Hurricanes Allowing Don Waddell To Speak With Other Teams
Until recently, the pending expiring contract for head coach Rod Brind’Amour was generating off-ice headlines in Carolina. That file was taken care of recently with a long-term extension for Brind’Amour and the rest of the coaching staff. Those deals were obviously also signed by team President and GM Don Waddell.
Now, it appears Waddell’s contract is set to draw some attention. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Waddell’s deal is set to expire at the end of the league year and that the Hurricanes have granted him permission to speak to other teams. LeBrun adds that Carolina has had internal conversations about a new GM in anticipation of his eventual departure.
Waddell has been with the organization for a decade now. He was originally named President of Gale Force Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the team, back in 2014. Waddell then added the GM title to his duties back in May 2018 and has held both roles ever since.
His time with Carolina isn’t the only time the 65-year-old has worked in a front office as he also held both titles at times in Atlanta before leaving the team in 2011. That type of experience along with Carolina’s recent success will be intriguing to some teams looking to add to their front office either as a GM, president, or both.
At the moment, the only GM vacancy is in Columbus, a team that is known to be looking for experience and will likely be looking to shake up their front office; bringing in someone with Waddell’s pedigree could certainly help that program. To that end, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that Waddell interviewed with the Blue Jackets today.
It’s a bit surprising to see Carolina being willing to let the managerial architect of their recent success depart or at least talk to other teams about potential opportunities. However, they do have some internal candidates who could be ready to be elevated to the top role.
Assistant GM Eric Tulsky has had interviews elsewhere over the years and could be deemed ready to take on the full-time GM role. Darren Yorke, another Assistant GM, has been with the organization for the last 14 years, working his way up from video scout to his current title which he has held for the last four years. Meanwhile, long-time Hurricane Justin Williams has been a Special Assistant to Waddell for the past four years and could be a dark horse candidate if the job does indeed become available in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, just when it looked like we were done with an off-ice contractual situation in Carolina garnering plenty of attention around the rest of the NHL, that clearly is no longer the case as now it’s Waddell’s time for the spotlight.
NHL Announces General Manager Of The Year Finalists
The Canucks’ Patrik Allvin, the Stars’ Jim Nill and the Panthers’ Bill Zito were named finalists for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award today, the NHL announced.
Voting for the GM of the Year award is conducted among the GMs themselves, in addition to a select few NHL executives and media members. Unlike other awards, votes are sent in at the end of the second round of the playoffs, not at the end of the regular season.
None of the nominees are particularly surprising. Allvin earns his nomination after putting together some incredible work in last summer’s free agency period, bringing in depth forwards Teddy Blueger, Dakota Joshua and Pius Suter on one-year deals. All were incredibly impactful value signings, including Suter, who scored the game-winning goal late in the third period of Game 6 against the Predators to give Vancouver its first series win in four years.
He also picked up solid depth defenseman Ian Cole in free agency last summer and swung trades for center Elias Lindholm and defenseman Nikita Zadorov from the Flames throughout the season, both of whom were some of their best playoff performers. Vancouver took the Oilers to Game 7 before bowing out in the second round despite an early injury to Vezina finalist Thatcher Demko.
Nill is gunning to become the second-ever back-to-back winner of the award, joining the Islanders’ Lou Lamoriello. His signing of Matt Duchene to a one-year, $3MM contract was arguably one of the best moves of last summer, as he maintained solid top-six production in the regular season with 65 points in 80 games. He also scored the overtime winner to send the Stars to the Western Conference Final, beginning tonight at home against Edmonton. He also picked up high-end shutdown defenseman Chris Tanev from the Flames ahead of the trade deadline without parting with a first-round pick.
Zito has now earned a nomination for GMOTY in three of his four years at the helm of the Panthers’ hockey ops department, but he’s yet to be crowned the winner. The Panthers won their second division title in the past three years this season, avoiding an expected lull to begin the season without Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour available while recovering from offseason surgeries. His signing of goaltender Anthony Stolarz to back up starter Sergei Bobrovsky remains one of the most under-the-radar moves of last year’s free agency period – Stolarz led qualified netminders with a .925 SV% and 2.03 GAA this season.
The winner will be announced before a Stanley Cup Final game on June 10.
Blackhawks Haven’t Ruled Out Bringing Back Patrick Kane
After his storied tenure with the Blackhawks ended via a trade to the Rangers in 2023, star winger Patrick Kane may have the opportunity to return to Chicago in free agency this summer. The team’s front office will likely hold internal discussions over the next few weeks about re-signing him, reports Scott Powers of The Athletic.
Kane is slated to hit the UFA market this summer after completing the one-year, $2.75MM contract he signed with the Red Wings in November after recovering from hip resurfacing surgery. He would likely be open to a return if offered by general manager Kyle Davidson, Powers said.
A three-time Stanley Cup winner, Kane looked revitalized in Detroit after a difficult, injury-plagued season split between Chicago and New York. The 35-year-old put up 20 goals, 27 assists, 47 points and a -5 rating in 50 contests after returning to play, increasing his points per game average to 0.94 after putting up 0.78 in 2022-23.
Kane’s possession metrics were below average (48.4 CF%, 49.2 xGF% at even strength), but that’s nothing new. He’s been a decisively below-average player defensively ever since his last championship with Chicago in 2015. While the Wings narrowly missed the playoffs, he helped them breach the 90-point mark for the first time since 2016. Their 278 goals for were also their most in a season since advancing to the Stanley Cup Final in 2009.
His return to the form you’d expect from him as he enters his late 30s is impressive, considering the previous track record of players returning from hip resurfacing procedures. The surgery effectively ended the careers of once-top-flight talents Nicklas Bäckström, Ed Jovanovski and Ryan Kesler.
Powers said the strong relationship between Kane and the Blackhawks organization remains intact and that Davidson “made sure Kane’s departure was as smooth as possible” when trading him to the Rangers last season. But if the organization does decide to bring him back, he’d likely end his career there, Powers said. If he intends on playing longer than the team thinks he’d be useful to their rebuild, Powers believes that will likely push Chicago away from re-signing him.
During Kane’s initial 16-year tenure in the Windy City, he scored 446 goals and 779 assists for 1,225 points in 1,161 games. The 2007 first-overall pick ranks second in franchise all-time scoring behind Hall-of-Famer Stan Mikita, although first is likely out of reach for Kane as he trails him by 242 points.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Devils Name Sheldon Keefe Head Coach
May 23: The Devils officially named Keefe as their next head coach on Thursday. General manager Tom Fitzgerald issued the following statement:
This was an invigorating process for me, having met with many qualified candidates and hearing how attractive this position was to them. Sheldon jumped to the top of my list when he became available, and I was thrilled when he agreed to be a part of what we are building here. He is an excellent communicator, believes in collaboration, and will take what he has learned previously to make this team a Stanley Cup contender. The organization is incredibly excited to welcome Sheldon, his wife, Jackie, and his two boys, Landon and Wyatt to New Jersey.
May 22: In a report from ‘Rear Admiral’ of the popular hockey podcast, Spittin Chiclets, and later confirmed by TSN’s Darren Dreger, the New Jersey Devils are set on making Sheldon Keefe their next head coach. Dreger later reported that it would be a four-year deal for Keefe in New Jersey, including the two years remaining on his old contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
For the entirety of his coaching career at the professional level, Keefe as only known life inside the Maple Leafs organization. After a successful stint with the Soo Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League, Keefe was named head coach of Toronto’s AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, at the start of the 2015-16 AHL season. In four and a half years, Keefe coached the Marlies to a 200-89-22-9 record over 320 games, including the team’s only Calder Cup Championship in 2018.
After former head coach Mike Babcock was unceremoniously let go by Toronto partway through the 2019-20 NHL season, Keefe was given the job, keeping his position until only a few weeks ago. In 349 games spent behind the bench for the Maple Leafs, Keefe coached the team to a 212-97-40 record, including a North Division title in his first full year.
Unfortunately, just like the 21 head coaches preceding Keefe in Toronto, he could not coach the team to the Stanley Cup Finals during his tenure, even while boasting one of the best lineups on paper. In 37 postseason games while coaching the Maple Leafs, Keefe could only accrue a .432 win percentage, making it beyond the first round once in five years.
Now moving to New Jersey, Keefe will once again have star-studded talent at his disposal. After an exciting 2022-23 regular season for the franchise, the Devils had a dramatic 31-point drop, finishing well below expectations.
Because of this, the General Manager of the Devils, Tom Fitzgerald, decided to relieve Lindy Ruff of his head coaching duties after 61 games of the 2023-24 season. With interim head coach Travis Green not faring any better in the last 21 games, New Jersey’s front office pursued a bigger fish.
Heading into the 2024-25 NHL season, the Devils already look to be one of the non-playoff teams from this season to make it into next year’s postseason. Possessing top young talent such as Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Luke Hughes, and Simon Nemec, New Jersey also holds top veteran talent such as Timo Meier and Dougie Hamilton. If the Devils can procure a top goaltender this offseason, Keefe should find quite a bit of success with this organization.
Sharks Receive Permission To Interview Marco Sturm For Head Coaching Job
Current Kings AHL head coach Marco Sturm has been granted permission to interview for the Sharks’ head coaching vacancy, Pierre LeBrun of TSN said Wednesday night.
Sturm becomes the third candidate firmly linked to the San Jose opening, joining former Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill (article) and internal promotion candidate Ryan Warsofsky (article). They remain on the hunt for a replacement after dismissing David Quinn with one year left on his contract last month.
It would be a homecoming of sorts for Sturm, who was drafted 21st overall by the Sharks in 1996. He would become one of the premier young defensive wingers in the league, accumulating 128 goals and 273 points in 553 games with the squad. Just months after the NHL resumed play following the 2004-05 lockout, he was traded to the Bruins as part of the blockbuster deal that sent Joe Thornton to San Jose.
Sturm last played in 2013 after a short stint with Kölner Haie of the Deutsche Eisehockey Liga and began his off-ice career as Germany’s head coach for the 2016 World Championship. He drew significant NHL interest after coaching the Germans to a silver medal at the 2018 Olympics, landing with the Kings as an assistant on John Stevens‘ bench. He remained with the club as they fired Stevens for Willie Desjardins early in the 2018-19 season, as well as when they brought in Todd McLellan the following summer.
After four years on the NHL bench, the organization re-assigned him to the AHL’s Ontario Reign for his first crack at being a head coach in the pros. He’s coached the Reign to a 76-55-13 record over the past two seasons, losing to the Coachella Valley Firebirds in this year’s Pacific Division Final.
Kings Sign Jim Hiller To Multi-Year Extension, Remove Interim Tag
1:07 p.m.: Hiller has officially been named the team’s 30th head coach in franchise history. They did not disclose the length of the extension.
8:57 a.m.: The Kings have removed the interim tag from head coach Jim Hiller and signed him to a multi-year contract extension, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports Wednesday. He was widely expected to land the vacancy after Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said Monday that he was the “overwhelming favorite” to take over behind the bench full-time.
Hiller assumed head coaching duties coming out of the All-Star break after Todd McLellan was fired following a January skid that put their playoff positioning in jeopardy. He was able to stabilize their slide, posting a 21-12-1 record behind the bench in the final few months of the season as they finished third in the Pacific Division.
While there was a fair amount of speculation the Kings would go for an external hire after a third straight first-round loss to the Oilers, it never turned into full-on rumor status. No notable candidates were ever linked to L.A.’s vacancy, and Hiller spoke with the rest of the Kings’ hockey operations department during their end-of-season press availability.
Hiller, 55, continues to assume the head coach title for the first time in a decade. His only professional coaching experience has been in assistant roles, although he was the bench boss of the Western Hockey League’s Chilliwack Bruins and Tri-City Americans from 2006 to 2014. He joined the Kings as an assistant on McLellan’s staff ahead of the 2022-23 season after being let go by the Islanders.
Today isn’t the end of the Kings’ coaching decisions this offseason, however. They still need to add an assistant to replace Trent Yawney, who they mutually parted ways with last week.
Lightning Acquire Ryan McDonagh From Predators
The Lightning have re-acquired defenseman Ryan McDonagh from the Predators via trade, the team announced Tuesday. Tampa is picking up the Oilers’ 2024 fourth-round pick in the deal and sending their 2025 second-round pick and 2024 seventh-round pick to Nashville in return.
It’s incredibly unusual timing for a swap, especially one of this significance. Both the Bolts’ and Preds’ seasons ended a few weeks ago in first-round playoff exits.
There was no previous indication McDonagh was on the trade block, but he’ll now finish out the last two seasons of his seven-year, $6.75MM AAV contract back in Tampa, where he signed it in 2018. The Predators are not retaining salary in the deal – an important factor for the Lightning as they attempt to keep captain Steven Stamkos, a pending unrestricted free agent, from going to market.
McDonagh, who was part of the Lightning’s three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances from 2020 to 2022, spent the last two seasons in Nashville after the Lightning couldn’t afford to keep his contract on the books. They traded him to the Preds in July 2022 for minor-league pieces Grant Mismash and Philippe Myers. Mismash never suited up for Tampa and is now playing in Norway, while Myers has logged 16 appearances for the Bolts in the last two seasons.
It’s hard to argue with the asset management here from Predators general manager Barry Trotz. McDonagh gave them two seasons of solid top-four minutes, averaging 21:40 per game over 145 contests. He isn’t the player he once was offensively, but he still put up a respectable 52 points in a Nashville uniform and a combined +31 rating, which leads Nashville skaters since 2022-23. Trotz also nets a second-round pick for his troubles.
McDonagh’s contract has a full no-trade clause, which he waived to return to Tampa. The Lightning have struggled defensively without him the past two seasons, going from a consistent top-10 team in goals against to 14th in 2022-23 and 22nd this season. They also haven’t managed to win a playoff series since trading him away, losing to the Panthers in the first round this season and the Maple Leafs last year. While trading him away did allow GM Julien BriseBois to sign the younger Erik Černák, Anthony Cirelli and Mikhail Sergachev to long-term extensions, it didn’t result in a continuation of their success from the beginning of the decade.
The veteran defenseman turns 35 next month and is entering his 15th NHL season. Formerly the captain of the Rangers, the Lightning initially acquired McDonagh, along with J.T. Miller, in a blockbuster trade at the 2018 deadline. McDonagh played parts of five seasons in Tampa before ending up in Nashville, putting up 99 points and a +74 rating in 267 games in a Lightning uniform while averaging 21:51 per game.
However, re-acquiring McDonagh doesn’t mean the Lightning are in a more advantageous cap situation than when they traded him away. They’re down to just over $5MM in projected cap space next season with a roster size of 18, per CapFriendly, likely not enough to re-sign Stamkos without a corresponding move.
Evolving Hockey projects Stamkos could earn close to $8.5MM annually on a short-term deal on the open market, and while he’s likely willing to take a hometown discount to stay in Tampa, a contract worth less than half his market value would be extreme. They also have a couple of other depth forward spots to fill to ice a full roster, and none of their minor-league forwards are particularly strong candidates to crack next fall’s opening night roster.
After trading away their 2025 second-rounder in this deal, the Lightning now don’t have a pick in the first two rounds until 2026. That’s a tough sell for an aging core, considering they have a bottom-five prospect pool in the league, as analyzed by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler.
Meanwhile, Trotz frees up some significant cap space to allow Nashville to be slightly more aggressive in free agency. The buyout penalty for Matt Duchene increases by $3MM on July 1 to a $5.55MM price tag next season, eating into their offseason flexibility. After moving McDonagh, CapFriendly now projects the Preds with $26MM in space next season with a roster size of 15. That’s more than enough to go big-game hunting for a younger, more cost-controlled replacement for McDonagh on the open market this summer.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Canucks’ Brock Boeser Out With Blood Clotting Issue, Likely Out For Season
May 20: Boeser’s blood clotting issue is in his leg and is expected to sideline him for the rest of the playoffs no matter how far the Canucks advance, Daily Faceoff”s Frank Seravalli reports Monday. He’s been placed on medication to address the clot.
May 19: The Canucks will be without top-six winger Brock Boeser for Monday’s Game 7 against the Oilers, per freelance reporter Irfaan Gaffar. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman adds it’s a non-life-threatening blood clotting issue sidelining Boeser, who could miss more time if Vancouver advances to the Western Conference Final.
The timing of this news couldn’t be any worse for Boeser and Vancouver as they head into the seventh and deciding game of their series against Edmonton on Monday night. The 27-year-old has been one of Vancouver’s top threats this postseason, collecting seven goals and five assists in 12 games. He leads the team in playoff goals and is tied with J.T. Miller for the lead in points with 12 while logging more than 20 minutes a night on their top line. Those numbers come on the heels of his best regular season, one that saw him set career-highs in goals (40) and points (73).
Among the options to take Boeser’s spot will be Ilya Mikheyev if he’s ready to return from an undisclosed injury that has kept him out of the last two games, Sam Lafferty, who has been scratched the last two games after a tough start to the playoffs, or Linus Karlsson, who was among their Black Ace recalls earlier this month and has gotten into a pair of games so far. Head coach Rick Tocchet suggested earlier this week that he might be comfortable using top prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki as well although that would certainly be a risky move to give a youngster his NHL debut in an elimination game. None of those players will be able to step into the role that Boeser filled so Tocchet will have to juggle his lines to see if he can find the right combination to pick up a win without one of their top forwards.
Bruins Unlikely To Retain Pending UFA Defensemen
The Bruins’ elimination in six games at the hands of the Panthers in the second round can hardly be called surprising. Much like last season, although to a lesser degree, the team overperformed in the standings on the backs of goaltenders Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark, who again both finished in the top 10 of the league-wide goals saved above expected leaderboard. A lack of game-breaking offense outside of captain Brad Marchand and winger David Pastrňák meant they scored just seven goals in Games 2 through 6 against Florida, making it five straight playoff appearances without multiple series wins.
Now, attention turns toward general manager Don Sweeney and how he may tinker with the retooling roster to extend their playoff window. To that end, he’s likely to let their trio of pending unrestricted free agent defensemen in Derek Forbort, Matt Grzelcyk and Kevin Shattenkirk hit the open market on July 1, writes The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa.
All three players are wrapping up seven-figure cap hit deals, but none were regulars in this postseason. Forbort returned from a lengthy undisclosed injury midway through the first round against the Maple Leafs but was scratched for six out of Boston’s final nine playoff games after being recalled from a conditioning stint to AHL Providence and activated from long-term injured reserve.
Grzelcyk last played in Game 5 against Toronto and was scratched for seven straight to end the season, while Shattenkirk saw the most playoff action of the threesome with six appearances, all against Toronto. Like Grzelcyk, he was scratched for the entirety of the Florida series.
Other pending UFA Bruins unlikely to receive an extension include veteran winger James van Riemsdyk, Shinzawa said. Wingers Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen and Pat Maroon all earned a slightly more favorable “maybe” chance of returning compared to the others’ “very low.”
The willingness to part ways with all three is a strong sign that Boston expects Mason Lohrei and Parker Wotherspoon to be everyday players in 2024-25. Lohrei, 23, is likely slated for top-four duties and could replace the role that Grzelcyk held alongside Charlie McAvoy for much of the last few seasons. The 2020 second-round pick is the organization’s top developing defenseman and impressed in his rookie season, notching 13 points in 41 games with a -2 rating. He didn’t look out of place in playoff action, either, with four points in 11 games while seeing his average ice time creep north of 17 minutes.
Wotherspoon, meanwhile, also played a larger-than-expected role in the regular season after being signed for AHL depth last summer. The 26-year-old had strong possession metrics (47.0 CF%, 52.3 xGF% at even strength) while adding eight assists in 41 contests, proving he can comfortably shoulder everyday bottom-pairing usage. The acquisition of Andrew Peeke from the Blue Jackets at the trade deadline, who has two seasons remaining on his contract at a $2.75MM cap hit, also filled out a guaranteed spot on next year’s blue line.
As such, don’t expect many moves from Sweeney to alter his group of defensemen. That leaves Boston with a decently comfortable $20.9MM in cap space this summer to re-sign pending restricted free agents Swayman and Jesper Boqvist, per CapFriendly. They’ll use the remainder to fill out three to four forward spots and find a cheap deal for a seventh defenseman. Opting to trade Ullmark (one season left at a $5MM cap hit) for a cheaper complement to Swayman longer-term could allow Boston to make a greater splash on the UFA forward market as well.
Matvei Michkov Expected To Terminate KHL Contract, Join Flyers
Russian phenom Matvei Michkov is expected to terminate his KHL contract and continue his career with the Philadelphia Flyers next season, per Russia’s Sport-Express. Sport-Express adds that SKA St. Petersburg will retain Michkov’s exclusive KHL rights until 2026.
This news seems to be first step towards Philadelphia landing one of their biggest prospects in recent memory. Michkov has become a sensation in Russia, coming off a season where he recorded 41 points in 48 games with the KHL’s HK Sochi – the second-most any U20 player has scored in the KHL, behind Kirill Kaprizov‘s 42-point season in 2016-17. That’s the type of company Michkov’s scoring has always earned him, similarly posting the highest KHL points-per-game from a U19 player during his time with Sochi last season, ranking ahead of Eeli Tolvanen, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Vladimir Tarasenko.
Michkov has managed the strong scoring despite playing on one of the KHL’s weakest teams. HK Sochi, who operate as a feeder team for SKA, have won just 28 of their 136 games over the last two seasons, even despite Michkov raising their average goals-per-game from 2.01 to 2.47 during his time there. The meager setting served both pros and cons, allowing Michkov to emerge as a KHL team’s star but also providing him with little support. He made up for modest deployment when he was younger by absolutely dominating on the international stage. Michkov recorded 12 goals and 16 points in seven games at the 2021 World U-18 Championship – leading the tournament in scoring ahead of both Shane Wright and Connor Bedard. The tally also ranked him behind just Gavin McKenna, Alex Ovechkin, and Mikhail Grigorenko for the most a U17 player has ever scored at the event. Russia was banned from international events in the following season, limiting Michkov to friendly matches with the country’s Men’s team over the last two years.
A move out of Russia should bring Michkov much more team success, especially if it’s a move to the playoff-hopeful Flyers. He’s a phenomenal player, boasting a control of the puck and ability to cut through lanes that simply seems special. Combined with a hard-nosed drive towards the net and a nifty shot, Michkov has all of the traits of a bona fide scorer. He’s proven that at every level in Russia, but now faces his biggest challenge yet in moving to the NHL. How the Flyers support their star prospect, and just how high Michkov’s ceiling can go with that support, will be among the most exciting questions as the 2024-25 seaosn rolls around.