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Panthers Activate Matthew Tkachuk From LTIR

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April 22: As expected, Tkachuk is off LTIR ahead of tonight’s Game 1. He’s officially a game-time decision.

April 17: The Panthers will have all their injured players in the lineup for Game 1 of their first-round series against the Lightning, head coach Paul Maurice told reporters today (via George Richards of Florida Hockey Now). As such, star winger Matthew Tkachuk will come off long-term injured reserve in the next few days before Florida begins their Stanley Cup defense on Sunday or Monday.

Tkachuk, 27, will return to the Panthers’ lineup after a two-month absence. He missed the final 25 regular-season games due to a groin injury he sustained while playing for the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

The news is far from unexpected. Maurice said earlier this week that Tkachuk would return to practice with the team after skating on his own. He wouldn’t commit to Tkachuk being available for Game 1 but said his return would be early in the first round in a worst-case scenario. Now, it looks like he’ll be available as soon as the Cats hit the ice for the fourth Battle of Florida in the last five years. Maurice adds that Tkachuk won’t skate during Florida’s practice tomorrow but will do so Monday, indicating that’s when Game 1 will take place (via Colby Guy of The Palm Beach Post).

Florida underwhelmed without Tkachuk down the stretch, posting a 13-11-1 record and a plus-two goal differential coming out of the 4 Nations break. That was enough to keep them in the playoff race, but not enough to keep them atop the Atlantic Division, where they were tracking to finish for a good portion of the season. Instead, they were lapped by the Maple Leafs and Lightning and lost home-ice advantage in their matchup with the latter. Of course, Tkachuk wasn’t the only player missing for an extended stretch. Trade deadline pickup Brad Marchand and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov each missed more than four games at a time, and top right-shot defenseman Aaron Ekblad hasn’t been available since early March while serving a 20-game suspension for consuming a performance-enhancing substance. Of course, that discipline will keep him out for the first two games of the first round.

Before the injury, Tkachuk clinched his fourth consecutive season above a point per game. The 6’2″, 202-lb pot-stirrer posted 22-35–57 in 52 regular-season contests, leading the Panthers in points (1.10) and shot attempts (6.08) per game. Only one Florida skater shot at a higher rate than Tkachuk’s 14.1% – that was Sam Reinhart at 18.3%.

A minus-three rating indicates a poor defensive outing for Tkachuk at face value, but that’s not the case. He continued to boast elite two-way impacts, logging a 59.9 CF% and 58.6 xGF% at even strength. The former ranked second on the team behind Aleksander Barkov.

Of course, the two-time All-Star has been instrumental in Florida’s back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances. He’s scored 17-29–46 with a +12 rating in 44 postseason games as a Panther, ranking fourth in the NHL in playoff scoring over the last two seasons. They’ll look for a repeat performance, presumably in a familiar second-line role at even strength with Sam Bennett and ex-rival Marchand on his opposite wing, to help them get over the first-round hump against a highly formidable Tampa squad in their quest for a repeat.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro-Imagn Images.

Islanders Part Ways With Lou Lamoriello

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The Islanders will not renew general manager Lou Lamoriello’s contract, the team announced Tuesday. Minority owner John Collins will lead the search for a new GM on Long Island.

It’s not clear who will handle interim GM duties for the Isles if they don’t have a new GM in place by the draft. For now, Chris Lamoriello (Lou’s son) and Steve Pellegrini remain in their roles as assistant general managers and will presumably handle any minor moves or re-signings until a new top hockey operations decision-maker is appointed.

One of the longest-serving and most accomplished executives in league history, Lamoriello’s tenure with the Islanders ends after seven seasons. They brought him in during the 2018 offseason after his contract to serve as GM of the Maple Leafs expired, initially just as president of hockey operations. He quickly fired then-GM Garth Snow and appointed himself in the role.

The early stages of Lamoriello’s time at the helm were an unequivocal success. He poached head coach Barry Trotz from the reigning Stanley Cup champion Capitals, a decision that immediately helped put the Isles back in the postseason after missing out for two years. Trotz won Coach of the Year honors in 2018-19 as the Islanders rattled off 48 wins, their most in a season since winning 50 games in 1983-84, and swept the Penguins in the first round. While they didn’t advance to the Conference Finals, they would do so in 2020 and 2021, taking the eventual Stanley Cup champion Lightning to six and seven games, respectively.

In the four seasons that followed, the Islanders have won just three playoff games, including two first-round losses to the Hurricanes (2023, 2024). They finished with a .500 record this season and missed the playoffs, failing to secure more wins than regulation losses for the first time in Lamoriello’s tenure. They’ve also now failed to win at least 40 games in back-to-back 82-game seasons since 2010-11 and 2011-12.

It’s not as if Lamoriello’s successor is walking into a five-alarm fire on the Island, but there’s much work to do this summer. Chief among a long list of to-dos is a new contract for No. 1 defenseman Noah Dobson, who’s an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent this summer. Most of their other defenders don’t have deals for next season – only Scott Mayfield, Adam Pelech, and Ryan Pulock are signed for 2025-26 among rearguards who ended the year on the active roster. There has been reported progress on a contract extension for their top pending UFA, Kyle Palmieri, but it’s unclear how the GM change will affect talks there.

One thing is clear – the Islanders’ new GM will come from outside the organization. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports the Islanders won’t be making any coaching changes or hockey operations staff alterations until the new hire is in place. They’ll have a say in determining the future of head coach Patrick Roy, his staff, and the rest of the front office.

Lamoriello was already the oldest-serving NHL GM in history at age 82. Whether it’s the end of the road for him after a 38-year run in NHL front offices with New Jersey, Toronto, and New York remains to be seen. It’s almost certainly his last GM role, but a senior advisor role somewhere may be of interest.

Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images.

NHL Releases First Round Schedule

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This article will be updated as further start times are announced.

After the Canadiens clinched the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference yesterday, the playoff field is set ahead of tonight’s final regular-season games. The league has thus announced the full first-round schedule (via David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period). Games are listed in Central Time, along with US broadcast details:

Saturday, April 19
Blues vs. Jets, Game 1: 5 p.m. on TNT, truTV and Max
Avalanche vs. Stars, Game 1: 7:30 p.m. on TNT, truTV and Max

Sunday, April 20
Devils vs. Hurricanes, Game 1: 2 p.m. on ESPN
Senators vs. Maple Leafs, Game 1: 6 p.m. on ESPN2
Wild vs. Golden Knights, Game 1: 9 p.m. on ESPN

Monday, April 21
Canadiens vs. Capitals, Game 1: 6 p.m. on ESPN
Blues vs. Jets, Game 2: 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2
Avalanche vs. Stars, Game 2: 8:30 p.m. on ESPN
Oilers vs. Kings, Game 1: 9 p.m. on ESPN2

Tuesday, April 22
Devils vs. Hurricanes, Game 2: 5 p.m. on ESPN
Senators vs. Maple Leafs, Game 2: 6:30 p.m. on ESPN2
Panthers vs. Lightning, Game 1: 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
Wild vs. Golden Knights, Game 2: 10 p.m. on ESPN

Wednesday, April 23
Canadiens vs. Capitals, Game 2: 6 p.m. on ESPN
Stars vs. Avalanche, Game 3: 8:30 p.m. on ESPN
Oilers vs. Kings, Game 2: 9 p.m. on TBS and Max

Thursday, April 24
Panthers vs. Lightning, Game 2: 5:30 p.m. on TBS, truTV and Max
Maple Leafs vs. Senators, Game 3: 6 p.m. on ESPN2
Golden Knights vs. Wild, Game 3: 8 p.m. on TBS, truTV and Max
Jets vs. Blues, Game 3: 8:30 p.m. on ESPN2

Friday, April 25
Capitals vs. Canadiens, Game 3: 6 p.m. on TNT, truTV and Max
Hurricanes vs. Devils, Game 3: 7 p.m. on TBS and Max
Kings vs. Oilers, Game 3: 9 p.m. on TNT, truTV and Max

Saturday, April 26
Lightning vs. Panthers, Game 3: 12 p.m. on TBS, truTV and Max
Golden Knights vs. Wild, Game 4: 3 p.m. on TBS, truTV and Max
Maple Leafs vs. Senators, Game 4: 6 p.m. on TBS, truTV and Max
Stars vs. Avalanche, Game 4: 8:30 p.m. on TBS, truTV and Max

Sunday, April 27
Jets vs. Blues, Game 4: 12 p.m. on TBS, truTV and Max
Hurricanes vs. Devils, Game 4: 2:30 p.m. on TBS, truTV and Max
Capitals vs. Canadiens, Game 4: 5:30 p.m. on TBS, truTV and Max
Kings vs. Oilers, Game 4: 8:30 p.m. on TBS, truTV and Max

Monday, April 28
Lightning vs. Panthers, Game 4: 6 p.m. on ESPN
Avalanche vs. Stars, Game 5: 8:30 p.m. on ESPN

Tuesday, April 29
*Senators vs. Maple Leafs, Game 5: TBD
*Devils vs. Hurricanes, Game 5: TBD
*Wild vs. Golden Knights, Game 5: TBD
*Oilers vs. Kings, Game 5: TBD

Wednesday, April 30
*Panthers vs. Lightning, Game 5: TBD
*Canadiens vs. Capitals, Game 5: TBD
*Blues vs. Jets, Game 5: TBD

Thursday, May 1
*Maple Leafs vs. Senators, Game 6: TBD
*Stars vs. Avalanche, Game 6: TBD
*Golden Knights vs. Wild, Game 6: TBD
*Kings vs. Oilers, Game 6: TBD

Friday, May 2
*Lightning vs. Panthers, Game 6: TBD
*Capitals vs. Canadiens, Game 6: TBD
*Hurricanes vs. Devils, Game 6: TBD
*Jets vs. Blues, Game 6: TBD

Saturday, May 3
*Senators vs. Maple Leafs, Game 7: TBD
*Avalanche vs. Stars, Game 7: TBD
*Wild vs. Golden Knights, Game 7: TBD
*Oilers vs. Kings, Game 7: TBD

Sunday, May 4
*Panthers vs. Lightning, Game 7: TBD
*Canadiens vs. Capitals, Game 7: TBD
*Devils vs. Hurricanes, Game 7: TBD
*Blues vs. Jets, Game 7: TBD

*if necessary

Kraken Name Jason Botterill GM

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April 22: The Kraken confirmed Tuesday they’ve elevated Francis to president of hockey operations and named Botterill executive vice president and general manager.

April 21: It turns out that relieving head coach Dan Bylsma of his duties isn’t the only notable change coming for the Kraken today.  E.J. Hradek of the NHL Network was the first to report (Twitter link) that assistant GM Jason Botterill will be appointed as the team’s new general manager.  Meanwhile, Arthur Staple of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that current GM Ron Francis will now serve as the team’s president.

This will be Botterill’s second opportunity to serve as an NHL GM.  He spent three years running the Sabres before being let go in 2020 where he was quickly scooped up by Seattle a year before the Kraken officially joined the league.  He also spent several years working in Pittsburgh’s front office, primarily as an assistant GM so he was certainly one of the more experienced managerial options around the league.

Over his three years in Buffalo, the Sabres struggled, missing the playoffs in all three seasons.  They did, however, draft relatively well during Botterill’s tenure, landing Rasmus Dahlin first overall in 2018, Dylan Cozens seventh overall a year later, and starting goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in the second round in 2017.  Other NHLers drafted by Buffalo under Botterill include Casey Mittelstadt, Jacob Bryson, and Mattias Samuelsson.

Botterill’s trade history showed that he wasn’t hesitant to make a big swing.  Among the notable trades he swung was moving Evander Kane to San Jose for Danny O’Regan and a pair of draft picks.  He also dealt Ryan O’Reilly to St. Louis for a package that included Vladimir Sobotka, Patrik Berglund, and Tage Thompson, along with a pair of draft picks; while Thompson has panned out well, the rest of the trade package hasn’t performed as well.  He also acquired Jeff Skinner from Carolina before signing him to an eight-year, $72MM extension that Buffalo exercised a buyout on last summer.

With his track record from before, Botterill had come up as a speculative candidate for GM openings in recent years and if another one became available this spring, he likely would have been considered for the role with that franchise.  With this move, Seattle gets in front of that hypothetical, ensuring that the Francis-Botterill duo will remain in place, just with different roles than before.

As for Francis, he had been at the helm of the Kraken since 2019 as he was also hired before the team officially joined the NHL.  It was his second role running a team as he also had a four-year stint as GM in Carolina among his many different roles with the Hurricanes.  Knowing for being a patient manager, Francis initially brought that same approach to Seattle, opting for what looked like a slower build than Vegas had when they joined the league last decade.

But a 100-point effort in the franchise’s second season increased expectations.  A step back the following season saw the team make a coaching change before handing out two of the biggest contracts in free agency as they looked to get back to playoff contention sooner than later.  Instead, the Kraken scuffled more this season, resulting in not just a coaching overhaul but a front office one as well.

During his time with Seattle, Francis brought in leading scorer Jared McCann and top blueliner Vince Dunn through the expansion draft while drafting a pair of young centers with high first-round picks in Matthew Beniers and Shane Wright so his fingerprints will be felt on this franchise for many more years to come.  Now, it will be Botterill handling more of the day-to-day operations as the Kraken try to get back to the playoffs next season.

Kraken Fire Dan Bylsma

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It was a tough year for the Kraken this season as they were among the worst teams in the Western Conference.  As a result, they have made a coaching change as the team announced that they have dismissed head coach Dan Bylsma after just one year with them.  No replacement will be named right away and a full coaching search will take place.

This decision means that Seattle will have three head coaches in as many years.  Last spring, Dave Hakstol was let go after serving as the bench boss for the first three seasons in franchise history.  Two of those resulted in missed playoff appearances but in between those was an impressive 2022-23 season that saw them record 100 points and make it to the second round of the postseason before losing in seven games to Dallas.

After seeing their point total drop by 19 last season, now-former GM Ron Francis opted to make a change, promoting Bylsma who had been serving as head coach of their AHL affiliate in Coachella Valley, a team that made the championship final in each of his first two seasons behind the bench.  The hope was that he’d be able to turn things around and get them back into playoff contention.

However, that didn’t happen.  While they went from being one of the worst offensive teams in the league the year before to one that finished in the middle of the pack this season, the Kraken also saw their defensive play and goaltending take steps back, offsetting the offensive improvement.  In the end, they actually had five fewer points than in 2023-24 while finishing seventh in the Pacific Division and clearly, Francis has decided to shake things up again.

This was Bylsma’s third stint running an NHL bench but his first in quite a while.  He spent six years behind the bench with Pittsburgh, winning a Stanley Cup in his first one back in 2009.  But after the Penguins failed to make it past the second round in four of the next five years, he was let go in 2014.  However, it didn’t take long for him to land another chance as the Sabres hired him in 2015.  That tenure was much shorter, however, as he was fired after just two seasons with them after a pair of sub-.500 seasons.  Now, this latest opportunity was even shorter, lasting just one year and it’s fair to wonder if he’ll get a fourth shot at running an NHL team or if his ceiling moving forward might be best suited as an assistant coach, a role he has held previously with the Red Wings and Islanders.

Francis was particularly active in free agency last summer, handing out two of the biggest contracts to defenseman Brandon Montour (seven years, $50MM) and center Chandler Stephenson (seven years, $43.75MM).  With more than $21MM in cap space to work with this summer, per PuckPedia, and only a pair of impact RFAs to try to re-sign (Kaapo Kakko and Ryker Evans), new GM Jason Botterill will be well-positioned to be a big shopper in free agency.  But before then, they’ll be shopping around for a new bench boss.  Seattle joins the Ducks and Rangers as teams who have recently let go of their head coaches and will be conducting a full search for a replacement while other teams will evaluate the interim coaches they finished the season with against other options available.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman first reported that Bylsma was being let go.

Photo courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images.

Avalanche Activate Gabriel Landeskog From Long-Term Injured Reserve

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April 21: Contrary to what Bednar said, the official announcement has come. Landeskog has been activated from long-term injured reserve and is expected to make his return to NHL ice in tonight’s Game 2 of their first-round series against Dallas after sitting out Game 1, the team announced.

April 18: Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog is available to step onto NHL ice for the first time in nearly three years during their first-round series against the Stars, head coach Jared Bednar said today (via Meghan Angley of Guerilla Sports). There’s unlikely to be an official announcement before they activate him from long-term injured reserve, Bednar said, but he’s an option for Game 1 tomorrow night.

Landeskog rejoined the NHL squad for practice earlier this week following a two-game conditioning stint in the AHL, his first game action since June 2022. He posted a goal and assist in the first minor-league action of his 12-year pro career stateside. Playing on back-to-back nights was an especially noteworthy accomplishment for Landeskog, whose multiple right knee surgeries have kept him sidelined since Colorado’s Stanley Cup win in 2022.

Whether he’s in the Game 1 lineup remains to be seen. Landeskog skated with the Avs’ projected scratches at practice for the second session in a row, so it’s not looking overly likely, Jesse Montano of Guerilla Sports relays. Aside from Landeskog, Bednar told reporters today that defensemen Ryan Lindgren and Josh Manson will be available and will slot in on the third and second pairings, respectively. Manson will need to come off long-term injured reserve before tomorrow night.

Their availability gives the Avalanche a fully healthy complement of players for the first time this season. Considering Landeskog’s injury, it’ll be the first time the Avs can say that since Game 3 of their second-round series against the Blues in 2022. Samuel Girard sustained a broken sternum in that game and did not play for the remainder of the postseason.

It’s impossible to put expectations on Landeskog’s on-ice impact after such a long absence, but it’s worth pointing out he remained one of Colorado’s best players in their Cup win despite not playing on a fully healthy knee. He finished fourth on the team in playoff scoring with 11-11–22 in 20 games and co-led the club with a +15 rating. He’s nearly at a point per game over his postseason career, which spans 67 games across six trips.

Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports.

Canucks Won’t Exercise Club Option On Rick Tocchet

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The Canucks will not exercise their club option to keep head coach Rick Tocchet on his current contract for 2025-26, president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford told reporters today (including Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet). Vancouver continues to work on a new deal to keep Tocchet behind their bench, Rutherford said, and the organization remains hopeful he’ll stay. They expect a decision on Tocchet’s future later this week, Friedman relays.

Tocchet is the only coach in the NHL on an expiring contract this offseason, and even then the Canucks could have opted to keep him in Vancouver under the terms of his current deal. Thomas Drance of The Athletic indicated last month the Canucks were operating under the assumption Tocchet would continue as their head coach next year and would exercise their option if extension talks weren’t progressing. While that didn’t end up being the case, they continue to indicate a willingness to retain Tocchet and make him the highest-paid coach in franchise history. Whether he accepts the offer or opts to explore some of the other vacancies around the league remains to be seen.

The 61-year-old just completed his second full season and third overall as Vancouver’s head coach. Last season, he won the Jack Adams Award for Coach of the Year after guiding them to their first playoff appearance since 2020 and first division title since 2013. When he took over midway through the 2022-23 campaign, he was the Canucks’ third coach in two years. The club fired Travis Green and replaced him with Bruce Boudreau during the 2021-22 season, only to fire Boudreau for Tocchet one year later.

At present, there are five openings for Tocchet to explore. The Ducks and Rangers’ positions are completely vacant after firing Greg Cronin and Peter Laviolette over the weekend, while three teams, the Blackhawks, Bruins, and Flyers, ended the season with interim head coaches. There’s a clear speculative fit in Philadelphia, where Tocchet spent the bulk of his 18-year playing career, but interim coach Brad Shaw remains a legitimate contender for a full-time role after ending the year with a 5-3-1 record.

In nine years as a coach with the Lightning, Coyotes, and Canucks, Tocchet has a 286-265-87 (.516) record in 638 regular-season games. He’s only made the postseason twice (Arizona, 2020; Vancouver, 2024) and has an 11-11 (.500) record there. Since Tocchet took over in Vancouver on Jan. 22, 2023, the Canucks’ .608 points percentage ranks 11th in the league.

Oilers Sign Ty Emberson To Two-Year Extension

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The Oilers will be keeping Ty Emberson in the fold a little while longer.  The team announced that they’ve signed the defenseman to a two-year contract extension that will carry a cap hit of $1.3MM.  The deal represents a small raise from his current $950K salary.

The 24-year-old was acquired from San Jose last offseason as part of the cap-clearing move that saw Cody Ceci sent to the Sharks.  At the time, it looked like he was trending toward Group Six unrestricted free agency but as a result of reaching the 50-game mark (one he easily surpassed), he became eligible for restricted free agency with arbitration eligibility.  He’ll bypass that with this contract as it buys out his two remaining RFA-eligible campaigns.

Emberson played in 76 games this season, becoming a full-fledged regular for the first time after being in and out of the lineup with San Jose last season in his first NHL campaign.  He predominantly played on Edmonton’s third pairing, picking up 13 points, 97 blocked shots, and 125 hits while logging a little over 15 minutes a night of playing time.  He was third on the Oilers in shorthanded playing time per game behind blueliners Mattias Ekholm and Jake Walman.  With the former out for the first round and potentially longer, they’ll be counting on Emberson to take on an even bigger role on the penalty kill in their opening-round series against Los Angeles.

With this signing, Edmonton now has five of their regular blueliners signed for next season with Evan Bouchard in line for a significant raise as an arbitration-eligible RFA this summer.  However, Emberson is just one of two regular defenders signed for the 2026-27 campaign, joining Darnell Nurse, meaning that the back end could be heading toward a shakeup a couple of years from noww.

Rangers Fire Peter Laviolette And Phil Housley

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The Rangers are making some changes behind the bench.  The team has dismissed head coach Peter Laviolette and associate head coach Phil Housley, per a team announcement.  GM Chris Drury released the following statement:

Today I informed Peter Laviolette and Phil Housley that we’re making a coaching change. I want to thank them both and wish them and their families all the best going forward. Peter is first class all the way, both professionally and personally, and I am truly grateful for his passion and dedication to the Rangers in his time as head coach.

After finishing with the best regular season record in the NHL a year ago and making a trip to the Eastern Conference Final, we came into this season with high expectations for ourselves. Quite simply, we failed to meet those expectations. We must all do better – myself included. As we head into next season and beyond, I felt that a change was necessary in order to give us the best chance to achieve our goals as an organization. Our search for a new head coach will begin immediately.

Laviolette departs the Rangers after just two seasons with the team, one that went quite well and one that was anything but.  In his first season behind the bench in New York, Laviolette helped guide the Rangers to the Presidents’ Trophy with the team putting up 114 points.  They had a solid postseason run to back that up before ultimately falling to Florida in the Eastern Conference Final.

That had expectations quite high heading into this season with the bulk of the core coming back.  However, it was a struggle right out of the gate for New York, leading to Drury trying to shake up his roster.  Jacob Trouba joined Barclay Goodrow as veteran leaders moved out while Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad were also in trade speculation at times during the season.  They never could get things on track, leading to them selling at the trade deadline and ultimately missing the playoffs.  The end result was a 29-point dropoff, leaving them six behind New Jersey and Montreal for the final spots in the Metropolitan Division and the Wild Card respectively.

Laviolette had one year left on his contract, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link).  He’s no stranger to being hired and fired as that has now happened six different times.  Over his 23-year coaching career, the 60-year-old has a 894-562-186 record, good for a .589 points percentage.  His 1,594 games as a head coach rank ninth in NHL history and it’s possible that he’ll have a chance to add to that total with Anaheim currently having a vacancy while several other organizations evaluate whether or not to make a change from the interim head coaches they finished with.

As for Housley, he departs the Rangers after two seasons as well having been added to the coaching staff when Laviolette was hired.  The long-time blueliner has served as an assistant coach with New York, Arizona, and Nashville while also having a brief stint with Buffalo as their head coach.  The 61-year-old should garner some consideration for other assistant positions around the league this summer.

Today’s announcement did not mention other assistants Dan Muse and Michael Peca.  Mollie Walker of the New York Post reports (Twitter link) that they will have an opportunity to remain on the staff of the new head coach so for now at least, they remain with the team.

The Rangers enter the summer with less than $10MM in cap space, per PuckPedia, and several players in need of new contracts including defenseman K’Andre Miller and winger Will Cuylle.  As a result, shaking up the roster could be a challenge for Drury which will make his next coaching hire that much more important as the new bench boss will be tasked with getting much more out of this veteran group than Laviolette was able to this season.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.

Ducks Fire Greg Cronin

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The Ducks announced today they’ve relieved head coach Greg Cronin of his duties. He had one season remaining on his contract, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.

General manager Pat Verbeek released a statement on his decision:

I want to personally thank Greg for his tireless work and dedication to the team. He is responsible in many ways for the improvement we’ve seen from our young core. However, after several weeks of careful evaluation, I concluded we needed a change in direction and a new voice. This was an extremely difficult decision for me to make, but I felt it was necessary to continue our progress toward becoming a Stanley Cup contender that I know we can be.

Cronin spent the last two seasons behind the bench in Anaheim, his first stint as an NHL bench boss.  It was hardly his first time running a team, however, as the 61-year-old had head coaching experience at the NCAA level with Northeastern University and the AHL level with Colorado where he spent five seasons before the Ducks hired him in June 2023.  He also had previous experience on an NHL bench as an assistant with the Islanders and Maple Leafs.

His first season was particularly rough.  Anaheim managed a record of just 27-50-5 while being in the bottom three in goals scored while allowing the 30th-most goals in the NHL.  Beyond a career year from Frank Vatrano, many of their key players either underachieved or didn’t develop as planned, leading to some speculation that Anaheim might make a change after just one season.

That didn’t happen and things did go better for the Ducks this year.  They added 21 points compared to the previous season, putting them sixth in the Pacific Division.  Things improved on the goals allowed side as they were 22nd in that regard this year but once again, goal production was hard to come by as they once again ranked 30th overall although they did add 14 tallies compared to 2023-24.  Key young forwards like Mason McTavish and Leo Carlsson took steps forward compared to their production a year ago while Cutter Gauthier finished strong.  Meanwhile, Jackson LaCombe became a top-pairing blueliner so there were certainly more positives from a development perspective but that wasn’t enough for Verbeek to retain Cronin.

While Verbeek references continuing progress toward being a Cup contender, there is a long way still to go for them to get there.  With that in mind, it will be interesting to see if he opts for another less experienced coach with an emphasis on player development or if he’ll look to more of a veteran option with an eye on trying to get back into the playoff picture quickly.  Anaheim becomes the first true head coach opening around the NHL although other teams will be conducting searches to see if there is a better fit behind the bench than the interim head coaches that finished the year in those roles.

Photo courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images.

PHR’s Josh Erickson also contributed to this post.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

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