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Maple Leafs Notes: Trades, Shanahan, Injuries

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While the Maple Leafs’ management didn’t give any updates about their search for a head coach during Friday morning’s end-of-season media availability, there was still a handful of information divulged worth discussing.

That includes team president Brendan Shanahan confirming nothing has been ruled out regarding possible trades or other changes to the roster this summer (via Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman). After this year’s first-round loss to the Bruins, Toronto has lost eight of its nine playoff series in the Mitch Marner/Auston Matthews/William Nylander era. Matthews and Nylander have signed recent extensions and won’t be moved after career seasons, but Marner and captain John Tavares each are pending UFAs beginning July 1.

Both Marner and Tavares have full no-move clauses, though, something that makes general manager Brad Treliving’s job much harder if they do opt to free up a sizable amount of cap space by moving a core piece. Even with a lack of scoring largely dooming them against Boston this year, expect any of Treliving’s moves or adds this summer to be centered around defensive or physical play – he confirmed as such today (via TSN’s Chris Johnston). That would fall in line with the moves Treliving made before this year’s trade deadline, picking up shutdown defensemen Joel Edmundson and Ilya Lyubushkin as well as checking forward Connor Dewar.

Other updates from Leafland:

  • After the team fired head coach Sheldon Keefe yesterday, many thought Shanahan’s job could be in jeopardy as well since he’s overseen all of the Maple Leafs’ playoff losses since Matthews was drafted in 2016. That won’t be the case, though. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley confirmed the organization would retain Shanahan this summer with one year left on his contract (via the Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan). Shanahan has been in the president/alternate governor role for the Leafs for over a decade now, joining the club in April 2014 after serving as the NHL’s director of player safety.
  • Treliving also spoke to the injuries that plagued many of Toronto’s core pieces throughout the first round, including Matthews and Nylander (via The Hockey News’ David Alter). Namely, he confirmed that Matthews’ absence in Games 5 and 6 – which they both won – wasn’t solely due to the illness he’d picked up earlier in the series, but rather a head injury sustained in Game 4. Treliving also confirmed that Nylander’s absence through the first three games of the series was due to migraines, while goaltender Joseph Woll sustained an SI joint sprain in his back during Game 6 that kept him out of their Game 7 loss. The lower-body injury that kept depth winger Bobby McMann out of action was an MCL sprain sustained near the end of the season, and he would have been available to return during the second round if they made it. Dewar, who doesn’t have a contract next season but is a restricted free agent, also requires shoulder surgery but will be ready for training camp.

Penguins Sign Valtteri Puustinen To Two-Year Extension

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The Penguins have signed winger Valtteri Puustinen to a two-year contract extension, general manager Kyle Dubas announced Friday. It’s a one-way deal carrying the league minimum base salary of $775K each season, indicating the team intends on him making the opening night roster next season.

Puustinen, 25 next month, encroached on NHL regular territory for the first time this season. The 2019 seventh-round pick of the Pens spent most of the season on the NHL roster, signed to a two-way deal ($775K/$385K) after spending all of 2022-23 with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

He proved himself as one of Pittsburgh’s better depth point producers among a bottom six that otherwise struggled to score. Making 52 of his 53 career NHL appearances, Puustinen notched five goals and 15 assists for 20 points. Despite averaging less than 12 minutes per game, his 0.38 points per game ranked eighth among Penguins forwards, excluding Jake Guentzel, who was dealt to the Hurricanes at the trade deadline.

The 5’9″ Finn was waiver-exempt this season, but that designation will lapse on July 1. In the unlikely event that Puustinen doesn’t crack Pittsburgh’s opening night roster in October, they’ll need to expose him to waivers to assign him to the AHL. Signing him to a one-way contract with a bit of term slightly lowers the probability that he’d be claimed, but a league minimum cap hit still makes him an attractive target for other teams looking for depth scoring.

Despite his age, Puustinen was a pending Group Six unrestricted free agent because he’d logged fewer than 80 NHL games while playing three or more professional seasons. The Penguins would not have controlled his signing rights if they had not agreed on an extension before July 1.

Notably, Puustinen also had above-average possession metrics this season, with a 52.3 CF% and 52.7 xGF% at even strength, per Hockey Reference. If he can again comfortably tackle bottom-six minutes next season, this is a tidy bit of work from Dubas to lock in some extremely cheap depth scoring for the next two years.

Puustinen will be a true unrestricted free agent when his new deal expires in 2026. The Penguins now have 32 of a maximum 50 standard player contracts signed for next season.

Penguins RFA Filip Lindberg Signs With Liiga’s SaiPa

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Penguins restricted free agent netminder Filip Lindberg has signed a one-year deal with SaiPa of the Finnish Liiga, per a team release (translated to English).

Lindberg, 25, hasn’t played in North America since his entry-level contract with the Penguins expired after the 2022-23 season. A seventh-round pick of the Wild in 2019, they failed to sign him to an ELC before his exclusive signing rights lapsed, and he ended up with Pittsburgh in free agency after three seasons of excellent hockey at UMass.

The Finnish puck-stopper struggled with injuries in college and never won the starting role outright, platooning with Stars netminder Matt Murray during his time in Amherst. But when Lindberg was in the crease, he was dominant, recording a 1.58 GAA, .937 SV%, 11 shutouts and a 29-10-6 record in 50 appearances.

Unfortunately, injuries followed him to Pennsylvania after he turned pro. After being named the AHL’s goalie of the month in October 2021, he played in just 26 games for AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton over two seasons in the Penguins organization. He did have solid numbers (3.03 GAA, .901 SV%) behind a weak team but failed to replicate his collegiate play.

The Penguins retained his NHL rights by extending him a qualifying offer after the 2022-23 campaign ended, but Lindberg opted not to sign it and returned home to suit up for the Liiga’s TPS this season. He managed to stay healthy, but his level of play fell off a cliff, struggling to a 2.54 GAA, .883 SV% and 6-12-11 record in 31 appearances.

Unsurprisingly, the Espoo native decided to try his hand elsewhere and didn’t extend with TPS. He now lands with SaiPa, whose goaltenders posted similarly poor numbers last season, to bolster their crease.

Lindberg carries 10.2(c) status in the eyes of the NHL, meaning he’s ineligible to sign an offer sheet with another team while his signing rights are still the property of the Penguins. Pittsburgh must sign him to a contract before free agency opens in 2026 to avoid letting his signing rights lapse.

Sharks Interview Assistant Ryan Warsofsky For Head Coaching Vacancy

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The Sharks have interviewed assistant coach Ryan Warsofsky recently, reports Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now. He’ll be considered for a promotion after the team fired bench boss David Quinn last month with one season left on his contract.

Warsofsky, 36, has never been a head coach in the NHL, but this isn’t the first time he’s received interest. After a quick rise up the ranks in the AHL, reports indicated he was generating buzz among NHL front offices in the summer of 2022, although he settled for an assistant role on Quinn’s staff in San Jose.

His two-year run as an assistant with the Sharks thus far is his first-ever role in the NHL as a player or coach. After a collegiate career and one-year professional stint in 2011-12 that included stops in the Netherlands and American low minor leagues, Warsofsky ended his playing career and returned to his alma mater, Curry College, to assist their Division III program.

After one season, Warsofsky landed a job as an assistant with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays, then the second-tier affiliate of the Bruins. Serving on the staff of future Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery, Warsofsky remained in his assistant role for three seasons before taking over as head coach in 2016 after Carbery left to be the head coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Saginaw Spirit.

The Stingrays, now affiliated with Washington, continued a solid success with Warsofsky as their head coach and director of hockey operations. They didn’t win a division title under Warsofsky, but they did make the playoffs both times and advanced to the Kelly Cup Final in 2017. After posting an 88-44-12 record in two campaigns in South Carolina, Warsofsky joined the Hurricanes organization as an assistant coach with their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.

Warsofsky lasted just one season in Charlotte before being promoted, assuming head coaching duties for the 2019-20 season after serving on Mike Vellucci’s Calder Cup-winning staff the year prior. He remained with the Hurricanes when they changed their AHL affiliation to the Chicago Wolves for 2020-21, capping off his time in the organization with a Calder Cup championship of his own in 2021-22 with future Carolina regulars Jalen Chatfield, Jack Drury, Pyotr Kochetkov and Stefan Noesen playing integral roles.

It was at that point that Warsofsky started garnering NHL consideration. After landing with the Sharks in 2022, he received his first call to the U.S. men’s national team, serving as an assistant under Quinn at the 2023 World Championship.

If he gets the job, Warsofsky would become the youngest head coach in the NHL by a mile, beating out Carbery by six years. The Sharks haven’t been firmly linked to other candidates on the market. However, there’s been a fair amount of speculation about Lightning assistant Jeff Halpern, Kraken assistant Jay Leach, former Sharks winger and AHL Ontario head coach Marco Sturm, ex-Sharks assistant and Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft, all of whom Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested as fits on the “32 Thoughts” podcast late last month.

Snapshots: Devils, Leonard, Berube

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At the beginning of the season, the Devils weren’t expected to be picking in the top ten but that’s where they find themselves after the lottery earlier this week.  Speaking after the lottery, GM Tom Fitzgerald indicated to reporters including team reporter Amanda Stein that it’s not a guarantee he’ll use the tenth pick next month, suggesting it’s an option to be moved if the right trade presents itself.  It’s not very often that top-ten picks are dealt but with New Jersey being a team in win-now mode, they could be inclined to try to use that selection for someone who is more established and can contribute right away.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • Capitals prospect Ryan Leonard opted not to sign with Washington for their playoff run, instead choosing to stay at Boston College instead. However, with San Jose getting the first-overall pick (which is expected to be used on Macklin Celebrini), it’s possible that Celebrini signing will also result in San Jose getting Will Smith to turn pro and become their one-two punch down the middle.  If that happens, Colby Cohen suggested on a recent Daily Faceoff appearance (video link) that Washington could then try to re-engage on getting Leonard, a current teammate of Smith, to sign for 2024-25.  Leonard had a dominant campaign, putting up 31 goals and 29 assists in 41 games in his freshman year.
  • While the Kings haven’t decided on if they’ll remove the interim tag from Jim Hiller who took over as head coach midseason, Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reports in his latest Toronto Star column that Los Angeles is kicking the tires on Craig Berube. Berube has also been speculatively linked to the openings in New Jersey and Toronto and appears to be well-positioned to return behind an NHL bench in the coming weeks.  The 55-year-old has been an NHL bench boss for parts of eight seasons with his teams playing to a .584 points percentage.

Central Notes: Cogliano, Carrier, Rossi

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Avalanche winger Andrew Cogliano has played on one-year deals in each of the last three seasons and with his 17th NHL campaign ending at the conclusion of Colorado’s playoffs, there are questions about whether he’ll continue playing.  Speaking with Kyle Frederickson of The Denver Gazette, the 36-year-old indicated that he’s hopeful to stick around but also wants to see how things go in the postseason and go from there.  Cogliano logged a career-low 10:37 per game during the regular season but was fairly productive despite the low ice time, notching 19 points in 75 contests while adding four assists in six playoff appearances despite barely logging nine minutes a night.

More from the Central:

  • Predators defenseman Alexandre Carrier is set to hit unrestricted free agency in July but Nick Kieser of 102.5 The Game notes that there was a bit of dialogue between the two sides about an extension earlier in the season and that his desire is to remain in Nashville. The 27-year-old had a breakout year in 2021-22 and has been an important part of their back end since then.  Carrier had 20 points and 137 blocks in 73 games with the Preds this season and is well-positioned to receive a multi-year deal this summer with a raise from the $2.5MM he made on his set-to-expire deal.
  • Despite a strong first full NHL season, Minnesota is believed to be open to offers on center Marco Rossi, reports Anthony DiMarco of The Fourth Period. The 22-year-old potted 21 goals and 19 assists in 82 games while logging a little under 17 minutes, a solid rookie campaign for the ninth overall pick in 2020.  This doesn’t appear to be a case where the Wild are shopping Rossi but rather one where they’re open to the idea of a ‘hockey trade’ where they’re getting a quality piece back.  Notably, Rossi has another year left on his entry-level deal and with one more year of expensive cap charges on the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts (before the charges drop considerably for 2025-26 and beyond), they would likely be looking for a similarly-priced contract if they were to part with him.

Atlantic Notes: Maple Leafs, Alfredsson, Malik

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At the moment, the Maple Leafs only have one goaltender with NHL experience signed for next season, Joseph Woll.  With that in mind, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic suggested on his latest podcast (video link) that Toronto is likely to sign a pair of experienced netminders for 2024-25.  At first glance, finding a partner for Woll will be the top priority while also trying to fill the role that Martin Jones had this season as the veteran third-string option that can be serviceable when called upon.  Ilya Samsonov, Matt Murray, and Jones are all set to hit the open market in July with Johnston believing that it’s possible that one of the three could return to fill one of those two spots.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • Speaking at his introductory press conference yesterday, new Senators head coach Travis Green told reporters including Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch that he’s open to having Daniel Alfredsson return as an assistant coach next season. Alfredsson rejoined Ottawa as a development coach for last season but moved behind the bench as an assistant when Jacques Martin took over as interim head coach midseason.  Alfredsson is believed to be weighing a decision as to whether he wants to stay behind the bench regularly or go back to his originally planned role.
  • Lightning prospect Nick Malik is on the move as HC Plzen of the Czech Extraliga announced that they’ve signed the netminder to a two-year deal. The 22-year-old was a fifth-round pick (160th overall) back in 2022 after a strong first season with KooKoo in Finland.  However, the last two years haven’t gone as well; his save percentage dropped to .889 in 38 games this season, 33 points down from 2021-22.  Considering that Tampa Bay hasn’t signed him yet coupled with this news, it looks unlikely that he’ll receive his entry-level deal by the June 1st deadline.

Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag

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For three-quarters of the league, the offseason is now underway.  We’ve seen some exciting playoff matchups in the opening round while several teams now find themselves looking for new coaches with others potentially following suit in the coming days.  With that in mind, it’s a good time to open up the mailbag.

Our last mailbag was split into two columns.  Topics in the first included Chicago’s goaltending situation, the potential offseason coaching carousel, and college free agency.  Meanwhile, in the second, topics included what’s next for San Jose, if this is the summer where Nashville moves a goalie, and expansion.

You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter/X or by leaving a comment down below.  The mailbag will run on the weekend.

Rangers’ Filip Chytil To Return For Game 3

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5:53 p.m.: Chytil is listed on the Rangers’ lineup card for Game 3 and will play, per The Athletic’s Peter Baugh. He’s been taken off long-term injured reserve as a result, although the move has no salary cap ramifications in the postseason.

5:43 p.m.: Pre-game line rushes indicate that Rangers center Filip Chytil is likely to draw in for tonight’s Game 3 against the Hurricanes, per NHL.com’s Dan Rosen. The Czech pivot hasn’t played in over seven months due to suspected concussion symptoms.

The Rangers have only ever confirmed that Chytil missed time with an upper-body injury, although multiple reports have suggested concussions were the reason for his absence. He sustained the initial suspected concussion against the Hurricanes on Nov. 2, leading him to return to Czechia midseason for a brief period in his recovery.

Chytil returned to New York in mid-January, but during just his second session with the team in a non-contact jersey, he tripped and sustained a setback that required him to be helped off the ice by teammates during a lightly attended skate. The Rangers announced within days that Chytil would miss the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign, but he was medically cleared a bit sooner than expected and returned to practice with the club nearly a month ago.

With no hiccups in his return to game conditioning over the past few weeks, they now get him back with a chance to take a 3-0 stranglehold on their second-round series on the road in Carolina. Fourth-line enforcer Matt Rempe will be scratched to accommodate his return after logging a goal, 8 PIMs, and a +1 rating in just 6:22 of average ice time through his first six playoff games.

In 10 regular-season games before his injury, Chytil had six assists while averaging 15:56 per game. The 2017 first-round pick had a career-high 22 goals and 45 points last season.

Offseason Checklist: NHL Utah

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The offseason has arrived for three-quarters of the NHL for teams that either missed the playoffs or were eliminated in the first round.  Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Utah.

The hockey operations staff that formerly comprised the Arizona Coyotes entered the 2023-24 campaign looking to take a measured step forward. They’d last made the playoffs in 2012, excluding the COVID bubble, and had already seen one season of improvement under head coach André Tourigny.

Early on, it looked like they may have had a prayer of ending their playoff drought, keeping pace in the wild-card race with a 19-14-2 record on New Year’s Day. Without a suitable arena plan in place by the All-Star break, though, relocation rumors again surged and, as players and staff have since admitted, fueled a long run of losing play.

They still ended the season with a respectable 36 wins, their most since 2019, and look a step closer to playoff contention. Under new ownership in Utah and a relatively endless supply of cap space and draft picks this summer, general manager Bill Armstrong has the opportunity to accelerate the yet-to-be-named roster’s rebuild in a big way.

Take Care Of Their Own

As a result of their previous situation, Utah has one of the lowest amounts of standard player contracts signed for next season in the league (22). That impact is felt mostly on defense, where not a single NHL-ready player is signed for 2024-25.

The good news is only two of their NHL regulars on the back end, Josh Brown and Travis Dermott, are unrestricted free agents. Everybody else is under team control, including their youthful top pairing of Sean Durzi and J.J. Moser.

The former relished the opportunity of being the Coyotes’ number-one defenseman last season, his first in the desert after they acquired him from the Kings last June. He responded with a career-best 41 points and a -1 rating in 76 games, averaging 22:43 per game and quarterbacking their top power-play unit. His possession impacts at even strength were among the best on the team, and while he may not be a long-term number-one guy on a championship team, he solidified his status as a first-pairing piece for the present. Evolving Hockey projects Durzi to receive a four-year deal worth around $5.9MM per season, an agreement both sides should be happy with.

Moser, who was also solid this season with 26 points in 80 games riding shotgun with Durzi, also needs a new deal. The 23-year-old has completed his entry-level contract. Michael Kesselring and Juuso Välimäki, who each held top-four roles for a decent chunk of the season, are also RFAs.

Utah has much less contractual work to do with their forwards. Among NHL regulars, only Barrett Hayton is an RFA, while enforcer Liam O’Brien is headed for unrestricted free agency but seems a good bet to re-sign. Nonetheless, gearing up for a big offseason spending spree will require a better indication of what their salary cap picture will look like with their RFAs and other returning players taken care of – especially if Armstrong and owners Smith Entertainment Group plan on gracing the $87.7MM upper limit.

Land An Impact Defenseman

The Coyotes’ biggest improvement last season was their offense. Ranking 16th in the league at 3.10 goals per game, it was certainly good enough to get them into the playoffs if their defense saw a marked improvement from last season.

Obviously, that wasn’t the case. Outside of Durzi and Moser, it was a rough go for most Coyotes blue-liners last season. Even Välimäki and Kesselring had some good moments throughout the year, but other regulars like Dermott and Mathew Dumba, prior to his trade to the Lightning, were bleeding quality chances against on a nightly basis.

Reports earlier in the month indicated that a top-four defenseman, along with a second-line center and a top-six winger, was on Armstrong’s shopping list for Utah’s roster this summer. A cursory look suggests it should be his biggest priority.

Kesselring and Välimäki proved last season they could stay afloat, each logging possession metrics slightly better than the team average. But having both of them in a top-four isn’t ideal, especially with a solid but pedestrian first pairing in Durzi and Moser. Adding a right-shot defenseman to complement Välimäki to slot in behind Durzi on the depth chart, allowing Kesselring to be increasingly effective in third-pairing minutes, would have a considerable domino effect. Can Armstrong land a Brett Pesce or Matt Roy on the UFA market? He’ll certainly have the cash.

Complement Cooley

Priority number two behind adding a defenseman among Armstrong’s already-dictated targets is adding a complement for Logan Cooley as a top-six center. The 2022 third-overall pick struggled early on in the season, getting caved defensively and failing to drive play, but settled in throughout the season en route to a solid 20-goal, 44-point rookie campaign. Averaging nearly 16 minutes per game, he’s not quite ready to be a bonafide first-liner between Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz, but he’s getting there. They’ll need some help to avoid overextending him too early in his career, though.

Adding a 1B center who can split top-six duties with Cooley would allow Nick Bjugstad and Hayton to center the club’s third and fourth lines, suddenly creating extremely solid depth considering they both rose to the occasion when relied upon for top-six usage this season. They can occupy top-six minutes to ease the burden on Cooley if necessary, but it’s not ideal if Armstrong and Smith believe playoffs should be in the conversation for Utah in 2024-25. The production wasn’t there for Hayton, who had just three goals and 10 points in 33 games despite spending most of his time when healthy next to Keller, but his 54.9 CF% at even strength was the best on the team, and he looks to be a reliable, two-way pivot to anchor their third line in the long term.

Jack McBain is also in the mix at center but, like the others, is much more comfortable in a bottom-six role. There aren’t many bonafide top-six options on the free agent center market this summer, so if Armstrong is looking to leverage some of Utah’s many upcoming second-round picks, it would be wise to do so.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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