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Matt Stajan

Snapshots: NHL Expansion, Stajan, Nylander, Buchnevich

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The NHL’s owners will be meeting on October 1st to vote on opening another NHL Expansion window, shares Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest. Strickland adds that the leading candidates for expansion are Houston, led by Tilman J. Fertitta, and Atlanta, led by Vernon Krause. NHL.com’s Kevin Weekes seconded the story, sharing that he wouldn’t be surprised to see the NHL grow to between 34 and 36 teams.

Adding the pair of southern cities to the NHL would maintain the balance between conferences, but it could throw off Divisional alignment. Every division currently holds eight teams, but additions in Houston and Atlanta could push the Central and Atlantic Divisions, respectively, up to nine. That could be an incentive for further expansion in the future, assuming the NHL keeps their structure the same.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Calgary Flames have hired longtime Flame Matt Stajan as a skills consultant. Stajan spent nine years with the Flames from 2009 to 2018 – the final years of his 15-year, 1,003-game career in the NHL. That career kicked off with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who drafted Stajan in the second round of 2002 and elevated him to the NHL two seasons later. He quickly became known for his reliable two-way play down the lineup, even briefly flirting with strong scoring with 55 and 57 points in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. Those stood as career-highs, but Stajan’s responsible play carried into Calgary, earning him a consistent third-line role during an era of flux for the Flames. He’ll now bring that hockey IQ to the coaching stage, looking to support Calgary as they once again enter a new era.
  • New Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has shared that William Nylander will start training camp at center, with Max Domi on his wing, shares David Alter of The Hockey News. Nylander has flirted with a center role throughout his nine-year career, but hasn’t fully absorbed the role over John Tavares. Nylander was impressive at the faceoff dot when he did take draws, recording a 51.4 faceoff percentage in 2017-18, his only year taking more than 400 faceoffs in a season. On his career, Nylander has won 963 of a possible 1,909 faceoffs, good for a 50.4 percentage. Domi will offer helpful support in the event that Nylander struggles in the new role, boasting a 52.5 faceoff percentage over the last two seasons.
  • Pavel Buchnevich will also move from the wing to center, shares Matthew DeFranks of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Buchnevich has been much less successful at the faceoff dot, winning just 37.4 of his 206 faceoffs last season. He’s one of St. Louis’ most prolific scorers, forming a strong trio with Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. But center depth is a sudden concern for the Blues, with players like Brayden Schenn taking a recent step back and prospects like Nikita Alexandrov failing to emerge. The Blues will look to mitigate that lacking depth by spreading out their star talent to start the year.

Matt Stajan Hired As WHL Assistant Coach

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Matt Stajan is on his way back to Calgary. The WHL’s Calgary Hitmen have announced that Stajan will serve as an assistant coach this season, starting the next chapter in his hockey career after retiring as a player two years ago. He is replacing former assistant Joel Otto, who is dealing with a hip injury and can no longer provide on-ice instruction. Hitmen GM Jeff Chynoweth released a statement on the hire:

We are so pleased to be able to add a well-respected former player such as Matt Stajan to our coaching staff; his NHL playing experience is innumerable and will be a great asset to our club. At the same time, we want to thank Joel for his many years of service with the Hitmen.

After spending the early part of his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Stajan played nine seasons with the Calgary Flames, reaching the 1,000 games played mark for his career in 2017-18. He spent one last year playing overseas, where he racked up 33 points in 52 games for EHC Munchen, but then announced his retirement in 2019.

An extremely well-respected teammate during his playing days, Stajan hit a career-high of 19 goals and 57 points in the 2009-10 season but carved out a role as a valuable two-way center for nearly a decade afterward. Now 37, he’ll start a coaching career that always seemed likely, given the way he carried himself during his days on the ice in the NHL. It is important to note that the Hitmen are actually owned by the same group as the Flames, and have been a proving ground for future Flames coaches in the past. Dave Lowry, for instance, worked his way up from assistant, to associate, to head coach of the Hitmen before making the jump back to the Flames bench in 2009. There’s obviously no guarantee that Stajan will follow the same path, but it certainly seems possible.

Matt Stajan Announces Retirement

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Though he hasn’t played in an NHL game since the end of the 2017-18 season, Matt Stajan officially announced his retirement today. The 35-year old spent last season playing in the German DEL, but will hang up his skates after a long and productive professional career. The former Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames forward released a long letter through the NHLPA that thanked both organizations as well as his German team. A snippet:

As a kid growing up in Mississauga, Ontario, it was my dream to one day play in the NHL. To have had this dream come true, and have been able to play the sport that I love so much for so many years, is something I feel extremely fortunate and grateful for. The memories that I have made will truly last a lifetime.

Thank you to the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Calgary Flames organizations for giving me the opportunity to play and compete in the best league in the world. I wore both jerseys with great pride, and I will be forever grateful for the experiences that came along with that. Also, thank you EHC Red Bull Munich  it was a great experience to play overseas for such a great organization.

Stajan played 1,003 regular season games in the NHL, but incredibly only made it to the playoffs three times. Not only was he a consistent two-way center for years, but Stajan was extremely well-respected by his teammates and served as an NHLPA player rep for a good chunk of his career. Mark Giordano, Luke Schenn and Matthew Tkachuk all lent their voice to his retirement announcement, each using the phrase “best teammate” in reference to Stajan.

Flames Notes: Yelesin, Smith, Neal, Stajan

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In his latest “31 Thoughts” column, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman needed just one “thought” to drop several pieces of interesting information about the Calgary Flames. The insider begins with KHL defenseman Alexander Yelesin. Friedman follows up on his initial report about the Flames’ interest in the Russian rearguard by saying that the question is not “if” but “when” when it comes to a deal getting done. KHL free agency opened today, so it’s only a matter of time before a contract becomes official it seems. The 23-year-old is undersized and not overly productive, but that hasn’t stopped NHL teams from toying with the idea of signing him for several years due to his skating and dependable defensive play. Calgary will finally be the team to pull the trigger, despite their depth on the blue line. As of now, Yelesin would be behind Mark Giordano, Noah Hanifin, Travis Hamonic, and T.J. Brodie and competing for ice time with youngsters Rasmus Andersson, Juuso Valimaki, and Oliver Kylington. That’s a lot of capable defensemen in the mix and trade rumors will no doubt swirl this off-season about the Flames moving one of this group.

  • Next, Friedman mentions that the Flames have not yet closed the door on a return for veteran goaltender Mike Smith. The 37-year-old UFA netminder split starts with David Rittich this season, who also needs a new contract as a restricted free agent. Friedman doubts that a new deal to keep Smith in Calgary would be longer than a year, but the team could opt to go with the tandem that led them to the best record in the West this season for one more go-round. Smith put up pedestrian numbers in the regular season – an .898 save percentage and 2.72 GAA – but was significantly better in 2017-18 and could have another strong campaign in him. The postseason showed that, as Smith was arguably the Flames’ best player in their unexpected first-round loss. There will be other options available to Calgary on the free agent market and via trade, but if they are unable to add any of their top options, don’t be surprised to see them go with the devil they know.
  • Finally, Friedman writes that the problematic James Neal is not yet at the point that GM Brad Treliving would entertain attaching a high pick to make a move. After signing a five-year, $28.75MM contract with Calgary last summer, Neal responded with far-and-away the worst season of his career, recording just 19 points in 63 games (his previous low had been 37). It wasn’t just a case of poor PDO for the 31-year-old forward either; Neal often looked slow and lethargic in all three zones all season long and even more so in the playoffs. There’s no telling whether Neal can bounce back next year or whether this is only a sign of things to come, but the Flames will at least wait to find out if a fair trade doesn’t come around this summer. With just late first- and third-round picks in the first 100 selections of this year’s draft, it is no surprise that the team is unwilling to move a high pick this year or next year to rid themselves of Neal’s contract before giving the respected veteran scorer another chance to prove himself.
  • In non-Friedman news out of Calgary, long-time Flames forward Matt Stajan has announced his retirement. Stajan wrapped up a 16-year NHL career split between Calgary and the Toronto Maple Leafs when he departed for Europe last season at age 35. Stajan was actually very productive this season for German club EHC Munchen, registering 33 points in 52 games en route to a finals appearance, but it wasn’t enough to keep him in the game. Munchen released a statement today that named Stajan as one of several players leaving the team by way of retirement. Also hanging them up is fellow long-time NHLer and leading scorer John Mitchell and captain Michael Wolf, as EHC has their work cut out for them this off-season. Stajan leaves the game with more than 1000 NHL appearances to his credit, along with over 400 points and his reputation as a reliable two-way winger. Don’t be surprised to see Stajan end up back in hockey in another capacity before too long, perhaps even with the Flames.

 

Matt Stajan Signs In Germany

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After playing in his 1,000th NHL game last season, Matt Stajan may be finished in North America. The 34-year old forward has signed with the Munich Red Bulls of the DEL in Germany according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, ending a run of 13 consecutive seasons spent exclusively in the NHL.

Stajan was originally selected in the second round by the Toronto Maple Leafs back in 2002, and had quite the year following his draft. Heading back to the Belleville Bulls of the OHL, he would lead his club in scoring with 94 points in 57 games while helping Team Canada to a silver medal at the World Juniors. At the end of the year he would suit up for both Toronto and the St. John’s Maple Leafs for one game each, scoring his first AHL and NHL points in the process. A full-time member with Toronto the next season, he would go on to establish himself as a solid two-way center and even record 55 points in 2008-09.

After being included in the trade that brought Dion Phaneuf to Toronto, Stajan would suit up for 558 regular season contests with the Calgary Flames and become a key veteran presence on the team. His offensive production fell of during his last few seasons, but he was still given some incredibly difficult defensive assignments and asked to take some key faceoffs. While his NHL career is likely coming to an end, he should find some success in Europe for at least a few more seasons.

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