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Snapshots: Laine, Jagr, Perreault

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Columbus Blue Jackets winger Patrik Laine is heading to the World Championships per a team release. The tournament is taking place in Riga, Latvia and Tampere, Finland which is Laine’s hometown. The tournament begins May 12 and gold medals will be handed out on May 28. Laine has represented his country in the past, but not since the World Cup of Hockey in 2016. He last played at the World Championships in 2016 where he scored seven goals and 12 points in 10 games.

Laine is available due to Columbus finishing the regular season near the bottom of the NHL standings. The 25-year-old sniper scored 22 goals and 52 points in 55 games this season, but the Blue Jackets ended up in 31st with 59 points in the standings. Laine dealt with a number of injuries this season, including an elbow injury that caused him to miss a couple of weeks in October, an ankle injury that knocked him out for another couple weeks in November and an arm injury that caused him to miss the final three weeks of the regular season. A trip to the World Championships in his hometown is a nice way to end a bumpy season that was filled with nagging injuries and many losses.

  • Another player who will be playing again in his hometown is veteran winger Jaromir Jagr. Derek O’Brien of IIHF.com reports Jagr will return to Kladno’s lineup next season, during such time he will turn 52 years old. The veteran superstar last played in the NHL in 2017-18, but has been playing in Czech Extraliga ever since where he scored 14 points in 26 games. Jagr scored 766 goals and 1921 points in his NHL career.
  • Per Chris Peters of FloHockey reports Gabe Perreault has broken an impressive USA Hockey record. The 17-year-old forward is playing at the World Under-18 Hockey Championships for USA and had a five point effort against Norway today. In the process, he broke the single-season points record by a U.S. National Team Development Player. Perreault now has 121 points on the season. The previous record of 117 was held by Auston Matthews. Will Smith, another draft eligible forward on the team this season has 113 points. The only others to ever score 100 points for the program are Jack Hughes, Clayton Keller and Cole Caufield.

Hockey Canada Names World Championship Management Team

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St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong will lead Canada’s management team for the upcoming IIHF World Championship, taking the same role for the national program. He’ll be joined by Steve Yzerman, serving as associate GM, Shane Doan as assisting GM, and Scott Salmond as senior vice president of hockey operations. Tyler Dietrich, Jim McKenzie, Jamie Pushor, and Tim Taylor will round out the player selection committee.

Salmond released a statement:

We are excited to unveil the experienced management group and selection committee that will lead Team Canada at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, and that will help build the staff and roster that will wear the Maple Leaf in May. Doug, Steve and Shane have been successful in the NHL and at the Olympics, world championships and world cups, and Jim, Jamie and Tim bring critical NHL experience. We are fortunate to have six individuals with extensive pedigrees who are dedicated to helping us build towards our goal of winning a gold medal in Tampere and Riga.

The tournament, scheduled to begin on May 12 when Canada faces the co-hosting Latvian squad, will see a group of NHL players that failed to make the postseason (or were eliminated quickly) take part in the highest-level international tournament of the year.

While it isn’t true best-on-best, as several teams will still be chasing down the Stanley Cup, the Worlds have taken on a bigger stage since NHL players were once again held out of the Olympics. Last year, a Finnish team led by players like Mikael Granlund, Miro Heiskanen, and Joel Armia was able to defeat a Canadian squad with the likes of Mathew Barzal, Dylan Cozens, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Thomas Chabot in the gold medal match.

League Updates: Boyle, Ekman-Larsson, IIHF

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The NHL Network will be adding a new face as they announce former player Brian Boyle will be joining the staff. Although he did suit up last season for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Boyle is now officially retired from the NHL.

Over his 14-year career, Boyle was originally drafted 26th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the famous 2003 NHL Draft. He then would go on to play seasons for the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey Devils, Nashville Predators, and Florida Panthers, before finishing up with the Penguins. In 871 career games, Boyle scored 141 goals and 252 points overall.

In August 2017, shortly before training camp would open up for the Devils, Boyle discovered that he had been struck with chronic myeloid leukemia, a form of bone marrow cancer. Boyle would return to hockey, playing the rest of the season in New Jersey, and being rewarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy at the conclusion of the season. Thankfully, just over a year later, Boyle announced that his cancer was in remission, and he went on to play for another three years.

Other notes:

  • Patrick Johnston of The Province wrote an article today explaining that Vancouver Canucks’ defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson will likely not return to the ice this year. Suffering a sprained ankle in the team’s February 15th game against the Rangers, Ekman-Larsson has not played since. After being acquired from the Arizona Coyotes, Ekman-Larsson was on pace to have his best season in point production since 2018-19, but he will now be unable to eclipse that. Playing in Vancouver this year, Ekman-Larsson will finish with two goals and 22 assists, with a -24 +/-.
  • The IIHF has announced that Russia and Belarus will not be included in any international competitions for the 2023-24 season. This will mark the second official suspension of both teams, making the initial call in February of 2022 in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Many pundits are speculating about when the eventual suspensions will stop, or if there is another solution possible altogether, as the war does not seem close to slowing down as of now.

USA Hockey Names David Quinn Head Coach For Men’s World Championship

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USA Hockey has named San Jose Sharks bench boss David Quinn as their head coach for the upcoming 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championship, according to a release from the organization.

This is the second straight season that USA Hockey has named Quinn as their coach for the tournament, and it adds to his extensive experience coaching the US at international events. Quinn guided the U.S. to a fourth-place finish in last year’s tournament, losing the bronze medal game to Czechia by a score of 8-4.

Joining Quinn as adds to the men’s team front office are New York Rangers assistant general manager Ryan Martin and Calgary Flames assistant general manager Craig Conroy, who will both assist with player personnel. Martin was the general manager of last year’s team, while this is Conroy’s first managerial experience with the national organization.

The tournament is set to take place between May 12 and May 28 in both Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia. Potential high-end players from non-playoff teams that could appear on the USA roster are Clayton Keller, Quinn Hughes, Johnny Gaudreau, J.T. Miller, and Trevor Zegras.

Chris Clark, the current general manager of the U.S. men’s team, gave the following statement:

“It’s great to have David coaching our team again this year. He knows the player pool extremely well and understands the dynamics involved in preparing a team to win a gold medal on the world stage.

Hockey Canada Announces 2023 Women’s World Championship Roster

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The 2023 World Women’s Hockey Championship is right around the corner and Hockey Canada has released the complete roster. The lineup features 13 forwards, seven defenders and three goaltenders. The tournament is scheduled to begin on April 5, with a gold medal to be handed out on April 16 in Brampton, Ontario. Of note, Danielle Serdachny is the only player set to make her World Championships debut and the team will be looking for its third consecutive gold medal at the event. Troy Ryan remains the team’s head coach with Kori Cheverie, Caroline Ouellette and Doug Derraugh serving as assistants.

Full roster can be seen here.

Forwards:

Emily Clark

Sarah Fillier

Brianne Jenner

Rebecca Johnston

Emma Maltais

Sarah Nurse

Kristin O’Neill

Marie-Philip Poulin

Jamie Lee Rattray

Danielle Serdachny

Natalie Spooner

Laura Stacey

Blayre Turnbull

Defense:

Erin Ambrose

Jaime Bourbonnais

Renata Fast

Jocelyne Larocque

Ella Shelton

Claire Thompson

Micah Zandee-Hart

Goaltenders:

Kristen Campbell

Ann-Renee Desbiens

Emerance Maschmeyer

Canada will play in Group A with Czechia, Japan, Switzerland and USA. Canada will play its first game on April 5 against Switzerland and wrap up their round robin with a clash against USA on April 10 before embarking on the medal round.

Evening Notes: Boeser, IIHF/Russia, NHLPA Leadership

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After the Bo Horvat trade yesterday, the floodgates appear to be opening on the trade front. That’s especially true for the Vancouver Canucks, who have some desirable trade assets other than Horvat that could find their way out of town by the trade deadline.

One of those is Brock Boeser, who TSN’s Darren Dreger said today continues to receive interest from around the league. However, he reported that any Boeser trade, and the corresponding interest, hinges on how much salary Vancouver is willing to retain in a potential trade. Boeser is signed to a steep cap hit of $6.65MM for the next three seasons. With so many teams already dipping into LTIR pools to stay cap-compliant, Vancouver is unlikely to find a trade partner willing to take the full brunt of the deal. The 25-year-old has nine goals and 30 points in 41 games this season. That’s a 60-point pace over 82 games.

Canada Wins 2023 World Junior Championship

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Team Canada has won the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, defeating Czechia to win the gold medal. The game-winning goal came off the stick of Arizona Coyotes prospect Dylan Guenther in overtime, ending Czechia’s bid for their first gold since 2001.

It’s Canada’s second consecutive gold medal and their second gold medal in just five months after the delayed 2022 tournament occurred in August. It’s also the second straight tournament in which Canada won in 3-on-3 overtime, with Anaheim Ducks forward Mason McTavish scoring the winner last year.

The 2023 presumptive first-overall pick and tournament MVP, Connor Bedard, finished the tournament with an astonishing 23 points in seven games, leading all other players in the tournament by nine points. He’s now the all-time leader for Canada at the World Juniors and set a single-tournament point record for Canadian players.

It’s a tough loss to swallow for Czechia, who played their hearts out and deserved to get this far in the tournament. Getting their first medal since 2005 is still a great success, and they’ll take home the silver. Goaltender Tomas Suchanek was named to the media All-Star team after posting a .934 save percentage and playing every minute of the tournament for Czechia.

Buffalo Sabres 2022 first-round pick Jiri Kulich led the Czechs in scoring, potting seven goals in seven games and adding two assists.

Hockey Canada Announces Final 2023 WJC Roster

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The selection camp is over and Hockey Canada has chosen the 22 players that will represent their country later this month at the IIHF World Junior Championship. There were 29 players originally named to the camp but after several others were loaned from NHL teams, ten players ended up cut today.

Carson Lambos, Evan Nause, Ethan Samson. Owen Beck, Zachary Bolduc, Jordan Dumais, Ryan Greene, Riley Kidney, Tyler Brennan, and William Rousseau were all sent back to their respective teams.

The roster that will compete:

F Caedan Bankier – Kamloops, WHL (MIN 86th overall, 2021)
F Connor Bedard – Regina, WHL (2023 draft-eligible)
F Colton Dach – Kelowna, WHL (CHI 62nd overall, 2021)
F Zach Dean – Gatineau, QMJHL (VGK 30th overall, 2021)
F Adam Fantilli – Michigan, NCAA (2023 draft-eligible)
F Nathan Gaucher – Québec, QMJHL (ANA 22nd overall, 2022)
F Zack Ostapchuk – Vancouver, WHL (OTT 39th overall, 2021)
F Brennan Othmann – Peterborough, OHL (NYR 16th overall, 2021)
F Joshua Roy – Sherbrooke, QMJHL (MTL 150th overall, 2021)
F Reid Schaefer – Seattle, WHL (EDM 32nd overall, 2022)
F Logan Stankoven – Kamloops, WHL (DAL 47th overall, 2021)
F Shane Wright – Seattle, NHL (SEA 4th overall, 2022)
F Dylan Guenther – Arizona, NHL (ARI 9th overall, 2021)

D Nolan Allan – Seattle, WHL (CHI 32nd overall, 2021)
D Ethan Del Mastro – Mississauga, OHL (CHI 105th overall, 2021)
D Tyson Hinds – Sherbrooke, QMJHL (ANA 76th overall, 2021)
D Kevin Korchinski – Seattle, WHL (CHI 7th overall, 2022)
D Jack Matier – Ottawa, OHL (NSH 124th overall, 2021)
D Olen Zellweger – Everett, WHL (ANA 34th overall, 2021)
D Brandt Clarke – Los Angeles, NHL (LAK 8th overall, 2021)

G Benjamin Gaudreau – Sarnia, OHL (SJS 81st overall, 2021)
G Thomas Milic – Seattle, WHL (undrafted)

Snapshots: Salary Cap, Senators, Hall Of Fame

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There will be a meeting of the Board of Governors next week at which time there will be another update about the projected salary cap for next season.  The most recent estimates were that if the escrow debt was repaid, the Upper Limit could jump to $86MM, an increase of $3.5MM from where it is now.  Meanwhile, if the debt wasn’t repaid, the increase would once again be limited to $1MM.

However, there could be a third option.  As Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger detailed in TSN’s latest Insider Trading segment, the NHLPA is polling its membership about their possible interest in smoothing out the cap increases over the next couple of years without affecting escrow.  That would likely result in a greater jump than $1MM next season which would allow for a bit more flexibility with so many teams capped out.  On the flip side, the anticipated jump once the escrow debt is paid off wouldn’t be as dramatic.  At this point, this is strictly a hypothetical scenario and it has not been discussed with the league just yet.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • While it’s still unknown who the next owner of the Senators will be, expect actor Ryan Reynolds to be a part of the ownership group. Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the league is making it clear to all prospective owners that they want Reynolds to be a minority partner in the purchase for whoever winds up buying the team.  Reynolds was initially planning to align with one bid but has been instructed by the league to hold off on doing so.
  • The IIHF has announced its 2023 Hall of Fame honorees, a list that includes three former NHL players in winger Henrik Zetterberg, defenseman Brian Leetch, and goaltender Cristobal Huet. Zetterberg, the long-time Red Wing, is the 21st member of the IIHF ‘Triple Gold’ club while Leetch suited up in 76 games internationally, including three appearances at the Olympics.  As for Huet, he played in 13 World Championships for France along with two Olympics.  Jimmy Foster and Caroline Ouellette were the others that will be entering the Hall in the player category.

Hockey Canada Reveals 2023 WJC Selection Camp Roster

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With the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championships beginning in three weeks to the day, teams are beginning to prepare for the second version of the tournament in just five months due to COVID. Organizations are already starting to release their first edition of rosters for the tournament, with USA Hockey doing so earlier today. Hockey Canada joined them minutes ago, releasing their list of 29 players invited to their World Junior Championship Selection Camp.

The organization will need to make six cuts before the tournament, but their camp selections are as follows:

F Caedan Bankier – Kamloops, WHL (MIN 86th overall, 2021)
F Owen Beck – Mississauga, OHL (MTL 33rd overall, 2022)
F Connor Bedard – Regina, WHL (2023 draft-eligible)
F Zachary Bolduc – Québec, QMJHL (STL 17th overall, 2021)
F Colton Dach – Kelowna, WHL (CHI 62nd overall, 2021)
F Zach Dean – Gatineau, QMJHL (VGK 30th overall, 2021)
F Jordan Dumais – Halifax, QMJHL (CBJ 96th overall, 2022)
F Adam Fantilli – Michigan, NCAA (2023 draft-eligible)
F Nathan Gaucher – Québec, QMJHL (ANA 22nd overall, 2022)
F Ryan Greene – Boston University, NCAA (CHI 57th overall, 2022)
F Riley Kidney – Acadie-Bathurst, QMJHL (MTL 63rd overall, 2021)
F Zack Ostapchuk – Vancouver, WHL (OTT 39th overall, 2021)
F Brennan Othmann – Peterborough, OHL (NYR 16th overall, 2021)
F Joshua Roy – Sherbrooke, QMJHL (MTL 150th overall, 2021)
F Reid Schaefer – Seattle, WHL (EDM 32nd overall, 2022)
F Logan Stankoven – Kamloops, WHL (DAL 47th overall, 2021)

D Nolan Allan – Seattle, WHL (CHI 32nd overall, 2021)
D Ethan Del Mastro – Mississauga, OHL (CHI 105th overall, 2021)
D Tyson Hinds – Sherbrooke, QMJHL (ANA 76th overall, 2021)
D Kevin Korchinski – Seattle, WHL (CHI 7th overall, 2022)
D Carson Lambos – Winnipeg, WHL (MIN 26th overall, 2021)
D Jack Matier – Ottawa, OHL (NSH 124th overall, 2021)
D Evan Nause – Québec, QMJHL (FLA 56th overall, 2021)
D Ethan Samson – Prince George, WHL (PHI 174th overall, 2021)
D Olen Zellweger – Everett, WHL (ANA 34th overall, 2021)

G Tyler Brennan – Prince George, WHL (NJD 102nd overall, 2022)
G Benjamin Gaudreau – Sarnia, OHL (SJS 81st overall, 2021)
G Thomas Milic – Seattle, WHL (undrafted)
G William Rousseau – Québec, QMJHL (undrafted)

While Shane Wright is noticeably absent from this roster, all it means is that the Kraken have yet to loan him to Team Canada. Wright is eligible to play in the tournament as long as he is loaned to Canada by December 25.

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