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Aleksander Barkov Leaves Game 3, Not Expected Out Long-Term

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May 23, 9:25 am: This morning, head coach Paul Maurice offered more clarity on the situation, saying the Panthers were hopeful for his return during the contest, and the team remains optimistic their captain will make a swift recovery and be back in the lineup soon, with the injury not expected to be long-term, as he told Miami radio station WQAM.

May 22, 8:58 pm: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting that Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov left in the first period of game 3 in the Eastern Conference Finals and is questionable to return. Barkov took an innocent looking hit from Jack Drury and missed the final 7:04 of the first period. David Pagnotta of the NHL Network tweeted that Barkov is battling a lower-body injury, and it is still unclear if he will return.

The Panthers captain didn’t come out for the start of the second period, and little is known about his status at this time. Should the former second-overall pick miss any time, it could be a huge blow to the Cinderella story that is the Panthers’ playoff run. Barkov had three points in the first two games of their series against the Carolina Hurricanes, including a goal that Wayne Gretzky called one of the greatest moves he’s seen in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Barkov’s regular season numbers dipped a bit this year, but the 27-year-old center still had 23 goals and 55 assists in 68 games and has 12 points in 14 playoff games thus far.

The timing of the Barkov injury is interesting, given that head coach Paul Maurice mentioned to reporters this morning that the two of the Panthers’ best games this season occurred when Barkov and Sam Bennett were out of the team’s lineup. The Sportsnet broadcast crew brought up this Maurice quote from an interview that now seems ominous given the situation Barkov and Florida are now facing.

Evening Notes: Huska, Senators, Seitz

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Darren Haynes of The Canadian Press tweeted today that he wonders if new Calgary Flames GM Craig Conroy might consider current assistant coach Ryan Huska for the role of their new head coach. Huska has been coaching since 2002-03 and has spent the past five years in Calgary as an assistant. The 47-year-old Huska has been a head coach in the WHL and the AHL and has coached several members of the Flames current squad.

The Cranbrook, British Columbia native had an interesting career as a player having won three Memorial Cups with the Kamloops Blazers dynasty in 1992, 1994, and 1995. He was drafted in the third round by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1993 and five years later dressed in the only NHL game he would ever play, taking eight shifts for 5:51 in total ice time. Should Huska be named the head coach in Calgary he would become the 22nd head coach in Flames franchise history.

In other evening notes:

  • Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia is reporting that there has been a lot of moving parts in the Neko Sparks bid for ownership of the Ottawa Senators. Garrioch speculates that the group could be facing an imminent deadline as they have recently brought in more investors and have apparently been pushing hard the past 48 hours to find more investors to get involved. The group has brought on Canadians Arlene Dickerson and Robert Herjavec who are both wealthy investors as well as television personalities on the hit Canadian television series Dragon’s Den.
  • The Hockey News is reporting that the PHF continues to attract talent to the league as they’ve announced new signings today. The Metropolitan Riveters made a big splash as they have brought in Yale alumnus Emma Seitz. The New York native is the back-to-back ECAC Defender of the Year and was an All-American. The 23-year-old defenseman also put up offense in her time at Yale, posting 11 goals and 11 assists in 30 games this past season. Over the course of four years in the NCAA, Seitz put up 86 career points in 127 career games.

Latest On Washington Capitals Head Coach Search

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Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic is reporting that the Washington Capitals have been quiet about their coaching search to date, but some details have started to filter through. The names El-Bashir has been hearing are Spencer Carbery, Jeff Halpern, Brad Shaw, Todd Nelson, and one former Capitals head coach in Bruce Boudreau. El-Bashir opens his article by stating that his list of candidates in not exhaustive, it is just the list of potential coaching candidates that he has heard rumblings about.

El-Bashir has heard from sources that current Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach Spencer Carbery is one of general manager Brian MacLellan’s preferred candidates. Sources tell El-Bashir that Carbery was in town today to meet with MacLellan and it is no surprise given his history with the franchise. Carbery coached Washington’s AHL affiliate the Hershey Bears from 2018-2021. On top of this Washington’s once daunted powerplay has slipped to average the past few seasons and Carbery comes with a track record of coaching dominant power play units. He has coached the Maple Leafs powerplay to a 24.1 percent success rate the past two seasons, which ranks second in the NHL during that time.

Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach Jeff Halpern has a similar story to that of Carbery. He has been employed by the Capitals twice before as a player and was the team’s captain at one point as well. He has also been running a very successful Lightning powerplay unit the past few seasons and has been a big contributor to their success the past half decade as they’ve reached three finals and captured two Stanley Cups.

Philadelphia Flyers associate coach Brad Shaw is also a former Capitals player having dressed in four games. It was reported yesterday that Shaw is also in the running for the Anaheim Ducks head coaching job. It is believed that Shaw has already been interviewed by MacLellan and is still very much in play. Shaw has been a head coach in the NHL previously as he took over mid-season for the New York Islanders back in 2006, however he has been an associate and an assistant coach ever since.

Todd Nelson’s name coming up makes a lot of sense given that he is the current coach of Washington’s AHL affiliate, and he currently has the club in the Eastern Conference finals. Nelson also has a Calder Cup on his resume having guided Grand Rapids to the league title in 2017. Nelson comes with some NHL head coaching experience as he spent 51 games behind the bench of the Edmonton Oilers in a previous stint after he replaced Dallas Eakins. Nelson coached the Oilers to a sixth-place finish in the Pacific Division that year going 17-25-9.

Bruce Boudreau guided the Capitals to an incredible run of regular season success including a Presidents Trophy in 2010, however he could never get the team over the hump as they were unable to advance past the second round while he was at the helm. Boudreau coached Washington to four straight division titles but was let go in 2011-12. He garnered a ton of sympathy from the hockey world this past season as he was coaching in his final days for the Vancouver Canucks. Boudreau was left in a precarious position with the club as reports leaked that the Canucks were looking to let him go, a move the team ultimately did make. Despite this, Boudreau has stated a desire to keep coaching, however a source close to him says that he has not yet heard from the Capitals about their coaching vacancy making a reunion appear unlikely at this time.

El-Bashir states that he believes that there are other names in play, however he has only heard about these names thus far. Washington will also need to fill several assistant coach roles once they have selected a new bench boss.

Latest On The Pittsburgh Penguins’ GM Search

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Teams are quickly beginning to fill their coaching and managing vacancies which opened at the end of the season. The Calgary Flames are one of them, expected to name Craig Conroy their next general manager tomorrow, but the Pittsburgh Penguins are one team yet to make a hire.

They’re getting closer, however, and The Athletic’s Rob Rossi doubled down and added to a report over the weekend from TSN’s Pierre LeBrun on Pittsburgh’s preferred candidates for a general manager (and potentially president of hockey operations) role.

One name the team appears to be zeroing in on is Carolina Hurricanes assistant general manager Eric Tulsky, who Rossi says has impressed the members of Pittsburgh’s ownership, Fenway Sports Group. He’s certainly the most progressive hire available for Pittsburgh, as he’s one of the most reliant on analytics among managers in high-ranking roles.

Another name that Rossi expands on is Kyle Dubas, who’s been reported multiple times over the past few days as having been granted permission to speak with Pittsburgh after being fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs last week. Rossi notes that he still may play into Pittsburgh’s final decision despite becoming available late in the process and could potentially be brought in as a president of hockey operations alongside Tulsky, who could still be named general manager.

The Penguins could also hire a third name, per Rossi, although it hasn’t quite been clearly defined. The third hire could serve as a communicator between hockey operations and ownership, and Rossi says the team is considering broadcaster (and former Penguins coach) Eddie Olczyk for the role.

Rossi also relayed a quote from Penguins alternate governor Dave Beeston that there’s still no set timetable for making new hires.

Slovenia, Hungary Relegated From Worlds For 2024

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It’s always a great story seeing countries work their way up from lower levels of international competition to gain the privilege of playing at the Men’s World Championship, something Poland and Great Britain have already earned the right to do so in 2024. Unfortunately, that involves relegation from teams in the current pool. Now that Slovenia and Hungary have clinched last-place finishes in their groups, they’ll be headed back to D1A, the second tier of the IIHF Men’s Worlds, for 2024.

They’ll join Italy, South Korea, and Romania in next year’s D1A tournament as both teams will try and earn re-promotion to the top level of competition for 2025. They’ll also be joined by Japan, who won promotion in the D1B tournament this year.

Slovenia is no stranger to this process. They bounced up and down between the D1A and top-tier play every year between 2010 and 2017 before failing to earn promotion from the D1A tournament in 2018 and 2019. With COVID pausing relegation (and canceling the next two D1A tournaments altogether), this was Slovenia’s first appearance with the top group in six years.

For the first time since 2008, though, Slovenia failed to secure a single point at the Worlds, losing all seven of their round-robin games in regulation. They had a 3-2 lead against Kazakhstan with 10 minutes left in today’s game, but the Kazakhs scored twice in five minutes to take the regulation win.

Former Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Jan Drozg tied for the Slovak lead in scoring at the tournament with three goals in seven games.

For Hungary, it was a tougher pill to swallow. They lost a do-or-die game against Austria today in a shootout, which, had they won, would have relegated Austria instead. The two teams ended up tied with a 0-5-1-1 record, but Hungary lost the goal differential tiebreaker by nine thanks to three 7-1 blowouts at the hands of the Americans, Swedes, and Finns.

Snapshots: Reynolds, Andersen, Vegas Goalies

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Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch is reporting this morning that actor Ryan Reynolds has officially pulled himself out of the running to own a stake in the Ottawa Senators, per sources. Reynolds, who had aligned himself with Canadian developer Chris Bratty and the Remington Group, intended not to join other bids at the beginning of the sale process and has held true to his initial position, despite offers from groups still in the running to join their bids.

Garrioch also reports that Michael Andlauer, a minority owner of the Montreal Canadiens and one of the four bidders remaining under consideration to purchase the team, remains “confident” he’ll be the party anointed by the team and the league as Ottawa’s next owner. Two other bids were also receiving “serious consideration,” per Garrioch, but one name notably not mentioned was Neko Sparks, the Los Angeles-based investor whose bid includes backing from Snoop Dogg and the Kitigan Zibi Anishinābeg First Nations group.

  • After he was given the night off for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final, thanks to Game 1 stretching well into the fourth overtime period, the Carolina Hurricanes are returning to Frederik Andersen tonight, per TVA’s Renaud Lavoie, to help them climb out of a 2-0 series hole against the Florida Panthers. His .936 save percentage leads all netminders in the playoffs, but unfortunately, the only goalie who’s played better than he, Sergei Bobrovsky, is in the opposing crease.
  • Laurent Brossoit and Logan Thompson will remain out of the Vegas Golden Knights goalie rotation for Games 3 and 4 of the Western Conference Final, as head coach Bruce Cassidy today confirmed they won’t travel with the team to Dallas. While Brossoit wasn’t expected to play at all in this series, Thompson is working his way back from a lower-body injury that’s cost him the last few months and was potentially an option for the team. Adin Hill, who now boasts a .930 save percentage in seven playoff appearances, will continue in the starter’s net for Vegas.

Minor Transactions: 05/22/23

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It’s been a rough past few days if you’re a Carolina Hurricanes or Dallas Stars fan. Save for some epic comebacks, the NHL is careening down the path toward a Vegas Golden Knights/Florida Panthers Stanley Cup Final. In the meantime, though, we continue to provide some coverage of notable moves outside the league, bringing a recap of some of the day’s most notable non-NHL transactions.

  • DEL club ERC Ingolstadt, who finished second in the league and lost in the championship series, is saying goodbye to two overseas players who were crucial on their playoff run. American forward Stefan Matteau and Canadian forward Ty Ronning will not be returning to the team next season, with Matteau’s future pro career in doubt and Ronning looking to head elsewhere. Ronning, a former New York Rangers prospect, had 21 points in 29 games with Ingolstadt after terminating his AHL deal with the Iowa Wild mid-season. Matteau, a 2012 first-round selection who last played in the NHL for Colorado in 2021-22, had 28 points in 35 games after a mid-season transfer from the SHL’s Linköping HC.
  • Former Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Dominik Uher, now a DEL mainstay with the Fischtown Penguins, has inked a one-year extension with the club. The 30-year-old, selected in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL Draft, got into two NHL games with the Penguins in 2014-15 but had left for Europe by 2016. Since joining Fischtown in 2018-19, he’s recorded 96 points in 216 games for the club.
  • After a six-game stint at the end of the season, defenseman Roman Kinal has signed a one-year extension with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. Kinal, 24, just wrapped up a five-season career at the University of Connecticut, where he served as captain in his final season and tied his career-high seven points.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Latest On Doug Armstrong

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As soon as the Toronto Maple Leafs said general manager Kyle Dubas wouldn’t be returning next season, speculation ran rampant surrounding their next general manager. Peculiarly, one of the names that popped up in some circles was current St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong.

This morning, Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland put an end to that speculation, reporting Armstrong does not have an out clause in his contract with the Blues that would allow him to take a job elsewhere. As Strickland notes, Armstrong has three seasons remaining on his deal with St. Louis.

When David Poile retires from his post with the Nashville Predators on June 30, Armstrong will become the longest-tenured general manager in the NHL. He was promoted to the role ahead of the 2010-11 season after serving two seasons as the team’s director of player personnel.

Since then, Armstrong has become one of the more heralded managers in the league, constructing the first Stanley Cup-winning roster in franchise history. A recent stretch of middling play from the Blues hasn’t seemed to dip Armstrong’s reputation all that much, either.

He may have made some questionable contract choices recently, namely a four-year, $16MM extension for Nick Leddy with trade protection, but he’s also made some shrewd trades and waiver claims that have the Blues in a good spot to retool instead of rebuild.

Undoubtedly, he and the Blues both want him at the helm for a potentially franchise-altering 2023 NHL Draft, where the Blues have three picks in the first round.

For Toronto, their GM search remains wide open, without many confirmed candidates on their search list.

List Of NHL Prospects Attending 2023 Memorial Cup

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After the OHL’s Peterborough Petes and the QMJHL’s Québec Remparts took home their respective league championships yesterday, the field for the 2023 Memorial Cup is set. They’ll be joined by two WHL teams – the league champion Seattle Thunderbirds and the host team Kamloops Blazers – on their quest to capture the pinnacle of North American junior hockey.

Pitting best against best at the U21 level from across the continent, the tournament also gives NHL-drafted prospects an early taste of high-pressure hockey on a larger stage than regular junior play. If you’re looking to see your favorite team’s prospects have big performances at this tournament, which runs from May 26 to June 4, we’re providing a comprehensive list of NHL-affiliated prospects attending the tournament.

There will be a new champion this year after last year’s winner, the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs, lost to the Gatineau Olympiques in five games in their first-round series in the QMJHL playoffs. Chicago and Dallas lead the way with three representatives at the tournament, while nine teams (Boston, Colorado, Detroit, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, San Jose, and Tampa Bay) don’t have any prospects playing this year.

Anaheim Ducks

C Nathan Gaucher (Québec, 2022 22nd overall)
LD Olen Zellweger (Kamloops, 2021 34th overall)

Arizona Coyotes

RW Dylan Guenther (Seattle, 2021 9th overall)
LD Jérémy Langlois (Québec, 2022 94th overall)

Boston Bruins

none

Buffalo Sabres

RD Vsevolod Komarov (Québec, 2022 134th overall)

Calgary Flames

LW Lucas Ciona (Seattle, 2021 173rd overall)

Carolina Hurricanes

C Justin Robidas (Québec, 2021 147th overall)

Chicago Blackhawks

LD Kevin Korchinski (Seattle, 2022 7th overall)
LD Nolan Allan (Seattle, 2021 32nd overall)
C Colton Dach (Seattle, 2021 62nd overall)

Colorado Avalanche

none

Columbus Blue Jackets

LW James Malatesta (Québec, 2021 133rd overall)

Dallas Stars

C Logan Stankoven (Kamloops, 2021 47th overall)
RD Gavin White (Peterborough, 2022 115th overall)
RW Matthew Seminoff (Kamloops, 2022 179th overall)

Detroit Red Wings

none

Edmonton Oilers

none

Florida Panthers

LD Evan Nause (Québec, 2021 56th overall)

Los Angeles Kings

none

Minnesota Wild

C Caedan Bankier (Kamloops, 2021 86th overall)
RD Kyle Masters (Kamloops, 2021 118th overall)

Montreal Canadiens

C Owen Beck (Peterborough, 2022 33rd overall)
C Jared Davidson (Seattle, 2022 130th overall)

Nashville Predators

LW Reid Schaefer (Seattle, 2022 32nd overall)
RD Luke Prokop (Seattle, 2020 73rd overall)

New Jersey Devils

RW Chase Stillman (Peterborough, 2021 29th overall)

New York Islanders

LW Daylan Kuefler (Kamloops, 2022 174th overall)

New York Rangers

LW Brennan Othmann (Peterborough, 2021 16th overall)

Ottawa Senators

none

Philadelphia Flyers

LD Brian Zanetti (Peterborough, 2021 110th overall)
C Jon-Randall Avon (Peterborough, undrafted)

Pittsburgh Penguins

none

San Jose Sharks

none

Seattle Kraken

C Tucker Robertson (Peterborough, 2022 123rd overall)

St. Louis Blues

C Zachary Bolduc (Québec, 2021 17th overall)

Tampa Bay Lightning

none

Toronto Maple Leafs

C Fraser Minten (Kamloops, 2022 38th overall)

Vancouver Canucks

C Connor Lockhart (Peterborough, 2021 178th overall)

Vegas Golden Knights

C Jordan Gustafson (Seattle, 2022 79th overall)
RW Jakub Demek (Kamloops, 2021 128th overall)

Washington Capitals

C Ryan Hofer (Kamloops, 2022 181st overall)

Winnipeg Jets

C Brad Lambert (Seattle, 2022 30th overall)

Five Key Stories: 5/15/23 – 5/21/23

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It was an eventful week on the ice in the NHL including one of the longest games in league history and it was even more eventful away from the rink.  We recap that news in our key stories.

Four Bidders For Senators: While there were seven strong expressions of interest in the Senators, in the end, only four of those groups issued a binding bid for the team.  Canadiens minority owner Michael Andlauer heads up one of them, another is a bid from the Kimel brothers (Jeffrey and Michael) who also used to be a minority owner of the Penguins.  The other two bids are from Steve Apostolopoulos, who was a contender in the bidding for the NFL’s Washington Commanders (he lost to Devils owner Josh Harris) and a coalition group led by producer Neko Sparks.  The bids will now be reviewed by Galatioto Sports Partners which is handling the sale of the team with there likely to be some behind-the-scenes negotiating to try to drive the purchase price up more; Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports (Twitter link) that those discussions are currently ongoing.

Holland To Stick Around: Soon after there was speculation that Edmonton might be proactive in terms of trying to keep teams from talking to Steve Staios, a special assistant to GM Ken Holland, Holland confirmed that he wouldn’t be stepping aside as GM of the Oilers next season.  The 67-year-old has one more year remaining on his contract but indicated he’s not sure how much longer he’d like to stay in the top role, citing that he has some unfinished business.  That business might be trying to get Edmonton to the Stanley Cup after the team fell in the second round to Vegas, one year after being swept in the Western Conference Final by Colorado.  (Meanwhile, it appears their long-time rival will be announcing their new GM soon.)

Dubas Out: The Maple Leafs are shaking up their front office as it was announced that the team will not be renewing the contract of GM Kyle Dubas.  The 37-year-old was in the top job for the last five seasons with the team enjoying plenty of regular season success but only one playoff series victory to show for it.  Team president Brendan Shanahan admitted that there had been discussions about a contract extension for Dubas this past week but on Monday, Dubas acknowledged that he was unsure about staying on.  While he confirmed to Shanahan on Thursday that he was ready to continue on with his agent submitting a counter-offer in discussions, Shanahan instead decided to move on.  With Auston Matthews and William Nylander eligible for extensions in July, whoever takes over for Dubas will have two key files to work on quickly.

Back To The Drawing Board: It looked like the Coyotes had found their eventual new home in Tempe that was going to open up in a few years.  However, the public referendum saw voters vote no to all three propositions, tanking that idea and sending the team back to the drawing board.  They’ve since reached out to the City of Mesa to discuss the feasibility on building on the site of a mall that will soon be demolished.  In the meantime, the team confirmed it will remain at Mullett Arena for the 2023-24 season but that won’t do much to quell relocation speculation, especially if they aren’t able to generate much momentum on this site in Mesa in the coming months.

Staying In School: The Coyotes will have to wait a little longer to get their top prospect under contract as Logan Cooley revealed that he will return to the University of Minnesota for his sophomore year.  The 19-year-old was the third-overall pick last year and had a dominant freshman year, finishing second in NCAA scoring with 22 goals and 38 assists in 39 games.  Without much left to prove at that level, the logical expectation was that he’d turn pro now but speaking with reporters including Randy Johnson of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, he indicated that he wanted to take another crack at a title while admitting that Arizona’s uncertain arena situation played into his decision.  Having said that, Cooley could still turn pro late in the 2023-24 campaign and get into a handful of games with the Coyotes down the stretch.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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