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Hockey Canada Releases 2024 World Championship Roster

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May 7: Celebrini and Fantilli have returned home from Czechia, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports. The former will participate in tonight’s 2024 NHL Draft Lottery, while Fantilli’s reasons for departing are undisclosed. It’s unclear whether they’ve been removed from the roster entirely. In a corresponding transaction, the team added Kings center Pierre-Luc Dubois and Lightning forwards Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul to the roster.

May 3: Hockey Canada has released its roster of 22 players who will wear the maple leaf at the 2024 World Championship, which begins next week in Ostrava and Prague, Czechia. There are three open spots left to be filled throughout the tournament as more teams are eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Much like the initial World Championship roster that USA Hockey released weeks back, it’s almost completely made up of NHL talent – a rarity for the top-level countries at this tournament recently. The return and promise of future best-on-best international tournaments in the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics has players and front offices looking at this year’s Worlds as a tune-up and initial evaluation for those events.

In fact, the only non-NHL player on Canada’s tournament-opening roster will be in the league next season. That’s presumptive 2024 first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini, who continues his 2023-24 campaign after taking home the Hobey Baker Award for the top collegiate player in his freshman season with Boston University. Their offense is highlighted and led by Blackhawks rookie phenom Connor Bedard and Kraken sniper Jared McCann, while Sabres defenders Bowen Byram and Owen Power highlight the back end. Blues netminder Jordan Binnington is expected to serve as the team’s starter.

The full roster is as follows:

F Connor Bedard (Blackhawks)
F Michael Bunting (Penguins)
F Macklin Celebrini (2024 draft-eligible)
F Dylan Cozens (Sabres)
F Adam Fantilli (Blue Jackets)
F Ridly Greig (Senators)
F Dylan Guenther (NHL Utah)
F Andrew Mangiapane (Flames)
F Jack McBain (NHL Utah)
F Jared McCann (Kraken)
F Dawson Mercer (Devils)
F Brandon Tanev (Kraken)

D Bowen Byram (Sabres)
D Kaiden Guhle (Canadiens)
D Jamie Oleksiak (Kraken)
D Colton Parayko (Blues)
D Owen Power (Sabres)
D Damon Severson (Blue Jackets)
D Olen Zellweger (Ducks)

G Jordan Binnington (Blues)
G Nico Daws (Devils)
G Joel Hofer (Blues)

Senators Name Travis Green Head Coach

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May 7: Green and the Senators have come to an agreement and he’ll be announced as the Sens’ next bench boss on Tuesday, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The Senators did indeed announce the move, confirming a four-year contract that will keep him behind the Ottawa bench through 2027-28.

May 6: The Senators are expected to finalize Travis Green as their next head coach, TSN’s Darren Dreger confirms Monday.

Green finished 2023-24 as the interim head coach for the Devils, who fired Lindy Ruff four days before the trade deadline in a last-ditch effort to make the playoffs. While he remained in consideration for their still-open vacancy, New Jersey granted him permission to speak to Ottawa as late as last week, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reported. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman also said on today’s “32 Thoughts” podcast that things were trending toward Green landing with the Sens.

It wasn’t a strong finish to the season under Green for the Devils. They managed to drop below the .500 mark despite having a record of 30-27-4 when they fired Ruff, finishing 13th in the Eastern Conference and 10 points behind the Capitals for the second wild-card spot.

Green shouldn’t be faulted for New Jersey missing the playoffs. That was nearly settled well before he took over, with number-one defenseman Dougie Hamilton missing nearly the whole season and the Devils’ five goaltenders cumulatively allowing 19 goals above average. But it is concerning he wasn’t able to at least keep up the pace set under Ruff, especially considering New Jersey received its best goaltending of the season to end the year thanks to deadline pickup Jake Allen’s .900 SV% in 12 starts.

The 53-year-old has been a part of the NHL back to 1992, when he embarked on a 14-year, 970-game career as a player that involved stops with the Islanders, Mighty Ducks, Coyotes, Maple Leafs and Bruins. He retired in 2008 following one season of play with EV Zug in the Swiss NLA, taking two seasons off before landing his first coaching gig as an assistant with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League.

Green spent three years in Portland, taking over as interim head coach in 2012-13 when Winterhawks fixture and former Penguins head coach Mike Johnston was suspended for offering improper player benefits and committing various recruitment violations in his dual GM/head coach capacity. He didn’t miss a beat, coaching a high-powered Winterhawks squad led by future NHLers Oliver Bjorkstrand, Seth Jones, Brendan Leipsic, Nic Petan and Ty Rattie to a WHL championship.

That put Green on NHL teams’ radar, and he landed a job in the Canucks organization the following summer as head coach of their AHL affiliate in Utica. He remained there for four seasons, including a Calder Cup Final appearance in 2015, before being promoted to head coach of the Canucks in 2017.

Green’s showing over four and a quarter seasons in British Columbia was underwhelming, compiling a 133-147-34 record and a .478 points percentage. Again, it’s hard to blame Green – the Canucks had questionable roster construction under then-general manager Jim Benning – but there was very little suggesting he was an above-average coach. Vancouver’s lone postseason appearance under Green came in 2020, where they won a qualifying round series against the Wild in the Edmonton bubble and beat the Blues in the first round before falling to the Golden Knights in seven games in the second round. It was a deeper run than expected, although most would rightfully attribute it to the expert goaltending of Jacob Markström (.916 SV%, 8-6 in 14 GS) and Thatcher Demko (.985 SV%, 2-1 in 3 GS).

While he has more NHL experience as a head coach heading into the role than his permanent predecessor, D.J. Smith, it’s not the most exciting hire for an Ottawa team that hasn’t made the playoffs for seven years. Some roster overhauling will be necessary on behalf of GM Steve Staios to aid Green as he assumes control of the room, namely in giving him more offensive weapons to deploy in their bottom six and solidified goaltending.

Ottawa fired Smith amid a December losing streak and managed to go .500 the rest of the way under former bench boss Jacques Martin, who returned to the club to serve as their interim head coach for the last four months of the campaign.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

NHL Announces 2024 Hart Trophy Finalists

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The Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov, the Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon and the Oilers’ Connor McDavid have been named the finalists for the 2024 Hart Trophy, per Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek.

When the final votes come out, this will likely be one of the closest ballots in recent memory. Out of the gate, there’s no clear favorite. Kucherov finds himself back among the finalists for the second time, winning his only previous nomination in 2019. He, along with McDavid, was the first player to reach 100 assists in a single season since Wayne Gretzky in 1990-91. Adding 44 goals, he took home the Art Ross Trophy with 144 points in 81 games. He also led the league in both assists and points when he won the Hart in 2019. Kucherov averaged 21:40 per game, a career-high at age 30. He also had 54 more points than Brayden Point, who finished second on the Lightning with 90.

MacKinnon becomes a Hart finalist for the fourth time (2018, 2020, 2021) but presents a much stronger case than in years past. He’s coming off a truly career-defining season, rattling off 51 goals, 89 assists and 140 points – all career-highs by a decent margin – while playing in all 82 games. He led the league with 405 shots on goal and averaged nearly 23 minutes per game, helping the Avs stay afloat while dealing with the lengthy absences of important secondary scorers like Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin.

McDavid earns his fourth straight nomination after a down year for him in the goal-scoring department. His 32 goals were his fewest in seven years, and he only managed 263 shots on goal after breaching 300 the past two years. But, like Kucherov, he was on another level in the assist department, totaling 132 points in 76 games. He’ll aim to take home the trophy for the fourth time in his career, although he’s arguably more of a dark horse this year compared to Kucherov and MacKinnon.

The Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews did not finish top three in Hart voting despite scoring 69 goals, the most in a single season since Mario Lemieux in 1996.

Islanders Sign Marcus Högberg To Two-Year Deal

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May 7: The Islanders confirmed Högberg’s signing today, announcing a two-year deal for the veteran netminder. Per PuckPedia, the contract carries a $775K cap hit and is a two-way agreement in 2024-25 before converting to a one-way deal in 2025-26. Next season, he’ll earn a minor salary of $425K with a $550K guarantee.

April 29: In recent weeks, the Islanders have already been heavily linked to one international free agent, and it appears GM Lou Lamoriello isn’t done bringing in talent from overseas. They’re expected to bring in 29-year-old goalie Marcus Högberg from the Swedish Hockey League’s Linköping HC to bolster their depth at the position, Expressen’s Johan Svensson reports. A statement from Linköping last week confirming that Högberg was leaving for the NHL indicates it’s a two-year deal.

Högberg does have 35 NHL starts and seven relief appearances under his belt, all coming with the Senators between 2018-19 and 2020-21. The 6’5″ Swede was an Ottawa third-round pick in 2013 out of the Linköping organization but remained there for four seasons, finally signing his entry-level deal in March 2017. He spent his first season in North America entirely in the minors, splitting the campaign between AHL Belleville and ECHL Brampton.

The following season saw Högberg emerge as a full-time AHL netminder, holding the starting role with Belleville (.917 SV%, 2.32 GAA, 2 SO in 39 GP). With injuries piling up in the Ottawa crease around New Year’s Day in 2019, Högberg got his first NHL chance. He made four starts around the turn of the calendar, struggling with a .884 SV%, 4.09 GAA and 0-2-1 record.

Nonetheless, his strong showing with the B-Sens left the door open for more starts over the next two seasons, with goalie injuries a common occurrence in the Canadian capital. After inking a two-year, $1.4MM extension in June 2019, Högberg was the primary backup to starter Craig Anderson in the latter half of the 2019-20 campaign while veteran Anders Nilsson was out with a concussion that would ultimately end his career. He made a career-high 21 starts and three relief appearances in Nilsson’s absence, posting a serviceable .904 SV% and 3.12 GAA while compiling a 5-8-8 record.

While still below average, Högberg actually had the best results of any Sens netminder that year, saving 4.8 goals below expected compared to Anderson’s 6.7 and Nilsson’s 7.5, per MoneyPuck. That won him the backup job behind offseason trade acquisition Matt Murray heading into the shortened 2020-21 campaign, but he was unable to replicate the previous season’s performance. He only made 10 starts and four relief appearances, limited in part by a lower-body injury that cost him 15 games, but was one of the worst goalies in the league on a per-game basis. After logging a .876 SV%, 3.74 GAA and a whopping 11.9 goals saved below expected in only 642 minutes of action, the Senators didn’t issue him a qualifying offer when his contract was up and let him walk to unrestricted free agency.

He’d actually left Ottawa before qualifying offers were due, signing a four-year deal to return to Linköping in mid-June 2021. He’s held down the starting role ever since, posting solid but not elite numbers behind a middling team. 2023-24 was his best season since returning to Sweden, posting a .914 SV%, 2.51 GAA, four shutouts and a 21-18-0 record in 40 games as Linköping made the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

Högberg leaving for North America comes just a month and a half after he signed a three-year extension that would have kept him in Linköping through 2027-28. The NHL/SHL transfer agreement permits NHL clubs to buy players out of their existing SHL contracts, which the Islanders will need to do in this case.

While the Islanders have one of the better goalie tandems in the NHL in Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov, their minor-league depth is some of the worst. AHL Bridgeport was one of the worst clubs in the league this season, and poor play from New York third-stringer Jakub Skarek was a major factor. Skarek, 24, was a third-round pick of the Isles in 2018 but has consistently struggled since turning pro, failing to post an SV% above .900 in any of his five campaigns with Bridgeport. Högberg will provide a much better foundation between the pipes for the Islanders’ prospects in Bridgeport and will be the most reliable call-up option they’ve had behind Sorokin and Varlamov in the last few years.

Blues Remove Interim Tag From Drew Bannister

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The Blues have removed the interim tag from head coach Drew Bannister, signing him to a two-year extension Tuesday to make him the 27th permanent bench boss in franchise history. The deal keeps Bannister in St. Louis through the 2025-26 season and brings the number of coaching vacancies down to six, a number that’s expected to drop further this week with the Senators close to hiring Travis Green.

Bannister, 50, guided the Blues to a strong 30-19-5 record after they dismissed 2019 Stanley Cup-winning coach Craig Berube on Dec. 12. After the team started 13-14-1 under Berube, Bannister got them to 92 points on the season, finishing ninth in the Western Conference and 16th in the league overall.

The former NHL defenseman has been in the Blues organization since 2018, serving as head coach and associate head coach of their AHL affiliates for parts of six seasons before his December promotion. He began his coaching career in England while still active as a player, serving as a player-assistant for the Elite Ice Hockey League’s Hull Stingrays in 2010-11 and a player-coach for Scotland’s Braehead Clan the following season.

After hanging up his skates in the summer of 2012, Bannister returned to North America, where he immediately resumed his coaching career as an assistant with the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League. Bannister held that role for three seasons before earning his first shot as a head coach, still in the OHL, with the Soo Greyhounds. In 2017-18, his final season with the club, the Greyhounds dominated the league with a 55-7-6 record, led by a 112-point campaign from future Flyers center Morgan Frost, earning him both CHL and OHL Coach of the Year honors. The Blues didn’t waste any time poaching him out of the junior ranks, appointing him head coach of the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage shortly thereafter.

The Blues are a team in transition with a rapidly aging defense corps, but they still aim to be competitive. They showed they could do that under Bannister and would have made the playoffs this season with his record had they been in the Eastern Conference. Even if there were more experienced candidates on the market this summer, it’s hard to argue with actual results – something Bannister delivered with his four months at the helm to close the season.

Blackhawks Likely To Explore Center Market

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While the Blackhawks aren’t planning on becoming full-fledged buyers as soon as next season, it’s clear general manager Kyle Davidson wants to take some measured steps to ease out of their rebuild after coming up with their worst record of the post-Original Six era in 2023-24. That will include adding a second-line center to give some added depth and relieve rising sophomore Connor Bedard of some pressure, Scott Powers of The Athletic said Tuesday.

Entering this season, the Blackhawks hoped 2020 first-round pick Lukas Reichel could assume the role. The German forward took a major step forward in his development in 2022-23, impressing with 20 goals and 51 points in 55 games with AHL Rockford and a strong showing in 23 NHL games (seven goals, 15 points, 16:22 ATOI).

But without much help around him, Reichel struggled with a full-time major league role and was even demoted back to Rockford for a stretch in February and March. He finished the campaign with only five goals, 16 points and a -29 rating in 65 games while averaging just over 14 minutes, and he was shifted back to left wing early on after going 43.4% in the faceoff dot.

That led to 28-year-old Jason Dickinson getting most of the reps as Chicago’s second-line center this season. The 2013 first-round pick of the Stars performed admirably in the process, having a career year with 22 goals, 35 points, and decidedly above-average possession metrics while averaging 16:34 per game.

Dickinson also took over 1,000 faceoffs for the first time and won exactly 50%, also a career-high. It earned him a two-year, $8.5MM extension in Chicago midway through the season, but he’s more suited for a third-line role on a competitive club.

Outside of Dickinson and Bedard, who tied for the team lead in goals, the Blackhawks were abysmal offensively. Second- and third-place scorers Nick Foligno and Philipp Kurashev were no doubt buoyed by being Bedard’s linemates for most of the season, as the likely Calder Trophy winner still managed to churn out 61 points in 68 games on a severely undermanned group while missing time with a broken jaw.

The Hawks’ 2.17 goals per game were the worst in the league, ever so slightly behind the last-place Sharks. Getting back to the 70-80 point range, a reasonable goal for the Hawks next season, will require more forward depth.

Chicago holds 13 picks in the first two rounds over the next three years, but they’re still too early in their rebuild to start parting with assets for established talent. That could come as soon as next summer if everything goes right in 2024-25, but for now, that leaves the unrestricted free agent market as Davidson’s main option to add a pivot.

Many of the true second-line options on the market, such as Sean Monahan, have expressed their desire to play with a contender. They likely won’t be able to land a major upgrade on Dickinson, but someone like Rangers pending UFA Jack Roslovic could fit the bill as a more offensively-inclined option.

Davidson has the cap space to target more highly-touted options like Matt Duchene, Elias Lindholm and Chandler Stephenson, but there are immediate questions about whether any of them would be willing to jump into a rebuilding roster, even if it seems last season was the low point. Max Domi could also be a reasonable option to return for his second stint with the club after he led them in scoring in 2022-23 with 49 points in 60 games.

Evening Notes: Blackhawks, Utah, Reichel

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Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that the Chicago Blackhawks will return to Milwaukee for another pre-season game at the Fiserv Forum. The Blackhawks will take on the St. Louis Blues on October 5th, 2024, two years after Chicago first played at the home of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.

Two years ago, the preseason game in Milwaukee sold out in just minutes and brought in over 15000 fans to watch the Blackhawks take on the Minnesota Wild. This time around the Blackhawks are hoping for more of the same from the passionate fanbase. The city of Milwaukee is currently home to the Milwaukee Admirals, who are the AHL affiliate for the NHL’s Nashville Predators and averaged over 6K fans a game this season.

In other evening notes:

  • TSN Insider Chris Johnston is reporting that Utah has plans to build a brand-new practice arena that will house two or more NHL-standard ice rinks. The team hopes that the new building will be completed prior to the 2025-26 season, and it will also be the team’s official office. The building will also be used for recreation activities as well as youth and amateur hockey. The team is currently in the process of finding a temporary training and practice facility for next season.
  • Former Winnipeg Jets forward Kristian Reichel has signed a three-year contract in Germany to play with Adler Mannheim (according to Derek O’Brien of The Hockey News). The move means that the 25-year-old will be leaving the Jets organization after spending the past six seasons with the team, primarily as a member of the Manitoba Moose. Reichel just completed his best professional season in the AHL, having registered 23 goals and 19 assists in 70 games. The son of Robert Reichel was undrafted but worked his way through the minors and eventually signed an ELC with the Jets in 2020 and made his NHL debut in 2021-22. He played in 15 NHL games over parts of two seasons, tallying a goal and two assists.

Eastern Notes: Forbort, Devils, Maple Leafs

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Boston Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort returned tonight for Boston taking Kevin Shattenkirk’s spot in the lineup. The 32-year-old Forbort was recalled two weeks ago from an LTI conditioning loan in which he played two AHL games and hasn’t played an NHL game since March 2nd due to an undisclosed injury.

The Duluth, Minnesota native posted four assists in 35 games with the Bruins this season, his third year with the team since signing a three-year deal as an unrestricted free agent in July 2021. The former first-round pick won’t put up much offense from the backend but will add a physical element for the Bruins, something that they are sure to need when they take on the Florida Panthers in the second round.

In other Eastern Conference notes:

  • Jonathan Bailey of New Jersey Hockey Now is reporting that the New Jersey Devils had detailed talks with former Stanley Cup champion head coach Craig Berube regarding the Devil’s head coaching vacancy. The 58-year-old Berube won the Stanley Cup with the Blues during his first season behind the bench in 2019 and was fired this past December after a 13-14-1 to start the season. He previously coached the Philadelphia Flyers for two seasons before an extended run in the AHL. The Devils also reportedly engaged in conversations with former Kings bench boss Todd McLellan.
  • David Alter of The Hockey News is reporting that the Maple Leafs Sports And Entertainment President Keith Pelley, Toronto Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan, and general manager Brad Treliving will now speak with the media on Friday instead of Thursday. While the scheduling change is a minor time and date change, it is sure to create additional speculation about what the Maple Leafs will do this summer. The Maple Leafs have won just a single playoff series since Shanahan took over the team back in April 2014, and have had three different general managers and two head coaches during that time. There is no indication as to what will be said during Friday’s press conference, but speculation is sure to heat up over the next 72 hours.

Hurricanes Sign Charles-Alexis Legault To ELC

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The Carolina Hurricanes have signed defenseman Charles-Alexis Legault to a three-year entry-level contract (via CapFriendly). The Hurricanes selected Legault with their 2023 fifth-round pick and he went on to lead the NCAA in plus/minus with a +36 while tallying nine goals and 15 assists in 39 games. Legault’s numbers were a massive improvement from his freshman season when he posted just two goals and seven assists in 40 games and were a big reason his Quinnipiac team won the NCAA Championship this season.

The 20-year-old will receive $775K in 2024-25, $832,500 in 2025-26 and $855K, in 2026-27 if he plays in the NHL, and his AHL salary would be $82,500 (per season) for all three years. He will also receive a $285,000 signing bonus spread out in three increments of $95K to be distributed each year of the contract.

The Hurricanes have done tremendous work over the last decade finding defensemen in the later rounds of the NHL entry draft and developing them into stars. Brett Pesce was a third-round pick (66th overall) while Jaccob Slavin was selected in the fourth round (120th overall). More recently Scott Morrow was selected in the second round and looks to be on his way to becoming the next great blueliner for the Hurricanes. If Carolina’s defensive development continues, Legault could pair up with Morrow soon as the Hurricanes might find themselves losing several defensemen to free agency over the next two summers.

Kings Notes: Blake, Dubois, Hiller

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Rob Blake will reportedly remain as the general manager of the Los Angeles Kings (according to Mayors Manor). Blake has been the Kings general manager since April 2017 and has steered the club through a lengthy rebuild that has resulted in three straight playoff appearances.

While making the postseason out of rebuild is a good first step for a team, the Kings have lost in the first round to the Edmonton Oilers in all three playoff showings and have yet to take the next step to get into the upper echelon of Western Conference contenders. While Blake has built a talented core around older veterans Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar, the team has seen their point total drop from 104 points a year ago to just 99 points this season.

Blake has several big decisions to make this summer, including what to do with failed trade acquisition Pierre-Luc Dubois who had a disastrous first season in Los Angeles. Blake told the media today that the team will not buyout Dubois, putting to rest a rumor that has been talked about widely in the media.

In other Los Angeles Kings notes:

  • Speaking of Dubois, the 25-year-old will reportedly suit up for Team Canada at the World Championships (according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman). The Ste-Agathe-Des-Monts, Quebec native flopped in his first season with the Kings after being acquired from the Winnipeg Jets last summer and promptly signed an 8-year, $68-million contract. Dubois posted just 16 goals and 24 assists in 82 regular season games and then tallied a single goal in five playoff games as he struggled with discipline and posted 20 PIMs. Dubois blamed himself for his poor play this season and said he will do whatever it takes to have a better season in 2024-25. The World’s will give Dubois a chance to end his season on a strong note as he looks to improve over the summer and get back to the 60-point pace he displayed in the two seasons before the trade to Los Angeles.
  • The Kings are also reportedly discussing what they will do with the head coaching position for next season and a decision is expected in the next few weeks (via Mayors Manor). Jim Hiller took over as interim head coach on February 2nd and led the Kings to playoffs once again, however, his 1-3-1 system was scrutinized heavily by people surrounding the team and moving away from that type of system is being discussed by the management group. Hiller served as a Kings assistant coach for two seasons before taking over behind the bench and finished the year with a 21-12-1 record.

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