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Afternoon Notes: Hintz, Goldobin, Sharks Coaching

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The Dallas Stars will once again be left with a game-time decision on centerman Roope Hintz, shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). Hintz has missed Dallas’ last four games with an upper-body injury sustained in Game 4 of the second-round series against the Colorado Avalanche.

Hintz was an integral piece of the Stars lineup through the regular season, posting 30 goals and 65 points – both marks he’s also reached in the last two seasons. He’s maintained that strong presence into the postseason, posting six points through the 11 games he’s been healthy for. Maybe more importantly, Dallas hasn’t yet found their de facto fill-in for Hintz’s injury.

Radek Faksa was previously filling the vacancy, but head coach Pete DeBoer decided to switch to Ty Dellandrea for Game 2 of the Western Conference Final. Dellandrea recorded three shots on goal through 11:39 in ice time but did little to command the lineup spot as his own. Hintz should return to the team’s top six immediately upon his return. But Dallas will be left with a tricky lineup decision should he once again be unavailable.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Former San Jose Sharks first-round pick Nikolay Goldobin has signed a two-year extension with Moscow Spartak of the KHL (Twitter link). The 28-year-old forward is coming off a career year, posting a career-high 37 goals and 78 points through 67 games this season and adding nine points in 11 playoff games. His regular season scoring tied him for second in the KHL in scoring behind Reid Boucher, who posted 44 goals and 78 points of his own. It was Goldobin’s third full-time season in the KHL, having posted 39 and 36 points over the last two years, respectively. He’ll look to build off a dazzling season, now re-upped in Russia.
  • The San Jose Sharks are advancing their search for their next head coach, providing second interviews to both Jeff Blashill and Ryan Warsofsky, shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in the recent 32 Thoughts Podcast. Warsofsky has been an assistant coach in San Jose for the last two seasons, moving to the NHL after leading the AHL’s Chicago Wolves to a Calder Cup win in 2022. Meanwhile, Blashill has been an assistant to Jon Cooper and the Tampa Bay Lightning for his last two seasons – proceeding his seven-year tenure as the Detroit Red Wings head coach.

Blue Jackets Place Brendan Gaunce On Waivers

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May 27: Gaunce cleared waivers today and was subsequently assigned to AHL Cleveland, per a team announcement.

May 26: The Columbus Blue Jackets have placed forward Brendan Gaunce on waivers, per PuckPedia (Twitter link). The move was confirmed by CapFriendly (Twitter link). Gaunce captained Columbus’ AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, this season, helping to lead the team to a first-place finish in the league’s North Division. The Monsters are now set for the Calder Cup’s Eastern Conference Finals, with that series set to begin on Thursday.

This is the second time Gaunce has been placed on waivers this season, having cleared them to join Cleveland in October. He spent the majority of his season in the minor leagues, appearing in 46 games with the Monsters and recording an AHL career-high of 19 goals and 39 points. Gaunce also appeared in 24 NHL games this season, scoring four points. It was the most time that Gaunce had spent in the NHL since his first year with Columbus in the 2021-22 season, when he totaled 30 games and seven points.

Gaunce has been on the NHL roster since March. Assuming he clears waivers, he’ll rejoin a Monsters lineup that’s breezed through the Calder Cup Playoffs, beating the Belleville Senators 3-1 after a first-round bye and sweeping the Syracuse Crunch in the North Division Finals. Gaunce has provided stout scoring and plenty of veteran leadership from the team’s second line. Those are the traits they’ll need as Cleveland takes on a Hershey Bears lineup with an identical record in these playoffs.

Snapshots: Monahan, Chiarelli, Lauer, Trouba

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The Winnipeg Jets are reportedly looking to retain pending free agent Sean Monahan, shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on the latest 32 Thoughts Podcast. The Jets acquired Monahan ahead of the trade deadline, sending a 2024 first-round and 2027 seventh-round pick back to the Montreal Canadiens. Monahan went on to score 13 goals and 24 points across 34 regular-season games with Winnipeg, adding one assist in five postseason games.

Monahan was one of Winnipeg’s two Trade Deadline acquisitions, alongside Tyler Toffoli, who the Jets sent a 2024 third-round and 2025 second-round pick. Toffoli has shared his interest in testing the open market. That decision should give Winnipeg much more freedom to allocate their $13.353MM in cap space between Monahan, pending restricted-free-agent Cole Perfetti, and William Jennings Trophy-co-winner Laurent Brossoit. The trio headline a list of 10 pending free agents on the Jets lineup.

Maintaining Monahan will give the Jets some stability down the middle, while moving on from Toffoli could open the door for top prospects Brad Lambert or Nikita Chibrikov to challenge the opening-day roster. The Jets will likely be removed from any jaw-dropping deals, with limited cap space and already-spent draft picks, but they’ll look to hold onto a playoff-caliber lineup with their signing this summer.

Other notes from around the NHL:

  • Friedman also shared in 32 Thoughts that expected incumbent to the Columbus Blue Jackets general manager role, Don Waddell, will be splitting responsibilities between GM and President of Hockey Operations through the early going. However, the Blue Jackets haven’t ruled out the idea of bringing in additional support, with Friedman naming Peter Chiarelli as a potential candidate. Chiarelli has received interest from front offices around the NHL, though he’s stayed put in an advisory role, and then a Vice President of Hockey Operations role, with the St. Louis Blues. He’s serving that role after a four-year tenure as GM and President of Hockey Ops for the Edmonton Oilers and a nine-year tenure with the Boston Bruins. Chiarelli has become notorious for his decisions with the Oilers and Bruins, though his role in Columbus likely wouldn’t involve final say. He’ll be a name to monitor, as the Blue Jackets look to pull themselves up from a challenging 2023-24 campaign.
  • The Winnipeg Jets have dismissed assistant coach Brad Lauer, and will retain Marty Johnston and Wade Flaherty as assistant and goalie coaches, per TSN’s John Lu (Twitter link). Lauer just wrapped up his second season as Winnipeg’s assistant. The pair of seasons brought him to 11 years spent as an assistant coach across the NHL, with his longest tenure coming during a four-year stretch with the Anaheim Ducks. Lauer played in 10 seasons between the NHL and IHL during his own playing career and has been coaching since his retirement in 2002. He served as the head coach behind the Edmonton Oil Kings to the 2022 Ed Chynoweth Cup, winning the WHL Championship. That accolade, and a long career in the pros, should be enough to land Lauer a new role quickly.
  • The NHL Department of Player Safety has fined New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba $5K for an elbow against Florida Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final (Twitter link). The fine is the maximum allowed under the CBA. Trouba was assessed a minor penalty on the hit, though many fans argued the flying-elbow should have warranted a major penalty. He’ll now be assessed a fine instead, maintaining his eligibility for what will be a crucial Game 4. The Rangers are currently up 2-1 in the ECF series, in no small part thanks to Trouba’s three points in three games, including two assists in Game 3. He’s also recorded 12 hits and 16 blocks in the series.

NHL Announces Stanley Cup Finals Schedule

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The Conference Finals are in full swing and although we don’t know who will represent their respective conferences, we do know when they will play. The Western Conference finals are currently scheduled to end on Tuesday, June 4th, while the Eastern Conference Final will end on Monday, June 3rd (if necessary). Today, the NHL announced the schedule for the Stanley Cup Finals (as per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period).

The schedule will be as follows:

Game 1 – June 8

Game 2 – June 10

Game 3 – June 13

Game 4 – June 15

Game 5* – June 18

Game 6* – June 21

Game 7* – June 24

*if necessary

Home ice will be determined once the eventual finalists are through the Conference Finals. Of the four teams in the Conference Finals, only the Edmonton Oilers are unable to get a home-ice advantage as they finished with the fewest points in the regular season. Typically, the higher-seeded team would have home-ice advantage, however, in the Stanley Cup Finals, home-ice advantage goes to whichever team had a better regular season record. 

The finals will feature two-day breaks to accommodate for travel, while Games 1 and 2 as well as Games 3 and 4 will have a one day break between games. If the finals do go seven games the cup will be rewarded 11 days later than it was last season when the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers in five games on June 13th. However, it would be in line with the 2022 finals which were completed on June 26th, 2022.

Lightning’s Ilya Usau Clears Waivers, Has Contract Terminated

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05/26: Ilya Usau has cleared waivers and will have his contract terminated, per CapFriendly (Twitter link). His contract has now been mutually terminated

05/25: The Tampa Bay Lightning have placed centerman Ilya Usau (Usov) on unconditional waivers for the purposes of contract termination, per CapFriendly (Twitter link). Usau had one year remaining on a three-year, $2.8MM entry-level contract signed in 2022. He earned the deal following a three-game appearance with Belarus at the 2022 Olympic Qualifiers – an appearance he made in the midst of a 26-point season in the KHL. Usau has since spent the last two seasons with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, recording 30 points across 99 games with the team.

Usau was first draft-eligible in the 2020 NHL Draft. He spent his season with the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders, recording 22 goals and 52 points in 58 games in his first season in Canada – after growing up through the USA youth hockey system and even appearing in four USHL games in 2019. His scoring in Western Canada drew the attention of scouts, finishing the year as the 101st-ranked prospect in TSN’s Craig Button’s final rankings. But Usau went unclaimed in the draft and decided to move back to his native Minsk, Belarus, signing with the KHL’s Dinamo Minsk.

That’s likely where Usau is bound for with this move, shares James Mirtle of The Athletic (Twitter link). If that’s the case, he’ll be returning to a KHL career just four games shy of 100 career games and, presumably, a Dinamo Minsk club that extended their playoff streak to four seasons this year.

Penguins Working To Hire Jaromír Jágr

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The Pittsburgh Penguins are reportedly working on hiring legendary winger Jaromír Jágr to their front office, shares Rob Rossi of The Athletic in an interview with Penguins’ President of Business Operations, Kevin Acklin. Acklin shared that the team is ready to enter a “new chapter” after Jágr’s retirement ceremony in February. The team has been working on recruiting Jágr ever since, recently making an extra push while visiting Prague for the World Championship.

Pittsburgh doesn’t yet have a clear idea of Jágr ’s role, though Acklin shared that it would center around Jágr spending most of his time in his hometown Kladno, Czechia. That’s where Jágr’s been since the 2017-18 season, serving as a player and owner for the Czechia Extraliga’s Rytíři Kladno. He’s continued defining his legacy with Kladno, elevating the team to the Czechia Extraliga in 2019, helping keep them afloat on the brink of relegation in 2022, and setting the record for the oldest player to score in professional competition with a goal in April. Jágr ’s age of 52 years and 63 days narrowly topped Gordie Howe’s long-standing record of 52 years and nine days.

Jágr’s return to Czechia has continued building out his memory as one of the greatest hockey players of all time – a legend he built across a 24-year career in the NHL. He played in 1,733 career NHL games – the fourth-most games played in NHL history – scoring 1,921 points, the most of any NHL player not named Wayne Gretzky. Jágr formed an all-time duo with Mario Lemieux in the first 11 seasons of his career, pitting the Penguins against the legacy lineups of the Chicago Blackhawks, New Jersey Devils, Colorado Avalanche, and Detroit Red Wings and leading the Penguins to two Stanley Cups. He was just as good when he kicked off a solo career around the NHL, playing with eight clubs in the final 13 years of his career, including four years with the New York Rangers. Jágr was productive until the very end, recording 16 goals and 46 points in the 2016-17 season, the most any NHL player 44 or older has scored or played in one season. He left the NHL following a knee injury in the subsequent season, taking his talents through the KHL before settling in Czechia. He continues to bring a positive impact to the lineup, recording four assists in 15 games during the regular-season and two points, one goal and one assist, in three postseason games.

The Penguins are now looking to reignite Jágr’s story in the NHL, while also solidifying their presence in central Europe. Acklin spoke gingerly about Jágr’s daily lift with the team, acknowledging just how busy his schedule has become in Czechia. Thus, Rossi acknowledges that Jágr would likely carry a minimal day-to-day role, adding that getting him in Pittsburgh just a few times a year would be a success for the Penguins. That could mean the legend is set for a modest scouting role, though Acklin praised Jágr’s understanding of the business side of the sport throughout Europe –  built up over his time with Kladno. No timeline has been laid out for Jágr’s return to the Penguins organization, and President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas will have a final say on what his exact role will be. But there’s no doubting that any return to Pittsburgh – and reunion with Mario Lemieux – would add yet another layer to Jágr’s neverending legacy in the hockey world.

Photos courtesy of USA Today.

Kings Sign Taylor Ward, Joe Hicketts To One-Year Contracts

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The Los Angeles Kings have announced the signing of forward Taylor Ward and defenseman Joe Hicketts to matching one-year, two-way, league-minimum contracts. They also confirmed the previously-reported signing of forward Kaleb Lawrence to a three-year, entry-level deal yesterday.

Both Ward and Hicketts have become familiar faces in the AHL over the last three seasons. Ward stepped into pros with a one-year, entry-level contract signed in March of 2022 – a deal he earned with a strong performance on an amateur try-out agreement with the Ontario Reign, following his Senior year at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He’s since appeared in 158 AHL games, recording 23 goals and 68 points. That includes his career-high 11 goals and 32 points posted in 71 games this season. Ward is still awaiting the first NHL call-up of his career – a feat his new contract keeps him eligible for. He added a good deal of physical confidence, especially in front of the net, last season and could be a go-to depth option, should L.A. need extra forwards next season.

Meanwhile, Hicketts will look to fight his way back to the NHL on this new deal. The 28-year-old defender also began his career as an undrafted free agent, signing a three-year entry-level contract with the Detroit Red Wings after a strong performance as a training camp invitee in 2014.  He made his NHL debut a little over three years later, appearing in 22 games with the Red Wings between 2018 and 2020. Hicketts only posted five points, all assists, in those outings, adding four penalty minutes and a collective -9. He’s since spent the last four years in the minor leagues, on tours with the Griffins, the Iowa Wild, and the Reign. The stable role has led to strong results, with Hicketts posted a career-high 42 assists and 48 points in 72 games with in Iowa last season – and 20 points in 30 games with the Regin this year, after missing three months with an early-season injury. It will be that momentum that Hicketts enters the 2024-25 season with, looking to fight for an NHL role among a crowded Kings defense group.

AHL Notes: Konowalchuk, Armstrong, Forrest

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The AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds have named Steve Konowalchuk as their head coach. Konowalchuk becomes the fourth head coach in Springfield’s seven-year history, taking the torch from interim coach Daniel Tkaczuk, who took over for Drew Bannister following his promotion to the St. Louis Blues in December. Tkaczuk led the Thunderbirds to a 18-29-3 record, following Bannister’s 12-8-0 start. The Thunderbirds haven’t yet provided details on which assistant coaches Konowalchuk will retain.

Konowalchuk is best known for his years as a player, becoming a staple of the Washington Capitals lineup between 1992 and 2003. He was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in the 2003-04 season and was forced to retire due to a heart condition in 2006, after missing much of the 2005-06 campaign. He returned to the team in the 2009-10 season, spending two years as an assistant coach before moving into a head coaching role with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. Seattle was where Konowalchuk made his mark, leading the team to the playoffs in five seasons straight – capped off with a WHL Finals appearance and championship win respectively in his final two seasons. Konowalchuk managed an impressive list of Thunderbirds alums, including Shea Theodore, Mathew Barzal, Keegan Kolesar, and Ethan Bear. He’d move back to the NHL in the year following his 2017 WHL Championship, joining the Anaheim Ducks as an assistant coach for one season before returning to the WHL and then spending last season in an AHL assistant role.

Konowalchuk will now take on his biggest role yet, taking the reigns of a Springfield Thunderbirds team just two years removed from a race to the Calder Cup Finals. They’d ultimately get swept by the Chicago Wolves but have held on to their playoff hopes in the seasons since. Konowalchuk found consistent success the last time he coached a Thunderbirds roster, and could be poised for big opportunity should he find a groove again.

Other notes from around the minor leagues:

  • The Florida Panthers have signed forward Jamie Armstrong to a one-year, two-way contract. He’s expected to join the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers, adding to their long list of depth forwards. Armstrong – son of Utah general manager Bill Armstrong – is coming off of his graduate year at Boston College, where he recorded 12 points in 32 games. It was his first year as an Eagle, having spent the previous four years of his collegiate career across the road with Boston University. He totaled 26 points across 84 games with Boston University, filling in as stout bottom-six depth.
  • Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach J.D. Forrest is a candidate to fill the Rochester Americans’ coaching vacancy, shares Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News (Twitter link). Lysowski added that the Buffalo Sabres are hoping to have their AHL coach solidified prior to June’s NHL Draft. Forrest would take over for former Rochester coach Seth Appert, who was promoted to Lindy Ruff’s staff in early May. Both Forrest and Appert have deep roots in USA Hockey, with Appert previously serving as the head coach of the U.S. National Team Development program (NTDP), while Forrest is a former NTDP assistant coach and led Team USA to a Silver Medal at the 2022 IIHF U18 World Championship.

Five Key Stories: 5/13/24 – 5/19/24

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We’re now down to five teams still playing in the playoffs, a number that will drop to four on Monday.  Meanwhile, it was a busy week off the ice; the biggest news is recapped in our key stories.

Jets To Explore Ehlers Trade: Despite a promising regular season, the Jets were ousted quickly in the playoffs once again last month.  They’ll be making a coaching change for 2024-25 but it appears they’ll also look at shaking up their roster following a report that they’ll look into a possible Nikolaj Ehlers trade this summer.  The 28-year-old has spent his entire nine-year career with Winnipeg and is coming off one of his better offensive seasons, collecting 25 goals and a career-high 36 assists in 82 games.  However, he was quiet once again in the playoffs, notching only a pair of helpers in their five-game loss.  Ehlers has one year left on his contract with an affordable $6MM price tag so if the Jets opt to make a move, they should have considerable interest.  Speaking of veterans not returning, it appears that veteran blueliner Brenden Dillon will not be retained as well.

Islanders Land Tsyplakov: The top international free agent in this year’s class was winger Maxim Tsyplakov, a player who had interest from more than a dozen teams over the last few months.  Capped at signing a one-year, entry-level deal, it came down to who the 25-year-old felt would be the best fit.  That turned out to be the Islanders, who inked Tsyplakov.  He had a breakout showing in the KHL this season, notching 31 goals, fourth-best in the league.  For context, his previous benchmark for points was 25.  Standing 6’3, Tsyplakov can also play center and should push for a full-time roster spot with New York next season.

Nichushkin Re-Enters Player Assistance Program: Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin was off to a terrific start to his playoffs with nine goals in eight games but his postseason certainly ended abruptly.  The NHL and NHLPA jointly announced that the 29-year-old has been placed in Stage Three of the Player Assistance Program which carries a minimum of a six-month suspension without pay.  Once he is cleared, he will be eligible to apply for reinstatement.  Nichushkin was away from the team earlier in the season when he was in the second stage of the program; placement in Stage Three means that there was a violation of the treatment plan that was put in place for Nichushkin.  He has six years left on his contract heading into next season at a $6.125MM cap space; he will not count against the salary cap while in the program.

Berube To Toronto: Once the Maple Leafs decided to part ways with Sheldon Keefe, Craig Berube became the speculative favorite to replace him.  That was indeed what happened as the team hired him as the 41st coach in franchise history, signing him to a four-year contract.  This will be Berube’s third time running an NHL bench after spending two years in Philadelphia and parts of the last six with St. Louis before being let go early in the year.  He’ll now be tasked with figuring out how to get a team that has had plenty of regular season success over the proverbial playoff hump as while they’ve made the playoffs eight years in a row, they’ve only won a single series in that span.

Sticking Around: Things weren’t looking good at one point for Rod Brind’Amour to sign an extension in Carolina but the two sides were able to work something out after all as the team has agreed to terms on a multi-year deal (reported to be five seasons) to keep him behind the bench for the long haul.  Brind’Amour has spent the last six years coaching the Hurricanes with the team posting a .664 points percentage under his tutelage.  Carolina has also won a playoff round in each of those years but has played to a 38-36 postseason record.  Despite that, had he been made available, several teams almost certainly would have made a run at trying to sign him.  As part of the agreement, his assistants also received multi-year extensions.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Bruins Notes: DeBrusk, Pastrnak, Grzelcyk, Maroon

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Pending free agent Jake DeBrusk didn’t speak much to his future with the Boston Bruins during exit interviews, except to tell Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic that he thought an extension would have been done by now (Twitter link). DeBrusk, who’s been entrenched in rumors for years, added that he’s still hopeful a new deal in Boston can get done.

DeBrusk is set for free agency once again, with his last move to the open market being halted by a two-year, $8MM contract extension signed in March of 2022. He’s performed well on the ‘prove it’ contract, recording 50 and 40 points – and 27 and 19 goals – in the last two seasons respectively. The performances continued the potential DeBrusk showed in the 2021-22 season, when he managed 25 goals and 42 points in 77 games. He’s become a role player, capable of putting up strong goal-scoring from the middle of the lineup. And in case Boston had any remaining hesitations, DeBrusk made sure to finish his contract with a stellar postseason performance – posting 11 points through 13 games, stepping up in the absence of team captain Brad Marchand.

Boston is entering the off-season with 10 pending free agents, including starter Jeremy Swayman, who expressed interest in a long-term deal during closeout interviews. That deal, DeBrusk’s signing, and the wealth of depth options Boston will mull through could quickly eat up their $20.1MM in cap space.

Other notes out of Boston:

  • Bruins forward David Pastrnak spent the season battling with recurring groin injuries, shares Shinzawa (Twitter link). And while persistent, the injuries can’t be bugging the Czech star too much, as he’s expected to join Team Czechia at the World Championships alongside Bruins teammate Pavel Zacha. Pastrnak continued to thrive in his starring role, posting 47 goals and 110 points while appearing in all 82 games. It was the fourth season where he’s scored 40-or-more goals in the last five years, though it was also a notable step back from his 61 goals last season. He’ll look to return to the conversation of historical goal-scoring when he’s back to full health next season.
  • Speaking of injuries, it was revealed that defenseman Matt Grzelcyk suffered a torn oblique in the postseason, shares Shinzawa (Twitter link). Grzelcyk missed 10 of Boston’s postseason games, after appearing in just 63 regular-season games. It was, as a result, a drab year for the 30-year-old defender, who posted a career-low 11 points through a combined 66 games on the year.  He’s one of Boston’s many pending free agents, though the promise of improved health could be enough to earn the Massachusetts native a new deal.
  • Of the many Bruins discussing interest in returning next year, winger Pat Maroon may be among the biggest surprises. The hefty forward lauded the team in his closeout interviews, telling Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com that he’d love to return to the team next year (Twitter link). Maroon played in two regular season, and 13 postseason, games with the Bruins after joining them at the Trade Deadline. He posted just two assists in the combined efforts, adding 18 penalty minutes. At 36, the list of options is likely running slim for Maroon. He’ll be one of the many cheap depth forwards available to Boston as the summer rolls on.

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