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Coaching Notes: Peters, Quinn, Stars

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As soon as former Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters resigned from his position with Carolina this morning, hockey pundits around the continent proclaimed him the leading candidate for the open Calgary Flames job. While no one has yet made any sort of concrete connection between Peters and the Flames, there is nearly universal agreement that he is the top option. The Athletic’s Rick Carpinello has taken it one step further. The New York Rangers beat writer states that Peters was never an option for the Rangers, as his deal with Calgary is “done”. It seems a deal could be imminent between the two sides. While on it’s face, Peters’ hire in Calgary could be a good fit, as he is a widely-respected coach who has always carried high expectations, the parallels between the underachieving Flames and underachieving Hurricanes is cause for some alarm.

  • If Peters won’t be the next head coach in New York, who will be? For a while, the top candidate has seemed to be Boston University head coach David Quinn. Quinn’s Terriers have been have made the NCAA Tournament four years in a row, most recently winning the Hockey East Tournament this season to sneak in and make it to the Northeast Regional final. During this time, Quinn has coached more top NHL prospects than any other bench boss in college hockey. The rebuilding Rangers could greatly use Quinn’s talent for working with young players. USA Hockey has recognized that ability as well, today naming Quinn the head coach of the 2019 U.S. World Junior team. Some Rangers fans have worried that this appointment could remove Quinn from the running for New York’s new head coach, but the New York Post’s Larry Brooks says not so fast. Per Brooks, Quinn’s role as Team USA coach won’t hurt what Brooks calls his “strong candidacy”. In fact, Brooks calls Quinn the exact “developmental coach” that owner James Dolan is seeking and ensures that everything would work out if Quinn was offered the job.
  • While Carolina, Calgary, and New York make waves in the coaching pool, the vacancy in Dallas has received little attention. That hasn’t surprised SportsDay’s Mike Heika, who says that GM Jim Nill will be patient with his decision on Ken Hitchcock’s replacement. Heika states that Nill has a long list of candidates, including many former Stars coaches. That could be a benefit for Dallas, an organization with ties to Glen Gulutzan, Dave Tippett, and Willie Desjardins, or could be a hindrance if the team doesn’t want to recycle a former coach again as they did with Hitchcock. Alternatives include hiring displaced Rangers coach Alain Vigneault, offering a promotion to several AHL head coaches, or even poaching Craig Berube from the division rival St. Louis Blues, according to Heika. Nill will take his time in sorting out the candidates, only setting a deadline of the NHL Draft in late June for the hire.

Henrik Lundqvist Turned Down Trade Opportunity

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Though earlier this season the New York Rangers ownership and front office explained to fans that they would be heading into a rebuilding process, Henrik Lundqvist wasn’t about to abandon ship. As Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports, Lundqvist was given the option of being traded at the deadline to a “good landing place” but quickly declined, saying that he wanted to “see it through.”

Lundqvist has three years remaining on his current contract, and is still playing at a high level. In 63 games this season he recorded a .915 save percentage, despite a weak defense corps that struggled to contain the opposition on a nightly basis. He will begin next season at age-36, meaning if he stays with the Rangers through the end of his contract it’s unlikely he’ll get another real opportunity at the Stanley Cup.

That prize has remained out of Lundqvist’s grasp for his entire career, despite plenty of success at the international level and during the regular season. With Olympic and World Championship gold (and silver) medals, a Vezina trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender, two SHL Championships and 11 playoff appearances in 13 NHL seasons, he’s a proven winner and likely Hall of Fame inductee when he finally retires. If the Rangers are committed to a real rebuild though, the chances of a second Stanley Cup Finals appearance are relatively small.

The question then becomes whether a real “rebuild” is in order in New York. That term usually brings about finishes near the bottom of the standings for several years, using draft picks to slowly improve the team’s prospect pipeline until it is ready to contend again. It often takes five or more years to complete, though there are obviously outliers on both sides. The Rangers though seem poised to compete for the playoffs much sooner. After trading off assets like Derek Stepan, Antti Raanta, Rick Nash, Michael Grabner, Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller in the last calendar year, they find themselves flush with high end prospects ready to make an impact at the NHL level before long.

The idea that a core built around players like Filip Chytil, Lias Andersson, Brett Howden, Libor Hajek and Ryan Lindgren—not to mention the three first-round picks the team owns in the upcoming draft—could be ready to compete for the Stanley Cup in the next three years isn’t out of the question. With other relatively young talents like Brady Skjei, Mika Zibanejad and Vladislav Namestnikov still on the roster, the Rangers could be in for a quick bounce back. If Lundqvist can stay healthy, and remain an above-average goaltender in the NHL there could be a chance to have one or two more playoff appearances. If that’s what he means by “see it through,” Rangers fans should be happy he stuck around.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Rangers Closing In On Swedish Forward Michael Lindqvist

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The New York Rangers are already in off-season mode following a disappointing 77-point season that saw them finish last in the Metropolitan Division and trade away several big-name veterans. GM Jeff Gorton and company clearly have at least a restructuring of the team in mind, if not a complete rebuild. With such a process often comes some unique ways of replenishing the talent that is traded away for picks and prospects. While one player already linked to the Rangers this off-season has been KHL star and former NHL standout Ilya Kovalchuk, many have questioned if adding a 35-year-old who thrives when playing with high-end talent was really the right move for a rebuilding team. A new European rumor makes much more sense. According to a Swedish news source, the Kvalls Posten, young Swedish star Michael Lindqvist is nearing a deal to join New York.

Lindqvist, 23, is a sharp-shooting right winger who is coming off a breakout season with Farjestad of the Swedish Hockey League. Although injuries limited Lindqvist to just 33 games in 2017-18, the young Swede still finished third on his team in scoring and had the best per-game production on the roster. In fact, Lindqvist’s 34 points in 33 games was the fourth-best points-per-game rate in the entire league among players who skated in at least half of their team’s games. Lindqvist also added three points in two playoff games for Farjestad, which was a quarterfinalist in the SHL this season.

In speaking about Lindqvist’s contract situation, agent Joakim Persson told the Kvalls Posten that there were a number of teams interested in Lindqvist, but that the list has been narrowed down. Persson adds the Washington Capitals to the list of finalists for Lindqvist’s services, but states that the Rangers are the heavy favorite. Persson says that a decision is approaching and that a deal will be official soon. While there will surely be an adjustment period for Lindqvist, the talented forward is a worthwhile gamble for the Rangers, who will look to reconstruct their roster with as much youth and potential as possible during the upcoming summer and beyond.

Henrik Lundqvist Declines Invitation To Play At The Worlds

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  • Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist has declined an invitation to join Team Sweden for the upcoming World Championships, notes Larry Brooks of the New York Post.  The veteran has been battling a knee issue that was initially sustained last year in that tournament although he still played in 63 games for New York this season.  Brooks reports that Lundqvist will receive platelet-rich plasma treatment and will rest for around the next three weeks before kicking off his offseason training routine.

Ilya Kovalchuk Off Voluntary Retirement List

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Happy Birthday!

Former New Jersey Devils star Ilya Kovalchuk reached his 35th birthday today, but that milestone has more meaning for the KHL and Olympic star, who has indicated he wants to return to the NHL after a five-year layoff. The veteran, today on his 35th birthday, is officially off the voluntary retirement list and is now an unrestricted free agent, free to negotiate and agree to terms with any NHL team, although he can’t officially sign a contract until July 1, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie.

While many players once they hit their mid-thirties begin to see their play begin to fade, Kovalchuk hasn’t slowed down yet. In fact, his past two years in the KHL have been two of his best in his career. The winger has scored 64 goals combined during that two-year period and tallied 143 points as well. He also won MVP honors and helped lead Russia to a gold medal at the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. He’s indicated that he would like to return to the NHL for another two to three years with the goal of winning a Stanley Cup.

While there have already been rumors that he has agreed to a side deal with the New York Rangers as he has always held a fascination with playing in New York, he has come out recently and refuted that rumor. The Rangers may also wait on making a decision about Kovalchuk until they hire a coach. On top of that, if Kovalchuk’s true interest is winning a Stanley Cup, then the Rangers might not be the ideal destination as they are in rebuild mode. However, Kovalchuk and his agent have an earlier advantage on most pending unrestricted free agents which might allow him to find an early home.

Viktor Tikhonov Not Returning To NHL

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With an off-season upcoming in which it is expected that several high-profile KHL players, young and old, could be eyeing the NHL, former Phoenix Coyotes first-round pick Viktor Tikhonov will not be among them. Tikhonov’s KHL team, powerhouse SKA St. Petersburg, announced that they have resigned Tikhonov to a two-year contract extension (link in Russian). The next chance that the two-way forward will have to try his hand overseas yet again will be in 2020, when he will be on the wrong side of thirty.

Tikhonov, now 29, has been a reliable top-nine forward for SKA over the past two seasons since returning from his last stint in the KHL. With so many of his teammates linked to NHL teams, it is no surprise that St. Petersburg jumped at the opportunity to re-sign a player with three-zone ability. SKA’s leading scorer, Ilya Kovalchuk, is yet again flirting with an NHL comeback. Their next-best forward, Nikita Gusev, had his rights traded to the Vegas Golden Knights last year and has surely had conversations with the club as his time to make the jump is running out. Former Coyote and Pittsburgh Penguin Sergei Plotnikov is fresh off of a career year and could be eyeing a second chance overseas. Draft-eligible defenseman Danila Galenyuk is expected to go no later than the third round and could change his developmental path depending on where and to whom he is selected. Even the goaltenders are at risk; Mikko Koskinen is rumored to have a deal in place to return to the New York Islanders while young Igor Shestyorkin looks to be the heir apparent to Henrik Lundqvist for the New York Rangers and could begin the takeover process soon. So, while Tikhonov isn’t considered one the best players on SKA, it makes sense that the team would lock him up in short order as they did, with other high-end talent possibly on the way out.

However, Tikhonov being off the market also presumes that there would have been a market for him in North America this summer. Although Tikhonov came into the league with lofty expectations – the 28th overall pick in 2008 who jumped right into the Coyotes lineup, as well the grandson of a legendary Soviet coach – he cannot be described as anything but a bust in the NHL. The height of his career at the highest level came in his rookie season, when he put up 16 point in 61 games for then-Phoenix. Tikhonov finished the year and began the next in the AHL and soured on the North American experience, returning to Russia. He only made his return a few years ago, in 2015-16, and was completely ineffective, registering six points in 50 games between the Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks. Even in the KHL, Tikhonov’s numbers have not skyrocketed like many of his compatriots returning home. Tikhonov is of course a highly-skilled and versatile player who was never at his best in the NHL, but it’s fair to be skeptical if anyone would have been interested in giving him a third try had he not re-signed. Now, with a multi-year extension in hand to stay in Russia, it is possible that we have seen the last of Tikhonov in the the world’s top hockey league.

Dallas Stars Have Many Options To Replace Head Coach

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It’s only been 24 hours since Dallas head coach Ken Hitchcock announced his retirement, but what coach might replace him has been a popular topic as multiple names have come up. While the job may not have the flashiness of the New York Rangers opening, the new head coach of the Dallas Stars will get an opportunity to work with top forwards Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn as well as the talent of top defenseman John Klingberg and goaltender Ben Bishop. In fact, one could make the case the Stars might be the best team not to make the playoffs (outside of the New York Islanders).

While the Stars only got a one year out of Hitchcock, SportsDay’s Mike Heika writes general manager Jim Nill believes he laid the groundwork for the team’s younger players to learn how to win in the NHL.

“I think Ken Hitchcock did some great things, and I don’t want that to go unknown,” Nill said. “There was a lot of growth here. I think what Ken Hitchcock has done in one year, the wealth of knowledge, how to play the game the right way … for our young kids to understand what it takes to win, I think that’s a big influence of Ken Hitchcock, and I think our next staff coming in is going to be rewarded because of the groundwork he did.”

Heika is quick to point out that a top candidate to replace the 66-year-old coach could be former New York Rangers’ coach Alain Vigneault. The 57-year-old coach, who was let go last week after a disappointing season in New York was a top candidate for the Stars’ job in 2013 when they hired Lindy Ruff. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan (in a three-person panel along with Greg Wyshynski and Chris Peters) suggests the Stars may not want to pay Vigneault’s high price tag.

However, one thing that stands out by comments made by Nill that he wants to “let the younger generation of coaches take over,” suggesting the team might look to avoid going after a veteran coach after going in that direction for their last two coaches. The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro (subscription required) writes that Nill’s comments Friday suggest the team will be looking for a coach that emphasizes speed.

“We’ll go through that,” Nill said. “Are they a good fit for our team? Do they play fast? What’s their style? That’s always the interesting part. A lot of times you think you know them but you don’t (until the interview).”

Wyshynski believes that AHL Toronto Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe might be an appropriate candidate, although the Rangers are supposedly already targeting the up-and-coming coach, while Kaplan suggests that AHL Manitoba Moose’s Pascal Vincent, the AHL Coach of the Year, might also be a good candidate. Peters also suggests the team make a splash for University of Denver’s coach Jim Montgomery as a perfect coach that can create a firm identity and culture, which the franchise has lacked recently. Shapiro suggests that AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins coach Todd Nelson might be a good candidate as he has a history with Nill in Grand Rapids.

Other mentioned candidates include Jack Capuano, Dave Cameron, Dave Tippett, Geoff Ward, Tim Hunter, Benoit Groulx, Swedish National Team coach Rickard Gronberg. Heika even throws the name of the Carolina Hurricane’s head coach Bill Peters as a dark-horse candidate, whose status remains up in the air. Internal options such as Curt Fraser and Stu Barnes as well as Texas Stars’ AHL coach Derek Laxdal.

 

Snapshots: Barrie, Varone, Kovalchuk

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The NHL playoffs had quite the night on Thursday evening, with illegal checks being thrown in nearly every game. Tom Wilson and Josh Anderson have already gotten through unscathed, and Ryan Johansen will join them as players that didn’t receive disciplinary hearings. Johansen collided with Tyson Barrie, but will not receive any supplementary discipline as the league ruled it a “full body hit” according to Greg Wyshynski of ESPN.

Barrie and Colorado GM Joe Sakic are both upset about the decision, with Barrie going so far as to suggest to Adrian Dater of BSN Denver more players will take “runs” at opponents knowing they can get away with it. While it looks like Nazem Kadri will be given the second suspension of the postseason (the first being Drew Doughty for his hit on Vegas forward William Carrier), things threaten to get even more out of control in the coming games.

  • Phil Varone has been named AHL MVP for the 2017-18 season, after scoring 70 points in 73 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (with a few games remaining). Varone, a seven year professional, has always been an excellent offensive player in the minor leagues, but has just 50 NHL games under his belt. Drafted in the fifth round by the San Jose Sharks, his longest big league stint came with the Buffalo Sabres in 2014-15, when he recorded five points in 28 games.
  • Though it never did seem like a great fit, rumors persisted about the New York Rangers and Ilya Kovalchuk, with some even going so far to say a deal had already been agreed to. Kovalchuk himself denied that today when speaking to Russian media, saying he hasn’t had any connection with NHL teams so far. That would make sense, as he isn’t supposed to be talking to anyone until he becomes an unrestricted free agent on Sunday. Kovalchuk can’t sign with anyone until June 1st, and still lists team success as one of the driving forces. The Rangers, entering a period of rebuild and dedication to their young players, don’t seem like the perfect landing spot for a veteran looking to compete for the Stanley Cup in short order.

Alexei Bereglazov Put On Unconditional Waivers, Will Have Contract Terminated

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It didn’t work out for Alexei Bereglazov and the New York Rangers, and today the two sides have come to an agreement to end the relationship. Agent Dan Milstein announced on Twitter that Bereglazov has been placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a mutual contract termination. Bereglazov, who was already loaned to the KHL earlier this season, will play in Russia in 2018-19.

Signed last summer to a two-year entry-level contract, Bereglazov never got a sniff of action in New York. Instead, after just 13 games in the AHL he forced a loan back to Magnitogorsk with his European Assignment Clause. He’ll now have to look for a new contract in the KHL, but likely won’t have much trouble. The 23-year old is a useful defenseman that can use his reach to shut down rushes quickly, and even contributed 19 points in his last full KHL season.

Technically Bereglazov could sign with another NHL team after his contract is terminated, but that seems unlikely at this point. It’s hard to imagine there would be another team willing to give him a role in the NHL right away, meaning it would just be much of the same story. Instead, this may be the last we hear about Bereglazov in North America at least for a few seasons. There’s no telling what the future holds, as he’s still young enough to continue developing.

2018 NHL Draft Lottery Odds

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The regular season is over and for the first time in NHL history there are 15 teams on the outside of the playoff picture. For those squads and their fans, it’s a long wait for anything positive to come, with the 2018 NHL Entry Draft more than ten weeks away, scheduled for June 18th, and the start of free agency another two weeks after that. However, the odds for this year’s NHL Draft Lottery are now set and teams can at least look forward to the ping pong balls being drawn at the end of the month, on Saturday, April 28th. With the teams in the running now set, here are the odds for the #1 overall pick in this years draft:

31st – Buffalo Sabres: 18.5%

30th – Ottawa Senators: 13.5%

29th – Arizona Coyotes: 11.5%

28th – Montreal Canadiens: 9.5%

27th – Detroit Red Wings: 8.5%

26th – Vancouver Canucks: 7.5%

25th – Chicago Blackhawks: 6.5%

24th – New York Rangers: 6.0%

23rd – Edmonton Oilers: 5.0%

22nd – New York Islanders: 3.5%

21st – Carolina Hurricanes: 3.0%

20th – New York Islanders (from Calgary Flames): 2.5%

19th – Dallas Stars: 2.0%

18th – Philadelphia Flyers (from St. Louis Blues (top-ten option)): 1.5%

17th – Florida Panthers: 1.0%

If you are a fan of one of these teams, you can entertain yourself for the next few weeks with this Lottery Simulator from Tankathon.com.

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