Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag
With the second round of the NHL playoffs set to conclude tonight, more and more fanbases are re-focusing onto their team’s offseason work, while a lucky four markets will have the chance to see their teams remain in contention for a Stanley Cup.
Keeping that in mind, it’s time for another edition of the #PHRMailbag as many teams’ trajectories have either become a bit clearer with the second round behind us, or, in some markets, far murkier after another playoff disappointment.
Our last mailbag featured topics such as the upcoming Vegas Golden Knights offseason, second-line center options for the Detroit Red Wings, offseason offer-sheet possibilities, the futures of Alexis Lafreniere and Jeremy Swayman, and more.
You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below.
Latest On Columbus Blue Jackets Coaching Search
After firing head coach Brad Larsen last month, the Columbus Blue Jackets have embarked on an intensive search for a new head coach and goaltending coach, also needing to replace Manny Legace, whose contract was not renewed by the team. Things seem to be heating up in said search, as general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said today the interview process will continue throughout the week, with no immediate assumption of finalizing hires before Kekalainen’s departure for the IIHF Men’s World Championship on Sunday. His quote comes after reporting last weekend indicated Kekalainen wanted to have the hire finalized before then.
The Blue Jackets have a meticulous approach in mind, though, and Kekalainen told reporters today the hiring decisions might be delayed until after his return following the conclusion of the medal round on May 28. Yesterday, The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun disclosed reporting on who those hires might be.
Per LeBrun, at least three individuals have already been interviewed for the vacant coaching positions, including current associate coach Pascal Vincent, whom Kekalainen said the team was considering last week. The others are the experienced but extremely controversial Mike Babcock, who has previously coached the Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Peter Laviolette, whose resume spanning five different clubs needs no introduction, including his most recent stint with the Washington Capitals, has also been interviewed, said LeBrun.
After an internal hire that didn’t pan out as they hoped with Larsen, it makes sense the Blue Jackets are swinging toward the opposite end of the spectrum in this round of coaching searches while still doing their due diligence on people familiar with the organization.
If Babcock is hired, the choice would immediately receive a fair amount of scrutiny from fans and media alike. Since he was fired by the Maple Leafs in late 2019, multiple revelations surrounding current and former NHL players alike have come forward about Babcock creating toxic playing environments, including Red Wings legends Chris Chelios and Johan Franzén and current Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner.
Laviolette, on the other hand, maintains a solid reputation league-wide after decades’ worth of service and also boasts multiple Stanley Cup Final appearances on his résumé (2006, 2010, 2017).
Evan Vierling Signs AHL Contract With Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
The AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have made an intriguing add, signing former New York Rangers prospect Evan Vierling to an AHL contract for the 2023-24 season. Vierling joins Wilkes-Barre/Scranton as one of the most highly sought-after free agents entering the pro ranks from juniors this offseason.
In his final season in the OHL with the Barrie Colts in 2022-23, Vierling demonstrated the offensive prowess the Rangers had envisioned in him when they selected him 127th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft. He led the Colts with 60 assists and 95 points, and his 35 goals ranked second on the team behind San Jose Sharks prospect Ethan Cardwell. Vierling also led Colts forwards in playoff scoring, tallying 13 points (one goal, 12 assists) in seven games.
Born in Aurora, Ontario, Vierling also received the esteemed William Hanley Trophy this season, awarded to the OHL’s most sportsmanlike player. He became the first player from the Barrie Colts to receive the award in its 48-year history.
The Rangers allowed his rights to expire last June by not extending him an entry-level contract. After registering just over a point per game in his draft year, split between Barrie and the Flint Firebirds, COVID stripped Vierling of a crucial development season in 2020-21, and his offensive pace took a step back the following season.
Nevertheless, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, and, likely by extension, their NHL affiliate Pittsburgh Penguins, see remaining potential in Vierling’s abilities after a bounce-back season in juniors. A relatively well-rounded player, Vierling’s focus now turns toward acclimating to the professional game and trying to earn an NHL look, either with Pittsburgh or elsewhere.
Seattle Kraken Waive Jesper Frödén
May 17: Frödén has cleared waivers, per CapFriendly, and will join the Firebirds as they attempt to close out their Division Final series tonight against the Calgary Wranglers.
May 16: After their storybook second season came to a close last night, the Seattle Kraken have placed forward Jesper Frödén on waivers, according to CapFriendly. If he clears tomorrow, the move will allow him to join their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, as they look to advance to the Western Conference Final of this year’s Calder Cup Playoffs.
Frödén will almost undoubtedly clear, given he’ll be an unrestricted free agent on July 1. The 28-year-old Swedish forward suited up for Game 4 of the team’s first-round series against the Colorado Avalanche, playing just over four minutes.
An undrafted free agent, Frödén had signed with the Kraken this season after a strong first professional campaign in the Boston Bruins organization last year. He built on that initial success, registering over a point per game with Coachella Valley and earning a 14-game NHL stint with the Kraken in the regular season, posting four assists.
With Seattle’s deep forward corps on full display in the postseason, it seems unlikely Frödén would opt for a return in 2023-24. His minor-league production and decent (but limited) NHL looks suggest he may be capable of handling a bottom-six role on a more full-time basis, a chance he likely won’t get in Seattle. Look for Frödén to find a home in free agency where more opportunity exists for him to move up on the depth chart.
Arizona Coyotes Expected To Remain In Tempe For 2023-24
The Arizona Coyotes are not expected to relocate ahead of the 2023-24 season, NHL deputy commissioner told ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski today. The team’s long-term future remains undecided after Tempe voters failed to approve the team’s plan for a new arena and entertainment district in the city.
However, the tone surrounding the future of the team in Arizona seems more optimistic this afternoon than immediately after the Coyotes (and NHL) learned the results of the Tempe arena vote last night. Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo reaffirmed today the team’s preferred course of action is to stay in Arizona, while PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports “there is still a path forward for the Coyotes in Arizona.”
The Fourth Period’s Dave Pagnotta adds the NHL remains in line with Coyotes ownership, preferring to keep the team in place, although the league is still open to considering relocation.
It’s unclear what that path is, nor is it apparent what’s changed in the last 24 hours to constitute the revived confidence of a long-term fix for the Coyotes’ off-ice issues. Still, it’s a sigh-of-relief moment for Coyotes fans and players, who were understandably devastated by last night’s news.
On-ice for Arizona, stability for next season this early in the process of finding a new long-term plan is great news. With a home confirmed, at least for next season, general manager Bill Armstrong should have a much easier time re-signing any pending free agents he chooses and potentially attracting free agents outside the organization looking for more playing time. The team is still years away from having a competitive core, but a small step forward should be expected next season as their young talent continues to develop.
Ken Holland To Honor Final Season Of Contract
Sportsnet is reporting that Edmonton Oilers president of hockey ops and general manager Ken Holland told the media that the long-time NHL executive intends to honor the final season of his five-year contract. Holland added that he isn’t sure how long he will stay in the role but he has unfinished business.
Edmonton has been a disappointment in each of the four seasons that Holland has been at the helm, they’ve qualified for the post season all four years, however they’ve only advanced past the second round once. The Oilers had another strong regular season this year going 50-23-9, however they were ousted by the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round in six games.
Holland came into the organization with a lot of fanfare after leading the Detroit Red Wings to multiple Stanley Cups in his time in the motor city. However, in Edmonton he has been unable to build around the two best players in the game in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Holland has never been able to solidify Edmonton’s goaltending which was once again a big part of their undoing in the playoffs. Jack Campbell was brought in from the Toronto Maple Leafs on a five year $25MM contract, but he failed to live up to expectations. Stuart Skinner was fine in the regular season but the young netminder crumbled under the postseason pressure and was yanked several times after putting up an .883 save percentage.
Edmonton has also struggled to build up depth scoring beyond their top six. McDavid, Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins did the heavy lifting this year, but the bottom six was a black hole. Warren Foegele but up 28 points in 67 games but beyond that there wasn’t much.
Holland will have his work cut out for him as he tries to give Edmonton another kick at the can. But given their lack of success in the postseason, fans are getting antsy as the Oilers enter the last couple years of McDavid and Draisaitl’s current contracts.
Afternoon Notes: Ruff, Teräväinen, Kase
Ryan Novozinsky of NJ.com tweeted today that New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerard said that head coach Lindy Ruff is still the right coach for the Devils. It’s no surprise that Fitzgerard would speak of Ruff so highly as the veteran coach just led New Jersey to the playoffs for the first time since 2018 and their first playoff series win since the club lost in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2012. The Devils improved dramatically this season under Ruff as they went from 14th in the Eastern Conference to 3rd this season and won 52 games this year nearly doubling their 27 wins from 2021-22.
There was speculation around the future of the 63-year-old Ruff, but Fitzgerard put those whispers to bed today saying, “”He’s still the right coach. We deserve that, we deserve him.” In his three seasons with New Jersey Ruff has compiled a 98-98-24 record with just the one playoff appearance. While that record isn’t great, it’s hard to argue with this year’s results. The Devils look to be at the beginning of what could be a very special run of hockey these next few years and it appears from the outside as though the Devils stars enjoy playing for Lindy. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of rope Ruff gets next season if the Devils were to stutter out of the gate.
In other afternoon notes:
- Carolina Hurricanes reporter Walt Ruff tweeted today that head coach Rod Brind’Amour commented on the status of injured forward Teuvo Teräväinen saying that he is hopeful that the forward will be able to dress tomorrow night for game 1. Brind’Amour added that Carolina will likely decide on the 28-year-old after the team’s morning skate tomorrow. Teräväinen has been pointless in two games in these playoffs but would provide a jolt to an already strong Hurricanes forward group.
- Tyler Madarasz of NHL Morning Skate tweeted that he sat down with Carolina general manager Don Waddell today and the long-time NHL executive discussed Ondrej Kase. Waddell said that Kase is still dealing with issues from concussions and to this day doesn’t feel right. He mentioned that Kase may be forced to call it a career, which would be a real shame for a young player with so much career left in him. Kase dressed in just one game for Carolina this season but is just a year removed from putting up 14 goals and 13 assists in 50 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He showed the potential to be a perennial 20-goal scorer in Anaheim just a few seasons ago, but sadly it looks as though his career could be coming to an end.
PHR Playoff Primer: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Florida Panthers
With the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs now underway, PHR makes its first foray into playoff series analysis with our 2023 Playoff Primers. Where does each team stand in their series, and what storylines could dominate on and off the ice? We begin our Conference Finals coverage with the Eastern Conference matchup between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers.
The Southeast Division reigns supreme, just as we all thought.
After more than 25 years, these former divisional rivals will square up in their first-ever playoff matchup against each other, with higher stakes than anyone expected. Both teams are knocking on the door of their first Stanley Cup Final appearance in decades after building up to this moment for years.
Both teams have also overcome some long odds to get here but under different circumstances. Some had written off the Hurricanes entering their Second Round series against the New Jersey Devils, with injuries to three of their best scorers hampering their chances against a Devils team that had overcome a 2-0 series deficit against Igor Shesterkin and the New York Rangers.
Needless to say, it didn’t matter. The Hurricanes advanced thanks to a Game 5 overtime winner from Jesper Fast, a testament to the depth that’s stepped up and gotten them this far.
The Panthers, on the other hand, finished 17th in the NHL during the regular season and rattled off seven-game and five-game series wins against two of the best teams in the league. It’s thanks largely in part to netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, who’s overcome playoff demons past and is, out of nowhere, earning his keep as a $10MM goalie.
Can Florida’s Cinderella run continue and get them back to the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in franchise history?
Regular Season Performance
Carolina: 52-21-9, 113 points, +53 goal differential
Florida: 42-32-8, 92 points, +17 goal differential
Head-To-Head
November 9, 2022: Carolina 0, Florida 3
December 30, 2022: Florida 0, Carolina 4
April 13, 2023: Carolina 6, Florida 4
Carolina takes season series 2-1-0
Team Storylines
The question for Carolina is simple: can their depth, namely Fast, Jordan Martinook, and Stefan Noesen, keep showing up?
Their job should be made easier, as Teuvo Teräväinen is expected to return to the team after missing most of the playoffs with a broken hand. But Martinook’s 10 points in 11 games and Fast’s eight points in 11 games are near the team lead and ahead of other expected leading scorers like Martin Necas.
That’ll be their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final against a Florida team loaded with more consistently potent names, like Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, and Carter Verhaeghe, in their top six. It’ll also be tough to contend with the fact that Florida’s three leading goal-scorers among forwards in the playoffs (Verhaeghe, Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart) are spread out on three different lines.
Both teams are set in the crease. Both Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta have played very well for Carolina, but Andersen’s pulled ahead with a 5-0 record and .931 save percentage after Raanta exited the lineup due to illness. Bobrovsky may have surpassed Tkachuk in Panthers Conn Smythe candidates after his performance against the Toronto Maple Leafs, limiting the Toronto attack to two goals in each game.
There are plenty of personnel storylines to go around in this series as well. Not only will it feature all three active Staal brothers in the NHL, but it also features a showdown between Carolina’s Cup-winning captain Rod Brind’Amour and former teammate Eric Staal, who now attempts to upset his former coach and help boost Florida into the Final.
Prediction
Carolina is the more experienced and better-coached team in this series. They’ve overcome multiple question marks after another triple-digit point total in the regular season to get where they are now.
They’ve had plenty of tough lessons to learn from past mistakes, but so have the Panthers after a handful of recent early eliminations. They’re also both even in most matchup categories and boast similarly aggressive styles of play.
It makes this series one of the hardest to predict of the entire postseason. Both teams have knocked off 110+ point opponents with relative ease. Where Carolina pulls away is behind the bench, however, and it could be the deciding factor in what should be a lengthy series.
Prediction: Hurricanes win in seven games.
Axel Andersson Signs In Sweden
For the second time in the past few weeks, an Anaheim Ducks prospect has opted to depart the minor-league ranks and return home. Defenseman Axel Andersson has now signed a two-year contract with Djurgårdens IF in the second-tier Allsvenskan, per a team announcement.
A pending restricted free agent, Anaheim can retain Andersson’s NHL rights with a qualifying offer next month.
A 2018 second-round pick of the Boston Bruins, Anaheim acquired Andersson in the deal which sent winger Ondrej Kase to Boston in 2020. Highly regarded as a prospect because of his puck-moving ability and power-play production, though he hasn’t quite yet panned out in a minor-league role for the Ducks.
He’s spent the last two and a half seasons in a San Diego Gulls uniform after Anaheim loaned him to the Allsvenskan’s Södertälje SK during the first part of the 2020-21 campaign. Since then, he’s struggled to stay healthy and stay in the lineup, posting 20 points in 84 career AHL games along with an even plus-minus rating.
It’s not the end of the road for Axelsson’s development at all, and it’s still a wise choice for Anaheim to qualify Andersson and examine bringing him back over when his contract with Djurgården expires, at which point he’ll be 25 years old. His AHL production wasn’t horrific, and he did show positive strides at points.
For Andersson, it marks a return to where he spent the two seasons prior to the 2018 draft developing, playing 84 games in the Djurgården junior program. The 6-foot, 179-pound right-shot defender should receive more opportunity on a Djurgården team looking to regain promotion to the SHL this season.
Arizona Coyotes “Exploring Options” With League After Arena Vote Fails
There have been question marks about the Arizona Coyotes’ future in the state for years, but as of late, most thought the team’s long-term home would be in Tempe. Last night, however, voters emphatically denied plans for a new arena and entertainment district in the city to provide a home for the Coyotes, throwing the team’s geographical future into significant turmoil.
The team’s statement, released last night after the vote results were apparent, stopped short of offering any promise to keep the team in Arizona. It did say that the team’s future will be “evaluated by our owners and the National Hockey League over the coming weeks.”
In all likelihood, that means some form of relocation, given arena troubles in Arizona already have them playing in the under-5,000-seat capacity Mullett Arena at Arizona State University. If the team is to avoid moving out of the state, however, TSN’s Darren Dreger says that likely relies on involvement from the owner of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, Mat Ishbia.
Under previous ownership, any financial partnership between the Coyotes and Suns seemed unlikely. But after former owner Robert Sarver sold the team last year, spurred by his league suspension for racist and misogynistic behavior, it’s unclear what involvement Ishbia would be open to having in the Coyotes’ future.
As Dreger says, Ishbia purchasing the Coyotes from current majority owner Alex Meruelo and moving the team to the Suns’ downtown arena, the Footprint Center, is unlikely. The arena, Arizona’s original home after moving to Phoenix, included sightline issues so poor it was driving away fans (and later, guiding the team into bankruptcy) after less than 10 years in the city. The arena also underwent a second major renovation in the past few years, and it’s unlikely the City of Phoenix, which the Coyotes are currently suing, would financially support another renovation so soon.
One relocation option that Dreger speculates could work is Salt Lake City. The owner of the NBA’s Utah Jazz, Ryan Smith, has past expressed interest in bringing an NHL team to Utah, and it would keep the larger markets of Houston and Atlanta available for the NHL to collect expansion fees later on.
If this does happen, while there is no guarantee, it could be immediate. Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland says the league has not ruled out immediate relocation this offseason.
Salt Lake City has supported minor league hockey well. The Utah Grizzlies brand has existed there in some form since 1995, bouncing between the now-defunct IHL, AHL, and ECHL. In the 1996 IHL championship, the Grizzlies set a North American minor-pro attendance record with 17,381 fans. The game was played at the current home of the Jazz, Vivint Arena (then known as the Delta Center).
Dreger also says a last-ditch effort for the Coyotes to remain in Arizona could involve partnering with the Suns on a new building in downtown Phoenix. Again, considering the team’s pending multi-billion dollar suit against the city, it seems like an unlikely proposition.