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Rick Tocchet

Pacific Notes: Ekman-Larsson, Stastny, Roussel

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It’s been a wildly inconsistent year for the Arizona Coyotes who have seen losing streaks like when they went 2-6-2 during one stretch, but have also had a four and a five-game winning streak as well this season. One issue has been the play of defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. While his numbers have been similar to his yearly totals, coach Rick Tocchet wants to see more from his new captain, according to The Athletic’s Craig Morgan (subscription required).

Tocchet wants to see Ekman-Larsson be the best player on the ice every game, which hasn’t always been the case. In the past 11 games, Ekman-Larsson has just three assists, which just isn’t enough for a team that still remains short on fire power. Tocchet needs Ekman-Larson to take that next step in his development after the team gave him a six-year, $33MM extension last March and named him captain during the offseason.

“There’s no question I want him to take charge,” Tocchet said. “In a 2-2 game when he gets the puck, I want him to walk the blue line with that look like, ‘I’m going to make the play’ or ‘I’m going to shoot the puck.’ When you have those games – and we’ve all seen those games — where you walk off and say, ‘Wow, 23! What a game out there!’ It’s when he’s engaged.”

  • The Vegas Golden Knights could be ready to get back one of their injured players as center Paul Stastny, who has been seen getting some skating and practice times in, will join the team on their upcoming road trip which starts Wednesday in New York and may even get into the lineup at some point during the trip, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen.“Don’t be surprised if you see him early next week,” Vegas head coach Gerard Gallant said. Stastny has missed most of the season with a lower-body injury and has appeared in just three games so far this year. Stastny’s return should only add depth to a team that is still missing Erik Haula and has been forced to pair Max Pacioretty with third-liners Cody Eakin and Alex Tuch, although that line has fared quite well over the past few weeks.
  • While there was plenty of criticism during the offseason when the Vancouver Canucks signed forward Antoine Roussel to a four-year, $12MM deal, The Province’s Ben Kuzma writes that Roussel is proving his value as he has quickly taken over the role that Derek Dorsett once had with the team. The 29-year-old has produced a bit on the ice as well with three goals, 12 points and 67 penalty minutes and is on-pace to eclipse his career high of 29 points. “The one thing about Roussel is his engine always runs hot and he’s always competing, and that reminds me a little bit of Dorsett,” Vancouver head coach Travis Green said. “They care about their teammates and want to win desperately. That’s part of the culture we’re trying to create.”

Pacific Notes: Getzlaf, Thornton, Yamamoto, Coyotes’ PK

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The Anaheim Ducks got some good news today as Ryan Getzlaf skated for the first time since suffering a groin injury in the third period of their game against Arizona on Oct. 6. While he skated effortlessly, his appearance on the ice was a short one and isn’t expected to play in either game this weekend, according to Elliott Teaford of the Orange County Register.

Regardless, the Ducks and Getzlaf have high hopes that he’ll be back soon, which is much better than the original estimate that he could miss as much as a month, although the veteran refused to commit to a return date.

“It’s hard to say because you talk to the doctors and originally it was going to be 2-3 weeks, 3-4 weeks, those kinds of thing,” he said. “Obviously, we’re ahead of schedule. We can’t put a timeline on it because everybody’s body is going to heal differently. We’ll make our adjustments. If the leg progresses faster, then I’ll be back faster.”

Getzlaf has posted two assists in the two games he’s played this year. He scored 11 goals last season in 56 games.

  • Paul Gackle of The Mercury News wonders whether the San Jose Sharks made a mistake putting all of their faith in a Stanley Cup run when much of their center-line depth relies on 39-year-old Joe Thornton, who suffered an infection in his surgically-repaired knee and is currently out. While it is not considered to be a serious injury, the scribe writes that the Sharks are weak up the middle as even head coach Peter DeBoer admits that Joe Pavelski isn’t a real center when Thornton isn’t in the lineup. If the team loses Thornton for any significant time this season, the team may have trouble competing with other teams in the Pacific Division that are much stronger at that position.
  • The Edmonton Oilers picked up their first win of the season today when they defeated the New York Rangers 2-1, but the Edmonton Journal’s Kurt Leavins, in grading the performances of several different players, suggests that 20-year-old Kailer Yamamoto hasn’t shown much in his stint with the team so far this year and while he showed some potential early in the game, he disappeared after the second period and might need to be moved off the team’s second line.
  • Richard Morin of The Arizona Republic writes that the Arizona Coyotes success this year may come down to the success of their penalty kill unit. The Coyotes are just one of four teams that hasn’t allowed a power play goal this season as they’ve stopped seven power plays going into Saturday’s play. The team, which is focused on playing defense and limiting their opponents chances, believe that an impressive penalty kill will be whether the team has success or not. “Our special teams is something we’re really going to rely on this year,” head coach Rick Tocchet said. “Our PK (penalty kill) and power play have to be better than they were last year because it can win you hockey games. Saying that, I think anytime you have a commitment to defense and playing a pursuit style to limit the other team’s chances, you have a better chance at winning.

Alex Galchenyuk “Week-To-Week”, Will Miss Opening Night

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Late last week, it was reported that Arizona Coyotes forward Alex Galchenyuk had been sidelined with an injury. However, the team had not yet evaluated the injury or its severity. Head coach Rick Tocchet was tight-lipped about how it occurred, what type of injury it might be, or how long Galchenyuk could be out for. It seems now that the team has taken the proper time to consider Galchenyuk’s status and the results are not optimal. Arizona announced that Galchenyuk is “week-to-week” with a lower body injury and is expected to miss the team’s opener in Dallas on October 4th.

Missing just one game would be a best case scenario at this point, as there continues to be a lack of details or answers regarding this injury. As the Coyotes biggest off-season acquisition, there was a lot of hype and excitement surrounding the young scoring forward entering this season. Beginning the season without him is less than ideal, but even hinting at a long-term injury would be a tough pill for fans to swallow before the season even begins. “Week-to-week” is a difficult time frame to estimate, especially for a player who has been rather resilient in his career. However, when Galchenyuk did suffer a serious knee injury in 2016-17, he had a tough time getting healthy and would up missing 21 games over two stints on the injured reserve. A similar outlook for this mysterious lower-body ailment would be disastrous for Arizona.

Early indications had Galchenyuk not at center, but at left wing for the Coyotes and certainly in the top-six. Until he returns, his spot will likely return to what it was last season – a revolving door of options including Richard Panik, Brendan Perlini, Mario Kempe, and Lawson Crouse. That lineup is even less appealing than last year, when Max Domi (traded for Galchenyuk), Jordan Martinook (also traded), Tobias Rieder and Anthony Duclair (free agency) were also in the mix. The ’Yotes have to hope that the rest of their forward corps can pick up the slack and could use a hot start from free agent addition Michael Grabner and rookie Dylan Strome. Either way, the team will need Galchenyuk back as soon as possible if they want to take a step forward this season.

Injury Notes: Coyotes, Blues, Capitals, Sabres

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Although the injuries have not been reported as anything major, fans of the Arizona Coyotes can’t help but feel nervous that two players expected to be major additions to the team’s forward corps this season – trade acquisition Alex Galchenyuk and top prospect Dylan Strome – are currently sidelined with injuries. The Athletic’s Craig Morgan reports that Galchenyuk is currently out with a lower-body injury and has yet to be evaluated and cleared by the medical staff, per head coach Rick Tocchet. Tocchet did not relay when and how the injury occurred and the Coyotes will have to wait for him to be examined to determine the severity and recovery time. Galchenyuk has been a very durable player to this point in his six-year career, but did struggle to return from a knee injury in 2016-17, which ended up costing him 21 games over two stints on the injured reserve. An extended absence to begin his tenure in Arizona would be an unfortunate start for Galchenyuk, who seemed primed to embrace his change of scenery. As for Strome, Morgan writes that he is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury. One of the knocks on Strome, the third overall pick in 2015, is that he has struggled to fill out his 6’3″ frame. The lanky forward can be pushed around – and thus susceptible to injury – far too often for a player of his stature. Arizona needs Strome to get healthy and toughen up if he wants to be an impact player this season.

  • The quantity, not quality, of injuries for the St. Louis Blues is starting to become a concern. With starting goaltender Jake Allen still not ready for game action due to back spasms and Nikita Soshnikov out indefinitely with a concussion, the team also has three key forwards on the sidelines with minor injuries. The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford updated the statuses of David Perron, Tyler Bozak, and Robby Fabbri today. Fabbri’s injury history is well-documented; the undersized winger has had back luck with his knees, missing the final 30 regular season games and all 11 postseason games of the 2016-17 season, only to tear his ACL last preseason and miss the entire 2017-18 season. While Fabbri’s knees seem to be back at full strength, his current injuries could be related to getting back to a game level of skating. Rutherford states that Fabbri did not practice today due to a sore back and hip flexor. Fortunately, these are conditions that the young forward should be able to bounce back from very soon. Meanwhile, veteran free agent additions Perron and Bozak also missed practice today and were pulled from tonight’s preseason roster with matching groin injuries. The experienced forwards, who added significant depth for St. Louis with their signings this summer, have no previous lower-body injury history and should hopefully be back on the ice soon.
  • The Capitals have just three players who have yet to suit up for a preseason game so far: defenseman John Carlson, center Lars Eller, and winger Devante Smith-Pelly. While Carlson and Eller had documented lower-body injuries and are simply being eased back into game action, NBC Sports Washington’s J.J. Regan points out that Smith-Pelly’s absence has been more curious. In speaking with new head coach Todd Reirden, Regan discovered that Smith-Pelly’s conditioning has been an issue and he has been working toward getting back in game shape. Reirden states that the physical forward is not dealing with any injuries, but simply not yet at a level where he would benefit from playing. A short and celebratory summer likely has Smith-Pelly slightly out of shape and fatigued, but it is not an issue that seems likely to impact the regular season and certainly not a Jake Dotchin-type scenario.
  • Injury-prone Buffalo Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian is taking it easy this preseason. Beat writer Bill Hoppe says that the veteran blue liner is being eased into camp to ensure that he is fully healthy for the start of the regular season. Bogosian has yet to skate in a preseason game and may not see much exhibition action at all. While Bogosian has a lengthy injury history that features IR stints for knees, ribs, groins, wrists, and more, it was his hip that cost Bogosian all but 18 games last year. He missed the final 39 contests after undergoing hip surgery in January. With the Sabres already fighting the injury bug, it is important that Bogosian be given the time he needs to start the season off on the right foot. Hoppe adds that while Conor Sheary appears ready to re-join the team next week, his former Pittsburgh Penguins teammate, defenseman Matt Hunwick will not. Hunwick will not be ready for the start of the regular season due to a neck injury, making Bogosian’s availability all that more important.

Snapshots: Kings, Parent, Galchenyuk

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The Los Angeles Kings struggled to create offense from anywhere but Anze Kopitar’s line in the first half of last season, mostly because of the absence of Jeff Carter as the team’s second line center. Carter played just 27 games for the Kings, but registered 13 goals and 22 points showing that even in his mid-thirties he’s still a very effective offensive player.

This time around they’re hoping for better results, and look healthier coming into training camp. Curtis Zupke of the Los Angeles Times reports that Carter, Dustin Brown, Trevor Lewis and Jake Muzzin are all expected to be ready for training camp in a few weeks, despite dealing with some injuries this summer. If the Kings can squeeze out some of Ilya Kovalchuk’s previous performance and put a healthy Carter over the boards every few shifts, the team could have a much improved offense this season.

  • The New Jersey Devils have hired Ryan Parent as an assistant coach for their AHL affiliate, bringing in the NHL veteran to join Mark Dennehy’s staff. Parent is a veteran of more than 100 NHL contests, and even suited up for 27 playoff contests with the Philadelphia Flyers between 2008-2010. Once a first-round pick by the Nashville Predators, he’ll be able to provide valuable insight to Devils prospects as they come through the system as well as helping to develop the defensemen already in Binghamton.
  • The Arizona Coyotes will have a glut of options for the center position this season, as several newcomers have experience at the position. One of those players, Alex Galchenyuk, wants to prove to his doubters that he can handle the position and according to a conversation with Dave Vest of NHL.com, will be given that chance by head coach Rick Tocchet. Galchenyuk was drafted as a potential first line center by the Montreal Canadiens, but struggled to find much consistency at the position during his time there. After being swapped for Max Domi earlier this offseason, both he and the Coyotes have expressed a desire to see him return to the middle if possible. If he can handle the move back to the middle, the Coyotes find themselves deep at the position with Derek Stepan, Christian Dvorak and Brad Richardson already on the roster and Dylan Strome expected to compete for a full-time role this season.

Poll: Who Will Be The First Coach Fired In 2018-19?

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Not a single NHL head coach was fired during the 2017-18 season, though several changes have been made since. Barry Trotz and Bill Peters resigned their positions in Washington and Carolina, and were each hired to replace the outgoing bench bosses in New York and Calgary. Those two were Doug Weight and Glen Gulutzan, who both failed to get their teams to the playoffs in year two of their coaching history (Weight replaced Jack Capuano partway through the 2016-17 season). Assistant coaches moved up the ladder in Washington and Carolina, while the NCAA ranks were mined for new openings for the Dallas Stars and New York Rangers. Jim Montgomery and David Quinn took over for Ken Hitchcock and Alain Vingeault respectively, bringing new ideas and fresh faces to the NHL coaching circuit.

It’s not new for coaches to be fired in the offseason, but seeing no one sent packing during the year is a very rare occurrence. It was the first time it had happened since 1966-67, meaning the likelihood of it happening again in 2018-19 seems very low. So then, who will be the first to feel the seat burning underneath him? The last time we asked a question like this the readers correctly guessed that Vingeault was on his way out, but also listed Claude Julien in Montreal, Jeff Blashill in Detroit and Rick Tocchet in Arizona as possibilities.

Who will be the first coach fired in 2018-19? Will it happen at all? Cast your vote below and make sure to explain why in the comment section.

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Edmonton Oilers To Sign Tobias Rieder

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Darren Dreger of TSN is reporting that the Edmonton Oilers have decided the price is no longer too high on Tobias Rieder, and will sign the free agent forward to a one-year contract worth $2MM. Rieder did not receive a qualifying offer from the Los Angeles Kings and became an unrestricted free agent.

The deal is the optimal “prove it” contract as the Oilers aren’t risking more that $2MM to see if they can get him to have a breakout season and if it fails, they can move on with no repercussions. With Rieder’s speed, he might be a solid fit next to Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl on one of the top two lines. If he is a success, then Edmonton still gets his restricted free agent rights next season, so they can keep him in the fold. And at age 25, he’s still has potential to improve his game and fit in well with the younger core of Oilers. He also has some penalty killing experience, which can’t hurt an Edmonton team that struggled with special teams last season.

The speedy winger has always had a tremendous amount of potential and looked to be well on his way after his first three years in Arizona in which he tallied 13, 14 and 16 goals. However, he fell out of favor with Rick Tocchet and the team opted instead to send him and goaltender Scott Wedgewood to Los Angeles for backup goalie Darcy Kuemper. Rieder posted four goals and six points in 20 games after the trade, but it wasn’t enough for the Kings to give him an qualifying offer.

Arizona’s Moves Continue To Improve Coyotes Team

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With the recent acquisition of Alex Galchenyuk, the Arizona Coyotes are well on their way to taking another step towards building a winning team in the desert. If you add the players Arizona acquired last year at this time, a full year under the belt of coach Rick Tocchet and the continued development of their young players, the team seems to be heading in the right direction and the team is starting to get excited.

Throw in franchise defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson as someone who sees the changes. Many thought Ekman-Larsson might spurn the struggling franchise, yet he agreed to sign an eight-year, $66MM extension last week. Just last year, the team went out and traded their first-round pick (seventh overall) to the New York Rangers and picked up two key pieces to their team in center Derek Stepan and goaltender Antti Raanta. Stepan has continued his solid play, while Raanta put up a solid second half of the season after an injury-plagued first half, putting up a 2.24 GAA and a .930 save percentage in 47 games. He has also been rewarded with a three-year, $12.75MM extension, which kicks in this year. Chayka also went out and traded for veteran defensemen Niklas Hjalmarsson and Jason Demers in separate deals last year.

While many people felt that after a flurry of moves a year ago, the Coyotes would make a huge jump in the standings, that didn’t happen, especially after starting the season with an 11-game losing streak. However, their second half showed more of that improvement as the team had a stretch towards the end of the season in which it went 17-8-3.

Regardless, there seems to be a lot going right for the Coyotes right now, according to NBC Sports’ James O’Brien. The scribe points out some key facts, including the initial reaction to the Galchenyuk deal has been positive. While it’s too early to tell, Galchenyuk’s chances of becoming a solid player is quite a bit higher than Max Domi, who the Coyotes sent back to Montreal. Assuming that Galchenyuk can make the conversion to center, that would relieve some stress from the team’s lack of depth at that position. Now if the team wants to move Dylan Strome or Christian Dvorak to the wing position, there won’t be extra pressure to keep him at center due to their lack of depth.

One other key factor is the team still has an enormous amount of young players who could be ready to take that next step. Clayton Keller scored 23 goals in his rookie year and could improve on that exponentially. Other players like Dvorak, Jakob Chychrun, Strome, Brendan Perlini and Christian Fischer could also take that next step. And don’t forget the sixth pick in next week’s draft.

The team also still has plenty of cap space available with more than $18MM in space waiting for them to use. They could dip into the free agency market or continuing to add players through trade. However, with the way Chayka is constantly tweaking this team, there are likely more changes to come.

Max Domi Linked To Pittsburgh Penguins

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In this week’s 31 Thoughts Podcast with Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the two hosts enter into discussion over Arizona Coyotes forward Max Domi and where his future may lie. Domi has been involved in trade speculation for more than a year, and after his second consecutive season with fewer than 10 goals, that isn’t expected to end anytime soon. Friedman links Domi to the Pittsburgh Penguins this time around:

One of the things that I heard just around the Cup Final is that I think the Penguins have interest in him. There was a point last year where I thought he was going to get traded. His name was out there. I believe there are teams with interest, I believe Montreal for example had some interest in Max Domi. I think Pittsburgh is going through some changes, and Domi is one of the guys they’re really interested in. 

The venerable insider goes on to note that Penguins’ owner Mario Lemieux and Tie Domi, Max’ father, are close friends. Though that doesn’t signify anything specific, the fact that Marek admits he’s also heard rumblings about the young Coyotes forward likely points to at least passing interest from Pittsburgh.

Domi, 23, was selected 12th-overall in 2013 but hasn’t become the true top line player many expected him to be. With 45 points in 2017-18 he’s clearly not a negative on the Coyotes roster, but after being a huge goal scoring threat in junior and notching 18 as a rookie he was expected to put up bigger totals as he progressed. That progression has taken him all the way to restricted free agency this summer, where he’ll have a very interesting case to negotiate with the Coyotes.

This season new head coach Rick Tocchet made the decision to move Domi back to center part way through the year, a position he hadn’t played since his first year of junior. Though he found mixed success at the position and eventually was moved back to the wing, the fact that he now has some added versatility to his resume could bring even more suitors out of the bushes. Teams like Pittsburgh may want to take a look at the young forward in the middle, especially if he can continue to be defensively responsible and distribute to his linemates. It’s important to note though that 18 of Domi’s 45 points came in his final 20 games as he was lining up on the wing.

If the Coyotes want to move onto the next wave of forwards, led by Clayton Keller and Dylan Strome, perhaps Domi is a name that they’d be willing to move out. Bringing back some more veteran talent to help the team win in the short term would go along with the moves that Arizona made last offseason, when they acquired Derek Stepan, Antti Raanta, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Jason Demers.

As a note—speculative as it might be—Tocchet’s close relationship with Phil Kessel has been widely reported, and with the news recently of the Penguins potentially considering a trade for the enigmatic forward, a fit could be found in Arizona. Kessel of course holds a list of just eight teams he can be traded to, and no discussions have been reported between the two sides. If the Penguins are interested in Domi though, they’ll have to pay a steep price. Whether he’s a perfect fit in Arizona or not, he still holds quite a bit of value to the Coyotes.

Coyotes Notes: Team Upgrades, Ekman-Larsson, Kruger

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With a strong second half, the Arizona Coyotes are ready to take that next step from cellar dweller to competitive team. The hope is that now that head coach Rick Tocchet has held the coaching reigns for a full season, he can help Arizona take that next step. While the importance of signing of star defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson is critical to the long-term success of the team is key (he has been rumored to be considering and eight-year extension), the team must continue to upgrade its roster.

According to Tocchet, in an interview with Arizona Sports’ Craig Morgan, the team has several key needs with center being at the top of the list, followed by another top-five defenseman and a scoring wing. The team upgraded at center a year ago when it went out and traded defenseman Anthony DeAngelo and their first-round pick in a package deal for Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta. Stepan put up solid numbers as the team’s top center, scoring 14 goals and adding 42 assists in his first year for Arizona. However, the team might want a stronger, more veteran presence for the No. 2 center spot, which was held by Christian Dvorak last season. Dvorak had just 22 assists last season.

Despite a solid nucleus on defense starting with Ekman-Larsson and Alex Goligoski as well as the strong additions of veterans Jason Demers and Niklas Hjalmarsson in the offseason and the improved play of youngster Jakob Chychrun, the team would like to add more to their defense. While the team might address that with the fifth-overall pick this year, the team wouldn’t mind adding another player to their group, which might have to come via trade.

  • Tocchet said he has worked hard to form a relationship with Ekman-Larsson over the past year. “In December, we had a really frank 30 or 40 minute talk,” said Tocchet. “I’m not a big meeting guy but we just talked about life and everything. I wanted him to have more of a voice in how we do things. What time should we have practice? Do you like the day off here? Should we travel at 2 PM? I want him to be proactive in those decisions. I want him to take responsibility and I think he understands that now that I want more from him.”
  • In the same article, Tocchet said that the addition of veteran Marcus Kruger is important due to his leadership skills. While the veteran struggled in his one year in Carolina with just six points in 48 games, Kruger did admit he played the entire year with a hernia. However, fully healed, he should give the Coyotes some grit on their fourth line. “The Chicago coaching staff loved him. I hear his hockey IQ is high and he’s a leader in the sense that he does the right things, practices hard. Since I’ve started, hockey IQ to me is bigger than I ever thought it was. When you add players with high hockey IQ, the chemistry comes quicker. He can probably help some young guys with that,” Tocchet said.

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