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Lauri Korpikoski Signs Long-Term Contract In Finland

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Veteran NHL forward Lauri Korpikoski signed in Switzerland with the ZSC Lions of the NLA last summer in an effort to rejuvenate his career. However, things did not go as planned as injuries limited Korpikoski to eight points in just 19 games. He did manage to play in 16 of 18 playoff games for the team, contributing six points, en route to a league title, but overall the season was a disappointment for the two-way forward. As a result, Korpikoski will not be returning to the NHL nor re-signing with the Lions, but instead he will head home to Finland. Korpikoski has signed with TPS of the Liiga, the organization he began his hockey career with all the way back in juniors, the team announced.

Perhaps the most surprising part of this move is that the 31-year-old has reportedly inked a six-year deal with TPS. The team revealed that the contract allows Korpikoski to play abroad during the term of the deal, but the length implies that Korpikoski may be resigned to the fact that his days as an elite player are over. While TPS itself is a historic club that finished second in the regular season last year, the Liiga is at best the fifth-best pro league in the world. A veteran of more than 600 NHL games and former first-round pick, its just as easy to believe that Korpikoski could still make a living for himself in the NHL or elsewhere.

Korpikoski was drafted 19th overall by the New York Rangers in 2004, but didn’t debut with the team until 2008-09. He was then dealt to the Phoenix Coyotes after just one year in New York and flourished into a legitimate two-way top-nine forward. Korpikoski recorded 145 points in 401 games over six seasons with the Coyotes and twice received votes for the Selke Trophy during that time. In his final two seasons in Arizona and the subsequent two years spent with the Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, and Columbus Blue Jackets, Korpikoski was a consistent albeit unspectacular performer, with four straight years of 20-odd points in around 70 games while playing a more physical, checking style. However, this wasn’t enough to draw sufficient interest from NHL teams last summer and Korpikoski hoped a year away in Switzerland could bring back his 40-point play from his early years with the ’Yotes. This didn’t happen with ZSC, but with TPS there is still a chance that he could rediscover his elite two-way game. If not, he has the security to simply stay home and help develop future Finnish stars over the course of his six-year deal.

Roman Cervenka, Kevin Klein Staying In Switzerland

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Two former NHLers won’t be testing the North American market this summer. The ZSC Lions, the defending champions of the Swiss NLA, announced today that veteran defenseman Kevin Klein has signed an extension with the team and talented free agent forward Roman Cervenka has agreed to join the club. Both players are coming off strong seasons and further strengthen a championship roster that will also return top scorer Fredrik Pettersson and other former NHLers Drew Shore, Robert Nilsson, and Roman Wick next season.

Klein, 33, will return for a second season with the Lions after leaving North America last off-season with 12 NHL seasons under his belt between the Nashville Predators and New York Rangers. Known more for his conservative defensive play in the NHL, Klein impressed in his first season in the NLA with 22 points in 45 games to go along with his typical shutdown game in his own end. Klein was a force on the ice in the regular season, leading the team in penalty minutes and holding down the defensive zone on the team’s first pair. However, it was the postseason that really exemplified Klein’s ability, as he led the team with a +12 rating and trailed only Pettersson with 12 points on the team’s run to the title. Given that exclamation point on the year, it is no surprise that ZSC wanted to re-sign Klein this off-season. It is possible he would have gotten some looks in the NHL after a rebound year in Switzerland.

The rich get even richer though with the Lions’ addition of Cervenka. The 32-year-old has had a legendary hockey career overseas, even if his NHL experiment with the Calgary Flames in 2012-13 didn’t go so well. Cervenka finished his third straight season and the sixth of his career with a better than point-per-game pace in 2017-18. Although injuries limited him to just 32 regular season games with HC Fribourg-Gotteron, Cervenka nevertheless led the team with 37 points and added another team-best five points in the playoffs. In fact, Cervenka led the NLA in points per game among players with at least 25 games played. When healthy, the Czech center is a proven winner who has produced similar results in the NLA, KHL, and Czech League and on the international stage. A smart, two-way pivot who is an excellent play-maker, Cervenka likely would have drawn at least some interest among NHL teams if he had wanted to test the waters of free agency. Instead, he makes ZSC a formidable opponent in the NLA next season as they look to defend their title.

New York Rangers Officially Hire David Quinn As Head Coach

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Though it had been expected for some time, the New York Rangers have officially announced David Quinn as their next head coach. The former Boston University coach will be the 35th head coach in Rangers history, and try to take the team in a new direction after a disappointing 2017-18.

New York has had a tumultuous few months, since finding themselves out of the playoff race relatively early. After telling their fans in an open letter that a rebuild was coming, the team traded away several key pieces including Ryan McDonagh, Rick Nash, J.T. Miller, and Michael Grabner, collecting draft picks and prospects for their future seasons. At the end of the year, Alain Vigneault was let go as head coach, with an expectation that a fresh new voice would be introduced as the next head coach. That could have been Jim Montgomery, who reportedly turned down a bigger offer from the Rangers to go and coach the Dallas Stars, but will instead be Quinn, fresh off another successful season with BU.

Quinn, 51, will jump right from the college ranks after five seasons as the head man for BU. He has just one season of NHL assistant coaching experience, and three years as the head coach of the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL. The Monsters finished out of the playoffs in two of those years, and were knocked out in the first round in the third. Quinn never played in the NHL, despite being a first-round pick of the Minnesota North Stars. After starring at BU as a defenseman he was diagnosed with Haemophilia B and was forced to retire, though he returned to the game briefly a few years later, playing 19 games in the AHL.

Still, there are many who believe Quinn can find success in the NHL despite his relative lack of experience. Players like Jack Eichel, Clayton Keller and Charlie McAvoy all speak highly of their time playing under him in the NCAA, and believe he was an integral part of their development into NHL players. The Rangers will hope he can do similar things for some of their young players as they try to turn the franchise around quickly.

After trading McDonagh and others, the Rangers find themselves with three first-round picks this season and several high-profile prospects in the pipeline. That’s after already selecting twice in the first round last season, and seemingly hitting on both Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil. If the team can find some more talents in the first round, and develop the likes of Brett Howden, Libor Hajek and Ryan Lindgren, it might not take long for them to be back among those fighting for the playoffs. Quinn will be tasked with helping a roster that could lose even more veteran presence this summer compete in both the short and long-term.

Snapshots: Quinn, Korpikoski, Draft Rankings

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All signs continue to point towards David Quinn becoming the next head coach of the New York Rangers, though the team still has not officially announced the hiring. Mike McMahon of College Hockey News is the latest to report on a timeline that had Quinn turning down the Rangers four-year offer last week, only to eventually sign for five years and $12MM. While we likely won’t get confirmation from the team on those numbers for some time, that contract gives Quinn enough security to leave Boston University where he was considered one of the top college coaches in the country.

McMahon also suggests that Joe Sacco, currently an assistant coach with the Boston Bruins, is a candidate to replace Quinn at BU in the coming weeks. Sacco played for BU in the late 80’s before embarking on an NHL career that spanned more than a decade, five organizations and 738 games.

  • Lauri Korpikoski has signed a six-year contract in Finland, after spending last year in the Swiss NLA. The journeyman played more than 600 games in the NHL, suiting up for four organizations over his last three seasons. A first-round pick by the New York Rangers in 2004, he never did perform up to expectations, only once breaking the 40-point mark during his career. Now 31, a six-year deal essentially guarantees he won’t be playing in the NHL again, unless something happens to break the contract at some point.
  • Corey Pronman of The Athletic (subscription required) has released his final 2018 draft rankings, and though he formats it differently than most there will still be plenty of surprises. Brady Tkachuk, considered to be a contender for second overall by some pundits, finds himself way down Pronman’s ranking at #9, while Evan Bouchard is even lower at #18. The vast differences in rankings heading into this year’s event are shaping up to create some drama on the draft floor, with no one quite sure how things will fall after the Buffalo Sabres select Rasmus Dahlin with the first pick.

Rangers In Discussions With David Quinn To Become Their Next Head Coach

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12:46 p.m.: ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski tweets that the rumored five-year, $12MM deal isn’t finalized between the Rangers and Quinn. While a deal isn’t concrete, it’s still expected to happen. The scribe adds that it might have something to do with the fact that Gorton hasn’t returned from Denmark yet.

12:11 p.m.: New England Hockey Journal’s Jeff Cox reports that the Rangers and Quinn have come to an agreement in principle to have Quinn become the team’s head coach. The scribe writes that the deal would be a five-year deal worth $2.5MM per season.

Saturday, 11:40 a.m.: The New York Post’s Larry Brooks reports that two sources have told him that Quinn has signaled that he wants the New York Rangers job and barring a negotiating breakdown, the job is his. He adds that Gorton is expected back from Denmark on Monday.

Friday: The Rangers appear to have found their next target to replace Alain Vigneault.  This afternoon, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported (Twitter link) that the team was focusing on Boston University head coach David Quinn while TSN’s Bob McKenzie adds (Twitter link) that talks have advanced with Quinn to the point where he appears to be on his way towards becoming their next head coach although a deal has not been finalized as of yet.  He adds that GM Jeff Gorton is currently at the World Championships in Denmark so nothing is imminent.

Earlier this offseason, New York appeared to have their sights set on another college coach in Jim Montgomery.  However, the Stars stepped in and hired him as their replacement for Ken Hitchcock instead.

With the Rangers transitioning towards a younger roster, it makes sense that they would be looking for someone who is experienced working with younger players and Quinn certainly fits that bill.

He has spent the past five years at the college level but he does have experience coaching in the pros.  The 51-year-old spent three seasons as the head coach for Colorado’s then-AHL affiliate in Lake Erie before being promoted to an assistant at the NHL level for the 2012-13 campaign before he left for Boston University.  Quinn was named the Hockey East Coach of the Year in 2014-15 while this past season, the Terriers took home the Hockey East title.  Last month, he was named as head coach for Team USA’s entry into the 2019 World Juniors although he would relinquish that position should he get this position with New York.

Offseason Keys: New York Rangers

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While the playoffs are ongoing, many teams have already started their offseason planning.  What storylines lie ahead around the league?  Our Offseason Keys series continues with a look at the New York Rangers.

While the Rangers were hopeful to be battling it out for a postseason spot, they certainly didn’t hesitate to start selling when they no longer believed a playoff position was feasible.  They were very active at the trade deadline and they certainly will be a team to watch for at the draft with three first-round picks in their pocket.  Beyond deciding how to use those (keep them all, trade up, etc), here are some keys to their offseason.

Find Their Next Coach

In a move that didn’t come as too much of a surprise, GM Jeff Gorton decided to make a coaching change and let veteran head coach Alain Vigneault go.  For a while, it looked like their sights were set on Denver University bench boss Jim Montgomery but instead, he went to Dallas.  As a result, New York is the lone team still on the market for a head coach.

Before they can really identify who is next on their list, Gorton may need to make a decision on just how deep this rebuild will go.  If they want, they can turn this around pretty quick and if that’s the plan, then a more veteran coach might be the way to go.  If they plan to rebuild and restock the cupboards for a couple more years though, a first-year coach becomes a more palatable option.  Considering Montgomery appeared to be their target, the latter is the likelier scenario.

Some coaches have been speculatively linked to the Rangers so far.  Boston University’s David Quinn is another college coach that they’re believed to have interest in but it appears he wants to stay where he is while he has already been tabbed to run the bench for the USA at the next World Juniors.  Sheldon Keefe is having another successful season with Toronto’s AHL team and will likely be in the mix as well.  Alternatively, if they want to go with someone more experienced, they could look at veterans such as Dan Bylsma and Dave Tippett or current assistant Lindy Ruff.

Address The Defense

While it wasn’t necessarily a big deal down the stretch, the loss of Ryan McDonagh as part of the deadline day trade with Tampa Bay is something they’re really going to feel in 2018-19.  Kevin Shattenkirk didn’t have a great first season in New York while Marc Staal, while still serviceable, is better used in a lower role, something that may not be an option if their back end is left unattended.

One player who was supposed to help a bit in that regard was Brendan Smith.  Signed to a four-year, $17.4MM extension after joining them at the 2016-17 deadline, he was supposed to solidify their top-four.  That didn’t happen and he eventually cleared waivers.  Now, Gorton is faced with a tough decision – are they better off buying him out, trading with retention, trying to find a swap of bad contracts with another team, or let this ride out?

In the meantime, the Rangers appear to be positioned to give their youngsters a lot of playing time.  Brady Skjei (a pending RFA) is a safe bet to play a big role but players like Anthony DeAngelo, Rob O’Gara, Neal Pionk, and John Gilmour aren’t as proven.  Even though the mantra of a rebuilding team is to let the prospects play, they may still want to add a veteran that can ease some of the pressure and perhaps allow one of those younger defenders to play top minutes at the minor league level.

Re-Sign Their Key RFAs

Not many teams have as many notable restricted free agents as New York does, especially up front.  Skjei is their key defender to re-sign on the back end but four of their top-nine forwards are in need of new deals and all of them have arbitration eligibility.

The most prominent among these is center Vladislav Namestnikov.  He was the key player coming back as part of the McDonagh deal and at the time the trade was completed, he was playing a significant role with Tampa Bay and it looked like he had established himself as a legitimate scoring forward in the NHL.  Things didn’t go so well in his new home, however.  He collected just two goals and two assists in 19 games on Broadway which largely overshadows the 44 points (20-24-44) in 62 games with the Lightning.  Were his struggles just a short-term thing or a sign of things to come?  If they suspect the latter, it’s hard to give him a long-term deal but with him just being two years away from UFA eligibility, a short-term ‘prove it’ deal is quite risky.  This is going to be a particularly interesting case to watch.

Center Kevin Hayes plus wingers Ryan Spooner and Jimmy Vesey are also in need of new deals.  Hayes is coming off of a season where he set career highs in goals (25), faceoff percentage (50.5%), and average time on ice (17:21) which will help his case should it get to a hearing.  Spooner quietly posted the highest point-per-game average of his career and is only one year away from UFA eligibility.  Meanwhile, Vesey’s sophomore campaign was a lot like his rookie year so a shorter contract may be the way they go there.  Any way you look at it, Gorton is going to be quite busy these next couple of months getting this many regulars locked up.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rangers Must Continue To Upgrade Their Defense

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The New York Rangers still have to hire a coach, but the team’s top goal is to continue to improve its blueline this offseason. Just a year ago, the Rangers invested heavily into a veteran defense that was expected to be among the best in the league. The team went out and signed highly coveted free agent Kevin Shattenkirk and re-signed Brendan Smith to go with captain Ryan McDonagh and Marc Staal and a rising Brady Skjei.

Instead the defense struggled mightily as they were ranked fourth in goals against, allowing 3.21 goals per game during the 2017-18 season. Now with McDonagh gone and the team in a rebuild, the Rangers must make more changes to improve their struggling blueline.

The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman (subscription required) writes that a few pieces are certain. A healthy Shattenkirk should boost the team’s defense after the team shut him down in the middle of the year with a torn meniscus. Throw in a much improved year for Staal and the Rangers have a couple of solid pieces to aid them. The team still has high hopes for Skjei, despite his second-year struggles, but Smith is a complete unknown as it will be up to him to get into game shape and prove he was worth the four-year, $17.4MM deal he signed last offseason. The team did like the way rookie Neal Pionk played in his 28-game trial at the end of the year. Even defenseman Anthony DeAngelo showed improvement at the end of the year as well. The team also added a number of new young d-men at the trade deadline that aren’t too far off, including Ryan Lindgren, Libor Hajek and Yegor Rykov.

Regardless, the team could use a boost from an experienced young defenseman that can help stabilize last year’s crew or at the very least, more young talent that will be ready within a year. The New York Post’s Larry Brooks writes that the team should consider offering up either Kevin Hayes or Mike Zibanejad in exchange for defensive help, assuming the player they get back is a current or future top-four defenseman. While he believes that Dougie Hamilton would be the perfect trade target, he doubts the Calgary Flames would move him. However, Calgary is loaded with defensive prospects that are stuck behind their veteran defense, suggesting the Rangers go after prospect Adam Fox, who is a top defenseman at Harvard University, and who was the former partner of Lindgren. Trading one of those young veterans could work as centermen are in high demand right now with few available on the free agent market and with the Rangers putting much of their hopes on both of last year’s first-round picks in Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil at center next season.

No matter what, the team will have to make some changes if they hope to improve on their disappointing 2017-18 season.

Coaching Notes: Gulutzan, Clark, Smith

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In Elliotte Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, he breaks down the situations of several coaches—both employed and unemployed—around the league. One of those he touches on is Glen Gulutzan, who Friedman says received offers to become an assistant coach in both Edmonton and Buffalo.

There’s no indication that Gulutzan has made a decision yet, but with teams offering him roles as an assistant or head coach in the AHL, it seems unlikely that he’ll remain unemployed very long. The former Calgary Flames head coach was fired after a disappointing season, in which the club missed the playoffs entirely.

  • Ian Clark, the goaltending coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets, will leave the team at the end of June. His contract is expiring and will move on to new challenges, leaving Sergei Bobrovsky and Joonas Korpisalo without their coach next season. No word on who will be replacing him, though Clark believes that “sooner or later, teams will have a director of player personnel and a director of goaltending.”
  • One interesting connection that Friedman makes regarding the New York Rangers’ vacancy, is that of D.J. Smith. The Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach has a history with Rangers’ Special Assistant Adam Graves, and has been considered for various jobs in the past. Interestingly, the Maple Leafs have recently promoted Kyle Dubas to GM, where he could have an impact on coaching hires over the next few months.

Overseas Notes: Cameron, Lewis, Huska

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Dave Cameron did not stay unemployed for very long, though his new position is far from where he has made his living for the last thirty-odd years. The Erste Bank Liga (EBEL), a lower-tier European league based mostly in Austria, has announced that Cameron has been named the new head coach of the Vienna Capitals, the league’s reigning regular season champions. Cameron had been working as an assistant coach for the Calgary Flames for the past two seasons, but was relieved last month alongside head coach Glen Gulutzan. Prior to that position, he has served as the head coach for the Ottawa Senators after working his way up from long-time assistant. Even before that, Cameron was showing the breadth of his hockey mind as both the head coach and GM of several OHL franchises. Yet, this new job is his first outside of North America and brings with it the challenges of a brand new market and caliber of player. However, Cameron is an experienced coach and should find his way in no time at all in Vienna.

  • Another coach has not been so lucky. Dave Lewis, most well known for a long stint as assistant and head coach of the Detroit Red Wings from the late 80’s through the mid-2000’s, has lost his job with the Belarus national program, per insider Igor Eronko. Lewis, who also had a short-lived stint as Boston Bruins head coach and brief stops as an assistant with the Los Angeles Kings and Carolina Hurricanes, has been working for Belarus in various roles since 2014. He had guided four IIHF World Championship teams, an Olympic qualifying bid, and the team’s World Juniors appearance this season. However, just three games into the ongoing Worlds, national officials have clearly decided that they have had enough with the lack of success out of their long-time coach. Lewis has struggled to find results as a head coach over the years and the next step for the 64-year-old is a mystery.
  • Although Adam Huska likely has two years left at the University of Connecticut, HK Sochi of the KHL may have made a shrewd move in acquiring the KHL rights to the Slovak goaltender today. The team reported this morning that Huska’s rights had been transferred to Sochi from Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in exchange for forward Dmitri Lugin. Huska was a seventh-round pick of the New York Rangers in 2015, but given the team’s depth in goalie prospects – Alexandar Georgiev, Brandon Halverson, and mostly Igor Shestyorkin – it’s quite possible that Huska could choose to return home to Europe, in which case Sochi will gain a talented, young netminder. Huska posted a .912 save percentage and 2.59 GAA in 27 starts last year and should only continue to thrive in net for UConn before he makes his decision on turning pro.

Carolina Hurricanes Will Make NHL Draft Difficult To Predict

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The Carolina Hurricanes were lucky enough to get the second-overall pick in the upcoming 2018 NHL Draft, but who they will take will be even more interesting. While many believe that winger Andrei Svechnikov, who scored 40 goals for the OHL’s Barrie Colts mostly as a 17-year-old, is the obvious answer. However, there are plenty of other variables, according to the Hockey News’ Ryan Kennedy.

An alternate option for Carolina would be to take winger Filip Zadina, countryman and world junior linemate of 2017 first-round center Martin Necas. Zadina put up 44 goals in 57 games in the QMJHL with the Halifax Mooseheads.

However, the scribe writes that neither player fills the team’s most important need for the future which is a first-line center, a similar problem that the Montreal Canadiens face later at the No. 3 spot. If Carolina decides that is more important, then trading down might be the team’s best option. Kennedy adds that has been discussed by the organization. A team like the New York Rangers or the New York Islanders, both with an excess of extra picks both in the first round and later, would be logical trade partners.

Although the team recently hired veteran executive Rick Dudley to fill in, the team needs to hire a general manager before any decision can be made about the direction of their selection. While the team bowed out earlier from the playoff race than they had hoped, Carolina has a significant amount of talent, although they lack a star player. However, with a new owner and eventually new general manager and coach, the team may make quite a few changes over the next few months. Even without a permanent GM, the team already traded off veteran Marcus Kruger and there are rumors the Hurricanes may trade off their top scorer in Jeff Skinner before he hits free agency in 2019.

So Carolina becomes quite a wildcard when it comes to this draft.

 

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