Snapshots: Coyotes’ Coach Search, Nylander, Ak Bars
With head coaches flying off the market and one of the top available names being the guy they just let go, the Arizona Coyotes’ hunt for a head coach is in an interesting spot. From the get-go, the word was that the ‘Yotes and GM Bill Armstrong could be looking for a fresh voice, perhaps even a first-time NHL coach, so they may be unfazed by the recent run on big names. Yet, insider Craig Morgan reports that one of their top candidates is in fact a seasoned veteran. Morgan writes that Dallas Stars assistant Todd Nelson is scheduled to have his third interview for the vacancy, by all accounts the most of any candidate. Nelson has been in the NHL (or AHL) since 2006, including a brief stint as the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. He has found great success in the minors, winning two Calder Cups, and never really got a fair shake as the bench boss in Edmonton, so in a way he would be somewhat of a first-time NHL head coach. He has picked up experience in Dallas over the past three years under Jim Montgomery and Rick Bowness and could be ready for another shot at the top job.
Morgan considers Nelson’s greatest competition to be Andre Tourigny, the head coach of the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s and most recently an assistant for Canada’s gold medal World Championship entry. Tourigny briefly coached in the NHL as an assistant with the Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators over three years, but has mostly coached at the major junior level and has been the bench boss of Canada’s World Junior team the past two years. Tourigny has found immense success working with young players; he has been named OHL Coach of the Year (twice), QMJHL Coach of the Year, and the overall CHL Coach of the Year, not to mention medals at four World Juniors. Can he translate that ability to the pros and lead a Coyotes team that needs to take a step forward rather than continuing to tread water? That is the question that Armstrong must answer. According to Morgan, he has already decided that St. Louis Blues assistant Mike Van Ryn and AHL Providence head coach Jay Leach are not the men for the job.
- The Chicago Blackhawks just gained some Expansion Draft flexibility. The Athletic’s Scott Powers reports that Alexander Nylander has been declared exempt from the impending selection process. In order to be eligible for the draft, a player must have three pro service years. Nylander, who has been playing professionally in North America for five seasons, may seem like an impossibility to avoid that label, but somehow he does. Despite playing in 116 AHL games between 2016-17 and 2017-18, he played in only seven combined NHL games and his rookie contract underwent the entry-level slide each season, meaning service time did not accrue. He then played countable NHL season in each of the past two years. However, this season – in what was meant to be his third year of service – Nylander missed the entire campaign due to injury. This means that, again, his service time will not clock. After five years in and out of the NHL, Nylander will be considered a second-year pro and untouchable for the Seattle Kraken. As Powers notes, Nylander was expected to be protected by the Blackhawks next month. Now off the board, it will allow the team to protected another forward that they may not have expected. He suggests deadline addition Adam Gaudette or reliable fourth-liner David Kampf could be the pick, while young, high-upside assets Brandon Hagel and Henrik Borgstrom should now be locks.
- The KHL’s Ak Bars Kazan has succeeded in keeping a pair of drafted prospects away from their NHL teams for a while longer. The team announced that they have re-signed Columbus’ Dmitri Voronkov and Anaheim’s Artyom Galimov to multi-year extensions. At their age, this is not an NHL career death sentence for either player, but it is likely disheartening to their teams who would like to get them on North American ice as soon as possible. 20-year-old Voronkov, a 2019 fourth-round pick of the Blue Jackets, has signed a two-year deal with Ak Bars after setting career highs across the board in the KHL this season. The impressive youngster has already played two full seasons in the KHL and has been dominant for Russia on the World Junior stage as well. Voronkov’s name carries weight as a prospect and the Jackets undoubtedly hope that he will follow WJC teammate Yegor Chinakhov to Columbus as soon as his new contract expires. There is a bit more cause for pause when it comes to Galimov. The 21-year-old was an overage pick by the Ducks just last year and despite his age has signed a three-year extension with Ak Bars. Galimov is a grassroots product of Kazan and has loyalty to the club, as they do to him after two successful seasons to begin his KHL career. Galimov has actually outpaced Voronkov to this point, showing that he too is a serious NHL prospect. However, Galimov will be 25 years old before he could ever step onto Anaheim ice and will have that much more attachment to Ak Bars. His ability should keep him interested in the NHL and the Ducks in him, but it is not a guarantee.
Expansion Primer: Nashville Predators
Over the next few weeks, we will be breaking down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Which players are eligible, who will likely warrant protection, and which ones may be on the block to avoid the risk of losing them for nothing? Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4:00 PM CDT on July 17th. The full eligibility rules can be found here, while CapFriendly has an expansion tool to make your own lists.
The last time around, the Nashville Predators protected eight skaters in the Expansion Draft: Viktor Arvidsson, Filip Forsberg, Calle Jarnkrok, Ryan Johansen, Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, Roman Josi, P.K. Subban,and Pekka Rinne. Look familiar? With seven of those eight players still on the team and at least five of them again locks for protection, the Predators are likely to take the same approach with Seattle as they did with Vegas.
Four years ago, the result was losing a high-priced veteran in James Neal. However, Neal was coming off consecutive strong seasons in Nashville and the Golden Knights did not hesitate to select the scoring forward. If the Predators want the Kraken to also take a pricey player, they may have to help it along. There are other more attractive and much more affordable options on the roster this time.
Eligible Players (Non-UFA)
Forwards:
Viktor Arvidsson, Nick Cousins, Matt Duchene, Filip Forsberg, Rocco Grimaldi, Calle Jarnkrok, Tanner Jeannot, Ryan Johansen, Luke Kunin, Michael McCarron, Rem Pitlick, Anthony Richard, Colton Sissons, Yakov Trenin
Defense:
Frederic Allard, Matt Benning, Mark Borowiecki, Alexandre Carrier, Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, Dante Fabbro, Ben Harpur, Josh Healey, Roman Josi
Goalies:
Connor Ingram, Juuse Saros
Notable Unrestricted Free Agents
F Mikael Granlund, D Erik Gudbranson, F Erik Haula, F Brad Richardson
Notable Exemptions
F Egor Afansyev, G Yaroslav Askarov, D Jeremy Davies, D David Farrance, F Patrick Harper, F Thomas Novak, F Mathieu Olivier, F Eeli Tolvanen, F Phil Tomasino
Key Decisions
The Predators have no shortage of difficult decisions to make, but it beats the position they were in earlier this season. Off to a horrific start to the 2020-21 season and looking ahead to the Expansion Draft, Nashville had almost everyone on the trade block so that they could protect what few core players and young assets they valued in expansion. Chief among them was Ekholm, whose contract expires at the end of next season. Rather than protect four defensemen – Ekholm, fellow top defenders Josi and Ellis, and young standout Fabbro – and expose a number of forwards, the team was entertaining trading Ekholm so that they could use a 7-3 protection scheme. However, as their season turned around and Ekholm trade talks grew quiet, that possibility slipped away. Whether they plan to re-sign Ekholm or not, the Predators are not giving away any of those four defensemen for free, locking them in to the eight-skater scheme once again.
With their defensive protections locked in, as well as in goal with new starter Saros taking over for free agent and potential retiree Rinne, all of the questions for Nashville are at forward – and there are plenty. The two sure things are Forsberg and Arvidsson. Forsberg is the undisputed best forward on the team and Arvidsson, despite a down year, still has too much value to give up for free and has a team-friendly contract. Beyond that pair, GM David Poile could go in any number of directions with his final two spots. The safe guess for at least one spot though is young winger Kunin. Acquired just last summer, Kunin is young and full of potential. A potential long-term top-six forward in Nashville, Kunin is unlikely to be exposed unless the Predators see something in him that causes them doubt in his upside.
So it could be down to just one forward slot, with at least five names in contention – the downside of the eight-skater protection scheme. The big names are Johansen and Duchene, the Predators’ $8MM centers. The problem is that names is all they are right now; neither has produced up to the expectations of their pedigree in several years. Nashville seems likely to expose both in hopes that Seattle likes one of them enough to take a massive amount of cap off their payroll, which they could better use elsewhere. If one of them was to be protected, it would likely be Johansen who has more history with the team and plays a more complete game, even when he isn’t producing.
With Johansen and Duchene likely crossed off the list, that leaves long-time middle-six forwards Grimaldi, Jarnkrok, and Sissons. Jarnkrok may seem like the obvious choice; he finished second among Nashville forwards in scoring this season while Sissons and Grimaldi were tenth and eleventh, respectively. Jarnkrok also led all forwards in plus/minus and was a key cog in the power play. Jarnkrok was also protected four years ago and is still on the same bargain, $2MM AAV contract he was then. Contracts could be the key here, though. Poile has had an extraordinary ability in his career to sign players to affordable, long-term contracts, such as Jarnkrok. However, Jarnkrok is entering the final season of his long-term deal, while Sissons still has four seasons left at $2.86MM per year. Nashville’s top penalty killing forward and top face-off man is also quietly a good complementary scorer as well, scoring at close to a 30-point 82-game pace over the past four seasons. If Sissons is exposed, the Kraken have plenty of reasons to select him. Would Poile risk letting another team, a Western Conference rival at that, benefit from his negotiating handiwork or will he instead protect Sissons and his affordable contract?
If Nashville was protecting seven forwards, a strong case could be made for 24-year-old Pitlick. One lone NHL game after leaving college in 2019 is the only reason Pitlick is eligible for the Expansion Draft and the team hopes it doesn’t come back to bite them. A star at the University of Minnesota who has been stellar in the AHL through two pro seasons and earned some NHL games this season, Pitlick looks like a future top-nine forward, but the Predators don’t have the luxury of protecting potential with only four forward slots.
Projected Protection List
F Viktor Arvidsson
F Filip Forsberg
F Luke Kunin
F Colton Sissons
D Mattias Ekholm
D Ryan Ellis
D Dante Fabbro
D Roman Josi
Skater Exposure Requirement Checklist
When Vegas had their expansion draft, a minimum of two forwards and one defenseman had to be exposed that were under contract and played either 40 games in the most recent season or 70 over the past two combined. Due to the pandemic, those thresholds have been changed to 27 games played in 2020-21 or 54 in 2019/20 and 2020-21 combined. In creating our expansion list for each team in this series, we will ensure that these criteria are met.
Forwards (6): Nick Cousins, Matt Duchene, Rocco Grimaldi, Ryan Johansen, Calle Jarnkrok, Yakov Trenin
Defensemen (2): Matt Benning, Mark Borowiecki
When the Predators signed Benning and Borowiecki to two-year deals last summer, it was with expansion in mind. They knew the pair were serviceable blue liners who could meet exposure requirements with bottom-pair time but also were not flashy enough for Seattle to select. In fact, if the Kraken do take a defenseman it is likely to be Carrier or Allard instead. In net, Ingram is a solid prospect who had a tremendous 2019-20 season, but his poor performance this year and his lack of waiver exemption likely makes him a non-option for Seattle.
Again, the value for the Kraken in likely to come at forward with so many names exposed. Jarnkrok, if exposed, would be affordable top-six scoring right off the bat for the new team. However, the expiring contracts for he, Grimaldi, and Cousins hurt all of their stocks. Pitlick or Trenin would be interesting project picks for Seattle, younger players who have shown flashes of great ability.
However, all eyes will be on Johansen and Duchene – and Kraken GM Ron Francis knows it. Even if he likes one of the two prime centers and even acknowledging that Seattle needs to hit $48.9MM and an $8MM salary would help, Francis also knows that the Predators have plenty of incentive to see either leave. Seattle could ask for an additional player, prospect, or pick in order to take Johansen or Duchene and Nashville will almost certainly comply. Johansen, a Vancouver native who played his junior hockey in Portland, is familiar with the area and could be an immediate fan favorite, the team’s top line center, and a captain candidate, especially if he can return to form. If he also came with another attractive asset or two, it would be a popular move by the team.
Coaching Notes: Vincent, Hakstol, Boudreau, Tocchet
New Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Brad Larsen is adding to his staff. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Blue Jackets are set to hire Manitoba Moose head coach Pascal Vincent as an assistant to Larsen. Vincent had previously left Paul Maurice‘s Winnipeg Jets staff in favor of being the head coach for their AHL affiliate, but seemingly is back to being open to an NHL assistant role. Vincent has spent the past decade with the Jets organization and the previous dozen years as a head coach and GM in the QMJHL. With an impressive resume, Vincent may see this Columbus opportunity as a way to get his name out there beyond the confines of Winnipeg in hopes of attracting NHL head coach attention of his own down the road. Vincent will re-unite with Jack Roslovic in Columbus; he previously coached him as a prospect with the Moose but he has now become the No. 1 center for the Blue Jackets. That relationship should be mutually beneficial for the pair.
- The big coaching news of the day was of course the hiring of Dave Hakstol as the first head coach of the expansion Seattle Kraken. And while Hakstol’s role will be in the locker room and not the front office, GM Ron Francis will certainly take his opinions into consideration. After all, it was the Florida Panthers, the former team of Vegas’ inaugural head coach, Gerard Gallant, that were swindled the worst by the Golden Knights in the last Expansion Draft. Florida traded Reilly Smith and a fourth-round pick so that Vegas would select Jonathan Marchessault over the likes of Alexander Petrovic and Mark Pysyk. While no teams should be fooled so badly this time around, Hakstol’s knowledge of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadephia Flyers – not to mention the numerous University of North Dakota alumni around the league – could come into play. The Flyers in particular are expected to have many well-known names exposed in the draft, some of whom played their best seasons under Hakstol, and the coach may know exactly how to target the team.
- The Maple Leafs now have a vacancy on their coaching staff in the wake of Hakstol’s departure, but the club’s fans think they have already figured it out. Yahoo’s Thomas Williams writes that there has already been an outpouring of support for veteran coach Bruce Boudreau to be hired as the team’s newest assistant. The Toronto native and former Maple Leafs player spoke out this off-season as a free agent that he would like to coach his hometown team and fans seem to agree with the match. Boudreau has had a long and successful coaching career and some feel that head coach Sheldon Keefe could use the veteran support on the bench. With that said, Boudreau has never served as an assistant in the NHL and interviewed for the Buffalo Sabres’ head coach vacancy late last month. Despite any personal feelings and fan support, Boudreau will take the top job for the struggling Sabres over a No. 2 role for Toronto.
- Of course, Boudreau is not the only candidate for the Sabres’ job, as Rick Tocchet is also among the names who interviewed for the position. Tocchet interviewed multiple times with the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, and Seattle Kraken, only to lose out on all three jobs. He has reportedly only interviewed once with Buffalo, who may not have been his top choice at first, but they are the only landing spot left, as the other remaining NHL head coach position is the post he vacated with the Arizona Coyotes. Tocchet is clearly a well-regarded and sought-after coach, so now that they are his last hope at a top job this season, perhaps the Sabres and Tocchet will get serious about a potential match.
Seattle Kraken Hire Dave Hakstol As First Head Coach
The Seattle Kraken went through an exhaustive process searching for their first head coach and have finally reached a decision. GM Ron Francis has announced that Dave Hakstol will be the organization’s first bench boss. In a statement, Francis explained his decision:
It is certainly is a job that interested a lot of candidates. There is a lot to like about the job with our ownership group setting the franchise for success. Dave is a hard-working guy. I liked his confidence during the interview process.
Dave has a strong understanding of the technical aspect of the game-how he wants his team to play in all three zones [on the ice]. He’s up for the challenge.
In Seattle, Hakstol is getting a second crack at a head coaching job after his first stint with the Philadelphia Flyers didn’t go all that well. He reached the playoffs in two of the three years that he completed, but was knocked out of the first round both times. Overall, he recorded a 134-101-42 record in parts of four seasons, while winning just four of 12 postseason contests.
For the past two seasons, he has been serving as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hakstol was responsible for the defense corps under both Mike Babcock and Sheldon Keefe, but will now take another step up to the head coaching position. Of course, his experience in that role isn’t limited to the seasons in Philadelphia. For a decade before coming to the NHL, Hakstol served as head coach of the University of North Dakota hockey program, leading powerhouse teams year after year. Before he joined the collegiate ranks he was the head coach of the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers, another prestigious program at the amateur level.
He and Francis also have a history together from the 2019 IIHF World Championship, when Hakstol served as an assistant coach. Jason Botterill, who has joined Francis’ management team in Seattle was also part of that the leadership of that iteration of Team Canada. They’ll now get together for the new challenge of trying to take an expansion team to competitive status in short order. The Kraken have just one player–21-year-old Luke Henman–under contract.
This hiring leaves just two vacancies left in the NHL, those in Arizona and Buffalo. Rick Tocchet, who has seemingly received multiple interviews all over the league, has been passed over in Seattle, New York, and Columbus. Other names that were interviewed by Seattle include David Quinn, Rocky Thompson, Joe Sacco, Kevin Dineen, and Tony Granato, but it is Hakstol that has won the job.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Rick Tocchet Receives Second Interview With Three Teams
June 24: The Seattle Kraken will reveal their first head coach today and Ian Furness of KJR 950 in Seattle tweets that it will not be Tocchet. With the Blue Jackets and Rangers having gone in different directions, the openings are quickly closing for the free agent head coach.
June 2: The Arizona Coyotes may not have wanted to move forward with Rick Tocchet behind the bench, but they are clearly in the minority. The free agent coach continues to draw considerable interest on the open market. Tocchet has already interviewed for the vacancies of the Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, and New York Rangers, as well as for the inaugural head coach position for the expansion Seattle Kraken.
At least three of those teams are serious about Tocchet as a candidate, as Coyotes beat writer Craig Morgan reports that Tocchet had a second interview with the Rangers on Tuesday and will have second interviews with the Kraken and Blue Jackets before the end of the week. He does not mention the Sabres, who are reportedly casting a wide net for their next head coach and may not be at their second interview stage just yet. While the Kraken are still an unknown until the Expansion Draft, both the Rangers and Blue Jackets have the talent on their rosters that could allow Tocchet to find immediate success if hired.
Tocchet, 57, actually has a losing record in his NHL head coaching career and if not for the expanded 2020 postseason field would have never led a team to the playoffs. With that said, he took a bottom-dwelling Coyotes team from last in the Pacific Division in 2017-18 to a team that contended for a playoff spot late into the season in each of the past three years, never finishing lower than fifth in the division. It’s nothing spectacular, but it is far from failure. Tocchet is also known for his ability to work with star players and was beloved as an assistant coach in previous stops. A standout two-way forward during his playing days and the NHL’s all-time leader in Gordie Howe hat tricks, Tocchet has a well-rounded understanding of the game and a well-regarded coaching approach. So while his track record may not be amazing on paper, the veteran coach has clearly made enough of a name for himself that several teams are highly interested in hiring him as their next head coach.
Expansion Primer: New York Islanders
Over the next few weeks, we will be breaking down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Which players are eligible, who will likely warrant protection, and which ones may be on the block to avoid the risk of losing them for nothing? Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4:00 PM CDT on July 17th. The full eligibility rules can be found here, while CapFriendly has an expansion tool to make your own lists.
In 2017, the New York Islanders were one of the few lucky teams not to lose a player in the Expansion Draft, as the Vegas Golden Knights selected free agent goaltender Jean-Francois Berube. They paid dearly for that privilege though, trading a first-round pick, second-round pick, and defenseman Jake Bischoff (as well as the contract of Mikhail Grabovski) in order for Vegas to take Berube. The team was also the only one to protect three forwards and five defensemen.
This time around, the Islanders are unlikely to pay a heavy price to keep their unprotected players from being selected in the NHL Expansion Draft and they are also expected to go with a more orthodox protection scheme. Will they lose a good player? Sure. However, two-time reigning GM of the Year winner Lou Lamoriello has left his team in decent shape as expansion approaches.
Eligible Players (Non-UFA)
Forwards:
Josh Bailey, Mathew Barzal, Anthony Beauvillier, Kieffer Bellows, Cal Clutterbuck, Austin Czarnik, Michael Dal Colle, Jordan Eberle, Ross Johnston, Otto Koivula, Leo Komarov, Andrew Ladd, Anders Lee, Matt Martin, Brock Nelson, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Dmytro Timashov
Defense:
Sebastian Aho, Thomas Hickey, Nick Leddy, Scott Mayfield, Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock, Parker Wotherspoon
Goalies:
Ken Appleby, Semyon Varlamov
Notable Unrestricted Free Agents
F Casey Cizikas, D Braydon Coburn, D Andy Greene, F Kyle Palmieri, F Travis Zajac
Notable Exemptions
D Johnny Boychuk (Inj.), D Samuel Bolduc, D Noah Dobson, D Robin Salo, G Jakub Skarek, G Ilya Sorokin, F Oliver Wahlstrom
Key Decisions
When you miss the playoffs or even exit early, it is easier to look toward the future when it comes to making difficult decisions in regards to the Expansion Draft (see: Philadelphia Flyers). However, when it comes to the Islanders, their current deep playoff run could make that difficult. The team faces several decisions in which they must choose between a top veteran or a younger future piece and must sort that out.
However, there are some no-brainers to start. In goal, the team specifically signed Appleby only to expose him, allowing them to protect starter Varlamov. On defense, the tongue-twisting top pair of Pelech and Pulock are locked in for protection. At forward, young core pieces Barzal and Beauvillier and captain Lee are also guarantees.
After that, things get difficult. The seemingly easy call is to protect their other top-scoring veteran forwards. Bailey, Nelson, Eberle, and Pageau are all key pieces to this season and playoff run and are all signed long-term. However, Bailey and Eberle will both turn 32 next season and carry expensive contracts for several more years, but have shown signs of decline in recent seasons. They will both certainly be contributors for another year or possibly longer, but are they worth losing another forward and missing out on using the cap space elsewhere?
If any of that core group of top-nine forwards is not protected, other candidates include reliable fourth liners Clutterbuck and Martin. However, the player who deserves the most consideration is young Bellows. The 23-year-old forward is a 2016 first-round pick who produced with the USNTDP, in the NCAA, the WHL, and most recently the AHL. His scoring has yet to translate to the NHL, but it seems like a safe bet. With more time and opportunity, Bellows could easily be a top goal-scorer for an NHL team. Do the Islanders risk that team being the Seattle Kraken?
One thing that is certain is that the depth up front will ensure the Islanders use the 7-3 protetion scheme. On defense, behind Pelech and Pulock, it may seem like top-scoring defenseman Leddy should be the final pick and he very well may be. After some down years, Leddy impressed this season and was invaluable to the Islanders’ success. He also plays a key leadership role as an experienced, long-time member of the team.
However, Leddy’s age and his expiring contract could make him a diminishing asset for the team. In his place, they could keep the younger, more affordable, and arguably equally valuable Mayfield. Initially more of a stay-at-home defenseman, Mayfield has rounded out his game in recent years and with that his role has increased. At $1.45MM for two more years, Mayfield is a bargain and would have a greater total impact on the team if Leddy leaves after next season, even if Leddy is the superior performer next season alone. Is that enough to make him the selection? Another outside-the-box candidate would be 22-year-old Aho, who showed potential last season but took a step back this year.
Projected Protection List
F Josh Bailey
F Mathew Barzal
F Anthony Beauvillier
F Jordan Eberle
F Anders Lee
F Brock Nelson
F Jean-Gabriel Pageau
D Nick Leddy
D Adam Pelech
D Ryan Pulock
Skater Exposure Requirement Checklist
When Vegas had their expansion draft, a minimum of two forwards and one defenseman had to be exposed that were under contract and played either 40 games in the most recent season or 70 over the past two combined. Due to the pandemic, those thresholds have been changed to 27 games played in 2020-21 or 54 in 2019/20 and 2020-21 combined. In creating our expansion list for each team in this series, we will ensure that these criteria are met.
Forwards (3): Cal Clutterbuck, Leo Komarov, Matt Martin
Defensemen (1): Scott Mayfield
The Islanders’ current playoff run could very likely determine their approach to the Expansion Draft. If they feel strongly about their success in winning the East Division or if they are able to advance to the next round, they may feel that they are close enough to winning a Stanley Cup that they keep all of their top-performing veterans. Yet, if they win the Cup, perhaps that focus shifts back to the future and the emphasis becomes long-term assets. Either way, the Islanders will have to expose good players and after giving up a king’s ransom to Vegas in the last round of Expansion and already with a relatively shallow prospect pipeline and missing several draft picks, they are unlikely to make any side deals.
If available, a top veteran like Leddy, Bailey, or Eberle would be an easy pick for Seattle. However, assuming they are protected, Mayfield does stick out as the top option. The only issue there could be that there will be many teams who expose solid defensemen and don’t have any quality forwards available. A young, high-upside forward like Bellows may be hard to pass up. The Kraken will have plenty of options and the Islanders will lose a good player – likely their No. 4 defenseman or top forward prospect – but they will survive.
Expansion Primer: New York Rangers
Over the next few weeks, we will be breaking down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Which players are eligible, who will likely warrant protection, and which ones may be on the block to avoid the risk of losing them for nothing? Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4:00 PM CDT on July 17th. The full eligibility rules can be found here, while CapFriendly has an expansion tool to make your own lists.
If you picked a team that had the least painful expansion process the last time around, the New York Rangers may be near the top. They didn’t have to make a side deal with the Vegas Golden Knights and ended up losing Oscar Lindberg, a depth player who had averaged fewer than 11 minutes a night in 2016-17. Sure, he seemed like a useful piece, but he played just two more seasons in the NHL before heading back overseas. He’s now in the KHL, a long way removed from the Rangers roster. This time around, New York is still in a pretty strong position heading into the draft and likely will avoid losing a key player once again.
Eligible Players (Non-UFA)
Forwards:
Artemi Panarin (NMC), Chris Kreider (NMC), Mika Zibanejad (NMC), Ryan Strome, Kevin Rooney, Jonny Brodzinski, Anthony Greco, Colin Blackwell, Julien Gauthier, Timothy Gettinger, Gabriel Fontaine, Ty Ronning, Filip Chytil, Pavel Buchnevich, Brett Howden
Defense:
Jacob Trouba (NMC), Anthony DeAngelo, Ryan Lindgren, Anthony Bitetto, Mason Geertsen, Brandon Crawley, Libor Hajek
Goalies:
Alexandar Georgiev, Keith Kinkaid
Notable Unrestricted Free Agents
Phillip Di Giuseppe, Brendan Smith, Jack Johnson
Notable Exemptions
Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, Vitali Kravtsov, Morgan Barron, Adam Fox, K’Andre Miller, Zachary Jones, Tarmo Reunanen, Nils Lundkvist, Igor Shesterkin
Key Decisions
For the Rangers, who have started a rebuild since the last draft, the key is in their exemptions. The real core of the future in New York isn’t even eligible to be picked, meaning no matter who they choose to protect, the group will still have tons of talent coming back next season. That leaves really only fringe choices, just like when they decided to leave Lindberg–who was a regular in the lineup–exposed to the Golden Knights.
At forward, there are three players who have no-move clauses, but all of them would deserve protection anyway. Panarin, Kreider, and Zibanejad make the veteran part of the group upfront and are key pieces if the Rangers expect to compete for the playoffs next season. Chytil, who took a strong step forward this season, is a no-doubt choice for protection to make it four. There is perhaps an argument to be made for leaving Strome or Buchnevich available, given they each are scheduled for unrestricted free agency after the 2021-22 season (Buchnevich is an RFA this summer, but a one-year arbitration award would take him to the open market), but it seems much more likely that they both will be protected as valuable assets.
That leaves one spot for several names, with a case to be made for any of Rooney, Blackwell, Gauthier, or Howden. Many would lean toward the latter two because of their youth, but that doesn’t necessarily matter when a team is trying to make the playoffs in 2021-22. Rooney and Blackwell are both better NHL players right now than the two youngsters, meaning they could end up protected ahead of them. Blackwell especially showed he could be a legitimate depth scoring option for the Rangers this season, registering 12 goals and 22 points in 47 games. The fact that he is signed for next season at a cap hit less than the league minimum makes him a valuable piece.
On defense, things would have been much more interesting if DeAngelo hadn’t worn out his welcome so thoroughly. The 25-year-old defenseman was banished from the team earlier this season and is almost certainly going to be left unprotected in the expansion draft (if he’s still a Ranger by then). Trouba’s no-movement clause stifles any debate over his place on the list and Lindgren is an obvious choice after inking his new deal. Once again, that leaves just a single spot for GM Chris Drury to play with, and again it comes down to a decision between youth and experience. Hajek played in 44 games for the Rangers this season but wasn’t very effective, while Bitetto has at least shown he can handle a bottom-pairing role in the NHL.
Of course, these decisions are all subject to change dramatically should Drury decide to pull the trigger on a trade over the next few weeks. That defensive protection slot especially could be weaponized, if he decides that Hajek is worth risking to the Kraken. The Rangers could acquire another player that is at risk elsewhere, adding him to what is looking like quite the formidable defense group for 2021-22.
In net, there isn’t really a decision to be made. The team signed Kinkaid to fill the exposure requirements so that they could protect Georgiev. The fact that Shesterkin is still ineligible despite having already turned 25 saves them from a tough call.
Projected Protection List
F Artemi Panarin
F Chris Kreider
F Mika Zibanejad
F Ryan Strome
F Filip Chytil
F Pavel Buchnevich
F Colin Blackwell
D Jacob Trouba
D Ryan Lindgren
D Libor Hajek
Skater Exposure Requirement Checklist
When Vegas had their expansion draft, a minimum of two forwards and one defenseman had to be exposed that were under contract and played either 40 games in the most recent season or 70 over the past two combined. Due to the pandemic, those thresholds have been changed to 27 games played in 2020-21 or 54 in 2019/20 and 2020-21 combined. In creating our expansion list for each team in this series, we will ensure that these criteria are met.
Forwards (1): Kevin Rooney
Defensemen (2): Anthony DeAngelo, Anthony Bitetto
By protecting Blackwell, it does create a bit of an issue for Drury to fix. The team would then only have one forward left exposed who have both completed the requisite games played and is signed for next season. A quick contract for any of Di Giuseppe, Gauthier, or Howden would fix that problem though, something that shouldn’t be too much trouble. For defense, DeAngelo can serve as that exposure requirement if he’s still around, or Bitetto can take his place if the team makes a move in the coming weeks.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
JT Brown Retires, Joins Seattle Kraken Broadcast Team
The Seattle Kraken are going with a rookie as the broadcast partner for John Forslund, hiring JT Brown as a television analyst for 2021-22. The announcement comes alongside the official retirement for Brown, who spent the 2020-21 season in Sweden playing for IF Bjorkloven.
Brown, 30, suited up more than 400 times in the NHL, scoring 72 points in 365 career regular season games. Before that, he won the NCAA Championship as a member of the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs and once represented the U.S. at the World Championship. Undrafted, he turned heads in the USHL and college ranks, before quickly stepping into the NHL with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He registered a career-high of 22 points in 2015-16.
Speaking to Forslund, Brown explained why he chose now to take the next step in his hockey career:
It’s definitely different and an exciting new chapter. Moving on from playing is a little bit of everything [in terms of emotion]. You think you will play until your legs fall off. But I had started thinking long-term-what was my next play?
Meeting the people with the team, seeing the city itself, it felt like a place we could call home. That solidified it for us. Seattle is amazing.
During the 2019-20 season, his last in North America, Brown scored nine goals and 22 points for the Iowa Wild of the AHL. A career defined by hard work and determination will now take him into the booth, where he’ll have to start all over again.
Expansion Primer: Ottawa Senators
Over the next few weeks, we will be breaking down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Which players are eligible, who will likely warrant protection, and which ones may be on the block to avoid the risk of losing them for nothing? Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4:00 PM CDT on July 17th. The full eligibility rules can be found here, while CapFriendly has an expansion tool to make your own lists.
The 2017 NHL Expansion Draft seemed like it was going to be a difficult blow to the Ottawa Senators. Coming off of a strong season and deep playoff run, a then-talented Senators lineup left several notable players exposed. The Vegas Golden Knights selected Marc Methot, a top-four defenseman who had provided an invaluable defensive and physical presence to the team. Yet, Methot – who was flipped by Vegas to the Dallas Stars – played just two more injury-riddled seasons before retiring. While the Senators’ downfall did begin in the 2017-18 season, it had nothing to do with the expansion loss of Methot.
This time around, the situation is almost exactly reversed. The Senators are coming off another poor season, but do seem to finally be back on the rise. Their rebuilding roster is full of exempt talent and those top performers who are eligible can largely all be protected. One way or another, Ottawa will likely lose a young player, but they have youth to spare and will be giving up potential rather than concrete value.
Eligible Players (Non-UFA)
Forwards:
Vitaly Abramov, Michael Amadio, Drake Batherson, J.C. Beaudin, Clark Bishop, Connor Brown, Logan Brown, Evgenii Dadonov, Jonathan Davidsson, Jack Kopacka, Zach Magwood, Nick Paul, Logan Shaw, Chris Tierney, Brady Tkachuk, Austin Watson, Colin White
Defense:
Thomas Chabot, Josh Brown, Victor Mete, Nikita Zaitsev
Goalies:
Joey Daccord, Anton Forsberg, Filip Gustavsson, Marcus Hogberg, Matt Murray
Notable Unrestricted Free Agents
F Artem Anisimov, F Ryan Dzingel, F Derek Stepan,
Notable Exemptions
D Jacob Bernard-Docker, D Erik Brannstrom, F Alex Formenton, F Joshua Norris, F Shane Pinto, F Egor Sokolov, F Tim Stutzle, D Lassi Thomson, D Artem Zub
Key Decisions
The first decision that the Senators need to make is whether or not this roster, as currently constituted, is worth using all of their protection slots on. Ottawa arguably has multiple protection slots at both forward and defense that could go to superior players, if only the team went out and acquired them. While most clubs across the NHL are struggling to protect all of their valuable assets, the Senators have room to spare with so much of their young roster exempt from protection. Ottawa has the opportunity to acquire players who would be exposed on other teams at discount prices ahead of the Expansion Draft, as they are one of the few teams with both the ability to protect them and the picks and prospects to acquire them. If they choose, the Senators could use the impending threat of expansion to step out of their rebuild and back into competitive status by adding veterans from a desperate market.
For this exercise, assume they don’t add anyone else; those questions still exist internally. Ottawa went out and re-acquired Dzingel even though he was on an expiring contract and the Senators were not in playoff contention this year. To this point, the two sides have not agreed on an extension and there has been no word of one either. However, it is to the team’s benefit to have some veterans in the locker room and Dzingel’s best seasons were earlier in his career in Ottawa. Rather than let the Kraken negotiate with him prior to the Expansion Draft, the team needs to decide if they want to re-sign him and if so should do so before another team can enter the fray. If Stepan is willing to stay in Ottawa, contrary to popular belief, the same scenario would apply to him.
Again, assuming Dzingel and Stepan remain UFA’s they are unlikely to be protected, especially if talks on a new contract have not gone far. Forward still remains the major area of decision-making for the Senators, as there are many eligible names and plenty of untapped potential. The likely locks include top young scorers Tkachuk and Batherson and veteran Connor Brown. Hard-working fan favorite Paul is also very likely to be protected.
Beyond that, Ottawa could go in a number of directions. They are however restricted by the exposure quota. Protecting the aforementioned four players leaves three spots available, but also just four forwards who meet the exposure requirements, meaning all three cannot be used on veteran lineup regulars. The leading candidates of those four to be protected are likely White and Dadonov. White has had an up-and-down couple of years, but the Senators believed in him enough to sign him to his current long-term contract. The same logic applies to the veteran Dadonov, who Ottawa chased as a free agent last off-season and signed to a substantial deal. He failed to impress overall in his first season with the club, but displayed his elite ability in spurts. It seems unlikely that they would part with either one already if they can help it. This would leave third line center Tierney and bottom-six winger Watson to meet the quota. Neither would be a major loss for Ottawa, but either one could argue for their protection over White or Dadonov based on consistency and two-way contribution.
The final forward spot will have to go to one of the Senators’ younger, less proven forwards. Top candidates include 2020-21 acquisitions Bishop and Amadio or prospects Abramov, Davidsson, or Logan Brown. Seeing as Bishop and Amadio both did little with their Ottawa experience this season and previously struggled with other teams, they are unlikely to be protected or selected by Seattle. Davidsson, who has produced in Sweden but failed to do so in North America, is probably not worth the investment. That leaves Abramov and Brown as the two most likely choices. Until recently, Abramov seemed like a safe bet given his strong AHL production, but after signing in the KHL for next season, his future contributions in Ottawa are now in question. Brown is a 2016 first-round pick with great size and presence at the center position who has shown flashes of promise in the AHL, but has yet to make an impact at the top level. Loaded with potential as both a physical force and skilled contributor, it would be hard to watch Brown leave and succeed elsewhere, but he has been given numerous chances to do so already in Ottawa.
In goal, there are plenty of options for the Senators, but who to protect should actually be a relatively easy decision for the club. Gustavsson, still just 23, looked excellent in his first NHL action this season, is a highly-touted prospect, and most importantly is waiver-exempt next season. If exposed, he is an ideal option to serve as Seattle’s No. 3 goalie next season and could blossom into an NHL starter. Unless the Senators want to use him as bait to draw the Kraken away from other exposed players, they need to protect Gustavsson or he will be taken. Daccord is not all that different from Gustavsson – a young, well-regarded, waivers-exempt goaltender. However, Daccord is two years older, has performed poorly in his brief NHL history, and is coming off of a season-ending surgery. Add in that he is signed long-term to a contract that becomes one-way, despite having shown that he can be a stable NHL presence yet, and Daccord is not as valuable as Gustavsson.
Funny enough, starter Murray is likely not in contention for protection at all. After a dismal start to his Senators career this season, Seattle is not touching his contract with three years remaining at a $6.25MM AAV. If they do, Ottawa will rejoice. As for 2020-21 primary backup Hogberg, he has signed overseas and the Senators have already revealed that he will not be qualified. The Kraken will not be interested in a 26-year-old UFA signed elsewhere. The final option in net, veteran Forsberg, is a career No. 3 who is also not a risk to be selected.
On defense, the decision is too easy, thus the question of whether Ottawa should add veterans to their roster before the Expansion Draft. Chabot is the lone lock and also the only player worth protecting on most NHL rosters. Waiver claim Mete looked good upon his arrival to Ottawa and is likely to be protected. The decision thus comes down to Zaitsev versus Brown: one is protected and the other fills the exposure requirement. Zaitsev was an everyday starter for Ottawa this season, but a poor one and signed to a bad, multi-year contract. Brown was a part-time player this year and showed little upside. Neither player should be protected, but the Senators will probably protect Brown as Zaitsev’s contract makes him the less likely of the two to be surprisingly selected by Seattle.
Projected Protection List
F Drake Batherson
F Connor Brown
F Logan Brown
F Evgenii Dadonov
F Nick Paul
F Brady Tkachuk
F Colin White
D Josh Brown
D Thomas Chabot
D Victor Mete
Skater Exposure Requirement Checklist
When Vegas had their expansion draft, a minimum of two forwards and one defenseman had to be exposed that were under contract and played either 40 games in the most recent season or 70 over the past two combined. Due to the pandemic, those thresholds have been changed to 27 games played in 2020-21 or 54 in 2019/20 and 2020-21 combined. In creating our expansion list for each team in this series, we will ensure that these criteria are met.
Forwards (2): Chris Tierney, Austin Watson
Defensemen (1): Nikita Zaitsev
With capable veterans in Tierney and Watson (or Murray and Zaitsev if Seattle is struggling to hit the cap floor), the Senators could provide an NHL veteran to the Seattle roster. The odds-on favorite in that scenario is Tierney, as the Kraken will not have many skilled centers to choose from in the draft. More likely though, it will be one of Ottawa’s young prospect forwards who is selected. Of the group, Abramov may still be the most attractive and his KHL commitment for next season could actually be seen as a benefit. The Kraken must select 30 players, most of whom are not waiver-exempt, but can only have 23 players on the roster. A talented scoring forward playing overseas next season is a safe way to add future potential that also doesn’t need a roster spot and can’t be stolen on waivers. Abramov could return in a year or two and step right into a starting role.
As noted, Daccord could also be attractive as a minor league goaltending option for the Kraken, who will have few players that can safely clear waivers and could value that depth in net with Daccord, who brings experience and a track record of success in the NCAA and AHL. His NHL numbers are a concern, but he would have another year to develop in the minors before Seattle had to decide on giving him a roster spot or risking him on waivers.
The other option for Seattle would be to negotiate with one of Ottawa’s impending free agent forwards. Without a ton of options to select from the active roster, instead agreeing to terms with a Dzingel or Stepan could be the way to go for the Kraken. Either one could be a superior forward to Tierney or Watson in the right system.
Coaching Notes: Ducharme, Tocchet, Seattle, Toronto
Following up on the positive COVID-19 test of Montreal Canadiens interim head coach Dominique Ducharme, Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston was the first to report that Ducharme will indeed miss the next two weeks as a result. Although the NHL has relaxed many rules pertaining to its COVID Protocol, a positive test still warrants a 14-day isolation period. Especially when the Canadiens were fortunate enough to not have any other positive tests among its players and staff, the league wants to maintain the health and safety of the team as well as the integrity of its semifinals. With that said, losing Ducharme is a blow for Montreal. The interim coach has led the team on an unexpectedly triumphant playoff run as the mid-season interim replacement for Claude Julien. The Habs will now lean on an interim interim head coach in assistant Luke Richardson, who coached the team to a Game Three win. Assuming Ducharme’s 14-day isolation began on Friday when the positive test was discovered, the earliest he can return to the bench would be Friday, July 2nd. Montreal’s semifinal series with the Vegas Golden Knights, if it even goes seven games, will end on Saturday, June 26th, nearly a week before Ducharme ends his isolation. Richardson and the Canadiens will need to string together a couple more semifinal wins and potentially even a Stanley Cup Final win or two if Ducharme is to coach again this season. It’s terrible luck for Ducharme, who had received both doses of his vaccination and told the media this morning that contact tracing has been unable to determine how he might have contracted the virus as he did not break any protocol.
- Seattle Kraken GM Ron Francis keeps things notoriously close to the vest and his ongoing coaching search is no different. Other than Rick Tocchet, who has interviewed for a number of vacancies so far making his bid for Seattle’s inaugural head coach role more public, there is not much known about who else may be a finalist for the job. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Francis brought a few candidates to Seattle this week for in-person interviews, but could only confirm Tocchet as one – his third interview for the position. Friedman speculates that recently fired New York Rangers head coach David Quinn, Boston Bruins assistant Joe Sacco, and University of Wisconsin Tony Granato could be the other names in the mix. Tocchet certainly seems like the favorite at this point, but don’t be shocked if Francis ends up making a surprise hire.
- Friedman also notes that other NHL teams are interested in Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coaches and have requested permission to speak with them. Friedman does not name any coaches in particular, but of their group of assistants former head coaches Dave Hakstol and Paul MacLean could certainly be drawing interest, as could up-and-comer Manny Malhotra. At this time, the Maple Leafs have not made any decisions on if they will allow their assistants to explore these opportunities, especially since they are likely to be lateral moves.