USA Hockey Finalizes Coaching Staff For 2026 Worlds
USA Hockey has rounded out its coaching staff for next month’s 2026 World Championship in Switzerland, the organization announced Thursday. Former Sabres bench boss Don Granato was previously announced as the head coach in March as the Americans aim to win back-to-back gold medals at the event for the first time ever.
Joining Granato as assistants will be Canucks assistant Kevin Dean, Predators assistant Darby Hendrickson, Rangers assistant Ty Hennes and University of Michigan head coach Brandon Naurato. Sharks goaltending coach Thomas Speer is joining in the same role, while Predators video coach Lawrence Feloney and Islanders video coordinator Matt DeMado have also been added to the staff.
It’s a very similar group to the contingent that led the Americans to the promised land last season. Dean, Speer, and Feloney are all returnees, as are general manager Brett Peterson and assistant general manager Jeff Kealty.
Dean had no previous national team experience up until last year’s tournament, but they obviously liked what they saw, then under Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky. He’ll be primarily responsible for the defensemen and penalty kill, the same role he holds in Vancouver, although the Canucks had a league-worst 71.5% penalty kill success rate and ranked 29th in the league in shots against per game with 29.8 in Dean’s first season behind the bench there. He had previous stints with the Bruins (2017-22) and Blackhawks (2022-25) as an assistant.
In Nashville, Hendrickson is more of a roving assistant focused on player development. This marks his first national team appearance as a coach, although he scored 14 points in 44 World Championship games for the U.S. as a player in six tournaments (1996-2001) and also suited up for them at the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Hennes returns to the United States bench after first serving as an assistant coach at the 2024 Worlds. The Americans went 5-1-1 in group play that year but were upset by the host Czechia in the quarterfinals. Hennes is coming off his first season with the Rangers, following Mike Sullivan to New York last summer after spending the previous three seasons under him as an assistant with the Penguins.
Naurato, one of the brighter coaching prospects in the sport, is 41 years old and just wrapped up his fourth season heading up the Wolverines’ bench. A former player development consultant with the Red Wings from 2018-21, he spent only one season at Michigan as an assistant before earning the promotion. During that time, he’s won a pair of Big 10 championships and got Michigan to its fourth Frozen Four in the last five years, although they’ve been bounced in the national semifinal each time.
Vincent Trocheck Reveals Early-Season Injury
- In his exit interview, New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck spoke at length about the injury that kept him out for the first 14 games of the season. Mollie Walker of the New York Post described the injury, saying Trocheck had a lung infection that required surgery and a week-long stay in the hospital, where he was connected to chest tubes. Trocheck offered a quote to Walker, saying, “I thought I was just having back spasms, and then I played the first game. Got a little bit worse. Played in Buffalo. I got a cross check right in that area, and whatever fluid was in there, it’s like bubbles, and I guess the bubble burst and it spread. So then it just got a lot worse. I had a lot of fluid around my lung, so I had to have surgery to get the fluid removed.“
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Predators Have Interviewed Ryan Martin For GM Vacancy
There are currently three open GM positions around the NHL: Toronto, Vancouver, and Nashville. The first two have only been known briefly, while the other has been known since early February, when Barry Trotz announced that he’d be stepping down from the role.
While the Predators have had ample time to conduct the search so far, they’re still in the interview process as more potential candidates start to be made available with the regular season now over. One of those candidates is Rangers assistant GM Ryan Martin, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that Martin has interviewed for Nashville’s opening.
Martin has been working in a front office for the last 20 years but has never had an opportunity to run an NHL organization yet. The bulk of his time has been with the Red Wings, who he joined in 2005 as a Director of Hockey Administration. He moved up to Assistant GM in 2010 while also taking on AHL GM duties in Grand Rapids, holding those roles for more than a decade while simultaneously serving as a scout for USA Hockey’s World Junior program for most of those years.
After a decade and a half in Detroit, Martin joined the Rangers with those same two roles while briefly continuing his work with USA Hockey as well. With them, he took on the GM role for the 2022 Worlds and was an assistant for the 2023 entry. Having held AGM and AHL GM titles for this long, it feels like it should only be a matter of time before Martin gets a chance to be an NHL GM, be it in Nashville or elsewhere.
Other candidates believed to have interviewed for the vacancy are Edmonton assistant GM Bill Scott, Florida assistant GM Brett Peterson, Carolina assistant GM Darren Yorke, and Preds assistant GM Jeff Kealty. Former New Jersey GM Tom Fitzgerald, who captained Nashville’s expansion franchise, just became available and Friedman noted that he expects Fitzgerald to receive an interview for the role as well.
Jonathan Quick To Retire Following Season
As speculated, tonight will be Jonathan Quick‘s last start of his NHL career. Getting the nod against the Florida Panthers, Quick told reporters (via Vince Z. Mercogliano) that he is retiring after the 2025-26 season.
Quick’s professional career began back in 2005, when he was selected 72nd overall by the Los Angeles Kings. After a pair of quality years at the University of Massachusetts, the Kings felt it was time to bring Quick to the professional level.
Unfortunately, his first season didn’t go as well as he had hoped. He was disappointing in a few games with Los Angeles and spent much of the year split between the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs and ECHL’s Reading Royals.
Still, despite again beginning the year in the AHL, Quick was called up when netminder Erik Ersberg went down with an injury, and never looked back.
Throughout the next decade, Quick became one of the most dominant goalies of his era. From his call-up during the 2008-09 season through the 2017-18 season, Quick won 292 out of 553 games (.528 W%) with a .917 SV% and 2.27 GAA. Although he never won the Vezina Trophy, he took home a pair of William M. Jennings trophies in 2014 and 2018.
Additionally, one cannot bring up Quick’s dominant run in Los Angeles without mentioning his playoff performances. In that same decade, Quick backstopped the Kings to two Stanley Cup championships in 2012 and 2014, winning 46 of 85 games (.541 W%) with a .922 SV% and 2.23 GAA. His performance was impressive during the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, and he was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason’s MVP.
If they hadn’t already, Quick’s performance in 2012 certified that he was the Kings’ goaltender of the future, and they rewarded him with a 10-year, $58MM ($5.8MM AAV) extension.
As it does so often, injuries and age crept up on Quick, and his stability in the crease began to wane during the 2018-19 season. Finishing out his 10-year extension with Los Angeles, Quick found his way to the Vegas Golden Knights after the Kings traded him to Columbus, and the Blue Jackets shipped him to Vegas.
While he didn’t have an integral role with the team, nor did he get his name on the Stanley Cup, Quick won the trophy for the third time with the Golden Knights in 2023. Knowing that his career was coming to an end, Quick signed with the New York Rangers, a team he had grown up idolizing, ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Far removed from being a quality starter, Quick has still managed to be a productive backup for the Rangers. In three years with the club, Quick has managed a 35-29-6 record in 75 games, with a .900 SV% and 2.94 GAA.
Before tonight’s contest, Quick owns a 410-306-90 record throughout his 828-game NHL career. His 410 wins stand as the 12th-most all-time in the NHL, though he won’t have a chance to crack Tony Esposito‘s record with a win tonight. Additionally, his career .910 SV% ranks 59th all-time, just a few points shy of Patrick Roy.
We at PHR congratulate Quick on a Hall of Fame career and wish him the best of luck in his next chapter.
Photo courtesy of Jerry Lai of USA TODAY Sports.
Vaakanainen Practices In Contact Jersey; Garand's Recall Converted To Regular One
- Rangers defenseman Urho Vaakanainen took part in practice today in a regular (contact) jersey, relays Mollie Walker of the New York Post (Twitter link). That suggests that the 27-year-old is getting closer to returning from an upper-body injury that has kept him out for the past two weeks. Vaakanainen was ruled out week-to-week at the time. He has played in 33 games this season, picking up six assists and 26 blocks while averaging a little under 14 minutes per game of playing time.
- Still with the Rangers, goaltender Jonathan Quick returned to the lineup yesterday, serving as New York’s backup. He had missed the previous seven games due to an upper-body injury. In doing so, the team has converted Dylan Garand’s previous recall from an emergency one to a regular recall as emergency conditions no longer exist. That means he will be one of their five allowable post-deadline promotions. Garand has made two starts so far, turning aside 62 of 65 shots in his first taste of NHL action.
Rangers Assign Juuso Parssinen To AHL
With center Noah Laba nearing a return to the lineup, the Rangers have made a roster move. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned center Juuso Parssinen to AHL Hartford.
After showing some promise down the stretch in New York last season where he had five points in 11 games, the Rangers signed him to a two-year, $2.5MM pact with the hopes that he could emerge as a capable contributor in the bottom six. However, that hasn’t exactly been the case. He has just two goals and one assist in 20 contests this season and cleared waivers back in November. Parssinen only has a few days left in his waiver exemption and since he hasn’t played much lately – just once in the last two weeks – it makes sense for him to be playing back in Hartford over sitting in the press box in New York.
Parssinen has been more productive with the Wolf Pack, albeit in limited action. Despite spending more than three months in Hartford, injuries limited him to just 11 games although he has five goals and an assist in those appearances. Hartford enters play today six points out of the sixth and final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division and he should be a key piece for them as they try to get back into the postseason picture.
Laba A Game-Time Decision Sunday; Quick Won't Play
- The Rangers will have to wait at least one more game to get veteran goaltender Jonathan Quick back. Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that Quick won’t dress on Sunday but is still considered to be day-to-day. Once he returns, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them use all three goalies, allowing Dylan Garand to get a bit more action at the top level. There is some good news on the injury front for New York, however. In a separate tweet, Mercogliano adds that center Noah Laba has been listed as a game-time decision for tomorrow’s contest. The 22-year-old was listed as being out week-to-week less than two weeks ago, suggesting his return is going to be ahead of schedule.
Peter Chiarelli, Kevin Maxwell Departing Blues Front Office
Blues vice president of hockey operations Peter Chiarelli and pro scout Kevin Maxwell will not return to the club next season, Darren Dreger of TSN reports. Chiarelli’s departure comes as he’s progressed in the interview process to fill the Predators’ pending general manager vacancy, while Maxwell will be joining the Rangers in a yet-to-be-disclosed management role, Dreger adds.
It may not be the only front office turnover St. Louis will see in the coming weeks. This is Doug Armstrong’s last season in the GM role. The team announced way back in 2024 that following the end of the 2025-26 campaign, Armstrong would elevate to president of hockey operations, while Alexander Steen, who played 765 games as a Blue and has been a special assistant to Armstrong over the past two years, would step into the GM’s chair.
It’s not a complete overhaul – Armstrong will still hold a fairly powerful role – but one that will nonetheless lead to a bit of a shakeup. Chiarelli, 61, had been part of the Blues’ front office for the past seven years. He first joined Armstrong as a senior advisor following their Stanley Cup win in 2019 and was promoted to his current VP role two years later.
As one of the league’s more experienced executives, it’s no surprise the Predators have reached out to him about succeeding Barry Trotz. It would be Chiarelli’s third go-around as a GM, first heading up the Bruins from 2006-15 (and winning a Stanley Cup in the process) before managing the Oilers from 2015-19.
The Predators have cast a wide net in their search, opening themselves up to experience-heavy candidates like Chiarelli while also considering up-and-comers. They’ve previously been linked to former Habs GM and current Sabres AGM Marc Bergevin as well as Panthers AGM Brett Peterson. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported today that they’ve also interviewed Oilers AGM Bill Scott.
Meanwhile, Maxwell has been with the Blues since 2022. In addition to his scouting duties, he’s also served as the GM for their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, a role normally reserved for an AGM. St. Louis will need to find a replacement there.
The 65-year-old Maxwell has been in scouting roles as far back as the late 1980’s with the Flyers, and has also logged stints with the Whalers, Islanders, and Stars. He then joined the Rangers, where he’s set to return now, as a pro scout in 2008 and was promoted to their director of pro scouting in 2011. He held that role until his departure from the organization to join the Blues in 2022.
That the Blues are willing to part ways with Maxwell is unsurprising. Springfield is on track to miss the playoffs for the second time in four seasons under Maxwell – a hard feat in a league where 23 of 32 teams qualify. The year before he took over, Springfield had advanced all the way to the Calder Cup Final.
Rangers Recall Adam Sykora, Reassign Connor Mackey
The Rangers announced Tuesday that they’ve recalled left wing prospect Adam Sykora from AHL Hartford. They sent defender Connor Mackey back down to Hartford in the corresponding move. Sykora could make his NHL debut tomorrow in Toronto, but it’s not a guarantee.
Sykora, 21, was the 63rd overall pick in 2022. While relatively small at 5’11” and 192 lbs, he was viewed as one of the highest-energy forwards in the draft with the potential to end up as a versatile middle-six piece.
Offensively, his journey through the pro ranks with Hartford has been rocky. He’s never popped as they hoped but has managed to hit double-digit goals for the first time this season, accumulating a 12-17–29 line in 62 outings to date. Across parts of four seasons for the Wolf Pack, he’s notched 29 goals and 82 points in 201 games with a -25 rating.
It’s incredibly rare for a player as young as Sykora to arrive in the NHL with that much professional experience in North America. He was one of the youngest players in his class to begin with, born just over a week before the cutoff date for 2022 draftees, and came over from his native Slovakia at the end of his post-draft season. He’s still fairly early in his development curve, but the lack of offensive progression to date in Hartford shows his game may already be close to topping out in that regard. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic ranked him as the #7 player in the Rangers’ pool in this year’s rankings, while Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff had him #10 on his list last summer.
With all that in mind, it would actually make a good bit of sense for the Blueshirts to give Sykora a trial in a bottom-six role. His lack of point production in Hartford indicates that’s where his long-term home in the NHL would be anyway if he can carve out a career, so they’d be helping both parties by trialing him there for a bit this year to help them see if he’ll be worth a qualifying offer in 2027 when his entry-level contract is up.
As for Mackey, he’d appeared in three straight for the Blueshirts in place of Urho Vaakanainen, who’s sidelined with an upper-body injury. The 29-year-old lefty was held without a point and posted a -3 rating while averaging 12:47 per contest. It marks his sixth straight season seeing NHL action, his third with the Rangers. He did post relatively strong possession numbers in his limited minutes despite the end result not being too positive, logging a 50.9 CF% and 51.3 xGF% at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick.
His demotion implies that fellow lefty Drew Fortescue should be ready to step in and make his NHL debut tomorrow. New York signed the 20-year-old out of Boston College last weekend, but he was scratched for their Sunday-Monday back-to-back.
Jonathan Quick Out With Upper-Body Injury
- There is additional context regarding the New York Rangers’ recall of netminder Dylan Garand yesterday. According to Andrew Crane of the New York Post, veteran netminder Jonathan Quick is dealing with a minor upper-body ailment. Regardless, the expectation is that Garand will make his NHL debut while Quick is sidelined.
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