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Pacific Division Notes: Coyotes, Daly, Marleau, Goldobin

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After acquiring Dave Bolland and Pavel Datsyuk in separate trades this summer, the Arizona Coyotes could be in a position to conceivably carry nearly $18MM – once Chris Pronger’s $4.935MM cap hit is added – on their salary cap for three players who won’t be suiting up for the this year. All told, the Coyotes will pay out just $1.675 in actual salary for those players (Pronger is set to earn $575K in the final season of a long-term arrangement he originally signed with Philadelphia, while the insurance policy on Bolland’s contract will cover all but $1.1MM once he is placed on LTIR). These maneuverings have allowed Arizona to easily cross the salary cap floor while at the same time limiting the actual salary obligations; not an unimportant factor for a small market, budget team.

In a piece appearing on Today’s Slapshot, Craig Morgan asked NHL deputy commissioner if Arizona’s handling of the salary cap was a growing concern for the league. Surprisingly, Daly indicated the league did not feel the Coyotes were exploiting a “loophole,” in the CBA while still leaving open the possibility the NHL could look to address the matter in future bargaining with the player’s union.

“I would say that it’s a matter that we monitor, like all other areas of the CBA (collective bargaining agreement), and if we believe it starts to be abused in a way that is inconsistent with how the system is designed to work, at that point, we would try to correct it in collective bargaining with the union. I would say we aren’t at that point on this issue — we do not view it as the loophole that‎ some describe it as.”

While most teams utilize their available cap space to sign or trade for players from other organizations, or to extend their own players, Coyotes GM John Chayka is using Arizona’s as a method to add more quality young talent to what is already considered a strong group of prospects. It’s simply good business and soon enough Chayka’s talent-acquisition strategies will start paying off on the ice for the Coyotes.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division…

  • Patrick Marleau has spent the entirety of his excellent 18-year NHL career with the San Jose Sharks; a career which has seen the forward tally 481 regular season goals and 1,036 points. Marleau’s name has shown up in trade rumors on more than one occasion during his time in the Bay Area, most recently last season, but nothing has ever come of it. Yet, as Joey Alfieri of Pro Hockey Talk writes, the 2016-17 campaign will, in all probability, be the final one of Marleau’s storied Sharks career. As Alfieri points out, Marleau is in the final year of his contract and the team has several younger options on the LW – Mikkel Boedker, Tomas Hertl and Nikolay Goldobin – under team control for the next several seasons. Even if Marleau is willing to take a discount on the $6.66MM he is earning this season, the Sharks are far more likely to prioritize re-signing Brent Burns and Joe Thornton, both of whom are also scheduled to reach free agency next summer.
  • The Calgary Flames recently reached agreement with one of their top players, Sean Monahan, inking the restricted free agent to a monster seven-year deal worth $44.6MM. That’s quite an investment for a player just coming off his ELC but as the Calgary Sun’s Kristen Odland writes, Monahan is already well worth the financial commitment. She points out that he has produced more offense than other pivots comparable in age and who have also recently signed extensions. As good as Monahan is he may not even be the best player on his team. That distinction might belong to winger Johnny Gaudreau, a restricted free agent who remains unsigned. Inevitably the Flames will also get Gaudreau under contract but it will be interesting to see how his contract compares to that of Monahan’s.

Week In Review: 8/22/16 – 8/28/16

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With the World Cup of Hockey and NHL training camps both set to start next month, teams are actively trying to wrap up the last of their offseason business and finalizing their rosters. This week saw a couple of late unrestricted free agent signings that look to be bargains at first glance and a major trade completed by two of the league’s more analytically inclined organizations. We’ve got that and more in this installment of Week In Review.

Notable UFA Signings

Jiri Hudler (Dallas) – Hudler’s presence on the open market this late into the summer has been a bit of a mystery. He’s averaged at least 0.64 points-per-game in each of his last three seasons; a rate good enough to prorate into a 50-point campaign in a full schedule. With plenty of clubs looking to add scoring depth this summer it is somewhat surprising that it was the league’s most prolific offensive team that added Hudler on a one-year, $2MM deal. If Hudler remains healthy and in the lineup and reaches the 40-point mark, the deal will go down as a steal for Dallas.

Brandon Pirri (New York Rangers) – Pirri, like Hudler, has been a strong offensive player who surprisingly drew little interest this summer. Based on the last three seasons, Pirri places tied for 30th in goals-per-game averaging 0.33. But concerns about his defensive play may have limited his market. Ultimately the Rangers took a calculated risk and signed Pirri to a one-year pact worth $1.1MM.

Jhonas Enroth (Toronto Maple Leafs) – Toronto finalized their one-year agreement with the veteran backstop weeks after it was initially reported to be close. Enroth should provide a reliable backup to the newly-acquired Frederik Andersen at a great rate relative to other quality #2 goalies in the league.

Notable RFA Signings

Cody Ceci (Ottawa) – The Senators finally locked up RFA defenseman Cody Ceci, signing the three-year veteran to a two-year bridge deal with an AAV of $2.8MM. He will earn $2.25MM in 2016-17 and $3.35MM in year two of the agreement. Ceci tallied a career-high 10 goals and 26 points this past season and believes he has more to offer, particularly on the power play.

Notable ELC Signings

Max Jones (Anaheim) – The Ducks agreed to terms with Jones on an ELC that will pay the 24th overall selection in June $925K at the NHL level and $70K while suiting up in the AHL. As noted, the agreement does not contain any performance bonuses; a relative rarity for first-round picks.

Trades

The Arizona Coyotes continued to convert available cap space into young talent by agreeing to take on the remaining three years and $16.5MM of Dave Bolland’s contract while also adding Florida’s first-round pick in the 2015 draft, Lawson Crouse, in the transaction. In return, the Panthers acquired a conditional second in 2018 and a 2017 third-round choice.

Bolland is unlikely to suit up for Arizona this year and his injuries could actually spell the end of the road for the veteran forward. Consequently, the Coyotes will inevitably place Bolland on LTIR, subtracting his cap hit from their books. Meanwhile, since the contract is insured, the Coyotes will only have to pay Bolland $1.1MM in actual cash this season.

Opinions are mixed on Crouse’s potential with some thinking he profiles only as a bottom-six player who acquiring is not worth also absorbing Bolland’s deal. Others think he has top-six, power forward potential. Count Coyotes GM John Chayka among the latter as he feels players who share Crouse’s skill set are “rare to find, difficult to obtain.”

Florida, meanwhile, gains salary relief which can be reinvested in the 2016-17 product and two draft picks to help add to the team’s diminishing prospect pool.

PTOs

Rene Bourque – Bourque has been invited to attend camp with Colorado.

Brandon Prust – After a down year in Vancouver, Prust looks to latch on with the Leafs as a 4th liner who adds toughness.

Jeff Glass – With Toronto’s expected starter and backup, Frederik Andersen and Jhonas Enroth respectively, participating in the World Cup, Toronto decided to add a body to the training camp roster. Theoretically, Glass could earn a job somewhere in the Maple Leafs organization with a solid training cap performance.

Paul Bissonette – Bissonette will attempt to earn a job with the Kings but seems most likely destined for their AHL affiliate in Ontario, California.

Metro Notes: Tavares, Capuano, Bednar, Rangers

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John Tavares is undoubtedly one of the top players in the game today, but even the best athletes work hard every day to improve their game. Arthur Staple of Newsday writes about what Tavares is doing this summer to try to avoid the lengthy slumps in production he experienced during parts of the 2015-16 campaign.

Tavares tied for 10th in the NHL in goals with 33 so it’s not as if his performance should be described as disappointing. But this summer he’s implemented a new workout schedule trying to find ways to stay fresher during the rigors of a long regular season. Tavares offered up this explanation for the change:

“I got sick really early in the season and I felt like I was overcoming some fatigue a little bit still after that. I just tried to manage this summer a little differently, making sure I got some really good recovery, some really good rest. I actually started training pretty early but I didn’t kick it into high gear for a little while. I tried to be on the ice a bit more, but just tried to make sure my quality was really high, that I didn’t try to do too much. So just to change up some things, stay fresh, stay healthy, work on some things you want to improve on in your game.”

Within the same post, Staple relays comments from head coach Jack Capuano, who wants his defensemen to generate more offense this season. Even though the team’s blue liners finished the 2015-16 season with nearly as many points as the previous season, Capuano felt the unit simply wasn’t as “dynamic” as they were the year before.

The Islanders did see a drop off in overall team goal scoring, falling from 252 goals in 2015-16 to 232 this past campaign. If Capuano can find a way to squeeze more production from his blue line corps, they should return to being one of the more prolific offenses in the league.

Elsewhere in the Metro……

  • Despite suggestions that the New York Rangers would be among the busiest teams in the league this offseason, the club’s foray into free agency was minimal with Michael Grabner and Jimmy Vesey – who represented a unique case – being the only outside free agents to be given multiyear deals. On the trade front, the team did move top-line pivot center Derrick Brassard but acquired a suitable long-term replacement in Mika Zibanejad in exchange. For a team that has been in “go-for-it” mode for the last several years and consequently moved a ton of futures in deals to acquire veteran players – such as Martin St. Louis, Eric Staal and Keith Yandle – this summer has been strangely devoid of blockbuster acquisitions. But as Matt Larkin of The Hockey News writes, the team’s philosophy this summer was to inject youth and speed into the lineup and it appears general manager Jeff Gorton has been able to do so without making the kind of splashy moves expected.
  • The Colorado Avalanche hired Jared Bednar this week to be the team’s new head coach, filling the void created when Patrick Roy abruptly resigned from his post. Bednar was formerly employed by the Blue Jackets organization and had been the head coach of the team’s AHL affiliate the last two seasons. But as Terry Frei of the Denver Post notes, Bednar was not the only candidate with Columbus ties that the Avalanche considered for their coaching vacancy. Frei points out that current Colorado assistant general manager, Chris MacFarland, formerly held the same position for Columbus. Part of his responsibility with the Blue Jackets was overseeing the team’s minor league organizations which would have put him in direct contact with Bednar. Additionally, the Avalanche interviewed Bob Boughner, who spent a single season as an assistant in Columbus while MacFarland was employed with the club. Scott Arniel, who was head coach in Columbus for a year-and-a-half, and current Blue Jackets assistant Brad Larsen were also both considered to some level for the job.

Five Questions With USA Today’s Kevin Allen

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The USA Today’s Kevin Allen was kind enough to sit down with PHR and survey the hockey landscape as the season is just under a month away from starting. Allen takes a look at early contenders, whether the Red Wings are in as much as trouble as some think, and of course, some insights on Jimmy Vesey.

Allen has written for the USA Today since 1986, and won the Lester Patrick Award in 2013 and the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award in 2014.  He was also inducted into the USA Hockey Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014. Make sure to give Kevin a follow on Twitter @bykevinallen. You can also catch up on Allen’s coverage here.

PHR: Very early predictions: Who do you see as contenders for the upcoming season, barring any unforeseen injuries? 

Allen: The Tampa Bay Lightning are my early pick to win it all. With Steven Stamkos now healthy and not worrying about his future, I foresee him uncorking a monster season. This team has all the necessary ingredients to win it all, and Jonathan Drouin will make the Lightning stronger by having a breakthrough season.  Don’t be surprised if Andrei Vasilevskiy becomes the No. 1 goalie.  That might allow GM Steve Yzerman the opportunity to deal Ben Bishop at the trade deadline to add another piece for his puzzle. I’m also not discounting the Pittsburgh Penguins, although we all know how challenging it is to repeat. Also, the Washington Capitals will be right there again. The Montreal Canadiens, with a healthy Carey Price, and the addition of Andrew Shaw, Alexander Radulov and Shea Weber, will be much improved. Radulov is not Alexander Semin.

In the West, I like the Chicago Blackhawks because Brian Campbell will make their defense whole again.  The erosion of their depth does, however, concern me. I have the high-scoring Dallas Stars number two because I believe they will deal for a goalie near the trade deadline. Wouldn’t Bishop be a good fit for them?  I have the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks in my next grouping.  The Predators’ have more potential than fans seem to realize. P.K. Subban is a much better fit for coach Peter Laviolette’s attacking offensive system than Weber was.  The Sharks will be the same force they were last May and June.

PHR: Concern seems to be rising about the Detroit Red Wings–everything from contract terms, direction, and what seems to be an aversion to invest in the youth of the team. Do you think that concern is warranted? 

Allen: Yes, only because we simply have no idea how effective their younger players are going to be. The Red Wings are a hard read because there are too many variables. Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist seemed to take a step back last season, and it’s anybody’s guess whether Anthony Mantha will be an impact player. How sharp will Petr Mrazek be this season? The Thomas Vanek signing was a good roll of the dice, and Frans Nielsen will be a quality No. 2 center. But the Red Wings are the league’s mystery team. It wouldn’t be surprising if they missed the playoffs by 10 points, and it wouldn’t be shocking if they were the No. 4  or No. 5 team in the Eastern Conference.

PHR: Who do you feel had the best offseason?

  • New York Rangers: Jeff Gorton improved the team speed with the addition of Michael Grabner. Nathan Gerbe is also quick. He signed skillful Pavel Buchnevich out of the Kontinental Hockey League. They stunned plenty of people by landing Jimmy Vesey and they changed their look by trading finesse center Derick Brassard for bigger and younger center Mika Zibanejad; Defenseman Nick Holden also wasn’t a bad pick-up.
  • Montreal Canadiens: Addressed many problems. They will be more difficult to play against now because of the addition of Andrew Shaw and Shea Weber.  In the long-term, the Canadiens will lose the Subban-for-Weber trade. But in the short term, Weber is the perfect fit for this team.
  • Arizona Coyotes: Young GM John Chayka added Alex Goligoski, Jamie McGinn, Radim Vrbata and a few prime prospects. I like the addition of Lawson Crouse and Jakob Chychrun.

PHR: How will Jiri Hudler fit in with Dallas? Do you see a season closer to 2014-15 or 2015-16? 

Allen: It’s a nifty pick-up by GM Jim Nill who knows Hudler well from their days together in Detroit. This merely adds to the team’s already strong offense. He still has magic in his hands. He should be a 55 to 60-point guy.

PHR: After all the hoopla with Jimmy Vesey, how do you see him fitting in with the Rangers?

Allen: He may play on a line with his buddy Kevin Hayes.  Obviously, there are several examples of major college free agents not panning out. But scouts believe Vesey will be a quality NHL scorer.  Depending upon whether he receives power play time, he might be a 20-goal guy this season.

Snapshots: AHL Coaching Promotions, Price, Canadiens

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The Toronto Sun’s Michael Traikos writes that the flow of coaches from the American Hockey League to the NHL continues steady. With the recent hire of Jared Bednar, Traikos reports that 23 coaches in the NHL have been a bench boss in the AHL at some point in their career. The wild success of Mike Sullivan, who was tapped by the Penguins mid-season from their own affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, seems to have once again made the AHL to NHL pipeline hot again. Traikos continues that teams are promoting coaches like they do players, investing heavily on both the ice and the bench. Jon Cooper, head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, is an example of that, as his guidance at both the AHL and NHL has paid dividends for the Bolts. Could Bednar’s success with the Monsters follow the pattern of Sullivan and Cooper?

In other NHL news:

  • NBC Sports writes on the Canadiens today and includes a piece on Carey Price and what could happen should injury befall him again. Drawing upon the signing of Al Montoya, NBC’s James O’Brien isn’t so sure Montoya could handle the scrutiny that comes with being a netminder in Montreal. While writing that Montoya is an upgrade over Mike Condon, but adds that the Habs “live and die” by Price. Despite being a high pick in the 2004 (6th overall), Montoya has never risen to the level of being “the guy” and as O’Brien astutely points out, Montoya is a great pickup so long as he’s not relied upon in heavy doses. One another interesting point: will Marc Bergevin get a “Price pass,” should he go down again this season?
  • In another Habs article on NBC, Joey Alfieri wonders where the Canadiens will finish this season. Noting the importance of having Price, Alfieri writes that the veteran goaltender has taken great lengths to improve his conditioning and diet. Montreal also added Shea Weber and Andrew Shaw, two critical pieces that should help a team decimated by Price’s injury last season. A healthy squad, with Price backstopping them, should help Montreal back to its winning ways.

Potential 2016-17 Impact Rookies: McCarron, Chabot, Matthews, Nylander

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Continuing on with Pro Hockey Rumors 2016-17 rookie profiles, we remain in the Atlantic Division. Included among today’s batch of first-year players is the most recent #1 overall draft choice, Auston Matthews. You can find the previous editions here, here and here.

Michael McCarron (Montreal) – A quick look at Montreal’s depth chart shows the Canadiens could surely use some size up front and McCarron is someone who boasts that trait in spades. At 6-foot-6 and 231 pounds. McCarron would easily be the largest forward on the ice for Montreal by a wide margin. But size isn’t the only quality he brings to the table; McCarron can also add some offense.

In his first taste of professional hockey, McCarron recorded 17 goals and 38 points for the St. John’s IceCaps in the AHL. That’s solid production for a first-year pro who played most of the season at 20-years-old.

McCarron would also get his first taste of the NHL playing 20 games with the Canadiens and scoring his first career big league goal. He also had a -10 plus-minus rating and although plus-minus ratings aren’t necessarily a good indicator of two-way prowess, it does suggest McCarron could use more polishing in the AHL. However, if he does get his chance in Montreal thi year, McCarron should at least add physicality and skill to the team’s bottom-six.

Thomas Chabot (Ottawa) – The Ottawa Senators used their first-round pick in 2015 on skilled, two-way defenseman Thomas Chabot and there is a decent chance he debuts this season in Canada’s capital. Scouting reports credit Chabot for being quick-thinking and an excellent skater; both traits that will fit well into today’s style of play in the NHL. But if Chabot wants to make an impact in the NHL he’ll have to ramp up the intensity.

Ottawa assistant GM Randy Lee felt Chabot’s performance at the team’s summer development camp was not up to par and evidently communicated that to the top prospect, as written about by Ken Warren of the Ottawa Sun.

“I thought Thomas should have been a bit more intense, I thought Thomas should have dominated. I think Thomas should look at the landscape and see we’ve got six signed defencemen (to NHL contracts) … Thomas and I have talked about it.”

Clearly the Ottawa organization has high expectations for Chabot and will give him every chance to make the team this season. The Senators do have six NHL-caliber blue liners under contract, all of whom with significant professional experience. Erik Karlsson, Cody Ceci, Marc Mathot and Dion Phaneuf should hold down spots in the club’s top-four with Mark Borowiecki and Chris Wideman forming the third pair. Of the group, Wideman has the least amount of NHL experience with just 64 games played. However he does have nearly three seasons of AHL experience under his belt as well. Chabot will have his work cut out for him if he wants to suit up for the Senators this season.

Auston Matthews (Toronto) – Matthews, the first overall choice in the June’s entry draft, will be an early favorite for the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie. He is considered a future face-of-the-franchise player and while maybe not quite on the same level with Connor McDavid, last year’s top pick, in terms of being a “generational” talent, Matthews is still an exciting prospect.

Matthews already demonstrates excellent two-way ability and at 6-foot-2, 216 pounds has the requisite size to handle the rigors of a long NHL season. Additionally, his experience playing professionally against full-grown men in Switzerland should help facilitate his transition to the NHL. The Leafs have lacked a truly elite center since Mats Sundin left the club following the 2007-2008 campaign but all signs point to Matthews quickly filling that void.

William Nylander (Toronto) – The Maple Leafs have done an excellent job of adding high-end young talent to the organization in recent years and Nylander is part of the wave of top prospects preparing to lead Toronto to the top of the standings. Nylander reached the NHL last season and held his own in 22 games scoring six goals and 13 points while averaging 16:20 of ice time per contest.

Nylander also excelled playing for the Toronto Marlies in the AHL, tallying 18 goals and 45 points in 45 regular season games. In the postseason he added seven goals in 14 contests for the Marlies. It’s expected he’ll have a spot to lose in the Leafs’ top-four to open the season and has the skill to be one of the club’s top offensive producers.

Hockey apparently runs in the Nylander family blood as William’s father Michael carved out a solid NHL career playing for seven NHL clubs over a 15-year career. Alexander Nylander, William’s brother, was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the 2016 entry draft.

 

Arizona Adds Three Players On AHL Deals

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Amid all the news about the Arizona Coyotes and their acquisition of Dave Bolland, Lawson Crouse and skating coach Dawn Braid, comes another announcement that the organization has signed three more players to minor-league deals with the AHL. Hunter Fejes, Mark Cooper and Austin Lotz have all agreed to two-way AHL deals.

Fejes, the most well-known out of the bunch, was drafted by the Coyotes in the sixth round in 2012 before heading to Colorado College for four seasons. He began his professional career last year when he got into 10 games for the Springfield Falcons (the former affiliate of Arizona, now known as the Tucson Roadrunners) down the stretch. The former high school stand out took a while to get his feet under him in college, but put up 22 points in 36 games in his senior year. Now 22-years old, he’ll have to work extremely hard if he’s to ever crack an NHL roster.

Cooper, 24, is coming off a more successful college career that saw him put up 91 points across four years at Bowling Green. Undrafted out of Scarborough, Ontario the big winger will add some leadership and a two-way presence for the Roadrunners this season.

The last signee was goaltender Austin Lotz out of the WHL. Lotz played four seasons for the Everett Silvertips before joining the Medicine Hat Tigers as an over-ager last year. Overall, he’s put up a 75-63-17 record with a 2.96 GAA and .902 save percentage in the Western Hockey League, and will fight for starts in the AHL or ECHL this season.

Blues Notes: Steen, Pietrangelo, Sobotka

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In Jeremy Rutherford’s latest post for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, he walks us through a few notes from Blues camp.

  • Alex Steen seems to be progressing admirably from the shoulder surgery he underwent in June. Originally given a four to six month timeline, Steen now is on track to be ready for the start of the season just four months and nine days after the operation. Steen himself was even pushing hard in his rehab to try and make it to the World Cup in September, though it is not going to happen; Steen was replaced by Rickard Rakell last week.
  • After announcing Alex Pietrangelo as their newest captain yesterday, owner Tom Stillman heaped praise onto his young defenseman: “Alex is one of the elite players in the game, and he’s a model citizen. He takes responsibility, he leads by example, he’s not afraid to speak up, he’s just an exemplary person.” The captaincy was vacant after the Blues saw David Backes hit free agency and sign with Boston this summer.
  • In the long and winding saga of Vladimir Sobotka, nothing seems to have changed from either side, though they are at odds on what will happen after the World Cup.  Doug Armstrong reiterates that he’s been told Sobotka will stay in North America following the tournament, while Victor Shalaev, general manger of Omsk Avangard told a Russian news outlet “Sobotka will join us as soon as he’s healthy. Forget about St. Louises and other nonsense.”  Armstrong says that he is healthy, and that he’ll be ready to join Blues camp as soon as the World Cup is completed.
  • T.J. Galiardi and Mike Weber have already received PTOs from the Blues this year, and Armstrong thinks they may give at least one more out now that Jay Bouwmeester is heading to the World Cup. He’s leaving that in the hands of three of his lieutenants though; Martin Brodeur, Kevin McDonald and Rob DiMaio are in charge of contacting players for try-outs, and since two players earned contracts from them last year, Armstrong thinks they are an attractive spot.

Chayka Speaks About Lawson Crouse, Dawn Braid

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Arizona Coyotes GM John Chayka joined Jeff Blair on Sportsnet 590 yesterday to talk about his coaching hires and the big trade from yesterday. The 27-year old hired three coaches including the NHL’s first full-time female coach, and dealt two draft picks for Dave Bolland and Lawson Crouse.

On why he decided to make the deal:

It’s about Lawson Crouse. It’s about a guy who we think is a rare asset. Usually when you acquire a power forward like this you’re giving up something in terms of speed or skill. We think that not only is he speedy and skilled, he’s going to enhance that for our group as well.

Usually these guys (power forwards) when they’re at the caliber Lawson is, they’re hard to find. Usually they don’t become available until they’re in their thirties. At that point you’re paying a premium for a guy who is not on the right side of his career, and we didn’t want to do that.

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Las Vegas Adds Scott Luce To Front Office

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Late last night the Las Vegas expansion franchise announced that they had hired another former director of player personnel to their front office, this time in the form of Scott Luce. The former Florida Panther director will now serve in the role of director of amateur scouting for the Vegas franchise, a role which he should excel at.

Luce has spent time as a scout for the Panthers, Lightning and Senators over his hockey career, one that has spanned more than three decades.  A goalie in his playing days, Luce made it all the way to the AHL with the Rochester Americans in 1990-91 before calling it a career a year later.

He was fired from the Panthers early this summer when the team decided it needed a shake-up in their front office, despite coming off the most successful season in their history.  The team shuffled the chairs and Luce was left without a seat when the music stopped, even though he’d been a huge part of the turnaround in Florida.

Aaron Ekblad, Vincent Trocheck, Erik Gudbranson, Nick Bjugstad, Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau are just a few of the names that Luce had been instrumental in drafting over the past few years, building a young core almost unrivaled among other NHL teams. While no scout has a perfect record, Luce seems to be a well respected judge of talent and will be another strong signing by GM George McPhee and the group in Las Vegas. If the team is to succeed they’ll need strong drafts in their first few years, giving young players for the city to latch onto.

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