league’s protocols.

Snapshots: Bedard, Seattle, McCarthy

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Move over Alexis, a new Canadian prospect is here. Connor Bedard, the first player to be granted exceptional status in the WHL, suited up for HV71 in the Swedish under-20 league today. Bedard only turned 15 a few months ago and was picked by the Regina Pats first overall in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft, but is getting his first taste of play this season overseas.

The incredibly shifty, talented forward from Vancouver is eligible for the 2023 NHL draft but is already wowing scouts all over the world. His development is obviously extremely important, but a move like this to play overseas only highlights how difficult this season could be for many other prospects that are waiting on their WHL and OHL schedules to begin. Not everyone is Bedard, receiving a prime opportunity to play with a strong European organization.

  • The Seattle Kraken have hired seven new people for their organization, including former NHL forward Gary Roberts, who will receive the title of sports science and performance consultant. The other names, which include Michael Booi, Nate Brookreson, Jeff Camelio, and Tim Ohashi all seem to be strong hires with long successful resumes of their own. Roberts though will get the headlines, thanks to his yearly offseason strength and conditioning work with players like Steven Stamkos and Connor McDavid. Roberts of course is a former teammate of Kraken GM Ron Francis in both Carolina and Toronto.
  • The Washington Capitals have hired Kevin McCarthy as an assistant coach, joining Peter Laviolette’s new staff. McCarthy will work with the team’s defensemen and has worked with Laviolette for years, in Nashville, Philadelphia and Carolina. He joins a staff that also includes Scott Arniel, Blaine Forsythe and Scott Murray.

Peter Laviolette Hired By Washington Capitals

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The Washington Capitals wanted an experienced head coach to lead them next season, and they’ll have it. The team has announced the hiring of Peter Laviolette, who will take over the bench from Todd Reirden who was let go earlier this summer. Laviolette has signed a three-year contract worth just under $15MM total according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, which will include the full $2.5MM he was still owed by the Nashville Predators.

Capitals GM Brian MacLellan released a statement on his new coach:

Peter is a successful NHL head coach who has won a Stanley Cup and brings a wealth of experience to our team. We feel he is a great communicator who will motivate our players to play with passion, structure and discipline, while helping our young players reach their potential. In addition, he is a high-character individual who is highly respected for his coaching pedigree, all of which make him the ideal person to lead our team to compete for the Stanley Cup.

Laviolette, 55, has been a head coach in the NHL for two decades, recording a 637-425-25-123 record in his 1,210 regular season games. Those 1,200 games put him 20th on the all-time list and he has taken his club to the Stanley Cup Finals three times, winning in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Capitals had shown interest in other experienced names like Gerard Gallant and Mike Babcock, but will move forward with a coach that had a .616 winning percentage at his last stop but still got fired after a mediocre start to 2019-20. Laviolette and the Predators were 19-15-7 when they made the move to hire John Hynes, leaving him looking for another opportunity.

Reirden, the Capitals outgoing coach, has already found work with his old team the Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant. That experiment didn’t work out nearly as well as the Capitals hoped when they let Barry Trotz leave months after winning the first Stanley Cup in franchise history, only to hand the reins to a rookie head coach. Reirden lasted just two seasons behind the bench while Trotz is now in the Eastern Conference Finals with the New York Islanders.

Hiring Laviolette will serve as an attempt to fix that mistake, but the Capitals core is now two years older and Alex Ovechkin is heading into the final year of his deal. There are certainly young exciting players in Washington like goaltending phenom Ilya Samsonov, but the last two years seem like wasted opportunities for this group now that they’ve paid up for an experienced head coach after all.

Washington Capitals Interview Mike Babcock, Gerard Gallant

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Reports surfaced a week ago that the Washington Capitals received permission to interview veteran coach Peter Laviolette for their open head coaching position. However with three big-name coaches available, many felt GM Brian MacLellan would also interview the other two, to fill the vacancy left after the team fired Todd Reirden.

Last night during Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Washington has already interviewed former Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock:

“Last week the reports got out that the Washington Capitals had permission to interview Peter Laviolette for their vacant head coaching job, this week it’s believed that they interviewed Toronto’s former head coach Mike Babcock,” Friedman said. “And he is a legitimate candidate for the position.”

Babcock certainly would provide the Capitals with a ton of experience. The 57-year-old coached the Anaheim Ducks for two seasons before taking on the Detroit Red Wings for 12 years, which included winning the Stanley Cup in 2008. He spent four and a half years with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but failed to lead the team through a round of the playoffs. Throw in a sluggish start to the 2019-20 season and he was fired in November. He has a combined 351-173-133 regular season record.

However, it doesn’t end there as Friedman also noted later on in the segment that the Capitals have also interviewed former Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights’ head coach Gerard Gallant. The veteran coach coached each team for two full seasons each before getting fired in the middle of his third season with each team. However, he did win the Jack Adams award in 2018 in Vegas’ inaugural season when he took the expansion team to the Stanley Cup Finals. He was also the runner-up for the Jack Adams with Florida in 2016.

The Capitals are in a good position with so many veteran coaches available. The team, who has a history of hiring inexperienced coaches, has made it clear they are willing to bring in a coach with plenty of experience as the window for the team is starting to close. Star forward Alex Ovechkin will be turning 35 years old in 11 days and likely only has two to three years remaining at his peak and with little youth in the system, Washington will need a coach that can light a fire under them in the next few years.

Coaching Notes: Washington, Ward, Tortorella

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The Washington Capitals decided to move on from Todd Reirden after just two years as head coach and won’t be taking another risk with their next hiring. That’s what Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic says in his latest column, explaining that the Capitals are focused on bringing in a proven head coach instead of giving another newcomer an opportunity.

That means the names are familiar ones when discussing the Capitals coaching vacancy. Gerard Gallant, Peter Laviolette and Mike Babcock are the first three names that LeBrun mentions, though even former Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau gets a few paragraphs as well. Washington went 89-46-16 under Reirden since winning a championship in 2018 but were quickly dumped in the playoffs both years. Still in their win-now window with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom leading the way, Washington is also looking for a coach that will “hold the team’s top players accountable.”

  • Geoff Ward spoke to reporters including Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet yesterday and explained that he would consider a return to the organization even if the Calgary Flames decided to go in a different direction at head coach. Ward would obviously rather take the head coaching position himself, but declined the opportunity to campaign for it through the media. He took over as head coach when Bill Peters resigned early in the season and led the Flames to a 24-15-3 record, but was also part of the collapse against the Dallas Stars. The Flames allowed seven straight goals in an elimination game and Ward pulled starter Cam Talbot and then reinserted him during the collapse. With substantial changes likely coming in Calgary, they may also want to go with a different face behind the bench.
  • One coach that likely isn’t going anywhere this offseason is John Tortorella, even though his Columbus Blue Jackets failed to advance past the first round. Even getting that far was seen as quite the accomplishment for the veteran coach, but he’ll lose out on a little salary in the process. The league today fined Tortorella $25,000 for his comments (or more specifically his lack of comments) after game five against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tortorella took two questions and then stormed out of the press conference, obviously frustrated with the loss. The penalty is actually a collection of the conditional fine that was assessed on January 1 after a previous incident. This is the 13th time Tortorella has been disciplined by the league.

Peter Laviolette Considered Favorite For Devils Head Coach

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Just yesterday it was reported that the New Jersey Devils had trimmed the list of candidates for their vacant head coach position to just four names. Given the long off-season awaiting the club, it seemed curious that they were moving quickly on the search, especially as they have yet to finalize their GM position as well. Yet, the Devils don’t seem to be slowing down. Only 24 hours later, a four-man list that included interim head coach Alain Nasreddine and three unknowns has now produced a favorite. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that Peter Laviolette has emerged as the favorite for the position.

Laviolette, 55, should not come as surprise as the top candidate on the Devils’ list, as he is arguably the best coach on the open market right now. Laviolette was most recently the head coach of the Nashville Predators, fired to the surprise of many back in January despite a winning record on the year and having led the Predators to the playoffs in each of his five full seasons with the team. Should Laviolette be the selection for New Jersey, it would become the fifth NHL franchise that he has led, joining the Predators, New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes, and Philadelphia Flyers. Laviolette has been a head coach in the league in 18 seasons dating all the way back to 2001-02, when he was the youngest bench boss in the league at 36. Laviolette has totaled more than 1200 games in his NHL coaching career and holds a .588 regular season points percentage, a Stanley Cup title with the Hurricanes in 2005-06, three Finals appearances, and 11 playoff appearances. The Boston native also won a Calder Cup and AHL Coach of the Year honors with the Providence Bruins, which ignited his NHL career.

Beyond the accolades, Laviolette’s style may also explain his top position among the Devils’ candidates. An intense personality, it shows in Laviolette’s fast-paced style and aggressive offensive game plans. Meanwhile, New Jersey has a young, skilled roster of players who can keep up with the taxing style that Laviolette prefers. The problem is that they have looked slow, disorganized, and unmotivated too often over the past few years. Former Predator P.K. Subban especially would likely enjoy being back in Laviolette’s system. Laviolette could help to turn the team around in a hurry, especially if his presence can also help the cap-comfortable Devils recruit some top free agents this summer.

Laviolette’s hiring is not set in stone. Dreger even admits that the uncertain status of interim GM Tom Fitzgerald could keep an official hire from happening soon. However, Laviolette certainly makes sense as the Devils’ top pick and would be an exciting addition to a franchise that desperately needs to take a step forward next season.

New Jersey Devils Trim Head Coach Search To Four

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The New Jersey Devils got off to another disappointingly slow start in 2019-20. After missing the playoffs in three of their first four seasons under head coach John Hynes, the team decided not to continue a fifth campaign with their bench boss. Hynes was fired on December 3rd with the Devils 9-13-4 on the season, a points percentage of .423. Assistant Alaine Nasreddine took over as head coach and the team did improve over the rest of the season, finishing with a .493 points percentage and just one win shy of a .500 record. However, the question is whether that improvement of .07 percentage points is enough for Nasreddine to keep his job. Or will the Devils focus more on their last-place finish in the Metropolitan Division and look elsewhere for a new head coach?

According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, Nasreddine is at least still in the mix for the position. Although New Jersey is facing down a very long off-season as one of the seven teams not to qualify for the expanded postseason (ironically Hynes’ Nashville Predators qualified), they are moving quickly in their coaching search. LeBrun reports that the Devils have spoken with eight to ten candidates for the position, but have whittled it down to just four finalists, one of which is Nasreddine. Who the remaining three names might be is unknown, but Gerard Gallant was one of the first to interview and has to be considered a front-runner given his recent success with the Vegas Golden Knights. Other big names available on the coaching market include Peter Laviolette, Mike Babcock, Bruce Boudreau, John Stevens, and Mike Yeo.

Potentially complicating the hiring process could be the status of the GM position. Tom Fitzgerald, like Nasreddine, is another assistant who was promoted but handed an interim tag this season. He has done an admirable job thus far, but his status remains in limbo. The team has reported talked to some outside candidates, including former Canucks GM Mike Gillis, and may be waiting to make a call on head coach until they know who is leading the organization as GM. However, they have plenty of time ahead of them to make these decisions, even though they appear to be making progress on their hunt for a head coach.

Latest On New Jersey Devils Coaching Search

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The New Jersey Devils won’t be playing any more hockey for quite some time as one of the teams not included in the 24-team format, but that doesn’t mean they can take a vacation. The front office has plenty of work to do this offseason, including making a decision on interim GM Tom Fitzgerald and interim coach Alain Nasreddine.

On the coaching side, reports have surfaced over the last several weeks the Devils have shown interest in several top names. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes that New Jersey is “eyeing at least four candidates” with Nasreddine, Gerard Gallant, Peter Laviolette, and John Stevens the known contenders.

Laviolette comes with the most experience as an NHL head coach, with over 1,300 games behind the bench. He also comes with a ton of regular season success—only one team coached by Laviolette has finished under .500—but doesn’t have nearly as much in the postseason.

Gallant meanwhile is another coach with plenty of success, though his last two stops have ended abruptly. After taking the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Finals in their inaugural season and getting them back to the playoffs in year two, the organization made a switch in 2019-20.

Obviously at this point there is no rush in bringing in the next Devils head coach, especially if next season doesn’t start until January. But for a franchise that once went to the playoffs 19 times in 20 years (including four trips to the finals and three cups) there must be a lot of anxious energy to get things back on track.

Snapshots: Laviolette, Darling, AHL Signings

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It’s been quite a while since former Nashville Predators head coach Peter Laviolette has coached a game. The 55-year-old coach was fired by Nashville on Jan. 6 and was later hired to coach the U.S. at the World Championships which was cancelled on Mar. 21. However, the head coach has made it clear that he wants to return to the NHL coaching ranks as soon as possible, according to Adam Kimmelman of NHL.com.

The coach has gone back and looked at his successes behind the bench in hopes of improving as a coach.

“Right now, I think I’m just focused on going back to what I found has worked for me as a coach and go back to that,” Laviolette said. “I don’t have a team, I don’t have any players, but what I can focus on is what happens when I can go to a team and I can start to get involved with the players and the identity of the team and building that team, building the organization.”

  • Former NHL goaltender Scott Darling spent the 2019-20 season in Austria, quite a step down from the NHL after he was bought out by the Florida Panthers at the start of the season. While his team Innsbruck struggled last season, his numbers didn’t project those of a former NHL player as he finished with a 3.34 GAA and a .898 save percentage in 33 games. However, the 31-year-old, who played with the Chicago Blackhawks and Carolina Hurricanes, made it clear that his primary goal is to return to North America and resume his career there, even if that means signing an AHL deal and working his way up from there, according to John Dietz of the Daily Herald. “This pandemic has kind of sidetracked everything,” Darling said. “I was talking to some teams here. Ideally I’m going to try and play here next year, whether it be starting in the (AHL) or whatever.”
  • Two junior players signed their first professional contracts as the Toronto Marlies announced they have signed defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer and forward Jeremy McKenna to two-year AHL contracts. the 21-year-old Hoefenmayer was the biggest prize after leading all OHL defensemen in scoring last season with 26 goals and 82 points last season for the Ottawa 67s. Hoefenmayer was originally a fourth-round pick in 2017 by the Arizona Coyotes, but was never offered a contract by the Coyotes. McKenna scored 40 goals and 82 points with the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL this season. Both will join the Marlies next season, a team well-known for developing their minor league players.

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