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Snapshots: Marner, Coffey, Vilardi

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Mitch Marner’s next contract continues to be the talk of the town in Toronto—at least the hockey part of town—and Darren Dreger was on TSN radio today discussing what’s next in the negotiation. Dreger suggested that the Marner camp will be speaking to other teams when the free agent interview period begins in late June, to see what kind of opportunity would be out there if he were to pursue the infamous offer sheet.

The 22-year old forward is coming off an incredible season with the Maple Leafs where he immediately found chemistry with John Tavares and ended up with 94 points in 82 games, and now has a chance to be among the record-setting group of RFA wingers this summer. Names like Mikko Rantanen, Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine also all need new contracts and could very well change the landscape for top wingers coming off their entry-level contracts. The Maple Leafs and GM Kyle Dubas meanwhile have always seemed very confident they can get a deal done with Marner without an offer sheet coming into play, given the complete lack of them over the last several years.

  • It looks like another one of the “old boys club” in Edmonton is on his way out, as the team has parted ways with skills coach Paul Coffey according to Mark Spector of Sportsnet. The Oilers organization has been criticized heavily in the past for allowing their former players to have too much influence over the team, but have also recently seen Craig MacTavish leave by way of the KHL. This comes on a day when new GM Ken Holland announced the hiring of Dave Tippett as the next head coach of the team, another huge change of leadership as they try to get back to playoff contention.
  • According to Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider the Los Angeles Kings are still in a “holding pattern” in regards to top prospect Gabe Vilardi’s rehab, as they wait for clearance before getting him into a skating and rehab program. Vilardi has unfortunately dealt with a serious back injury since being drafted 11th overall in 2017 and suited up for just four minor league games last season on a conditioning loan. The 19-year old forward has incredible offensive upside given his big frame and puck protection skills, but will need to get back to health before ever really figuring into the Kings plans.

Edmonton Oilers Hire Dave Tippett As Head Coach

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Today at an afternoon press conference, the Edmonton Oilers  made official what has been rumored for the last several weeks. Dave Tippett will be the team’s next head coach, agreeing three-year deal. With new GM Ken Holland recently taking over the front office, the Oilers have completely changed their management group since the end of the season and will now try to navigate the sinking ship back to land.

Tippett, 57, had been working with the Seattle expansion franchise but will now take his talents to Edmonton and try to coax the best out of a Connor McDavid-led group. The Oilers have been one of the most disappointing organizations in the league the last several years, continually getting high draft picks only to keep floundering near the bottom of the league standings. McDavid has made the playoffs just once since entering the league in 2015, despite being a Ted Lindsay award winner twice already—and perhaps thrice after the 116-point season he just recorded.

Holland and the Oilers management will hope they can turn that around, though they have a big task on their hands. The team must find a way to shed some dead weight financially, and bring in more effective depth players to help McDavid and Leon Draisaitl up front. Tippett meanwhile will try to get the best out of the group that remains, including finding some defensive consistency from talented-but-frustrating players like Adam Larsson and Oscar Klefbom. While the veteran coach is well regarded around the league, he doesn’t necessarily have the greatest track record in the NHL.

Through 14 years as an NHL head coach, Tippett has amassed a record of 553-413-28-120, but hasn’t achieved much success in the playoffs. In his last stop in Arizona things fell apart during his last few years, with the team posting just a .415 winning percentage from 2014-17. In fact the last five seasons of Tippett’s career in Arizona the Coyotes failed to make the playoffs at all, something he’ll be asked to change immediately in Edmonton.

The Oilers can’t afford to waste any more of McDavid’s prime years outside of the playoffs, given the immense advantage he gives the team at the moment. McDavid is signed for another seven years in Edmonton, but the expectation from owner Daryl Katz is that the team should be competitive in 2019-20 and not need to contemplate a rebuild. Holland understands that too, meaning Tippett isn’t coming in just to build a long-term program but a contender in year one.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Oilers Have Interest In Frederik Tiffels

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The Oilers have interest in German winger Frederik Tiffels, reports Postmedia’s Kurt Leavins.  Edmonton is looking to shore up their winger depth with cost-effective options and as a particularly quick skater, he’d fit in well with the style that they’re trying to play.

The 24-year-old has a fair amount of experience in North America already.  A fifth-round pick of Pittsburgh back in 2015, Tiffels spent two seasons in the USHL before playing three years with Western Michigan before turning pro.  However, things didn’t go well once he signed.  He spent the bulk of his first season at the ECHL level and wanted to return to Germany after that, resulting in Pittsburgh terminating the final year of his contract last August.

Tiffels played quite well in an injury-shortened season with Kolner Haie of the DEL in 2018-19, recording 22 points in just 27 games while adding nine more in 11 postseason contests.  He also made a positive impression at the recently-concluded World Championships, chipping in with two goals and two assists in eight contests for Germany, who was eliminated by the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals.

It’s worth noting that Tiffels has two more seasons left on his contract overseas which could complicate things.  It’s unknown if his deal has an NHL out clause or whether or not his team would willingly let him out of his contract early.  Either way, Edmonton has already made one international signing on the wing in Joakim Nygard last week and it appears they’re not done trying to add via that route just yet.

Western Notes: Tippett, Josi, Beaulieu, Simek

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The Edmonton Oilers and new general manager Ken Holland haven’t announced a new coach and while rumors have suggested that the team has settled on Dave Tippett as the team’s new head coach, nothing has been announced.

Postmedia’s Kurt Leavins reiterates that Tippett to Edmonton is a “done deal,” but the timing of the announcement has been the issue. The deal still has to get onto paper and with both the NHL Draft Combine and the Stanley Cup Finals, there is little time to get the announcement out there that the team has a new head coach. Regardless, the scribe writes that Tippett’s appointment will come in the next few days.

  • For a second year in a row, the Nashville Predators top priority will be to sign one of their star defensemen to a extension. The team locked up Ryan Ellis to an eight-year, $50MM deal last summer and must do something similar with Roman Josi, who is eligible to sign an extension on July 1. Josi, however, has made it clear he wants to stay in Nashville. However, the Predators will have to pay up as The Athletic’s Adam Vingan (subscription required) writes that they will likely have to give him the biggest contract in team history, which could overtake Ryan Johansen’s $8MM AAV.
  • The Winnipeg Jets have a number of big contracts and potential trades to deal with this offseason, but there are also smaller issues along their roster as well. The team needs to keep their defensive depth, one of the strengths of their roster in recent years, yet they only have five defensemen under contract. The Winnipeg Sun’s Ken Wiebe writes that the Jets have indicated that they would like to bring back restricted free agent Nathan Beaulieu, who the team acquired at the trade deadline for a sixth-round pick, as insurance in case they lose Jacob Trouba to a trade. However, in order to offer Beaulieu a qualifying offer, they would have to add 10 percent to his $2.4MM he made last year, which the team is unlikely to do for a bottom-pairing defenseman. The more logical approach, which Winnipeg did last year with Joseph Morrow, would be to not qualify him and then try to sign him for less as an unrestricted free agent.
  • The San Jose Sharks got some good news as The Athletic’s David Lombardi (subscription required) writes that defenseman Radim Simek, who has been out since March 12th after having his leg crushed in a collision with Winnipeg’s Andrew Copp and having surgery to repair a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus, has already returned to the ice and is skating again. “The guys who are taking care of me say that my rehab is going really fast, that it’s really unusual to only be two months removed from surgery but back on the ice, skating however I want,” Simek said.  Simek, who signed out of the Czech Republic in 2017, played one year in the AHL and made the NHL roster this season, playing in 41 games and making a significant difference before getting injured and hopes to be back for next season.

Edmonton's Assistant Coaches Aren't Likely To Return

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  • While the Oilers have still yet to officially name their new bench boss, it appears changes are coming to their group of assistants. Postmedia’s Kurt Leavins reports that assistant coach Trent Yawney is expected to join the Kings where Edmonton’s former head coach Todd McLellan has taken over.  He adds that assistants Glen Gulutzan and Manny Viveiros aren’t likely to be back in their current roles while Jim Playfair and Mark Lamb could be candidates to take over for those two.  Dave Tippett is widely expected to be named head coach but the move has not been made official just yet.

Edmonton Oilers Sign Joakim Nygard

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Back in March, a report surfaced from Darren Dreger of TSN that several teams around the NHL were pursuing SHL forward Joakim Nygard. At the time, the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators were listed as two of the potential destinations for the speedy winger. Now that the SHL season is over, Nygard is free to sign with whoever he chooses and both of those teams are out of the running. The free agent has signed a one-year entry-level deal with the Edmonton Oilers instead.

Nygard, 26, put up another excellent season with Farjestads in the SHL, posting 21 goals and 35 points. In fact, those 21 goals were good enough for second in the entire league behind only Columbus Blue Jackets top prospect Emil Bemstrom’s 23. That kind of offensive production is nothing new for Nygard, who has posted at least 29 points—a solid total in the 52-game SHL season—in three consecutive years.

If there is one thing that stands out in Nygard’s game, it is his incredible skating ability. Easily one of, if not the, best skaters in the SHL, he has drawn countless comparisons to Washington Capitals forward Carl Hagelin. While Hagelin is also scheduled to become a UFA this summer and is available to the whole league, he’s also going to turn 31 this summer and will likely come at a relatively higher price tag. Nygard however may be able to jump right into an NHL lineup on a cheap contract and provide some forward depth next season.

While Calgary was involved the whole way with Nygard, there is an obvious fit with the Oilers. Edmonton has been trying desperately to increase their team speed in order to keep up with Connor McDavid, and have a distinct lack of scoring options on the wing. Perhaps a chance to play with a back-to-back (and potential three-peat) Ted Lindsay Award winner was enough to turn the scales in Edmonton’s favor.

Overseas Notes: Olympics, Jokerit, Nygard

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The qualification rules for the 2022 Olympic hockey tournament have been set, with the top eight ranked countries in the world from 2019 will automatically qualify. Those countries are Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, USA, Germany and Switzerland, meaning others like Slovakia, Denmark and Latvia will have to battle to earn a spot.

Interestingly though, host China will also be given a spot in the tournament without further qualification. The Chinese team is currently ranked 33rd (right between Iceland and Israel) in the world will be the lowest ranked team to ever compete in an Olympic hockey tournament. Still, the NHL is trying desperately to expand their footprint in China and if they end up sending players to the tournament it can only help to have them share the ice with the country’s best players.

  • Jokerit Helsinki will now be fully owned and operated by Finnish nationals, as legendary forward Jari Kurri has taken over as majority owner and Chairman of the Board. Jokerit joined the KHL in 2014 after decades in Finland’s Liiga, and have found great success even in the higher league. The team finished second to CSKA in the Bobrov division this season with a record of 32-19-6. Kurri, a Hall of Fame player from his days skating beside Wayne Gretzky in Edmonton, has served as general manager of Jokerit in the past and is still extremely involved with hockey in Finland.
  • Swedish reports had surfaced that free agent forward Joakim Nygard had picked the Edmonton Oilers as his NHL destination, and Ryan Rishaug of TSN has heard the same. While the team has still not announced a contract, Rishaug notes that the deal will be a one-year entry-level contract and Nygard will be a UFA again after the 2019-20 season. The speedy winger can hopefully step straight into the Oilers lineup and provide some much needed scoring depth on the wing.

Senators Notes: Groulx, Roy, Mann, Potential Targets

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According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, new Senators head coach D.J. Smith is expected to hire his own staff in Ottawa. Although GM Pierre Dorion made the final decision on hiring Smith, the team is in the process of finding a President of Hockey Operations and, until that is completed, it appears Dorion will stick with player personnel decisions while Smith is given control of the remaining coaching hires. The one exception though is goaltending coach Pierre Groulx. McKenzie adds that Groulx has already been confirmed as returning to the team next season in the same capacity. Groulx has spent the past three seasons as the Senators’ goalie coach and has a close relationship with veteran starter Craig Anderson. He also had success with Anders Nilsson last season, whose play improved noticeably following a mid-season trade from the Vancouver Canucks. Even if the decision were up to him, it is unlikely that Smith would have opted to move on from Groulx, who was one of the few things that worked well in Ottawa last year.

  • Patrick Roy won’t be the next head coach of the Senators obviously, despite so much evidence pointing in that direction. But he won’t be the team’s President of Hockey Operations, either. TSN reports that Roy will return to his post as head coach and general manager of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts. Roy purchased the Remparts in 1997 and served as GM and later head coach from 2004 to 2014 before being hired as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche. Roy resumed his role with the Remparts this past season and has decided to stay on with the team rather than continue to pursue other NHL opportunities.
  • One interesting decision for Smith will be what to do with current AHL head coach Troy Mann. Mann was also in consideration for the Senators’ head coaching gig alongside Smith, but did not make the cut. Another relatively young coach like Smith, Mann has spent more than a decade now in the minor leagues with a number of different teams and varying degrees of success. However, he garnered some extra attention last year due to his strong work with the young members of the AHL’s Belleville Senators in his first season as the head coach. Mann remains under contract with the Senators it is up to Smith to decide how best to use a valued asset. With many of those top young players expected to play regular roles in Ottawa next season, he could make Mann an assistant on his staff to help with that transition. However, if he feels that Mann is better suited for the minor league level – or wants to avoid a challenge of authority from a fellow candidate – he may instead opt to leave Mann where he is in Belleville.
  • One of the more exciting aspects of adding a new head coach, especially at this time of year, is the possibility of their former players being interested in playing for them once again. The Senators’ whopping $37.7MM in projected cap space means they are more or less a blank slate this off-season when it comes to exploring the free agent and trade markets. So who has ties to Smith, a long-time coach for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires and Oshawa Generals? Well, one of Smith’s stars in his early days as an assistant in Windsor just so happens to be a known fixture on the trade block as well. The Anaheim Ducks’ Adam Henrique played three seasons under Smith and could very likely be on the move this summer as the Ducks seeks to shed salary. Smith could definitely push to acquire Henrique, who would immediately step into a top scoring role with Ottawa. Another name on the rumor mill who played for Smith briefly in Windsor is Zack Kassian of the Edmonton Oilers. Signed for one more year, Kassian would be an affordable, low-risk acquisition to bring some depth, experience, and toughness to the Ottawa lineup. A player who is not being forced out for salary reasons, but has nevertheless outstayed his welcome is the New York Islanders’ Michael Dal Colle. Dal Colle was one of Smith’s best players and leaders with the Generals and was selected No. 5 overall in 2014 due to his production in Oshawa. Yet, five years later, Dal Colle has seven points in 32 NHL games and is no longer considered part of the Islanders’ future core. They may be willing to sell low to the Senators, where the 22-year-old may have better luck under his old coach. On the free agent market, the defensive-minded Tom Kuhnhackl is a former Smith student who fit well under his old coach, but the intrigue here really lies with Smith’s Toronto connections. The man who ran the defense and penalty kill for the Maple Leafs could take a run at two high profile free agent defensemen – Jake Gardiner and Ron Hainsey – as well as two-way forward Par Lindholm, who Smith entrusted with ample shorthanded time in his first NHL season. Smith and the Senators may also flirt with the idea of an offer sheet for Toronto RFA Kasperi Kapanen, who Smith valued as a PK option but also brings a dynamic offensive game. The Leafs may have trouble matching an offer sheet for Kapanen against their tight cap crunch. Two other Toronto players with close ties to Smith are Nikita Zaitsev and Connor Brown, also potential trade casualties of the impending Toronto cap dilemma.

Edmonton Oilers Sign Olivier Rodrigue

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The Edmonton Oilers have inked another top goaltending prospect, this time signing Olivier Rodrigue to a three-year entry-level contract. Rodrigue played this season for the Drummondville Voltiguers, and could return to the CHL next season to continue his development.

Rodrigue, 18, was a second-round pick of the Oilers in 2018, the fifth year in a row they selected at least one goaltender. He follows the likes of Stuart Skinner, Dylan Wells and Shane Starrett into the pipeline, creating a depth chart that is actually quite formidable, as prospects are concerned. That pipeline will have to prove it can start producing polished NHL talent, but the Oilers have loaded up at a position they’ve struggled at recently in hopes that they can find their next star goaltender.

It very well could be Rodrigue, who went 35-9-1 for the Voltiguers this season before suffering a core muscle injury and being forced out of the lineup for six weeks. He returned in time to help Drummondville push the Halifax Mooseheads to six games in the QMJHL semi-finals, but was unable to get them a shot at the championship. Still, it was a positive season for the young goaltender, who lowered his goals against average and posted that excellent record despite a small decrease in save percentage.

Given his age, Rodrigue will not be eligible to play in the AHL next season meaning he’s likely ticketed back to the junior ranks. The Oilers will hope he can take another step forward physically and really dominate the league before they get him into the professional minor league system, but there is still a long way to go before he can be a contributor at the NHL level.

Dave Tippett Still Favorite For Edmonton Oilers Coaching Job

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The Edmonton Oilers have conducted several interviews in their coaching search, and could have a decision in the next few days. Ryan Rishaug and Bob McKenzie of TSN, and Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic have all heard that Friday is a clear deadline given GM Ken Holland’s plan to spend next week preparing for the draft combine. If a decision isn’t made by then, it may have to wait until the beginning of June when the combine is complete.

McKenzie goes so far as to say that he believes Dave Tippett is currently the only remaining candidate for the job, though there is still a negotiation to be done on contract terms which means nothing is for certain yet. The Oilers have been searching for a coach since Holland took over earlier this month and confirmed that Ken Hitchcock would not be behind the bench next season. Tippett immediately was linked, given the news that he was interested in coaching again had interviewed for the Buffalo Sabres job before they gave it to Ralph Krueger.

The 57-year old Tippett has been working with the management of the Seattle expansion franchise, but has a long history as an NHL coach. He was the head coach of the Dallas Stars from 2002-2009, before taking the job with the Phoenix Coyotes the following season. In 2017 when the Coyotes made an ownership and several management changes, Tippett was let go in favor of Rick Tocchet.

Unfortunately, that long resume has not included much success of late. Tippett last took a team to the playoffs in 2012, when a Mike Smith-led Coyotes group shocked the NHL by making it all the way to the Western Conference Final. Overall, the veteran coach has a 553-413-28-120 record as a head coach in the NHL, though much of that success came in Dallas. He won the Jack Adams trophy for Coach of the Year in 2010, his best regular season with the Coyotes.

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