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Sharks Receive Permission To Interview Marco Sturm For Head Coaching Job

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Current Kings AHL head coach Marco Sturm has been granted permission to interview for the Sharks’ head coaching vacancy, Pierre LeBrun of TSN said Wednesday night.

Sturm becomes the third candidate firmly linked to the San Jose opening, joining former Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill (article) and internal promotion candidate Ryan Warsofsky (article). They remain on the hunt for a replacement after dismissing David Quinn with one year left on his contract last month.

It would be a homecoming of sorts for Sturm, who was drafted 21st overall by the Sharks in 1996. He would become one of the premier young defensive wingers in the league, accumulating 128 goals and 273 points in 553 games with the squad. Just months after the NHL resumed play following the 2004-05 lockout, he was traded to the Bruins as part of the blockbuster deal that sent Joe Thornton to San Jose.

Sturm last played in 2013 after a short stint with Kölner Haie of the Deutsche Eisehockey Liga and began his off-ice career as Germany’s head coach for the 2016 World Championship. He drew significant NHL interest after coaching the Germans to a silver medal at the 2018 Olympics, landing with the Kings as an assistant on John Stevens’ bench. He remained with the club as they fired Stevens for Willie Desjardins early in the 2018-19 season, as well as when they brought in Todd McLellan the following summer.

After four years on the NHL bench, the organization re-assigned him to the AHL’s Ontario Reign for his first crack at being a head coach in the pros. He’s coached the Reign to a 76-55-13 record over the past two seasons, losing to the Coachella Valley Firebirds in this year’s Pacific Division Final.

Free Agent Focus: Winnipeg Jets

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Free agency is now just a bit more than a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens.  There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  We begin our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Jets.

Key Restricted Free Agents

D Ville Heinola – This season didn’t quite go as planned for Heinola.  Hoping to earn a roster spot in training camp, he instead fractured his ankle late in camp, keeping him shelved until January.  Upon his return, he was assigned to AHL Manitoba and while he was quite productive with the Moose, he never got the call.  The best news for Heinola is that he’ll be waiver-eligible next season and it’s hard to see a scenario where he clears waivers.  Accordingly, instead of signing a two-way deal worth the minimum in the NHL with a higher AHL salary, he could simply elect to accept his $874K qualifying offer (even though it’d carry a $70K AHL salary) knowing that he’s highly unlikely to be in the minors next season.

F Cole Perfetti – Perfetti took a step forward offensively this season, notching 19 goals and 19 assists in 71 regular season games, not bad numbers for someone in his sophomore year.  However, he found himself in the press box most nights when it counted the most, ending his campaign on a bit of a low note.  At this point, it’s unlikely that either side would want to work out a long-term agreement; a bridge deal makes much more sense especially with him tailing off toward the end of the year.  That deal should check in somewhere around the $3MM range depending on how many years it goes for.

D Logan Stanley – In 2022-23, Stanley was a frequent healthy scratch and rarely played which led to some wondering if he’d be tendered a qualifying offer with arbitration rights.  Things really didn’t change this year.  The 25-year-old was limited to just 28 games (including playoffs) while averaging less than 14 minutes a night.  The qualifying offer is just $1MM and arbitration eligibility shouldn’t be too much of a concern here but if they see him squarely in seventh defenseman territory, how deep into seven figures do they want to go for that role?  Regardless of what happens, another one-year deal around this price point should be coming his way, either from Winnipeg or somewhere else.

Other RFAs: F David Gustafsson, D Artemi Kniazev, D Simon Lundmark, G Oskari Salminen

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

G Laurent Brossoit – The decision to return to Winnipeg certainly worked out well for Brossoit.  After spending most of 2022-23 in the minors, he was one of the top backups in the league this season, posting a 2.00 GAA along with a .927 SV% in 23 games.  He’s played well enough to earn a fair-sized raise on the $1.75MM he made this year which will price him out of what the Jets can afford.  That said, he has just 140 NHL appearances under his belt which might stop him from getting top-end backup money.  Still, he could push for closer to $3MM and potentially a multi-year deal, a solid outcome for someone who was in the minors not too long ago.

D Dylan DeMelo – The 31-year-old has shown slow but steady improvement throughout his career and is coming off his best performance so far, notching 31 points while averaging nearly 22 minutes a night during the season, both career-bests.  He also finished second in the league in plus/minus, checking in at +46.  Being a right-shot defender will certainly help bolster DeMelo’s market as well.  Four years ago, the four-year, $12MM deal looked a bit risky for someone who had exclusively been on the third pairing.  In the end, it was a bargain and DeMelo is now well-positioned to land another contract that long while adding at least a million per season more to that price tag.

D Brenden Dillon – Dillon isn’t going to hit the scoresheet very often but as far as dependable physical blueliners go, he’s a good one.  He has had that role for the past three years with the Jets, logging around 19 minutes a game while logging some big minutes shorthanded.  It appears that Winnipeg is leaning toward moving on (his leaving opens up a spot for Heinola) but Dillon should have a solid market this summer.  His set-to-expire contract carries a $3.9MM AAV and on a blueline market that isn’t the deepest in July, he should check in around that amount again on another multi-year agreement.

F Sean Monahan – The Jets parted with their first-round pick to bring in Monahan back in February and the fit was nearly seamless as he slotted in on their second line.  After several injury-riddled seasons, the 29-year-old actually led the NHL in games played with 83 which will certainly help his case, as will his 26-goal, 33-point showing.  His market will be an interesting one as there likely will be some teams still wary given Monahan’s injury history.  That likely takes a long-term agreement off the table.  However, he’s among the top few centers available and the market for those players can go up quickly.  A multi-year agreement past the $4MM mark should be achievable and if the demand is fairly high, $5MM or more shouldn’t be impossible to reach.

F Tyler Toffoli – After a breakout year with Calgary last season, it was fair to expect a drop-off in production.  Having said that, while his assists dropped by 17, he only went down by one goal, going from 34 to 33, putting him fourth among UFAs in that department.  His last trip through free agency didn’t go as well as he hoped, resulting in a four-year, $17MM contract that wound up being a team-friendly agreement rather quickly.  Now 32 and having shown he can produce with several teams, he should have a stronger market this time around.  That should give him a chance for another deal around the length of his last one with a price tag that pushes the $6MM mark.

Other UFAs: D Kyle Capobianco, G Collin Delia, F Jeff Malott, D Colin Miller, F Kristian Reichel, D Ashton Sautner, F Jeffrey Viel

Projected Cap Space

The Jets head into the offseason with a little over $13MM in cap space which clearly isn’t enough to bring back everyone.  They can likely afford to keep one of the two defensemen and it seems like DeMelo is their preferred option.  Up front, they might be able to keep one of Monahan or Toffoli but not both and that assumes that Perfetti winds up on a shorter-term contract.  They’ll also likely opt for a low-cost backup behind Connor Hellebuyck whose new seven-year, $59.5MM deal begins in July.  If they keep a forward and a defenseman, re-sign their RFAs, and add a cheaper backup, that might just about be it for GM Kevin Cheveldayoff this summer.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Seth Griffith Signs Two-Year AHL Contract With Bakersfield

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Veteran winger Seth Griffith has long been a productive scorer in the minors which made him highly sought after in free agency which has allowed him to land sizable guaranteed salaries even on a two-way deal.  However, that won’t be a concern this time around as AHL Bakersfield announced that they’ve signed the pending UFA to a two-year AHL agreement.

The 31-year-old had been on an NHL contract with the Oilers for each of the last four seasons.  However, that didn’t result in much action at the top level as Griffith played just once for Edmonton back in 2020-21 after making 79 appearances with four different teams over the previous six years.

Accordingly, rather than look for a two-way offer somewhere without much hope of seeing NHL action, Griffith is sticking around where he’s comfortable while giving Edmonton some extra flexibility on the contract front as they won’t have to have him count against their 50-contract limit.  Of course, Griffith will technically remain an NHL free agent and could sign elsewhere but an agreement like this makes that outcome unlike.  The Oilers will be able to convert him to an NHL deal down the road if they so desire.

This season, Griffith was one of the top point producers in the AHL once again, tallying 15 goals and 48 assists in 68 games for the Condors to lead his team in scoring for the sixth time in his career.  He has 572 points in 619 regular season games at that level and will be adding to those totals for a little while longer.

Rick Tocchet Wins 2024 Jack Adams Award

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While Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet is still understandably down after Vancouver was eliminated earlier this week, he did get some good news on Thursday.  The league announced that he has won this year’s Jack Adams Award, given to “the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success,” as selected by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association.  Tocchet released the following statement on the team’s website:

This really is a team award, and I couldn’t have done any of this without the support of our staff and complete buy-in from the players. I am truly honoured and humbled by this achievement and look forward to getting back to work this summer as we continue to work on improving our hockey team. Vancouver is a passionate hockey market and our fans were a huge part of our success this season.

Tocchet had his first full season behind the Vancouver bench this season after taking over for Bruce Boudreau partway through the 2022-23 campaign.  It was certainly a successful season on the ice for the Canucks as they took home the Pacific Division total with the third-most points (109) in franchise history, following a 50-23-9 effort.  They became one of the stingier teams defensively, going from allowing 3.61 to 2.70 goals per game, good for a tie for fifth-fewest league-wide.

Vancouver also had a fairly successful showing in the playoffs.  In their first playoff appearance since 2019-20 (and second since 2014-15), the Canucks overcame an opening-game injury to Thatcher Demko to get past Nashville in six games in the opening round.  They then took Edmonton to a seventh and deciding contest, ultimately falling 3-2 back on Monday.  Nevertheless, the Canucks winning the division and going two rounds into the playoffs wasn’t necessarily an outcome that many were expecting.

That thought held true in voting as Tocchet took home 82 of 114 first-place votes while landing in the top three on 109 ballots.  That gave him a decisive victory over Nashville’s Andrew Brunette and Winnipeg’s Rick Bowness who finished second and third respectively.

Tocchet becomes the third coach in Canucks history to take home the Jack Adams Award.  The others were Pat Quinn in 1992 and Alain Vigneault back in 2007.

It will be the better part of a week before the next end-of-season award is announced.  The King Clancy Memorial Trophy is next on the list with the winner of that one being revealed on Tuesday.

Flames And Assistant Coach Marc Savard Mutually Part Ways

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After just one season behind the bench in Calgary, the Flames announced that they and assistant coach Marc Savard have mutually parted ways.  GM Craig Conroy released the following statement on the move:

We would like to thank Marc for his commitment last season and also for his professionalism during this process to arrive at today’s decision. We wish Marc success with his future endeavors in the game.

Savard joined Calgary last June, joining Ryan Huska’s staff after he was appointed as their new bench boss.  It was his first time being back behind an NHL bench since the 2019-20 season when he was with St. Louis.  In between that time, Savard spent two years as head coach with OHL Windsor which helped get him back on the NHL coaching radar.

Savard was responsible for running Calgary’s forward group and power play this season, units that didn’t exactly light it up.  The Flames scored seven fewer goals than 2022-23 while they had just a 17.7% success rate on the man advantage, good for 26th league-wide after being 18th the year before.  Of course, it bears mentioning that they moved out their two top point-getters from 2022-23 in Tyler Toffoli and Elias Lindholm which certainly wouldn’t have helped things.

Savard’s time with St. Louis is notable as there has been speculation that Toronto head coach Craig Berube would be interested in adding Savard to his staff.  That outcome is a lot easier to make happen now as a result of Savard parting ways with the Flames.

Bruins Announce Offseason Plans

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Speaking to the media this morning, the General Manager of the Boston Bruins, Don Sweeney, announced his plans and goals for the upcoming offseason. With the press conference later summarized by TheFourthPeriod, Sweeney illustrates that his main goal is to build up the team’s secondary scoring.

To quote Sweeney, the veteran General Manager stated, “There are some things that we need to address from the standpoint of free agency and/or internal growth. I have to be able to find some players that can come in and provide secondary scoring. We’re going to be aggressive to be able to complement what we currently have in some areas… I’ve got to find the players that complement our group and push us forward”.

Heading into the summer, the Bruins will have approximately $22MM to work with, but a decent chunk of that will go to goaltender Jeremy Swayman, who is set to become a restricted free agent on July 1st. After an impressive three-year run in Boston, Swayman will likely be asking for a contract similar to that of Connor Hellebuyck, who signed a seven-year, $59.5MM contract to remain with the Winnipeg Jets organization last summer.

If the Bruins are ready to hand out that kind of money to Swayman, they will certainly have to move on from Linus Ullmark, who will have one-year, $5MM remaining on his contract for the 2024-25 NHL season. As good as the duo has performed for Boston over the last two years, it is hard to conceptualize a competitive team spending close to $14MM on goaltending even if it is only for one year.

Assuming the Bruins can move out the contract of Ullmark without taking any money back in return, and factoring in the hypothetical extension for Swayman, the team should have around $18MM in cap flexibility to peruse the trade block and free agent market. Since Sweeney is putting a premium on secondary scoring this summer, they should be able to realize that goal if that is ultimately the cap space they are working with.

As far as internal options go, the Bruins already have a quick solution in Jake DeBrusk, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent in a few short weeks. Depending on the price, Boston should be able to retain DeBrusk on a short- to mid-term contract, as he will be one of the better secondary scoring options on the market regardless. Throughout his seven years in Massachusetts, DeBrusk has been able to regularly produce between 20-30 goals a year, normally finishing top five on the team each year in that particular department.

Luckily for the Bruins, the free agent market will be flooded with secondary scoring options this summer, as they will have the opportunity to sign the likes of Patrick Kane, Tyler Toffoli, Chandler Stephenson, Anthony Mantha, Anthony Duclair, as well as others. There is not one individual player in that group that should take too much of a chunk out of Boston’s available cap space; assuming the team is not going after the likes of Jake Guentzel, Sam Reinhart, or Steven Stamkos.

After the conclusion of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, this summer’s trade market should start materializing into more of a clearer picture than where it’s at right now. However, it is already expected that Martin Necas of the Carolina Hurricanes will be moved this summer, as the Hurricanes do not appear willing to meet his contractual demands. If Carolina is intent on moving him, Necas would be a nice piece to add to the Bruins’ top six.

No matter the direction they ultimately take, Boston will have an abundant pool to pick from this summer to add to their secondary scoring. Additionally, the emergence of a few prospects this past season may allow the Bruins to deal from their list of already established players, which would give them even more cap flexibility heading into the offseason.

Game 1 Notes: Panthers, Oettinger, Henrique, Lindgren

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When they take on the New York Rangers tonight in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Florida Panthers will have a fully healthy roster. Earlier today, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reported that Sam Bennett, Dmitry Kulikov, and Niko Mikkola skated at practice this morning, and the trio would be in the lineup this evening.

Bennett, who has seemingly become one of the more controversial players in this year’s postseason, has already had to sit out five games with a hand injury. In Game 2 of the team’s Round One series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Bennett took a slapshot off the hand from teammate Brandon Montour, and would not play again until Game 3 against the Boston Bruins. Likely still dealing with some nagging pain from the injury, it is not expected to keep Bennett out of the action moving forward.

Unlike Bennett, there were no formal announcements of injuries for either Kulikov or Mikkola, although the latter left Florida’s bench with about three minutes remaining in Game 6 against the Bruins. With both players confirmed to be in the lineup for Game 1 tonight, a completely healthy defensive core for the Panthers should give the Rangers quite a bit of trouble in generating offense.

Other Game 1 notes:

  • On the other side of the bracket, the Dallas Stars may be dealing with some trouble in the net ahead of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oilers, as goaltender Jake Oettinger left practice early today with an illness (Article Link). The team is expecting Oettinger to be healthy and ready for the opening matchup tomorrow night, but it could certainly complicate matters in the crease. In this year’s playoff against the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche, Oettinger has started in all 13 games for the Stars, producing a solid .918 save percentage and 2.08 goals against average.
  • Staying in the Western Conference Finals, the Oilers are not expecting back forward Adam Henrique until at least Game 3 (X Link). Dealing with an undisclosed injury, Henrique only managed to play in Game 2 of Edmonton’s Round Two series against the Vancouver Canucks, and has not returned to the ice since. Now that the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have shrunk to only four teams, the Oilers will need all the help they can get up front to take down the Stars.
  • Moving back to New York, Dan Rosen of the NHL is reporting that defenseman Ryan Lindgren will enter into the lineup for Game 1. Although he has not missed a game this postseason, Lindgren did not skate with the team during Sunday’s optional skate and missed the team’s practices on Monday and Tuesday due to maintenance. Nevertheless, it appears that Lindgren will be good to go for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals this evening.

Sharks Sign Luca Cagnoni To Entry-Level Deal

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The Sharks have signed Luca Cagnoni, one of the organization’s top defense prospects, to an entry-level contract. It’s a three-year deal for the 19-year-old, per the team. The contract carries an $895K cap hit with the following breakdown, PuckPedia reports:

2024-25: $775K base salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K games played bonus
2025-26: $800K base salary, $95K signing bonus, $55K games played bonus
2026-27: $825K base salary, $95K signing bonus, $30K games played bonus

Since Cagnoni will turn 20 before January 1, 2025, he is not eligible for an entry-level slide. His contract will begin next season regardless of how many NHL games he plays.

Viewed as a potential late first-round selection in the 2023 draft, Cagnoni fell all the way to the fourth round, where the Sharks snapped him up with the 123rd overall pick, acquired from the Kraken for depth defenseman Jaycob Megna. Seattle had previously acquired the pick from the Avalanche in exchange for Kurtis MacDermid.

Now, it looks like a difficult trade to stomach for both teams that passed up the pick. Cagnoni had an electric post-draft season for the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks, leading the league in assists (72) and points (90) by a defenseman in 65 games. But despite posting the best offensive season by a WHL blue liner in 30 years, he wasn’t named one of the four finalists for their Defenseman of the Year award, passed over in favor of Avalanche prospect Graham Sward as the U.S. Division nominee.

Size remains Cagnoni’s main limitation. NHL teams were universally cautious about his 5’9″ frame, and he doesn’t have the elite defensive awareness to compensate for his lack of ability to box out larger opponents.

Still, he’s an incredible offensive threat who also put up nearly a point per game with Portland in his draft year. 2020 first-round pick Shakir Mukhamadullin, acquired from the Devils in last year’s Timo Meier trade, takes the cake as the organization’s top overall defense prospect after a strong season in the AHL, but Cagnoni has the highest ceiling in terms of point production of any defender in the San Jose system.

His December birthday also means he’s eligible for assignment to AHL San Jose next season, a likely scenario given he has nothing left to prove in juniors. He had 13 points in 13 playoff games as the Winterhawks advanced to the WHL championship but lost to the Moose Jaw Warriors in a sweep.

Cagnoni’s deal will expire after the 2026-27 season, at which point he’ll be a restricted free agent.

Lightning Sign Dyllan Gill To Entry-Level Contract

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The Lightning have signed right-shot defense prospect Dyllan Gill to his three-year, entry-level deal, per CapFriendly. It carries an $870K cap hit, including $775K in base salary, a $95K signing bonus, an $80K games played performance bonus, and a minors salary of $82.5K annually.

Tampa would have lost Gill’s exclusive signing rights if they hadn’t inked him to a deal by next month. This would have allowed him to re-enter the draft and be eligible for selection in 2024.

Gill, 19, has spent his major junior career in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. While he served as captain this season, his campaign was cut short after just 12 games due to an upper-body injury.

The defender had a strong post-draft season with Rouyn-Noranda in 2022-23, though, posting eight goals and 49 assists for 57 points in 68 games with a +12 rating. He’s intelligent with the puck in his own end and has good size at 6’2″.

The New Brunswick native turns 20 next month and is eligible for assignment to AHL Syracuse next season. However, after missing most of last year due to injury, the Lightning could loan him back to Rouyn-Noranda for an overage season if the club has an open spot. Canadian Hockey League clubs are allowed to carry three 20-year-olds on their roster at any given time.

Gill will become a restricted free agent when his deal expires after the 2026-27 season. His younger brother, Spencer Gill, is also a right-shot defenseman and is expected to be a second or third-round pick in this year’s draft.

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