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Atlantic Notes: Cooper, Senators, Seger, O’Connell

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Lightning head coach Jon Cooper will have some extra duties coming his way in the near future.  In his latest column for The Athletic (subscription link), Pierre LeBrun reports that Tampa Bay’s bench boss is expected to be named as Canada’s head coach for the upcoming 4 Nations Cup as well as the 2026 Olympics.  LeBrun adds that Hockey Canada considered having a separate head coach for each event but, like the United States with Mike Sullivan, has ultimately settled on having the same one for both.  Cooper has coached internationally at three events in the past.  He was Canada’s head coach at the 2017 Worlds, coached Team North America at the World Cup that same year, and was an assistant for the U.S. at the 2007 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament.

More from the Atlantic Division:

  • Speaking at a season ticket holder session, Senators Senior Vice President Dave Poulin indicated that they have fielded trade interest in the seventh-overall selection, per Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). Ottawa underachieved considerably this season as instead of pushing for a playoff spot, they were well out of the mix early, resulting in changes both in the front office and behind the bench.  The Sens have to forfeit one of their first-round picks between now and 2026 as part of the punishment for failing to disclose Evgenii Dadonov’s no-trade clause to Vegas in 2021, eventually resulting in a failed trade to Anaheim the following year.  However, with this pick being so early, they wisely decided not to make this the year they lost the selection.
  • The Red Wings’ farm team has added one of the more intriguing remaining college free agents as AHL Grand Rapids announced the signing of Gabriel Seger to a one-year deal. The 24-year-old had a breakout showing in his final collegiate campaign, leading Cornell in scoring with 14 goals and 30 assists in 44 games although it wasn’t enough to land him an NHL deal in recent weeks.
  • Arizona State University associate coach Albie O’Connell is expected to leave the program to pursue an NHL opportunity, relays PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan (Twitter link). College Hockey News’ Mike McMahon adds (Twitter link) that O’Connell is expected to be hired by the Canadiens.  If that holds true, it will be his second stint with the organization after serving as a college scout for Montreal back in 2022-23 before returning behind an NCAA bench this past season.

Senators Re-Sign Angus Crookshank

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The Senators have taken care of one of their pending restricted free agents with an early contract.  The team announced that they’ve re-signed forward Angus Crookshank to a one-year, two-way agreement.  The deal pays $775K in the NHL and $120K in the minors.  GM Steve Staios released the following statement on the signing:

Angus has established himself as a reliable point producer in Belleville. He’s a strong competitor and a proven goal scorer who doesn’t back down, especially when it comes to getting to the opponent’s net. We’re pleased with his progress and expect further improvement from him next season.

The 24-year-old played on the final year of his entry-level deal in 2023-24, spending most of it in the minors with AHL Belleville.  With them, as Staios alluded to, Crookshank was quite reliable offensively, posting 24 goals and 22 assists in just 50 games.  That performance helped earn him his first NHL opportunity as he got into 13 games with Ottawa where he picked up two goals and an assist while logging just over 10 minutes a night.

Crookshank still has a year of waiver exemption remaining, something that doesn’t happen too frequently for players exiting a three-year rookie deal.  That means he’s likely earmarked to start with Belleville once again in 2024-25 but if he can produce at a similar level next season, he should be one of Ottawa’s first recalls when injuries strike.

Bruins Name Jay Leach Assistant Coach

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Now taking his third trip through the Boston Bruins organization, Jay Leach will return to the team as an assistant coach for the 2024-25 NHL campaign. The Bruins announced the hiring of Leach this afternoon as well as the promotion of Joe Sacco as an associate coach.

Leach began his tenure in the Original Six organization in the 2003-04 season as he suited up in three games for the team’s AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. Leach would not get his first taste of NHL action until 2005-06, registering two games in Boston without any points.

Over the next five years, Leach played on four additional teams before retiring as the captain of the Albany Devils after the 2013-14 AHL season. Shortly thereafter, Leach began his coaching tenure with Adler Mannheim of the DEL as an assistant coach before a brief stint in the same role with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins the following year. Ahead of the 2016-17 AHL season, Leach returned to the Bruins organization for a second stint as an assistant coach of Providence before being named the team’s head coach ahead of 2017-18.

Leach earned his first opportunity in the NHL after a four-year run in Providence in which the team produced a 136-77-26 record under the then-rookie head coach. Shortly after the inception as the league’s 32nd franchise, Leach was hired as an assistant coach by the Seattle Kraken to join Dave Hakstol’s staff. With the Kraken looking to re-create their coaching staff after a disappointing 2023-24 season, Leach was granted the opportunity to pursue other options.

Sacco, on the other hand, is seeing a well-deserved promotion after spending the last decade as an assistant coach for the Bruins. During his tenure, Boston has made it to one Stanley Cup Final appearance while also winning two Presidents’ Trophies as the top team in the regular season.

Columbus Blue Jackets Aiming To Trade Patrik Laine

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On this week’s rendition of TSN’s Insider Trading, an interesting player has reportedly hit the trade block. Pierre LeBrun indicates that one of the major goals of the offseason for the Columbus Blue Jackets is to move on from struggling forward Patrik Laine.

Laine has been an interesting player, to say the least during his time in Columbus since being acquired by the organization in a trade during the 2020-21 NHL season. In 174 games for the Blue Jackets, Laine has scored 64 goals and 138 points as the team hoped he would be a solid compliment to Johnny Gaudreau on the first line.

This past season was far and away Laine’s worst in Ohio, as he only managed six goals and nine points in 18 games. To add insult to injury, head coach of the Blue Jackets, Pascal Vincent, healthy scratched Laine for the first time in his career in mid-November before Laine finally landed in the NHLPA Player Assistance Program for the rest of the season in late January. Seemingly disgruntled on both sides of the relationship, it appears Laine and Columbus will work on a mutual move at some point this summer.

As desperately as both sides may want a formal split, Laine’s contract has quickly become one of the hardest to move in the league. The acquiring team will be on the hook for $8.7MM (~10% of the salary cap) for the next two seasons unless Columbus is willing to retain money in the trade. Still, with the lack of production on his current deal and the stop in the Player Assistance Program, most teams may be hesitant to add Laine to the roster.

Being a high-salary reclamation project, it should be a relatively easy task ironing out a list of potential suitors for Laine. Given that he only brings offensive contributions to the lineup, there are several rebuilding clubs with plenty of cap flexibility and a need for more offense. The Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks, and San Jose Sharks all come to mind as clear choices to pursue a trade for Laine this summer.

All three options allow Laine a fresh start to his career two years before he hits unrestricted free agency. If Laine can rebuild is former label as a high-level goal-scoring threat throughout the league, the acquiring team may even be able to sell high on him at the trade deadline after next season.

Nathan Todd Clears Unconditional Waivers; Signs In KHL

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6/12: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Todd has cleared waivers this morning. The Sharks organization can now release Todd making him an unrestricted free agent, and they will open up a contract spot before a busy summer. Instead of pursuing an AHL contract this summer, reports from the Kontinental Hockey League indicate Todd has already signed a deal with HC Salavat Yulaev for the 2024-25 KHL season.

6/11: Beat writer for the San Jose Sharks, Curtis Pashelka is reporting that the organization has placed forward Nathan Todd on unconditional waivers for contract termination. Although the move does not carry significant weight at the NHL level, it will impact the Sharks’ AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda.

As an undrafted free agent, Todd spent much of his first four professional years in the ECHL before making the full-time jump to the AHL in 2020-21 for the Manitoba Moose. After securing nearly a point-per-game season with the Moose, Todd left to join the Springfield Thunderbirds for the next two seasons. In his first year with the Thunderbirds, the team would make it to the Calder Cup Final before finally being ousted by the Chicago Wolves in five games. During that postseason, Todd became a quality depth scorer, putting up four goals and 11 points in 18 games.

Last offseason, Todd signed on with the Sharks organization to a two-year, two-way contract. Playing the entire year for the Barracuda, Todd rewarded the team nicely, scoring 19 goals and 55 points in 69 games which is far and away his most productive season to date. Todd tied for 27th in the AHL in total scoring while also leading the Barracuda in assists and points.

Assuming Todd is not picked up on waivers over the next 24 hours, he will hit the open market to search for another AHL franchise to call home this summer. After failing to make the Calder Cup playoffs in the last two years, Todd’s breakout year in the minor leagues may earn him a spot on a much more competitive roster next season.

Atlantic Notes: Red Wings Draft Plans, Barkov, Gregor

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In an article today from Max Bultman of The Athletic (Subscription Required), he theorizes three hypothetical options for the Detroit Red Wings during the 2024 NHL Draft: stay put, trade down, and trade up. After it took until the last game of the regular season for the Red Wings to be eliminated from the postseason, there are several different directions that General Manager Steve Yzerman could take in Vegas.

If Detroit stays put, one of the most common mock picks at 15th overall is Michael Brandsegg-Nygård of Mora IK in the Swedish HockeyAllsvenskan. Brandsegg-Nygard would be a very safe pick at 15th overall, given that he is one of the most mature players in the draft already, meaning it shouldn’t take him too long to crack the Red Wings roster. However, if Detroit does stay put, with a decent amount of organizational depth at the forward position, they could look for a high-risk high-reward prospect at 15th overall such as Cole Eiserman or Michael Hage.

Yzerman’s second most likely option would be to trade down a few spots to clear some cap space for the offseason. The Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks represent likely trade options in this scenario, given the bevy of cap space each team has. The Red Wings may be able to move the 15th overall pick and Justin Holl’s contract to the Blackhawks in exchange for the 18th overall pick, or send the 15th overall pick and potentially both Holl and Ben Chiarot to the Ducks in exchange for the 31st overall pick if they want to get aggressive.

Lastly, since the Red Wings are unlikely to trade into the top 10 of the NHL Draft, their most likely partners in a trade-up scenario would be the Philadelphia Flyers or Buffalo Sabres. With the Flyers amid their rebuild, and the Sabres unlikely to trade with a division rival, would it make sense for Detroit to move up three spots? The price would be too high for Yzerman to trade up, and they may be left with similar options with the 15th overall pick regardless.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • With plenty of eyes on the status of Aleksander Barkov ahead of Game 3, Jameson Olive, the Senior Digital Content Manager of the Florida Panthers reported that Barkov looked and felt good today. They will continue to monitor his status during the team’s skate in Edmonton tomorrow. After taking an elbow to the head from Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl towards the final minutes of Game 2, Barkov’s status has already led to a fair amount of controversy in the Stanley Cup Final.
  • Touching on several different members of the Toronto Maple Leafs heading into the offseason, Joshua Kloke of The Athletic (Subscription Required) passes along that Noah Gregor’s time with the organization has likely ended. With the emergence of forward prospects and depth pieces down the stretch, Gregor’s role was severely diminished towards the end of the regular season, and the Maple Leafs will likely use his roster spot for other purposes. Throughout the regular season, Gregor managed six goals and 12 points for Toronto over 63 games but only managed one goal in his last 35 contests.

Oilers Notes: Kane, Nurse, Perry

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Oilers winger Evander Kane has been a rare participant at practices throughout the playoffs. He revealed at the start of the playoffs that he’d been diagnosed with a sports hernia but is foregoing treatment/surgery until the offseason.

His routine changed slightly today, though, as he began practice on the ice with an extended chat with head coach Kris Knoblauch before a light skate (via NHL Network’s Tom Gazzola). He only stayed on the ice for a few minutes, leaving the session early. Speaking with reporters after practice, Knoblauch then declined to confirm Kane’s availability for tomorrow’s Game 3 (per NHL.com’s Dan Rosen). If unable to play, it would be his first scratch of the postseason. He’s contributed four goals and eight points in 20 games for Edmonton thus far but has a -7 rating. His 37 PIMs lead the playoffs.

Elsewhere from Oil Country as the Cup Final shifts to Edmonton:

  • Defenseman Darnell Nurse will likely play in Game 3 after missing much of Game 2 with an injury, Knoblauch said (via Oilers play-by-play voice Jack Michaels). He missed practice this morning, though, suggesting he definitely won’t be 100 percent. The 29-year-old has seen his average ice time dip below 20 minutes per game in the postseason, and he has just three assists and a -15 rating in 20 contests.
  • Veteran winger Corey Perry is also probable to return to the lineup after being held out of Game 2 entirely with an injury, per Knoblauch. Perry is on his 16th trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs but has been in and out of the lineup throughout, posting a lone assist in 14 appearances while averaging 11:04 per game. He’s suiting up in his fourth Stanley Cup Final in the past five years, all with different teams.

West Notes: Wild Draft Plans, Campbell, Klimchuk

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Wild fans gained some insight into their team’s plans at the draft later this month thanks to The Athletic’s Joe Smith, who spoke at length in an interview with director of amateur scouting Judd Brackett in an interview published Wednesday.

Notably, he shouted out general manager Bill Guerin’s willingness to be active on the draft floor, suggesting they’ll try hard to move up from their 13th overall pick if their scouting staff believes it to be the right choice. However, Brackett thinks the likelihood of being able to execute such a move will be extremely difficult this year thanks to the depth of prospects available in the top 15 range. “Teams in those spots are very happy with their choices that they have,” he said.

In regards to who the Wild might take with their No. 13 pick, Brackett didn’t disclose any names specifically. He did, however, have complementary words for U.S. National U18 Team goal-scoring record-breaker Cole Eiserman. He entered the year as a consensus top-three pick but fell down most draft boards to the mid-first round throughout the season, with concerns rising about his play in the defensive zone and his ability to exit his own zone in transition. But he remains the best pure goal-scorer available in the class, with Brackett saying he’s “proven it at every level and continues to do so.”

Other tidbits from the West:

  • Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff listed Kings center Pierre-Luc Dubois as his top buyout candidate this summer but acknowledged that general manager Rob Blake said during his end-of-season media availability that it wasn’t something they were planning on doing. That brings us to the No. 2 candidate on his list – Oilers netminder Jack Campbell, who spent nearly the entire season on assignment to AHL Bakersfield after putting up a .873 SV% in his first five games of the season. He was decent overall in the minors, though, compiling a .918 SV% and three shutouts in 33 games played. There’s likely a path back to NHL minutes for Campbell somewhere, but after falling to third on their depth chart despite boasting a $5MM cap hit, it’s unlikely to be in Edmonton. He has three years left on his deal, so a buyout would leave the Oilers with a cap penalty for the next six seasons ranging from as low as $1.1MM next season to as high as $2.6MM in 2026-27.
  • The Jets’ AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, added Morgan Klimchuk to their coaching staff as an assistant Wednesday. The 2013 first-round pick of the Flames was a top-flight scorer in junior hockey but only managed one NHL appearance before announcing his retirement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now 29, Klimchuk had spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach for the Western Hockey League’s Victoria Royals.

Extension Talks Quiet Between Maple Leafs, Timothy Liljegren

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The Maple Leafs don’t have much in the way of pending restricted free agents to worry about aside from blue liner Timothy Liljegren. While he averaged a career-high 19:40 per game last season and produced at a respectable 34-point pace, he was one of many Leafs that struggled in postseason play and posted the worst even-strength possession metrics of his young career.

Injuries plugged up his regular season, too, limiting him to 55 appearances. He missed weeks with an ankle injury in the first half of the season and missed a significant chunk of the stretch run with an upper-body injury. It’s becoming an unfortunately common theme for the 2017 first-round pick, who’s yet to hit 70 games in a season.

That makes his future in the organization and, even if he stays, his contract discussions this summer quite complicated. To that end, The Athletic’s Joshua Kloke reports Wednesday that “there hasn’t been much dialogue between the Leafs and Liljegren’s camp” regarding a new deal for the RFA.

Whether that means Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving is examining trading his signing rights elsewhere remains to be seen. At the very least, it’s clear that Toronto prefers to reserve its early-offseason cap flexibility for more aggressively upgrading their defense, goaltending and depth scoring during free agency, as well as the increasingly small likelihood of trading superstar winger Mitch Marner elsewhere. Put simply, Liljegren doesn’t seem to be a priority for the Leafs’ front office, likely a telling sign of the role they envision him playing next season and beyond.

No matter what they do with Liljegren, they’re in a bit of a tough spot. His gaffes are clear, and he often seems visibly indecisive or uncomfortable playing the puck in his own zone under pressure – a concern that’s plagued a handful of Toronto defensemen throughout the Auston Matthews era.

But his ability to produce offense took major strides this season in an increased role, and the Leafs have consistently had the better share of possession quality at even strength with Liljegren on the ice. He’s logged a career 54.6 xGF%, including a 55.1% mark this season, although his ability to control shot attempts outright dipped this season down below 50% for the first time since his brief initial NHL showing five years ago.

His deal shouldn’t cost too much or require a lengthy term offering, and his being arbitration-eligible this summer after missing significant time with injuries likely isn’t a major concern either. But it would likely require a $2MM-$3MM cap hit to get across the finish line, a decent chunk of change for a team that will take every inch of available cap space they have this summer to make a deep playoff run.

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