Stars Must Make A Decision On Jason Spezza Soon
The Dallas Stars offseason has already been underway for quite some time, but now with a head coach settled in, the team will have some tough decisions ahead of them. One question general manager Jim Nill and head coach Jim Montgomery must make is what to do with declining veteran Jason Spezza.
After signing a four-year, $30MM deal four years ago, the soon-to-be 35 year old is coming off a disappointing 2017-18 season. After scoring 33 goals in the first year of that deal, the veteran’s numbers have dropped as he scored 15 goals in 2016-17 and followed that up with just eight goals last year under former head coach Ken Hitchcock, while he averaged just 13:00 ATOI, his lowest time on the ice since his rookie season.
The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro (subscription required) writes that the duo of Nill and Montgomery will are expected to discuss and come to a decision whether Spezza can fit into Montgomery’s system by the end of May. With one year remaining at $7.5MM AAV, there are a lot of options regarding Spezza. The team could keep him and hope he can produce on a bottom-six line. The team could also buy him out, saving $5MM in cap space for 2018-19, but would require the team to extend his cap hit of $2.5MM for 2019-20. The team could also try and trade his expiring deal to a team with existing cap space and take back a longer-termed player, who might be able to produce better than Spezza. Of course, Spezza does have a 10-team no-trade clause.
Shapiro also breaks down the veteran’s decline and is quick to point out that Spezza’s numbers were already going down before Hitchcock arrived in Dallas, so you can’t expect Spezza to return to form under Montgomery. However even with the lack of quality linemates among the bottom-six, Shapiro points out that Spezza has lost the ability to create his own scoring opportunities as he’s become a forward who attempts to position himself in front of the net in hopes to re-direct shots or catch a quick rebound. On top of that, Spezza’s defense hasn’t gotten any better, which was never a strength of his in the first place.
In the end, the decision will come down to how Nill and Montgomery view Spezza’s value. If you try not to think about the $7.5MM he is owed, he might fit well into a bottom-six role. The one nice thing about Spezza’s contract is that it should expire when the Stars need to open up cap space for Tyler Seguin‘s new contract.
Rick Wilson Retires From NHL Coaching
The Dallas Stars will not only have a new head coach next season, but new assistant as well. Rick Wilson, who has been behind an NHL bench for the past 30 years, has retired from coaching. The long-time assistant came back to the Stars last season with Ken Hitchcock, increasing his total to 18 seasons with Dallas over his career. Wilson is the best person to understand his impact on the game, and he did so in a statement:
As I look back on my time as a coach in the NHL, I feel a strong sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. Very few individuals in their coaching career have the opportunity to work with incredibly talented athletes like Sergei Zubov, Derian Hatcher, Alex Pietrangelo, Ryan Suter, Matt Niskanen, Jared Spurgeon and John Klingberg . These are a few of the names that stand out, but this list can go on and on involving all positions. The game of hockey has provided my family and I so many opportunities and we are forever appreciative.
Indeed, Wilson had an impact on a tremendous number of elite defensemen in the league and his teachings will likely play a role in hundreds of careers down the road. Beginning his NHL coaching career in 1988-89 with the Los Angeles Kings, he’ll hang it up after a disappointing season with the Stars. In total though, even this down season can’t tarnish his record. Coaching in 2,306 regular season games, he will finish his career with a record of 1,159-846-301, most of which came as an assistant or associate coach. He did work for a short time as the head coach of the Stars when Hitchcock was fired in 2002, only to remain in his original position when Dave Tippett came aboard the next season.
Stars GM Jim Nill had this to say about Wilson:
We are grateful to Rick and all that he has brought to the Dallas Stars organization and the NHL over his many seasons behind the bench. He has left a lasting impact on this franchise through the countless hours he’s spent teaching, instructing and developing players as well as preparing them to perform at the highest level on the ice.
The Stars will be coached by Jim Montgomery next season, who will need to find a new assistant to coach the defense and penalty kill. While every coach likes to bring in his own people, it’s not clear if Montgomery—a first-time NHL head coach—would have turned down the opportunity to keep Wilson in the position.
Western Notes: Former Stars, Turris, Kyrou, Heiskanen
After a disappointing showing in the 2017-18 season that saw the Dallas Stars fall out of the playoffs early, SportsDay’s Mike Heika takes a look at former Dallas Stars players who got an opportunity to compete in the playoffs, asking the question of whether trading away players is the way to go or should teams keep all their players?
He points out several former Stars, including defensemen Patrik Nemeth, Jamie Oleksiak, as well as Matt Niskanen, as well as the Vegas Golden Knights’ trio of forwards James Neal, Reilly Smith and Cody Eakin.
The scribe writes that while Nemeth was lost to waivers to Colorado, it was unlikely that he was going to get an opportunity to play, while Oleksiak who the team traded away to Pittsburgh for a fourth-round pick, also would have found playing time remote with their group of young defenseman like Esa Lindell, Julius Honka, and Stephen Johns.
Neal and Niskanen were both traded back in 2011 for Alex Goligoski. Heika points out that while that trade looks bad now, Goligoski was a major contributor for years with the Stars as one of their top defensemen. Eakin was lost in the expansion draft, but freed up enough cap room to add Martin Hanzal via free agency, although so far that hasn’t worked out as well as they wanted. Smith went to Boston to get Tyler Seguin, which no one would complain about, although despite having already played for four teams, Smith might be the guy they could use the most.
- Team Canada announced that they have added Nashville Predators center Kyle Turris for the IIHF World Championships in Denmark. He should add some veteran depth to a strong Canadian team. Turris, whose Predators were eliminated Thursday, had a solid year between Ottawa and Nashville, putting up 16 goals and 35 assists, but struggled in the playoffs. He failed to score and only had three assists in 13 games.
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeff Gordon answers questions in a mailbag column, but says that St. Louis fans shouldn’t hold their breath when it comes to the status of prospect Jordan Kyrou joining the St. Louis Blues out of training camp next season. The 20-year-old center is one of the team’s most heralded prospects after putting up 109 points in 56 games with the OHL’s Sarnia Sting this past season. However, Gordon writes it’s far more likely that Kyrou will start the season in the AHL and shuttle back and forth to gain experience.
- Dallas Stars prospect Miro Heiskanen has been making his mark at the World Championships in Denmark for Team Finland. At 18 years old, the 2017 third-overall pick helped his team to a victory over Team Canada Saturday, which included a key save to a likely goal by Connor McDavid. His success on the ice likely means that he is ready to join the Stars next season. “It’s nice to face those guys and see where I am,” Heiskanen said. “It’s a good test to play them, maybe I will play them next year in the NHL. I want to play there as soon as possible, that’s my goal.”
Stars Likely To Move On From Kari Lehtonen
- Stars netminder Kari Lehtonen is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July and while earlier in the season it looked like a new deal at a cheaper cap hit was a possibility, Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News suggests that with the way he played down the stretch, that’s likely no longer the case. Lehtonen was pushed into the starting role when Ben Bishop went down with a knee injury and Dallas eventually fell out of a playoff spot. The 34-year-old will undoubtedly be taking a pay cut from his $5.9MM cap hit and it appears he’ll be doing so elsewhere.
Snapshots: Hunwick, Pitlick, Stars
Matt Hunwick‘s first season in Pittsburgh did not go according to plan. After signing a three-year, $6.75MM contract with the Penguins at the opening of free agency, the expectations were that Hunwick would be a capable everyday defenseman. Yet, by the trade deadline Hunwick had missed 18 games due to injury and a few more due to healthy scratches and had just five points on the year to show for the games he did play in. Less than a year in to a three-year pact, GM Jim Rutherford was searching for a way to move his contract. When he couldn’t, Hunwick ended up watching 26 of the Penguins final 29 regular season games and each game of the postseason from the press box. These disappointing results are not lost on Hunwick though; the veteran defenseman was honest in his self-criticism when speaking to the gathered media yesterday, reports The Athletic’s Seth Rorabaugh. Hunwick did attribute some of the blame for his poor play to injury and a Penguins system that was difficult to adjust to, but largely took responsibility for the campaign by admitting his lack of a mental edge. “I don’t think I played with enough confidence throughout the season…Maybe (confidence was) part of the reason (for struggling)”, Hunwick said, adding ““I’d hope to play a lot better (next season). I’d like to be more assertive and be more confident right out of the gate. Now knowing the system and the guys, I think that should happen.” Maybe that will happen for Hunwick, but that is assuming he remains in Pittsburgh to begin next season. Rutherford still faces the pressure of the salary cap crunch and an overpaid depth defenseman is an ideal target to move out, if possible. Hunwick has proven to be a capable player over his career and he very likely would improve in year two with the Penguins, but he may not be afforded the opportunity after a rough start this year.
- On the other end of the spectrum is Dallas Stars forward Tyler Pitlick. In grading out the roster after a frustrating end to the season – a late-season collapse that cost the team a playoff spot – Sportsday’s Joshua Friemel calls Pitlick a highlight of an otherwise disappointing season. In fact, Friemel states that Pitlick may have even been a better off-season addition than big-name acquisitions Ben Bishop, Marc Methot, or Martin Hanzal. The Stars spent right up to the cap in 2017-18, but paid Pitlick only $1MM and got 80 games and 27 points back in return. Friemel points out that his 14 goals were good enough for sixth on the team and they were also more than Jason Spezza and Antoine Roussel combined, who together made $9.5MM. Pitlick also contributed on the penalty kill and was one of the Stars’ more physical and effective two-way players. Better yet, Pitlick still has two years remaining on his deal at that same bargain rate. The underutilized Edmonton Oilers prospect may have been little more than a waiver when he signed in Dallas and may have flown under the radar this season, but going forward his value will no longer go unnoticed.
- Staying in Dallas, Stars owner Tom Gaglardi made the rare cross-organization reassignment today. The Kamloops Blazers, the WHL team that Gaglardi shares ownership in, today announced several front office changes, including the assignment of GM Stu MacGregor to the Stars organization, as Gaglardi also owns both Dallas and AHL Texas. The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro clarifies that MacGregor has been transferred to the Stars’ amateur scouting department, where his experience with junior hockey can be put toward a different purpose. With the Blazers finishing with the fifth-worst record in the league this season, changes were expected, but it’s a shrewd move by Gaglardi to replace his GM for one team without losing an asset by instead strengthening his other team.
Snapshots: Stars Goaltending, Guentzel, Kane, Shalunov
Armed with a new head coach, the Dallas Stars can begin to get to work to fixing their team after the team failed to qualify for the playoffs despite a flurry of offseason moves last year. While, the team has many issues to deal with, one key area of need is finding a quality back-up goaltender.
The team is finally released from a five-year, $29.5MM deal it gave to eventual backup Kari Lehtonen. However, the $5.9MM AAV for a player who produced a 2.56 GAA and a .912 wasn’t worth it. On top of that, at age 34, the team needs a backup that can take over the workload for oft-injured starter Ben Bishop.
SportsDay’s Mike Heika writes there are several potential options for Dallas, but the best-case scenario would be for the Stars to chase Carter Hutton, who backed up Jake Allen last year. Hutton, who could easily fill in full-time in case Bishop gets hurt, could also be expensive as the 32-year-old veteran may hope to land a starting job somewhere. He was 17-7-3 last year with a 2.09 GAA in 32 games this past year in St. Louis. Other options would consist of Jonathan Bernier, Andrew Hammond, Michael Hutchinson and Anton Khudobin.
- While it may not come as a surprise, the Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan reports that the NHL Department of Player Safety does not intend to have a hearing with Pittsburgh Penguins Jake Guentzel, who hit John Carlson during Saturday’s game against the Washington Capitals. Despite complaints from Capitals head coach Barry Trotz, Khurshudyan the league felt it was a full-body hit.
- With the season on the line, The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) writes that while San Jose Sharks’ trade deadline acquisition Evander Kane has been highly successful since coming over from Buffalo, that hasn’t been the case during the team’s second-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights. Kane has scored just one point in the series and the team will need them to pull off a two-game sweep to advance to the conference finals. Kurz wonders whether Kane’s health has been an issue as he has skipped the morning skate for both of the team’s last two games.
- Chicago Blackhawks prospect Maxim Shalunov has been improving steadily in the KHL and the 2011 fourth-round prospect is looking more interesting, but The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required) writes that the 25-year-old is still two years away from reaching Chicago after he signed a three-year extension to remain in the KHL last offseason. As Shalunov has developed in Russia, he’s also received more attention recently from the Russian national team and while he didn’t get the invitation to the Olympics that he was hoping for, he did get the invite to play in the World Championships.
Jim Montgomery Named Head Coach Of The Dallas Stars
Friday: The Stars have announced Montgomery as their next head coach, the eighth since moving to Dallas.
Wednesday: In a surprise turn of events, Francois Gagnon of RDS is reporting that Jim Montgomery will be named head coach of the Dallas Stars by the end of the week. Montgomery, born in Montreal, has been the head coach of the University of Denver since 2013 and had been connected recently with both the Stars and New York Rangers head coaching vacancies. Sean Shapiro of The Athletic also believes the move is likely, though can’t confirm anything just yet.
A highly touted coaching prospect, Montgomery leaves DU just a year after interviewing for several NHL jobs last spring. A veteran of 122 games in the NHL, he has found incredible success in the coaching ranks including multiple USHL titles and a National Championship with Denver in 2017. He’ll be taking over for a legendary coach in Ken Hitchcock, and walking into a situation filled with talented—if underperforming—players.
The Stars missed the playoffs again this season, despite great individual offensive seasons from their best players. Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov all broke the 70-point mark, while John Klingberg recorded 67 points as one of the most dangerous offensive defensemen in the league. Still, they didn’t get enough contributions from the rest of the roster and had trouble finding any consistency in their play. Going on wild streaks in both directions, the team needs to find a way to improve for next year or risk wasting some of their prime inexpensive years with Seguin, who is an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Montgomery will also be tasked with developing some of the team’s younger players, including the prize of last year’s draft, Miro Heiskanen. Heiskanen, along with Klingberg, Julius Honka and Esa Lindell should form the core of a very good group of defenders for the next several years and will come at a relatively inexpensive price. If Montgomery can bring the best out of them, perhaps a return to the postseason in 2018-19 isn’t just a dream.
Many people, including Gagnon, believed that Alain Vigneault would be the next choice for the Stars head coaching position. Now, with the hiring of Montgomery instead, it’s not clear which direction the Rangers will go for their vacancy or where Vigneault will eventually land. Regardless, the Stars apparently feel strong enough about Montgomery’s future in the league to install him in a very important season, and hope he can orchestrate a quick turnaround for the organization.
Devils Plan To Make A Splash This Summer
No one could have expected that the New Jersey Devils would improve by 16 wins from last season to this season, transforming from a bottom feeder to a playoff team. The team added impact rookies Nico Hischier and Will Butcher and traded for defenseman Sami Vatanen, but also lost Adam Henrique in that deal and watched 2016-17 top-six forwards Mike Cammalleri and P.A. Parenteau depart. Yet, the team took a major leap forward with only a marginal improvement to their roster. Hoping for a repeat in that trend, NJ.com’s Chris Ryan reports that GM Ray Shero has been given the “green light” by the Devils to spend in free agency this summer.
New Jersey enters the 2018 off-season with substantial cap space. A bottom-five spender this season, the team is likely to lose Patrick Maroon, Michael Grabner, Drew Stafford, and Jimmy Hayes to free agency, which will open up even more room. They will also finally be rid of Ryane Clowe‘s cap hit. Even if the team was to hang on to defenseman John Moore, goaltender Eddie Lack, or forward Brian Gibbons, they would still have more than enough space to make a significant splash this summer.
Ryan addresses several players who Devils fans are intrigued by in his mailbag. He begins by throwing water on the idea that New Jersey will be in hot pursuit of John Tavares if he hits the open market. Seeing as Tavares will command a seven-year deal that could approach nine figures, Ryan rules the Devils out as a destination. New Jersey has its star center of the future in Hischier and must pay he and Hart finalist Taylor Hall in the next few years. However, Ryan does not shy away from any other recommended targets.
Among those other players the Devils could pursue are defenseman John Carlson, who would be the biggest name on the market if Tavares re-signs with the Islanders, fellow blue liners Mike Green and Calvin de Haan, and big winger James van Riemsdyk. Ryan rules out a reunion with Ilya Kovalchuk, but New Jersey could also be a destination for other stars of yesteryear like Joe Thornton or Rick Nash. Evander Kane, Paul Stastny, David Perron and James Neal are other top names who could wind up in Newark.
Ryan does add that the Devils may be content to sign just one of the big-name players on this summer’s free agent market. Given the luck he had making a blockbuster trade this year, Shero could surely explore the trade market instead of exclusively signing free agents. He may also want to give time to forward prospects like Michael McLeod and Joey Anderson, after Hischier, Jesper Bratt, and Blake Coleman found success this year. It will be a busy off-season one way or another for New Jersey and will continue to be a fun process of building a contender for team members and fans alike.
Jason Robertson Signs With Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars have signed one of their top prospects, inking Jason Robertson to a three-year entry-level contract. Robertson was eliminated from the OHL playoffs last week when his Kingston Frontenacs were knocked out by the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Robertson was the Stars’ second-round pick last June, 39th-overall. The 18-year old winger had quite the year in the OHL, scoring 40+ goals for the second consecutive season and posting a career-high 87 points. That offensive performance doesn’t come like many of his skilled contemporaries, who dart in and out of traffic to create chances. Instead, Robertson uses his big frame to protect the puck down low and take it hard towards the net. Critiqued for his skating ability, he’ll need to continue to improve his stride and quickness at the next level.
Fortunately, his strength on the puck, defensive awareness and hard shot make up for any speed deficiencies and create a nice professional profile for Robertson moving forward. He’ll likely return to Kingston next season, where he could become an even more impressive offensive threat as he fills into that 6’3″ frame even more. He already led the entire OHL in shots on goal this season, something he could repeat playing alongside Gabriel Vilardi if they both return to the junior ranks.
Front Office Updates: O’Hearn, Minnesota GM Search, Nill
The Arizona Coyotes are moving on from a top executive. The team announced today that they would not renew the contract for Assistant GM Chris O’Hearn. O’Hearn had been with the Coyotes for eleven years and was in his third year as AGM. O’Hearn handled much of the legal and administrative operations for Arizona, such as contract negotiations, salary arbitration, and cap management. GM John Chayka will now have to find a replacement or delegate those duties to others in the front office.
- Perhaps O’Hearn can throw his hat in the ring for the Minnesota Wild GM job. Owner Craig Leipold is certainly expanding his search, adding two new names to the mix alongside Nashville Predators’ AGM Paul Fenton and Columbus Blue Jackets’ AGM Bill Zito. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports that Boston Bruins’ AGM John Ferguson Jr. interviewed for the position today, while New Jersey Devils’ AGM Tom Fitzgerald will make his case tomorrow. Ferguson Jr. was previously the GM and Vice President of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the mid-2000’s and has entered the potential-GM market in a big way this week, now connected with both Minnesota and the Carolina Hurricanes’ vacancy. Fitzgerald had already dropped out of the Hurricanes’ hunt, citing “bad timing”, but the timing appears to be right for a potential move to Minneapolis. The Wild now have four legitimate candidates for Leipold to choose from and he may not be done yet.
- Another job search is ongoing in Dallas, as GM Jim Nill has his hands full finding a new head coach. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that Nill is considering at least ten different candidates to take over for Ken Hitchcock as the Stars’ new bench boss. That was in response to TSN’s Frank Servalli’s note that University of Denver head coach Jim Montgomery is the newest addition to the list. Montgomery has been dominating college hockey over the last five years, leading the Pioneers to a NCAA Tournament berth each year and winning the National Championship last season. Montgomery has been a popular candidate the last couple of years and would be an excellent choice for Dallas.