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Ralph Krueger

UFA Notes: Skinner, Engelland, Pardy

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Buffalo Sabres fans were hoping that 40-goal scorer Jeff Skinner would be re-signed by now and each day closer to July 1st increases the nervousness that they are feeling. However, TSN reports that GM Jason Botterill is not worried, at least not yet. Botterill remains confident that the two sides will come together on an extension, which as of the last update was in the eight years and $70-80MM range. Unless Skinner’s rights are dealt elsewhere, which seems unlikely given the GM’s optimism, no other team can match the Sabres’ offer given the benefit of that eight year. Botterill says that talks with Skinner have been ongoing since January, but there was brief pause in negotiations while Buffalo searched for their new head coach. However, Botterill notes that Skinner has since spoken to that new hire, Ralph Krueger, who also believes that Skinner will remain a Sabre. It seems that the two sides are back on a positive path, but with time running out before the free agent market opens, no assumptions can be made just yet.

  • The Vegas Golden Knights are also hoping to re-sign a key player, veteran leader Deryk Engelland. However, the Knights are not going up against competing offers, but rather the draw of retirement. Engelland, 37, has enjoyed a decade of NHL action and could be tempted to hang them up. If he chooses to keep playing though, there is little doubt that he would only stay in his adopted home town of Las Vegas. Knowing this, The Sin Bin reports that the Golden Knights have made an offer to their alternate captain. It’s likely another bonus-laded, low cap hit one-year contract like the one he has signed in each of the past two years. At this time, Sin Bin notes that he has yet to accept. Engelland will likely take some time to consider his next step in his career after another long season.
  • Adam Pardy has answered the call of retirement, but not after first accomplishing his ultimate goal this season. Pardy, 35, led his hometown Newfoundland Growlers to the ECHL’s Kelly Cup Championship in their inaugural season and now, The Telegram reports, he can ride off into the sunset. Pardy, while technically a free agent, has not been on an NHL contract in two years. He did play in 342 NHL games with five different teams over his long and winding career path though, last suiting up for four games with the Nashville Predators in 2016-17. After a year abroad in Sweden, he returned home to Newfoundland for an opportunity he couldn’t pass up with a pro team in his home province. Pardy recorded a career-best 21 points in 41 games and played a key role in a deep playoff run en route to a meaningful championship.

Snapshots: World Championships, Reinhart, Ceci

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The World Championships are over with Finland capturing the gold medal with a 3-1 win over Canada behind the play of a team-oriented roster, which included 18-year-old Kaapo Kakko, who will be a top-two pick in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. However, the MVP of the tournament wasn’t from Finland as Canada’s Mark Stone was named the MVP. Russian goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was named the top goaltender, while fellow countryman Nikita Kucherov was named the top forward at the World Championships. The Czech Republic’s Filip Hronek was named the top defenseman. Vasilevskiy, Hronek, Mikko Lehtonen, Jakub Voracek and William Nylander rounded out the All-Tournament team.

Meanwhile, Kakko along with teammate Henri Jokiharju, have already won the U18 World Championships, the U20 World Championships and now the Men’s World Championships. In fact Kakko and Jokiharju are the seventh and eighth players in IIHF history to win all three titles.

  • The Buffalo Sabres are thrilled to see one of their own having a dominant World Championships as winger Sam Reinhart continues putting up impressive numbers since signing a two-year “show me” bridge deal last offseason. He answered that by putting up a career-high 65 points last season and is beginning to develop into that impact forward the team envisioned when they drafted him second-overall in 2014. Reinhart had three goals and five points in 10 games for Canada, which won the silver medal. The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington adds that it was important for Reinhart to play well, especially with general manager Jason Botterill being a part of the management team and a new head coach in Ralph Krueger to impress. If he can continue his offensive success, he should be able to cash in next summer.
  • Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun writes that the Ottawa Senators have already begun discussions with restricted free agent defenseman Cody Ceci and his agent, J.P. Barry, on a long-term contract. Ceci, who can be an unrestricted free agent in 2020-21, has expressed interest in returning to the team, but Garrioch writes that if the two sides fail to hammer out a deal, the team intends to trade Ceci before the start of the season. Ceci has been a key part of their defense as he averaged 22:34 of ATOI last season, but the team needs to know that he will be part of their long-term plans. Garrioch also mentions that the team is likely to move defenseman Ben Harpur as it doesn’t look like he fits into their defensive plans and is no longer waiver-exempt.

Metropolitan Division: Kessel, Martin, Sorokin, Lee

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Just a few days ago, it was leaked that the Pittsburgh Penguins were closing in on a deal to send veteran forward Phil Kessel to Minnesota in a four-player trade. However, that trade hasn’t happened yet, suggesting that Kessel, who has can choose eight teams that he cannot reject a trade to, isn’t interested in playing for the Wild.

This complication could be a major issue for Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford, according to The Athletic’s Rob Rossi (subscription required), whose goal was to move Kessel and free up some cap room as early as possible, so the team could begin reshaping its roster. Once that deal was done, Rutherford could concentrate on his checklist that includes finalizing a new contract for goaltender Matt Murray, smoothing things over with Evgeni Malkin, working towards adding more youth throughout its franchise and possibly adding more picks in the early portion of the upcoming draft.

Yet, with Kessel flashing an unwillingness to be cooperative in where he gets traded, Rutherford’s job has gotten quite a bit harder. Rossi points out that Kessel’s value takes a big hit if he has little control on where Kessel goes, which could limit the team’s ability to cut salary this offseason. On top of that, now that everyone knows that Rutherford wants to move Kessel out, it will even be harder to get a good trade in the future.

  • Sticking with the Penguins, TribLive’s Jonathan Bombulie reports that after not getting the head coaching position with the Ottawa Senators or Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach Jacques Martin will return for a fifth season with the Penguins. That’s good news for Pittsburgh, as he was critical in running the team’s defense and penalty kill. Martin lost out on the Ottawa job to Toronto assistant coach D.J. Smith, while Buffalo hired Ralph Krueger.
  • The Athletic’s Arthur Staple (subscription required) writes that it doesn’t look like the New York Islanders will be signing goaltending prospect Ilya Sorokin out of the KHL this season. The team had hoped that Sorokin would buy out his final season of his KHL contract after he led his team to the Gagarin Cup Championships this year and come over to New York a year early. However, Staple writes that the 23-year-old netminder, who posted a 1.16 GAA and a .940 save percentage in the regular season for CSKA Moscow and was equally good in the playoffs, has chosen to finish out his contract, so the earliest New York would see him was the 2020-21 season.
  • The New York Post’s Brett Cyrgalis writes that now the New York Islanders have locked up center Brock Nelson to a six-year, $36MM deal, the team must now focus their attention on captain Anders Lee, who is rumored to be seeking a seven-year deal at $7MM per season. That may be too much for general manager Lou Lamoriello, but at the same time would leave a huge hole in their lineup if they let him walk, leaving Lamoriello with the task of replacing him with either Jordan Eberle or another underwhelming option.

 

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.

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.

Ralph Krueger Leaves Southampton FC

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In a somewhat surprising turn of events, Ralph Krueger has left his post as Chairman of the Southampton Football Club. His contract was set to expire at the end of June, and all parties decided it would not be extended. This comes less than two weeks after Krueger told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) that he may be interested in returning to the NHL in a front office role. Krueger of course has experience behind the bench in the NHL and abroad, but could potentially be a candidate for a higher position like President of Hockey Operations.

The Edmonton Oilers, who Krueger last coached in 2013, have said that they are not currently looking to install someone over the incoming general manager. The idea of hiring one wasn’t completely shut down by CEO Bob Nicholson at his end of year press conference, but it was definitely pushed aside as the focus was made the team’s next GM.

The Ottawa Senators though have been open about their search for a hockey operations executive to install next (or perhaps above) GM Pierre Dorion. The team has already reached out to several top names but were turned down each time. Krueger could now be an option, but it remains unclear what his plans are after leaving Southampton.

Kruger coached Team Europe in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and was praised nearly unanimously by his players. He has been working with Southampton for six years, and has also been given nothing but praise for his time there. He was apparently on the list of names that Buffalo Sabres GM Jason Botterill considered for his last coaching search.

Ralph Krueger Resurfaces As Head Coaching Candidate

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Since leading Team Europe to a second place finish at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, Ralph Krueger’s name has come up every time a coaching vacancy appears in the NHL. That has happened once again, as Darren Dreger of TSN reported on Insider Trading last night that Krueger is interested in returning to the NHL but “only if the fit is right.” It’s not clear what kind of fit that would be, but there’s obviously still interest in bringing him back overseas.

Krueger, 59, last coached in the NHL during the 2012-13 season when he served as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, but is currently serving as chairman of the Southampton Football Club in the English Premier League. Krueger has repeatedly said in the past that he is happy in the role he now occupies, but almost yearly around this time his name surfaces as a potential candidate.

There’s good reason for that interest from teams around the league. Players rave about working under Krueger despite his relative lack of experience at the NHL level, and he is credited with being a huge driving force behind the development of Swiss hockey. As head coach of the Swiss National team for more than a decade, he prepared his clubs spectacularly for matches that they were regularly outclassed in, often playing spoiler to some of the more traditional hockey powerhouses.

With the NHL season coming close to an end there will surely be some more coaching vacancies that open over the next few weeks and months. Already there are roles open in Los Angeles, Anaheim, Ottawa and Edmonton (as long as Ken Hitchcock doesn’t return), while other coaches like Scott Gordon and Craig Berube are technically still under interim labels.

Snapshots: Krueger, Cholowski, Datsyuk

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Over the past year, Ralph Krueger has been the subject of speculation surrounding just about every head coaching vacancy in the league. Offered at least two jobs, Krueger has turned down every opportunity to return to hockey and instead kept his position as Chairman of the Southampton soccer club in England. The Premiership offers Kruger a chance to be part of one of the biggest sporting leagues in the world, and he’s seemed very content with his position there.

Today, eighty percent of the Southampton organization was sold off for more than $270MM to businessman Jisheng Gao and his family. While a letter from former majority owner Katharina Liebherr states that she and Gao still have complete confidence in Krueger’s leadership, some like Bob Stauffer of 630 CHED in Edmonton believe it could inch him closer to an NHL return. If the new ownership wants to install their own chairman, Krueger could be on the top of many team’s lists in the hockey world.

  • Detroit Red Wings’ prospect Dennis Cholowski has officially signed a CHL contract with the Prince George Cougars, where he’ll likely spend this season. After playing one year at St. Cloud State in the NCAA, Cholowski signed his entry-level contract in the spring and spent some time with the Grand Rapids Griffins. The 19-year old first-round pick will head to the WHL where he should dominate after already putting up impressive performances against much older players in the US college ranks. He could still be sent to the AHL or even make the NHL squad in training camp, but this signing lends more credence to the idea he’ll spend 2017-18 in the junior ranks. The left-handed defenseman has some of the best upside in the Red Wings’ organization, and won’t be rushed to the NHL for a team that is not expected to compete. Cholowski has a very good chance of representing Canada on the international stage at the World Juniors this year, after taking part in the Summer Showcase earlier this offseason.
  • After suffering an injury that forced him to watch as his team won the KHL’s Gagarin Cup, Pavel Datsyuk is healthy and back in the lineup for SKA St. Petersburg’s preseason game tonight. Datsyuk was an All-Star in his first year back in the KHL, and even at 39-years old should be a lock for the Russian Olympic team. The former Detroit Red Wings’ forward scored 42 points in 51 total games last year for St. Petersberg, and will try to take a depleted team back to the playoffs again. Both Vadim Shipachyov and Evgeni Dadonov left the team for the NHL this offseason, but they did add young defender and Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Vladislav Gavrikov to the defense group.

Ralph Krueger Linked To Arizona Coyotes Coaching Search

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In an interesting turn, Frank Seravalli of TSN has heard Ralph Krueger’s name in relation to the Arizona Coyotes’ head coaching search. Krueger had previously said he was offered two NHL jobs that he turned down. Which jobs those were aren’t clear, but there was some rumors linking him to both Vancouver and Buffalo at times.

Krueger is currently serving as Chairman of the Southampton Football Club in England, a job he took after being fired by the Edmonton Oilers. That was his last NHL coaching job, though he did get back behind the bench at last fall’s World Cup for Team Europe. That sparked praise from his players and much speculation about a possible return to the game.

The Coyotes moved on from long-time coach Dave Tippett just before the draft, and immediately started their search for the next leader of their club. After bringing in Niklas Hjalmarsson, Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta, the Coyotes have made a clear effort to climb out of the basement and start competing again. Krueger would be the next step in that evolution, though he comes with many question marks.

Well respected throughout the league, it still would be only his second NHL head coaching gig and he would be returning to a league (and sport) he hasn’t been a part of for several years. It will be interesting to see how far that progresses, if at all.

Latest On Buffalo Sabres’ Coaching Search

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The Buffalo Sabres brought in San Jose Sharks assistant coach Bob Boughner for an interview yesterday according to Pierre LeBrun of TSN. The Sabres continue to search for their next head coach after firing Dan Bylsma earlier this spring. Boughner has been with the Sharks for two seasons, and had two lengthy runs as head coach of the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL.

Before entering coaching, Boughner played 630 games in the NHL including three seasons for the Sabres. The tough defenseman put up just 72 points in his NHL career, but is considered an up-and-coming head coach that will eventually land a job somewhere around the league.

Earlier updates…

  • Former Edmonton Oilers head coach Ralph Krueger had been linked to the job, though he has no intention of returning to the NHL just yet. Now chairman of a soccer team in the EPL, Krueger apparently has already turned down two different offers this year to return and is quite happy with his current situation.
  • Todd Reirden has been mentioned in connection with the job, but his close ties to the outgoing Bylmsa may pose an issue. While obviously the two don’t coach exactly the same, they have worked together at several stops and would likely bring many of the same messages. As Buffalo tries to rebuild its identity, bringing someone in from the same coaching bubble may not be the ideal move.
  • Clark Donatelli, the man Botterill hired to replace Mike Sullivan when he was promoted in Pittsburgh has also been linked to Buffalo. Donatelli could also be in the running for the AHL job after the Sabres fired Dan Lambert the incumbent head coach.
  • Finally, Phil Housley has been connected to the vacancies in both Florida and Buffalo but teams are waiting for him to finish his Stanley Cup run with the Nashville Predators. Housley was drafted and made his debut with the Buffalo Sabres, playing eight seasons with the club at the beginning of his career. For what it’s worth (which isn’t very much), he even uses a photo of himself playing for the Sabres in his Twitter profile. It would be a solid marketing move to bring back one of the greatest defensemen ever to play for the franchise as its next head coach, but Florida will likely give ample competition for his services.

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