Tyler Seguin

Western Notes: Winnipeg Goalies, Seguin, Lehtonen, Fehr, Beagle

June 30, 2018 at 7:55 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

With the trade of goaltender Steve Mason this morning to open up some cap space, the Winnipeg Jets find themselves with a sudden hole in their lineup as the team no longer has a viable backup goaltender behind starter Connor Hellybuyck. Their top goalie out of the AHL, Michael Hutchinson, is already an unrestricted free agent and likely to move on, while the next in line is Eric Comrie, who has a total of four NHL games to his name.

That will force the cap-saving Jets to find a cheap solution on the free agent market. A few days behind in the recruiting market, many of those backup options are already off the board, such as Carter Hutton (Buffalo), Jonathan Bernier (Detroit) and Cam Ward (Chicago).

The Winnipeg Sun’s Ken Wiebe writes there are options out there, suggesting the team look at some under-the-radar goaltenders who struggled a year ago. Tops on his list is former Buffalo Sabres netminder Chad Johnson, who struggled last year in Buffalo with a 3.55 and a .891 save percentage. However, the 32-year-old was behind one of the worst defenses in the league, while the Jets’ offense could easily protect Johnson better.

Sean Shapiro of The Athletic writes that extension talks between the Dallas Stars and Tyler Seguin can’t even start until after John Tavares signs a contract and sets the market. Whatever Tavares gets will be the starting point for negotiations between the two parties. Seguin, who is eligible to sign an extension starting tomorrow, put up a career-high 40 goals for the Stars. However, the 26-year-old can also opt to become a free agency next year in a similar fashion to what Tavares is doing now. Dallas has made it clear they want to lock the center up long-term.
Former Dallas Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen and current unrestricted free agent could be an interesting watch, according to Fox Sports Andy Strickland. The 34-year-old backup was interested in joining the Boston Bruins as a backup to Tuuka Rask, but now doesn’t seem likely. While there has been some interest from some Western Conference teams, he could choose to retire if the right opportunity doesn’t present itself. Lehtonen finished last season with a pedestrian 2.56 GAA and a .912 save percentage as a backup for the Stars.
The Athletic’s Michael Russo writes the Minnesota Wild have had conversations with free agent center Eric Fehr. The 32-year-old veteran had trouble cracking the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup this year and was eventually traded to the San Jose Sharks for a 2020 seventh-round pick, but made an impression centering the team’s fourth line. He put up three goals in 14 games and played in 10 playoff games. The scribe also writes that he doubts Fehr ends up in Minnesota.
Despite rumors that the Vancouver Canucks were closing in on an agreement with unrestricted free agent center Jay Beagle yesterday, Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet reports that the market for Beagle is increasing and driving up his pricetag. Vancouver remains quite interested in signing the veteran and are very, very much in the race to acquire him.

Dallas Notes: Seguin, Nichushkin, Heiskanen, Spezza, Lehtonen

April 7, 2018 at 6:57 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 3 Comments

With the Dallas Stars season coming to an end today, the Athletic’s Sean Shapiro (subscription required) spoke with Dallas general manager Jim Nill in a Q&A about the team’s disappointing season which resulted in a second-straight season in the lottery (three out of five, if anyone is asking), despite the team’s offseason efforts to compete for a Stanley Cup immediately.

Nill says while the team is still trying to figure out what went wrong, the team’s top priority is to focus on re-signing center Tyler Seguin, who is coming off a career-high 40 goals this season. He has one year remaining at just $5.75MM and can sign an extension on July 1. The question no one is certain of is what does Seguin want? Regardless, the team intends to stick with Seguin whether or not he signs an extension on July 1st.

“I know some people are worried, but he’s got a year left and I anticipate he’s going to come in and play well and get going,” Nill said. “I hope to have him signed before that year starts, but if it doesn’t we’ll go through that process. There are some things that are an advantage, we can offer eight years compared to seven, so there are a lot of factors that come into play.”

In the same mailbag, Nill said that he believes that 2013 first-rounder Valeri Nichushkin will be back in Dallas next season. The former 10th-overall pick played three seasons in Dallas, but struggled at times and opted to return to CSKA Moscow of the KHL for the past two years. With two more years of experience, the 23-year-old could make big contributions to the team next year if they can bring him back, according to Nill.
Nill also said, in Shapiro’s column, that he believes that 2017 first-round pick Miro Heiskanen looks ready to contribute to the team and is likely to come over next year. “I watched him closely in the Olympics, we’ve had scouts over there watching him,” Nill said. “He’s right there. He’s ready to come over. There will be a little transition time, living in a different country and stuff, but he’s very close.” The fourth-overall pick could change the state of their defense quickly if he’s as good as advertised. The 18-year-old has put up improved numbers in his second year playing in Finland’s top league, as he 11 goals and 12 assists in 30 games this year.
Mike Heika of SportsDay writes due to the contracts they have acquired over the past year, the team is all in on trying to win a Stanley Cup soon and will be forced to reload as opposed to rebuild their team. The scribe believes that the Stars should look to trade veteran forward Jason Spezza, who will have one more year at $7.5MM and retain half his salary. Spezza struggled this year under head coach Ken Hitchcock, scoring just eight goals this year, his lowest number since his rookie season. Heika believes that with another coach on another team, Spezza could still be a productive second or third-line center and at $3.75MM, there could be a lot of takers.
Heika, in the same column, writes that Stars’ fans have likely seen the last of backup goaltender Kari Lehtonen. The scribe believes that with starter Ben Bishop always dealing with minor injury issues, the team needs a backup who is capable of controlling a game. Lehtonen, who is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, has not been that guy. He put up decent numbers this year with a 2.58 GAA and a .911 save percentage, but Heika believes the team needs a young goalie with more potential.

Central Notes: Schwartz, Seguin, Winnipeg Injuries

January 21, 2018 at 7:37 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

Blues winger Jaden Schwartz took another big step towards his return today as he participated in a full practice for the first time since suffering an ankle injury back in early December. As a result, Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Schwartz could be activated off injured reserve in time for their game on Tuesday against Ottawa. If that doesn’t happen, then Thursday versus Colorado looks like a realistic target.

Schwartz’s return will be a boon for a St. Louis attack that has certainly missed his presence. Prior to the injury, he was off to the best start of his career with 35 points (14-21-35) in just 30 games; he still sits third in team scoring despite missing the last 19 games. Assuming he works his way back to his top line form in the coming weeks, that could lessen the need for the Blues to add a top-six forward between now and the trade deadline.

2018 All-Star Rosters

January 10, 2018 at 3:07 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 29 Comments

The NHL released the rosters for this year’s All-Star game in Tampa Bay, leading to an inevitable onslaught of discussion over who missed out and who didn’t deserve to go. The event will take place on January 27-28th. The full rosters can be found below:

Atlantic Division:

F Steven Stamkos – Tampa Bay Lightning (captain)
F Nikita Kucherov – Tampa Bay Lightning
F Auston Matthews – Toronto Maple Leafs
F Aleksander Barkov – Florida Panthers
F Brad Marchand – Boston Bruins
F Jack Eichel – Buffalo Sabres
D Victor Hedman – Tampa Bay Lightning
D Erik Karlsson – Ottawa Senators
D Mike Green – Detroit Red Wings
G Andrei Vasilevskiy – Tampa Bay Lightning
G Carey Price – Montreal Canadiens

Head Coach: Jon Cooper

Metropolitan Division:

F Alex Ovechkin – Washington Capitals (captain)
F Taylor Hall – New Jersey Devils
F Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins
F Josh Bailey – New York Islanders
F John Tavares – New York Islanders
F Claude Giroux – Philadelphia Flyers
D Seth Jones – Columbus Blue Jackets
D Noah Hanifin – Carolina Hurricanes
D Kris Letang – Pittsburgh Penguins
G Henrik Lundqvist – New York Rangers
G Braden Holtby – Washington Capitals

Head Coach: Barry Trotz

Central Division:

F Patrick Kane – Chicago Blackhawks
F Nathan MacKinnon – Colorado Avalanche
F Blake Wheeler – Winnipeg Jets
F Brayden Schenn – St. Louis Blues
F Eric Staal – Minnesota Wild
F Tyler Seguin – Dallas Stars
D P.K. Subban – Nashville Predators (captain)
D Alex Pietrangelo – St. Louis Blues
D John Klingberg – Dallas Stars
G Pekka Rinne – Nashville Predators
G Connor Hellebuyck – Winnipeg Jets

Head Coach: Peter Laviolette

Pacific Division:

F Connor McDavid – Edmonton Oilers (captain)
F Johnny Gaudreau – Calgary Flames
F Brock Boeser – Vancouver Canucks
F James Neal – Vegas Golden Knights
F Rickard Rakell – Anaheim Ducks
F Anze Kopitar – Los Angeles Kings
D Drew Doughty – Los Angeles Kings
D Brent Burns – San Jose Sharks
D Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Arizona Coyotes
G Jonathan Quick – Los Angeles Kings
G Marc-Andre Fleury – Vegas Golden Knights

Head Coach: Gerard Gallant

West Notes: Vanek, Seguin, McDavid

November 26, 2017 at 3:07 pm CDT | by natebrown Leave a Comment

Forward Thomas Vanek is having a bigger effect on the Canucks than previously expected writes Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre. Though some fans were concerned about the one-year deal Vanek inked, the early indicators are that Vanek will turn out to be quite the bargain. Though the Wild cut him loose with a buyout during the summer of 2016, the Red Wings took a flier and then flipped him to the Panthers for a draft pick and Dylan McIlrath thanks to a nice return during his five months in Detroit. Though he only potted two goals for the Panthers, MacIntyre points out that he has five goals and fifteen points in 23 games already for Vancouver. For a player seeing third and fourth line work (13:18 ATOI), Vanek has been a low risk signing that has produced with limited minutes. Though there was concern he would block prospects, it’s shown that the veteran forward still has value.

Tyler Seguin embraced the change from sniper to two-way forward reports Dallas Morning-News beat writer Mike Heika. While many weren’t sure how he would react going from goal scorer to having to be more defensively conscious, Seguin couldn’t wait. Heika writes that the moves, however, created some problems for Hitchcock and Seguin. Calling him a “goal-scorer,” Hitchcock tweaked lines to get some of the early season magic back for Seguin. Pairing him with Jason Spezza on Friday night, Seguin responded with a hat trick in a 6-4 win over Calgary. Spezza moved to right wing and the gamble paid dividends as Seguin notched his first hat trick of the season. Though Alexander Radulov and Jamie Benn were the ideal linemates for Seguin, it was necessary for Hitchcock to keep the team balanced. Friday’s move is one that Hitchcock hopes can keep Seguin’s name on the score sheet consistently.
As the Oilers stumble through their first quarter of the season, Sportsnet’s Andrew Berkshire wonders if Connor McDavid is truly regressing defensively. Much has been made about Edmonton’s struggles to score goals outside of McDavid, and Berkshire writes that it’s splitting hairs picking on a player who is responsible for nearly 50% of the Oilers scoring. Instead, Berkshire takes the opposite approach, showing both graphically and through words that McDavid has actually been just fine this season–especially where he’s been criticized heavily when it comes to turnovers. A closer look reveals time lost due to penalties–which is a team-wide problem, as one of the culprits. Berkshire argues that a 32 second increase in penalty minutes and a three second decrease in power play time caused a drastic swing in performance for not only McDavid, but the entire team performance. A closer look at the problem, through the use of numbers, reveals that McDavid isn’t the problem at all.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Dallas Stars

September 3, 2017 at 8:50 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 1 Comment

Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2017-18 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Dallas Stars

Current Cap Hit: $75,196,355 (over the $75MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Devin Shore (One year remaining, $870K)
D Julius Honka (Two years remaining, $863K)

Potential Bonuses

Honka: $500K

Total: $500K

Despite a disappointing season a year ago, the Dallas Stars did have some young players who showed some promise. Shore was one of those players. A second-round pick in 2010, the 23-year-old had a decent first year with the Stars, scoring 13 goals and adding 20 assists and playing in all 82 contests. What Shore did not get much of was ice time, as he averaged just 14:08 on the ice. That may change this year as there are many who believe he could be a top-six forward right now. Honka is another player who got a little bit of time with the Stars last year. The 21-year-old defender, their first-round pick from 2014, has already fared well with the AHL’s Texas Stars. He scored seven goals and added 24 assists in 50 games with them and got 16 games with Dallas at the end of the year and picked up five points. He is a likely candidate to make the team this year.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

G Kari Lehtonen ($5.9MM, UFA)
D Dan Hamhuis ($3.75MM, UFA)
F Antoine Roussel ($2MM, UFA)
D Jamie Oleksiak ($965K, RFA)
D Patrik Nemeth ($945K, RFA)
D Greg Pateryn ($800K, UFA)
D Stephen Johns ($725K, RFA)
F Curtis McKenzie ($700K, UFA)
F Brian Flynn ($700K, UFA)
F Mattias Janmark ($700K, RFA)
F Adam Cracknell ($675K, UFA)

That’s a long list, but the team really has few major worries about re-signing free agents next season. Lehtonen was a buyout candidate this offseason after the team had too many goaltenders. Instead, they held onto him to be their backup, but at $5.9MM, that’s an expensive backup who played 59 games and had a save percentage of .902. The team will rejoice at their salary cap savings next season. As for Hamhuis, the 34-year-old blueliner will need to have a big year if he wants another contract.

The 27-year-old Roussel is a different story. Everything depends on how he plays, but Dallas would like to see more offense than 12 goals from him to go with his 115 penalty minutes he picked up last year. The same holds true for Oleksiak, although he will be a restricted free agent, but the 24-year-old defenseman must show he can win a full-time job. He only managed 41 games last year. Johns, however, will likely be retained next year. He managed to get into 61 games last year and currently expected to make the team.

Two Years Remaining

F Jason Spezza ($7.5MM, UFA)
F Tyler Seguin ($5.75MM, UFA)
D Marc Methot ($4.9MM, UFA)
D Esa Lindell ($2.2MM, RFA)
F Brett Ritchie ($1.75MM, RFA)

This will be where the Stars must make some key decisions. Seguin will be their top target as re-signing their star will be essential. The 25-year-old center forced his way out of Boston and landed in Dallas where is career really took off. He has put up 133 goals in four seasons and even though he had a bit of a down year last year (26 goals), everyone did. He should move back to center this year under coach Ken Hitchcock and is expected to have a big year, despite having shoulder surgery. He is expected back for training camp.

Spezza, on the other hand, will be 36 when his contract expires and his numbers have been declining for the last few years. At $7.5MM, there are many better ways to improve this team than his 15 goals and 35 assists. No one is quite sure what Methot will do in Dallas. Acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights after the expansion draft, Methot is a very good defensive player, but injuries have stood in his way – often freak injuries like the finger slash. He has never once in his career played an 82-game season and he’s 32. He played 68 games last year, so the stars are hoping for a big season from him despite his expensive price tag.

Lindell was signed to a two-year extension just this offseason. The 23-year-old got into 73 games in his first full season with the Stars. He had a quiet, but solid season for Dallas and should be part of their long-term future. Ritchie is also a commodity the Stars will want to lock up in two years. His first full season produced 16 goals. Along with his 6-foot-3 size and his speed, he is a candidate for a breakout season this year.

Three Years Remaining

F Martin Hanzal ($4.75MM, UFA)
F Radek Faksa ($2.2MM, RFA)
F Tyler Pitlick ($1MM, RFA)

After the team will be forced to pay up for players like Seguin, Lindell and Ritchie, the team won’t have as much to spend one year later. Hanzal, who just signed a three-year deal with Dallas this offseason, is already 30 years old. Will he be worth bringing back in three years? It will depend on his success over the next three years, but if they can get 20 goals like he put up this last year between Arizona and Minnesota, perhaps they would. Faksa will be a restricted free agent, but like Ritchie, could be in line for a big season this year. The 23-year-old had 12 goals and 33 points this past year and is already praised for his defensive play. Once his offensive skills catch up, he should put up good numbers. Pitlick is more of an unknown. Signed from Edmonton this summer, the 25-year-old had eight goals in 31 games, but has never been able to crack the Oilers’ lineup. He hopes to get that chance this year.

Four Or More Years Remaining

F Jamie Benn ($9.5MM through 2024-25)
F Alexander Radulov ($6.25MM through 2021-22)
G Ben Bishop ($4.92MM through 2022-23)
D John Klingberg ($4.25MM through 2021-22)

The team has only a handful of long-term contracts, starting with Benn, who had a 41-goal season in the 2015-16 season and was rewarded with an eight-year extension at $9.5MM. Unfortunately, he put up only 26 goals last year, the first year in the deal. However, there is the general belief that the 28-year-old will bounce back and put up another big season like he had the three years before. Expect those numbers to also go up with this year’s big free agent acquisition in Radulov. The former Canadiens wing came over from the KHL last year and put up an 18-goal season and is likely to team up with Benn this season. The 31-year-old is expected to put up big numbers, but will he be worth the contract when he is in his mid-thirties?

Bishop is another one of the team’s big acquisitions after the Stars acquired him from the Los Angeles Kings and signed him to a six year deal for 4.92MM per year. He dominated for many years with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but became expendable to the Lightning and later to the Kings who traded for him at the deadline this year. But despite a slightly down year, Bishop should be able to produce with his 2.32 career GAA. Klingberg is also a key piece to the Stars puzzle. The 25-year-old blueliner has been the team’s star on defense, putting up 13 goals and 49 points last season. His deal almost looks like a bargain at $4.25MM.

Buyouts

Antti Niemi ($1.5MM for 2017-18 and $1.5MM for 2018-19)

Retained Salary Transactions

None

Still To Sign

None

Best Value: Klingberg
Worst Value: Radulov

Looking Ahead

After a extremely disappointing season that saw them go from a team that reached the second round of the playoffs to a team that placed sixth in the Central Divison, the Stars went out and spent some money. They picked up Hanzal, Radulov and traded and signed Bishop all for big money. They have quite a bit of youth that are mixed in to their veteran players and if those players emerge, the Stars should be able to easily get back into the playoff mix. Obviously, the need to make sure they retain Seguin, but with an influx of defenseman like Klingberg, Lindell, Honka and 2017 third-overall pick Miro Heiskanen, the team should be ready to move on from some of their veteran defenders. The team also has high hopes they can eventually bring back 2014 first-rounder Valeri Nichushkin, who left the organization a year ago to play in the KHL. All in all, the Stars should be in good shape for the future.

West Notes: Eberle, Russell, Seguin

May 31, 2017 at 7:48 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

Although the expectation is that the Oilers will have to move out one of their bigger contracts to accommodate the second contracts for Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid (as of 2018-19), GM Peter Chiarelli told TSN’s Pierre LeBrun that he doesn’t anticipate having to necessarily make that cap-clearing move this offseason:

“The way we are going to have to spend our money in the future will probably mean us moving a player. When that future is, I don’t know. Basically, we’ve got a year to play with, in my mind.”

Jordan Eberle’s name has come up in frequent trade speculation after a tough postseason performance where he collected just two assists in 13 playoff games although he did reach the 20 goal and 50 point plateaus during the regular season. He has two years at $6MM remaining on his deal which makes him a candidate to move if they decide to try to clear up space this summer. As things stand, Edmonton has just shy of $54MM in payroll committed for next season to 18 players per CapFriendly with Draisaitl the only real core player that needs to be re-signed.

Elsewhere out West:

Still with the Oilers, Chiarelli told LeBrun that they would like to re-sign pending unrestricted free agent Kris Russell for next season. He noted that the new deal for Draisaitl and McDavid’s extension are the top priorities to deal with and that their contracts may shape what type of contract that they could offer the 30 year old defenseman. Earlier this month, Russell indicated that he would like to sign a new deal with Edmonton.
Stars center Tyler Seguin’s recovery from labrum surgery has gone well so far and he is expected to be ready for training camp, GM Jim Nill told NHL.com’s Mike Morreale. Nill expects the forward – who is now out of his sling – to be able to start offseason training by the end of June. Seguin played through the injury for a big chunk of the season and went under the knife on April 25th.

Morning Notes: Brouwer, Jodoin, Seguin

April 26, 2017 at 10:08 am CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

Eric Francis writes for the Calgary Herald that Troy Brouwer is expected to be one of the forwards exposed in the upcoming expansion draft for the Flames, and with it could be leaving the organization almost as soon as he joined it. Francis points out that Vegas GM George McPhee has traded for Brouwer once in the past, acquiring him for a first round pick from Chicago in the summer of 2011.

If you’d been following along, it was clear the Flames couldn’t protect Brouwer after acquiring Curtis Lazar at the deadline, giving them at least seven young forwards that would be ahead of him on the list. While it doesn’t mean for certain that the Flames will submit their protection list on June 17th with Brouwer exposed, it certainly looks that way right now. The 31-year old is coming off his worst point total of his career, but still would add a veteran presence to a weak Vegas squad should he be selected.

The Montreal Canadiens announced today that Clement Jodoin has chosen to leave the organization after his latest stint. Jodoin has been an associate coach for the team for two different five-year periods, and also worked as the Hamilton Bulldogs’ head coach and in the Canadiens’ player development department over the years. New head coach Claude Julien will meet with his other assistants in the next few days to decide what’s next for the coaching staff.
Tyler Seguin apparently was playing with a damaged labrum in his right shoulder for much of the season, and the team announced today that he underwent surgery yesterday to repair it. His recovery timeline is set at four months, meaning he’ll be lucky to be ready for the start of training camp next fall. Seguin was criticized for his play much of this season, but still ended up with 72 points despite the injury. He’ll be expected to take another step forward and help the Stars return to the playoffs next season, or there may be even bigger shakeups in Dallas next summer.

Central Notes: McDonough, Seguin, Nashville – St. Louis

April 25, 2017 at 6:53 pm CDT | by natebrown Leave a Comment

Chicago Blackhawks president and CEO John McDonough is blunt in his assessment of the Blackhawks to the Chicago Sun-Times Mark Lazerus: they were steamrolled. Said to be “steaming” at their quick demise, McDonough is confident that general manager Stan Bowman can improve upon the latest first round exit for the only franchise in the salary cap era to win three Stanley Cups. Though happy with what Bowman and coach Joel Quenneville have done in the past, he tasks the Blackhawk bosses with building upon the talent that’s already there. Blackhawk fans can take solace in the fact that McDonough sees a lot of gas in the tank for a team many think may be worn out, but McDonough says that the organization is reviewing everything to make sure the Hawks fortunes are on an upward trend.

The Dallas Morning-News’ Mike Heika answers fans by indicating that the Stars won’t consider trading Tyler Seguin–unless they believe he’s not the right match with Jamie Benn. Heika believes that the Stars are hoping for new bench boss Ken Hitchcock to have a role in making Seguin a dominant two-way center. With an expensive contract, but still only 25 years of age, the Stars aren’t about to give up on the center. He also believes that Seguin will be motivated to take the next step as a player and sees Seguin being “very determined” to improve after fighting through injury the past few seasons.
It’s the battle of goaltenders when the Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues meet up in the second round of the playoffs. NHL.com’s Shawn Roarke writes that the goaltending is just one of many storylines as the two Central division foes meet for the first time in playoff action. Roarke sees lead time as another factor, as both teams enjoyed leading their respective first round opponent for long stretches of time. The Tennessean’s Joe Rexrode believes the Predators should win the series, but is far from issuing a guarantee about it. Rexrode sees St. Louis’ staunch defense giving the Preds some problems while he openly wonders if the inconsistent Predators during the regular season could return for a playoff encore, disappearing just as quickly as they appeared to remind fans why they were preseason favorites. Meanwhile, St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Jeff Gordon echoes a number of Rexrode’s insights, adding that the return of Colin Wilson for the Preds and matching Nashville’s depth serves as some difficulties St. Louis might encounter.

Snapshots: Stevens, Koppanen, Seguin

April 13, 2017 at 4:45 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

The Los Angeles Kings are apparently only looking at John Stevens currently for their head coaching position, reports both Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger of TSN. Stevens, as some may remember, coached the Philadelphia Flyers for parts of four seasons from 2006-2009 where he had a record of 120-110-34 and took the team to the playoffs for two seasons. His resume includes a Calder Cup championship, and he has been part of the Kings organization now for seven years.

It doesn’t mean that Stevens has the job, or that he even will be retained as an assistant, but the new Kings’ GM Rob Blake wants to exhaust internal options before looking outside the organization. Stevens definitely has the qualifications, but it may come down to just needing a new voice in the room. The new management team will likely decide before long, so that whoever it is can be part of the offseason discussions prior to the expansion and entry drafts.

The Boston Bruins have signed Joona Koppanen to a three-year, entry-level contract. The Finnish forward was rumored to have turned down NCAA offers last week and was set to “turn pro”. Now it’s clear that meant with the Bruins, as the contract will kick in for the 2017-18 season. The 19-year old could now come over and join the AHL Bruins for next season, developing his game further from the excellent season he had in the Finnish junior league. With 54 points in just 38 games, it was clear Koppanen needed a greater challenge next season. A fifth-round pick of the Bruins in 2016, the 6’5″ Koppanen has the size to enter the professional ranks right away.
At a press conference to introduce Ken Hitchcock this morning, one of the first things the new Dallas Stars’ head coach said was that he expects Tyler Seguin to return to center and play “in all situations”. That will include some penalty kill time as Hitchcock intends to turn Seguin into the dominant center the Bruins had hoped for when they picked him second overall. Already an offensive dynamo, Seguin told Mark Stepneski of NHL.com that the idea of playing all over the ice “makes him giddy”. It should, if it can turn him into a dynamic two-way player. Hitchcock is known for riding his stars hard when they play poorly defensively, even if they are succeeding at the offensive end. Perhaps he’s exactly the coach Seguin needs to turn him into the MVP-type player that he clearly has the talent to be.

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