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Vegas Golden Knights Fire Gerard Gallant, Hire Peter DeBoer

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Thursday: Gallant was supposed to coach the Pacific Division All-Star team at this month’s event, but will be replaced by Rick Tocchet of the Arizona Coyotes.

Wednesday: In shocking news this morning, the Vegas Golden Knights have decided to fire the first coach in franchise history, Gerard Gallant, and replace him with Peter DeBoer. Gallant’s assistant Mike Kelly has also been relieved of his duties. General manager Kelly McCrimmon released a statement on the move:

In order for our team to reach its full potential, we determined a coaching change was necessary. Our team is capable of more than we have demonstrated this season. We would like to thank Gerard and Mike for their service to the Vegas Golden Knights. They were both instrumental to the success we have enjoyed in our first two-plus seasons and we wish them all the best moving forward. In Peter DeBoer, we have a proven, experienced head coach who we believe can help us achieve our ultimate goal. We are excited to welcome Peter and his family to the Vegas Golden Knights organization. We look forward to a strong finish to the 2019-20 season with Peter at the helm and a successful tenure in the seasons to come.

Gallant was hired to lead the Golden Knights into their first season in 2017, and did more with a roster of misfits and castoffs than anyone expected. The expansion club got off to a fast start and never looked back, riding strong goaltending and breakout performances all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. Though they would lose in five games to the Washington Capitals, a 51-24-7 season was considered an unparalleled success for the expansion franchise and proved that Vegas was already a contender in the Western Conference.

That expectation of success only continued last season, when the Golden Knights once again made the playoffs with a 43-32-7 record. While that was a step backwards, the team still had 93 points and was within a goal of going to the second round after a brutal loss to the San Jose Sharks. This season saw more of that success, though a four-game losing streak now has the Golden Knights sitting just outside the playoff picture, tied with the Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets but having played two more games.

Perhaps it is that losing streak that did him in, as Gallant’s dismissal has been called completely “performance based.” The team has regressed in terms of points percentage since they started, but how much you can blame that on the coach is unclear. It’ll be DeBoer’s opportunity to show that he can turn things around, with a third of the season still remaining.

Speaking of DeBoer, he gets a new job after only being fired himself a month ago. The former Sharks bench boss is back in business after being let go earlier this season, and will start in with his fourth team. The two-time Stanley Cup finalist has never won the ultimate prize, but does have a .550 winning percentage across 855 career games behind the bench.

2020 Hobey Baker Nominees Announced

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With the collegiate hockey season entering the home stretch, voting for this year’s Hobey Baker Memorial Award has opened with 78 players nominated for the award. The trophy is given to the top NCAA player in the country, and has an impressive line of winners over the past few years. In 2014, Johnny Gaudreau took home the award as a junior for Boston College, followed by Jack Eichel in his only year for Boston University in 2015. Jimmy Vesey, Will Butcher and Adam Gaudette don’t bring quite the same impact, but are still NHL regulars after winning from 2016-18.

Last year’s winner was University of Massachusetts defenseman Cale Makar, who has gone on to be one of the most impressive rookies in the NHL this season with the Colorado Avalanche. Makar leaves big shoes to fill by this year’s nominees.

The award also has several top NHL alumni in its small fraternity, including Neal Broten, Tom Kurvers, Paul Kariya, Chris Drury, Ryan Miller and Brendan Morrison. With that group behind them, this year’s winner is certainly not someone to take lightly.

The fan vote will be added to the opinions of NCAA head coaches to come up with a 10-man finalist group, which will then have another fan vote and go through a selection committee. The nominees are as follows:

Dryden McKay – Minnesota State University-Mankato
Kevin Conley – University of Nebraska-Omaha
Brinson Pasichnuk – Arizona State University
Tanner Laczynski – Ohio State University
Taylor Ward – University of Nebraska-Omaha
Nick Hutchison – Canisius College
Matthew Galajda – Cornell University
Trenton Bliss – Michigan Technological University
David Farrance – Boston University
Cole Caufield – University of Wisconsin-Madison
Philip Beaulieu – Northern Michigan University
Max Newton – University of Alaska-Fairbanks
Spencer Knight – Boston College
Morgan Barron – Cornell University
Tyler Madden – Northeastern University
Jack Dugan – Providence College
Yanni Kaldis – Cornell University
Jakov Novak – Bentley University
Nick Halloran – Colorado College
Paul Washe – Western Michigan University
James Sanchez – Arizona State University
Jack Ahcan – St. Cloud State University
Patrick Khodorenko – Michigan State University
Cole Hults – Pennsylvania State University
Casey Dornbach – Harvard University
Brian Wilson – Niagara University
Jack Drury – Harvard University
Jason Cotton – Sacred Heart University
Emilio Pettersen – University of Denver
Zach Risteau – St. Lawrence University
Stefanos Lekkas – University of Vermont
Max Gildon – University of New Hampshire
Wyatt Bongiovanni – Quinnipiac University
Jordan Kawaguchi – University of North Dakota
Hugh McGing – Western Michigan University
Devin Brosseau – Clarkson University
Griffin Loughran – Northern Michigan University
Alec Rauhauser – Bowling Green State University
Vincent de May – Northern Michigan University
Haralds Egle – Clarkson University
Scott Perunovich – University of Minnesota-Duluth
David Cotton – Boston College
Matt Jurusik – Michigan Technological University
Zackarias Skog – American International College
John Leonard – University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Drew O’Connor – Dartmouth College
Mike Lee – Sacred Heart University
Frank Marotte – Clarkson University
Nate Kallen – Ferris State University
Darion Hanson – Union College
Patrick Harper – Boston University
Mareks Mitens – Lake Superior State University
Odeen Tufto – Quinnipiac University
Matt Stief – Canisius College
Max Humitz – Lake Superior State University
Peyton Jones – Pennsylvania State University
Linus Weissbach – University of Wisconsin-Madison
Justin Kapelmaster – Robert Morris University
Cale Morris – University of Notre Dame
Michael Wilson – United States Military Academy (Army)
Gordie Green – Miami University
Hunter Shepard – University of Minnesota-Duluth
Will Reilly – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institutue
Marc Michaelis – Minnesota State University-Mankato
Brennan Kapcheck – American International College
Chris Wilkie – Colorado College
Tyce Thompson – Providence College
Matt Hoover – Canisius College
Johnny Walker – Arizona State University
Tyler Wall – University of Massachusetts-Lowell
Nick Abruzzese – Harvard University
Mitchell Chaffee – University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Derek Daschke – Miami University
Blake Christensen – American International College
Ian Mitchell – University of Denver
Bobby McMann – Colgate University
Wyatt Kalynuk – University of Wisconsin-Madison
Tommy Nappier – Ohio State University

Brett Ritchie, Chris Stewart Clear Waivers

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Thursday: Both players have cleared waivers according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.

Wednesday: The Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers have placed Brett Ritchie and Chris Stewart on waivers respectively, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Ritchie, 26, hasn’t been a good fit for the Bruins this season after signing a one-year, $1MM deal in the offseason. Unqualified by the Dallas Stars, the big-bodied forward was a free agent looking for a landing spot and the Bruins needed some secondary scoring and size on the wings. That scoring has been nowhere to be found when it comes to Ritchie, who has just two goals and six points in 27 games while bouncing all over the lineup. For a team expected to contend for a Stanley Cup, his play simply hasn’t been good enough.

Stewart meanwhile is beginning to look like a failed experiment of his own. After spending last season in the EIHL with the Nottingham Panthers, the veteran forward returned to the NHL and signed a one-year $750K contract with the Flyers in order to give them a little more physicality at the bottom of the lineup. He’ll likely play tonight for the team, but with just one point in 15 games there’s not a ton Stewart is providing the club at this point.

Like many of the names that grace waivers during the season, Ritchie and Stewart may find themselves unclaimed tomorrow and headed for the minor leagues. That is of course unless another team wants to add some size and will take a chance on one or the other. Both cap hits can be completely buried in the AHL.

Tuukka Rask Placed On Injured Reserve

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The Boston Bruins announced several roster moves today, including the placement of Tuukka Rask on injured reserve. Rask suffered an upper-body injury expected to be a concussion on Tuesday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets. In his place the team has recalled Dan Vladar from the AHL under emergency conditions, and Karson Kuhlman as a regular call-up.

Rask was already set to skip the All-Star festivities at the end of the month, but now he’ll be nursing an injury while the Bruins are on break. The team has just three games remaining before they will be off for ten days, giving their starter time to recover. As luck would have it, the team already has a more than capable backup in Jaroslav Halak with plenty of experience leading a team.

Vladar meanwhile will get a chance to earn an NHL paycheck for a little while, a deserving candidate after his hot start with the Providence Bruins. The 22-year old goaltender has a .935 save percentage through 12 appearances, with a 1.84 goals against average.

Minor Transactions: 01/16/20

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Nearly the entire league is in action tonight on a busy Thursday that will see 13 games in the NHL. Sidney Crosby is back and ready to challenge the Atlantic Division-leading Boston Bruins, while Peter DeBoer will be behind the Vegas Golden Knights bench for the first time when they take on the Ottawa Senators. As all of these teams prepare for the night’s action, we’ll keep track of any minor moves.

  • Late last night the Montreal Canadiens sent Matthew Peca to the minor leagues, returning him just a few days after activating him from injured reserve. Peca has played in five games for the Canadiens this season but is still looking for his first point.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled Matiss Kivlenieks and Adam Clendening from the minor leagues, sending Veini Vehvilainen back down. With a home game scheduled against the Carolina Hurricanes tonight, Columbus will have Kivlenieks serve as the backup to Elvis Merzlikins.
  • Max Comtois and Isac Lundestrom have been sent to the AHL by the Anaheim Ducks, who have a game tonight and tomorrow before resting through the All-Star break. The two young players will likely continue to play in the minor leagues while the NHL club enjoys more than a week off.
  • After clearing waivers, Chris Stewart has been sent to the minor leagues by the Philadelphia Flyers. The team has recalled Joel Farabee in his place, bringing up the young forward again to continue his rookie season.

This page will be updated throughout the day

College Hockey Round-Up: 01/15/20

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With college students around the country returning to campus, NCAA hockey is back in the spotlight. While games continued here and there through December, many programs returned to action the first weekend of January. The second half of the season will be more conference-centric, with teams focused on positioning themselves as best they can before conference tournaments begin in mid-March. That will all lead up to the six conference champions and ten at-large selections squaring off in the NCAA tournament. Right now, No. 2 North Dakota and No. 3 Minnesota State are the only top five teams who also lead their respective conferences, which should make for an exciting and unpredictable second half.

The Current Landscape

The biggest question entering the second half of the college season may just be whether anyone can stop No. 1 Cornell? The nation’s top team still has just one regulation loss on the year and ranks sixth in goals per game and second in goals against per game. The Big Red are also not an easy team to game plan against. While goaltender Matthew Galajda has been phenomenal while appearing in all 15 of Cornell’s games and Morgan Barron (NYR) is the undisputed star, the team gets a balanced effort from the entire lineup. With that said, the Big Red have shown some cracks in the New Year, going 2-0-2 thus far with ties against Union and No. 11 Providence.

Speaking of the Friars, Jack Dugan (VGK) continues to lead the chase for the Hobey Baker Award with the NCAA’s best total and per-game scoring numbers. He performed especially well in front of his potential future home crowd in the Ice Vegas Invitational. Line mate Tyce Thompson (NJD) remains in the scoring hunt as well, thanks in part to an NCAA-best 17 goals. Providence is currently the leader of Hockey East, but they have their work cut out for them against stiff competition, including No. 5 Boston College and No. 13 UMass Lowell, both of whom have games in hand on PC. With No. 10 UMass and No. 12 Northeastern in the mix as well, Hockey East will be a cutthroat battle the rest of the way, leading up to conference tournament that will shift the national scale.

The NCHC is no slouch either, featuring two top-five teams in No. 2 North Dakota and No. 4 Denver, not to mention two-time defending champs No. 8 Minnesota Duluth. The three teams are all set to be tested by one another in the coming weeks: the Bulldogs host the Fighting Hawks next weekend before traveling to face the Pioneers the following weekend, who themselves will visit the Hawks the weekend after that. The NCHC standings may be in for a shake-up, but none of those three teams look likely to lose their top-ten billing any time soon.

New year, same dominant lone wolf near the top of the national rankings. No. 3 Minnesota State continues to suffocate their opponents behind the stellar play of Hobey Baker hopeful Dryden McKay in net. The team is allowing an NCAA-best 1.33 goals against per game and have outscored opponents 17-2 in a perfect 4-0 start after New Year’s. With wins over UND and Duluth (twice) this season, their record is no fluke, even if they do routinely dominate their WCHA competition. Will Mankato be the team to beat come tournament time?

Kuznetsov’s Stock On The Rise

When NHL Central Scouting released their midyear rankings for the 2020 NHL Draft, it was easy to notice Wisconsin forward Dylan Holloway sitting in 10th among North American skaters. However, you may have missed UConn defenseman Yan Kuznetsov, who was 28th in the same group and has very much entered the conversation as a potential first-round pick this spring. Kuznetsov may not light up the score board, but then again no Huskies have this season. The Russian blue liner’s nine points are in fact tied for eight on the team and second among defensemen. However, the hallmarks of Kuznetsov’s game are his size and composure, especially for a 17-year-old freshman. Kuznetsov projects to be a shutdown defenseman with a high ceiling, as he is already playing at an elite level in the NCAA at a young age. UConn has slim odds of an extended postseason run this season, so scouts will be focused on the team’s remaining regular season schedule as they get a final read on Kuznetsov before he’s available for selection in June.

Pinto Receives A Suspension

Shane Pinto (OTT) has made headlines for a few different reasons lately. The North Dakota center was one of the standout performers on an otherwise disappointing Team USA entry at the recent World Junior Championship, recording seven points in five games and flashing the high-level skill that the Fighting Hawks faithful have come to love this season. The freshman then stayed loyal to his college teammates, allegedly rebuffing attempts by his NHL rights holder, the Ottawa Senators, to convince him to join the nearby Ottawa 67’s of the OHL for the remainder of the season. Pinto’s latest headline is not as positive though. The freshman forward has been handed a one-game suspension from the NCHC for an illegal check against Nebraska-Omaha last weekend, an incident that earned him a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct as well. Pinto, who has 16 points in 20 games for North Dakota this year, will sit for the team first game against Miami on Friday, but will be eligible to return for game two of the series on Saturday.

NHL Announces All-Star Rosters For Women’s 3-On-3 Competition

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The NHL All-Star Weekend will have several new events this year, including the Elite Women’s 3-on-3 competition. 20 of the top players will face off in a game on the first day of the weekend, reigniting the Canada-USA rivalry that has existed since the women’s hockey scene began. This follows the last several years where players like Kendall Coyne Schofield, Hilary Knight and Brianna Decker took part in the festivities, with the former even being an official competitor in last year’s fastest skater event.

The full rosters are as follows:

Team USA:

F Alex Carpenter
F Kendall Coyne Schofield
F Brianna Decker
F Amanda Kessel
F Hilary Knight
F Jocelyne Lamoureaux-Davidson
F Annie Pankowski
D Kacey Bellamy
D Lee Stecklein
G Alex Cavallini

Team Canada:

F Meghan Agosta
F Melodie Daoust
F Rebecca Johnston
F Sarah Nurse
F Marie-Philip Poulin
F Natalie Spooner
F Blayre Turnbull
D Renata Fast
D Laura Fortino
G Ann-Renee Desbiens

The game will be on January 24th, broadcast on NBC in the United States and Sportsnet in Canada.

Ducks Willing To Provide Cap Relief In Exchange For Young Assets

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The Anaheim Ducks’ season hasn’t gone according to plan. Even with the departures of franchise mainstays like Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler, the team was excited about their young group of forwards that looked ready to come up and contribute. With the historically excellent John Gibson in net, there was always a chance that the team could compete for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Unfortunately, with Gibson in the midst of the worst season of his career and the team in front of him not scoring nearly enough to make up for it, that hasn’t come to pass. The Ducks now sit in last place in the conference and are ahead of only the Detroit Red Wings league-wide. With that in mind, it comes as no surprise when Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports the team is willing to take on bad salary in order to acquire some additional young assets.

Not only do the Ducks already have several million in full-season cap space available, they could also potentially place Kesler and Patrick Eaves on long-term injured reserve to open even more if they needed to. That kind of capability could prove very useful for a contender looking to open a bit of room for a trade deadline addition, though it would surely cost them.

One thing to note with any plan like this is that the Ducks only have three vacant contract slots under the 50-contract threshold. Bringing in bad money plus young players would eat up those slots quickly, and with a prospect like Trevor Zegras lighting up the NCAA (and World Junior tournament) the team needs to keep at least one open if they intend to try and convince him to turn pro at the end of the college season. If they do try to weaponize their cap space, there may have to be bodies going the other way as well, something that only complicates a deal like that even further.

Edmonton Oilers Extend Caleb Jones

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The Edmonton Oilers have seen enough from Caleb Jones to know they want him around for a while. The team has signed Jones to a two-year extension that will carry an average annual value of $850K and keep him under contract through the 2021-22 season. Jones was set to become a restricted free agent this summer.

The younger brother of Columbus Blue Jackets star Seth Jones, the Oilers’ defenseman hasn’t had quite the same fanfare surrounding his arrival in the NHL. Selected in the fourth round of the 2015 draft, the 22-year old has taken strong steps forward in his development and now can be considered a real building block.

In 23 games this season he has just three points, but Jones is quickly becoming accustomed to the NHL game and should be in their plans as a full-time member of the defense throughout the deal. The fact that it is so inexpensive gives the Oilers some extra wiggle room when considering how to build the club next season.

Jones will still be a restricted free agent when the deal is finished, as long as he plays in 40 more NHL games by then. There’s little doubt he’ll be able to accomplish that, given the strong impression he’s left so far.

David Rittich Added To All-Star Game

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Another goaltender has been forced to pull out of the All-Star festivities planned for later this month, as Darcy Kuemper of the Arizona Coyotes will not be participating due to injury. In his place, David Rittich of the Calgary Flames will join the Pacific Division squad. No word yet on who will replace Gerard Gallant as head coach of the team, who was fired earlier today.

Kuemper hasn’t played since December 19th, and his recovery is paramount to the Coyotes’ long-term success. The goaltender is out with a lower-body injury that quickly brought speculation that the All-Star game would be out of the question.

His absence however means that the Coyotes will not have a representative at the game, unless someone else is put in as a replacement over the next few days.

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