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Jeff Blashill, Jeff Halpern, Jay Leach Drawing Interest For Head Coach Vacancies

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Bruins assistant coach Jay Leach and Lightning assistant coaches Jeff Blashill and Jeff Halpern are among the names under consideration for the eight active head coaching vacancies across the league, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.

Leach has another year left on his contract in Boston, Pagnotta relays, but the Bruins have evidently granted him permission to speak to other teams as he’s already begun the interview process for a few positions. He landed with the Bruins last summer after being a finalist for the Kraken’s HC job – he was an internal promotion option there, but they opted for the recently-fired Dan Bylsma instead. He was also a candidate for Boston’s head coach vacancy in 2022 after departing the organization for the Kraken.

The 45-year-old Leach now has a decade of coaching experience after retiring as a player in 2013, including four years as head coach of the Bruins’ AHL affiliate in Providence from 2017-18 through 2020-21. The New York native was an assistant coach for Adler Mannheim in 2014-15 when the German club won the DEL championship with a roster featuring former NHLers Jochen Hecht, Glen Metropolit, and Brandon Yip, among others.

Pagnotta also implied Blashill, still active in the playoffs with Tampa, has already completed some interviews. He’s taken a back seat to Jon Cooper with the Bolts since being let go by the Red Wings in 2022 following an unceremonious tenure as head coach there. Blashill only made the playoffs once in his first season with the rebuilding Wings, compiling a 204-261-72 (.447) record. He was a candidate for the Sharks’ vacancy last year and even had a second interview, but was passed over for rookie bench boss Ryan Warsofsky.

As for Halpern, teams are waiting until the Lightning’s postseason comes to an end before being given permission to talk to him. Halpern has been on Cooper’s staff as an assistant since 2018 and has only ever coached within the Lightning organization, serving as a development and assistant coach with AHL Syracuse from 2015-16 through 2017-18. The veteran of nearly 1,000 NHL games as a player was interviewed by the Capitals during their hiring cycle in 2023, but they opted to go with Spencer Carbery instead.

Latest On Washington Capitals Head Coach Search

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Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic is reporting that the Washington Capitals have been quiet about their coaching search to date, but some details have started to filter through. The names El-Bashir has been hearing are Spencer Carbery, Jeff Halpern, Brad Shaw, Todd Nelson, and one former Capitals head coach in Bruce Boudreau. El-Bashir opens his article by stating that his list of candidates in not exhaustive, it is just the list of potential coaching candidates that he has heard rumblings about.

El-Bashir has heard from sources that current Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach Spencer Carbery is one of general manager Brian MacLellan’s preferred candidates. Sources tell El-Bashir that Carbery was in town today to meet with MacLellan and it is no surprise given his history with the franchise. Carbery coached Washington’s AHL affiliate the Hershey Bears from 2018-2021. On top of this Washington’s once daunted powerplay has slipped to average the past few seasons and Carbery comes with a track record of coaching dominant power play units. He has coached the Maple Leafs powerplay to a 24.1 percent success rate the past two seasons, which ranks second in the NHL during that time.

Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach Jeff Halpern has a similar story to that of Carbery. He has been employed by the Capitals twice before as a player and was the team’s captain at one point as well. He has also been running a very successful Lightning powerplay unit the past few seasons and has been a big contributor to their success the past half decade as they’ve reached three finals and captured two Stanley Cups.

Philadelphia Flyers associate coach Brad Shaw is also a former Capitals player having dressed in four games. It was reported yesterday that Shaw is also in the running for the Anaheim Ducks head coaching job. It is believed that Shaw has already been interviewed by MacLellan and is still very much in play. Shaw has been a head coach in the NHL previously as he took over mid-season for the New York Islanders back in 2006, however he has been an associate and an assistant coach ever since.

Todd Nelson’s name coming up makes a lot of sense given that he is the current coach of Washington’s AHL affiliate, and he currently has the club in the Eastern Conference finals. Nelson also has a Calder Cup on his resume having guided Grand Rapids to the league title in 2017. Nelson comes with some NHL head coaching experience as he spent 51 games behind the bench of the Edmonton Oilers in a previous stint after he replaced Dallas Eakins. Nelson coached the Oilers to a sixth-place finish in the Pacific Division that year going 17-25-9.

Bruce Boudreau guided the Capitals to an incredible run of regular season success including a Presidents Trophy in 2010, however he could never get the team over the hump as they were unable to advance past the second round while he was at the helm. Boudreau coached Washington to four straight division titles but was let go in 2011-12. He garnered a ton of sympathy from the hockey world this past season as he was coaching in his final days for the Vancouver Canucks. Boudreau was left in a precarious position with the club as reports leaked that the Canucks were looking to let him go, a move the team ultimately did make. Despite this, Boudreau has stated a desire to keep coaching, however a source close to him says that he has not yet heard from the Capitals about their coaching vacancy making a reunion appear unlikely at this time.

El-Bashir states that he believes that there are other names in play, however he has only heard about these names thus far. Washington will also need to fill several assistant coach roles once they have selected a new bench boss.

Maple Leafs Notes: Marner, Matthews, Carbery

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Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic wrote today that he believes that if Kyle Dubas is retained as Toronto Maple Leafs general manager he will shop star forward Mitch Marner. LeBrun cites Dubas proactively bringing up the Matthew Tkachuk trade in his press conference as a sign that the young Maple Leafs GM is ready to make radical changes to shake up Toronto’s core and he sees Florida’s bold move as a template from which to work from.

LeBrun also goes on to add that he believes Marner is the easiest trade to make from a contractual standpoint. Marner has two years left on his current contract and will not have any no trade protection, while William Nylander and Auston Matthews will receive no trade clauses on July 1st and John Tavares already has a full no move clause. The Maple Leafs could shop Marner to all 31 other teams and drive up a bidding war for the 26-year-old. LeBrun ends his article by stating that should the Leafs trade Marner that they would need a top pairing defenseman in return at a minimum.

In other Maple Leafs notes:

  • Pierre LeBrun is of the opinion that any Auston Matthews trade is likely not going to happen as he believes the Maple Leafs will instead focus on extending Matthews when he becomes eligible to sign his next contract on July 1st. LeBrun adds that replacing Matthews would be nearly impossible for Toronto to do and given Matthews track record one would have to agree with him. The five-time 40+ goal scorer struggled at times this season, but still managed to put up 85 points in 74 games. One thing that could be a sticking point is the cap hit that Matthews will be looking for on his next long-term deal.
  • Pierre LeBrun also discussed Toronto assistant coach Spencer Carbery saying that he believes Carbery’s old team the Washington Capitals have already asked the Toronto Maple Leafs for permission to interview him about their vacant head coaching position. Neither Washington nor Toronto would confirm LeBrun’s hunch that the Capitals are looking to have a reunion with the one-time head coach of their AHL affiliate. Washington have also looked at Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach Jeff Halpern as a candidate.

Jeff Halpern Linked To Washington Capitals Coaching Vacancy

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The Washington Capitals will have a new head coach next season after opting not to renew the contract of Peter Laviolette, as announced last month. Today, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports the Capitals plan to interview former player and current Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach Jeff Halpern as part of their search process for Laviolette’s replacement.

After retiring as a player in 2014, Halpern amassed eight seasons of coaching experience, all with the Lightning organization. He’s been behind the Lightning bench as an assistant since 2018, meaning he was involved in both of Tampa’s back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021. Before that, he spent three seasons with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, Tampa’s affiliate, as a development and assistant coach.

Washington moved on from Laviolette after missing the playoffs for just the second time since 2008. In his years as an assistant, Halpern has not missed the playoffs. He helped guide a Crunch team to the Calder Cup Finals in 2017, a year after missing the playoffs altogether, a team that featured a breakout playoff performance from then-prospect Yanni Gourde.

As a player, Halpern played nearly 1,000 NHL games across 14 seasons, accruing 373 points. The center served as Washington’s captain in 2005-06, Alex Ovechkin’s rookie season.

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