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Barret Jackman Hired As Development Coach

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The Philadelphia Flyers will listen to teams calling about the second-overall pick according to Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post, but don’t expect them to make any deals. After moving up in the draft lottery, the Flyers have a chance to pick an elite talent at No. 2 in Nico Hischier or Nolan Patrick and continue building towards a contender down the road.

With Travis Konecny, Ivan Provorov and others making an impact already, the Flyers look like they’ll have a real chance to surround Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek with enough talent to compete before they start to decline. Both stars are signed long-term for over $8MM, and still have enough good years left to be around when this year’s pick makes a real impact. The top prospects have been doing interviews at the NHL Combine, and will both participate in all the fitness testing this weekend.

  • Barret Jackman is back in St. Louis after the team hired him today as their new development coach. Jackman retired from the NHL last fall after 14 years, and will now take on a role coaching the young players coming through the system. The 876-game veteran played all but one NHL season in St. Louis and recorded 186 points over his career. Never much of an offensive guy, he instead offered reliable defensive structure and penalty killing, eating up minutes on the back end against tough competition. Winning the Calder trophy for Rookie of the Year in 2003, he’ll be able to relate to kids coming into the league at a young age and finding success, only to struggle through the next few seasons.
  • Pekka Rinne was in the starter’s net today at practice for the Nashville Predators, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. After being pulled in Game 2 and replaced by Juuse Saros, there has been much speculation whether Rinne would be given the net for Game 3 tomorrow night. It looks like for at least another game, Peter Laviolette will go with the guy who got him here and give Rinne another chance.
  • Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Newell Brown is in consideration for an assistant coaching position alongside Travis Green this season. Brown was fired by the Arizona Coyotes earlier this spring after another poor special teams effort last season. He coached with the Canucks for three seasons prior to going to the Coyotes, and was part of the staff that took Vancouver to the finals in 2011.

Exclusive Negotiating Rights Of 33 Players Expire

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The deadline for signing draft picks has come and gone, and unless more deals come in after the fact, 33 players will see their exclusive negotiating rights expire. With it they will either re-enter the 2017 draft for the final time or become free agents, depending on their age. None of the selections were made any higher than the fourth round, though even that is an unfortunate loss for a team hoping to hit a late-round stud. Below is the full list of players:

Buffalo Sabres

Giorgio Estephan (6th round, 2015)
Gustav Possler (5th round, 2013)

Calgary Flames

Riley Bruce (7th round, 2015)

Chicago Blackhawks

Roy Radke (6th round, 2015)

Colorado Avalanche

Wilhelm Westlund (7th round, 2013)

Read more

West Notes: Braun, Dallas Goaltending, Berube, Therrien

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This offseason could be one of change for San Jose.  Two long-term veteran forwards in Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton are both eligible for unrestricted free agency and if both walk, there are going to be some holes to fill offensively.

On the flip side, the Sharks have strong defensive depth not to mention a lot of money tied into their back end; they have nearly $27MM committed to their top seven for next season.  (That amount is expected to jump considerably for 2018-19 as well assuming the team can get a deal done with Marc-Edouard Vlasic.)

Accordingly, CSN Bay Area’s Kevin Kurz anticipates that GM Doug Wilson will deal from his blueline to try to add some offensive help and brings up Justin Braun as a player who could be dealt.  Braun has been paired up with Vlasic in a shut-down role in the past and fared well while he has a decent cap hit of $3.8MM for three more seasons that will likely intrigue some teams.

The Sharks do have some depth on the back end with players like Mirco Mueller, Tim Heed, and the recently-signed Radim Simek waiting in the wings so if they do trade from their position of strength, it shouldn’t force them to spend big in free agency to replace whoever gets moved.

Other notes from the Western Conference:

  • Stars GM Jim Nill noted to Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News that he has yet to decide who will back up recently-acquired Ben Bishop next season. The team has two pricey veterans in Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi who each have one year remaining on their contracts.  If they aren’t able to find a taker for one via trade or expansion in the coming weeks, a buyout is a likely outcome.  Lehtonen has had the better numbers of the two so despite the fact he has the higher cap hit of the two ($5.9MM versus $4.5MM for Niemi), the early expectation is that he’ll stick around while Niemi will be let go.
  • Chicago Wolves head coach Craig Berube is the top candidate for the lead assistant coaching job with the Blues, reports Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The fit is a logical one given that the Wolves will no longer the primary AHL affiliate for them starting next season.  However, he is in the running for the head coaching job with Buffalo.  Rutherford notes that former Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien is also a candidate for the role but they don’t appear to be interested in former Buffalo bench boss Dan Bylsma.

Steve Ott Ends Playing Career, Takes Position With St. Louis Coaching Staff

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In surprising news, Steve Ott, just a few weeks removed from a playoff run with the Montreal Canadiens, has been hired as an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues. Ott will join newly hired Darryl Sydor behind the bench with Mike Yeo, ending his playing career at age 34. Ott played with the Blues from 2014-16, skating with many of the players who he’ll now be in charge of coaching. Lou Korac of NHL.com adds that the contract is for three years.

Ott has been in the NHL since the 2002-03 season when he broke in with Dallas, the team who made him a first-round pick (25th overall) in 2000. He was coming off an 88 point season in junior hockey as the captain of the Windsor Spitfires, and actually would climb to respectable point totals in the NHL over the years. In 2008-09, Ott put up 46 points in 68 games playing mostly with Mike Ribeiro—who would lead the club with 78 points—and Jere Lehtinen. He would score a career-high 22 goals the next season and be made an alternate captain, a role he kept until a trade to Buffalo for Derek Roy in the summer of 2012.

Though his time with St. Louis came near the end of his career, Ott had this to say about the franchise in the press release:

I am very proud of my playing career and will devote the same work ethic to my coaching career. The Blues organization is very special to me and my family and I’m excited to take the next step in my hockey career with this franchise.

Ott, thought more of as a pest than a scoring threat, will end his career with 288 points in 848 games, along with 1,555 penalty minutes. He never won a Stanley Cup, though did play 61 playoff games and reached the Conference Finals with Dallas in 2008.

Blues Hire Darryl Sydor As Assistant Coach

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The St. Louis Blues have hired Darryl Sydor as their new assistant coach, re-joining Mike Yeo on his new club. Sydor worked with Yeo in Minnesota before taking a position with the Blues’ AHL affiliate this season. The former NHL defenseman and two-time Stanley Cup Champion played 1291 games in his career, scoring 507 points.

Blues Owner Gives GM Vote Of Confidence

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If anyone thought the status of St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong was up in the air after recent coaching turnover and the up-and-down season the Blues endured last year, don’t count on it. In an interview with the St. Louis Post Dispatch, team owner Tom Stillman said he never second-guessed the general manager and even though Armstrong has only one year remaining on his deal, the owner believes that Armstrong is the man for the job.

“No,” Stillman said about whether he was considering replacing Armstrong during the season. “You need to keep a longer view on things like that. You don’t evaluate the performance of a top-level manager based on the latest current losing streak or a rough patch. I felt confident that Doug was making the right decisions and looking at the long-term, and that’s our focus, being competitive not just this year but next year and the following year. In fact, I think Doug is unusual in that he was so focused on the long-term.”

The Blues struggled early in the season, going 24-21-5 which led to the firing of Ken Hitchcock on Feb. 1. Armstrong then promoted Mike Yeo and the team immediately won six of their first seven games. Looking to the future, the team then traded defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk to the Washington Capitals and kept winning, eventually qualifying for the playoffs with a 46-29-7 record, good for third in the Central Division. They then knocked off the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the playoffs, only to fall to the Nashville Predators in six games in the second round.

“I don’t know that it surprised me because when you’re in that situation you know it could go any number of ways, but I will say that it impressed me,” Stillman said. “It impressed me the way the coaching staff performed … the way the players dug in. They were in a tough position and then we made it a little tougher on them by trading a top player and yet everybody dug in. They played for each other, played for the team and carved out a playoff position and played two rounds in the playoffs.”

Stillman continued by saying that promoting Yeo was a key move and the improved play of the team’s youth, including defensive pair Colton Parayko and Joel Edmundson as well as forwards Ivan Barbashev and Zach Sanford were a testament to Yeo’s coaching.

 

 

Without AHL Team, Blues Face Disadvantage

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When the St. Louis Blues’ AHL affiliation with the Chicago Wolves was officially terminated on Wednesday in favor of partnership with Las Vegas, an important aspect of the deal was overlooked by many around the league. The St. Louis Blues will still provide players to the Wolves, but only their best players are likely to see action, as the Golden Knights hold primary ownership. Given the Knights’ situation, why play borderline prospects of an outside organization, who you are still technically competing with? They will need warm bodies for years to come, but Knights prospects will always be valued higher.

This association may not seem like a huge deal, considering that NHL teams have used AHL partnerships in years past. However, St. Louis will be the only team dealing with this handicap in the upcoming season, and it’s not a situation that will help their organization gain advantage over a tough Central division. A team hasn’t dealt with this sort of turmoil in the minors since the 2009-10 season when the Anaheim Ducks had no affiliate whatsoever. The Ducks that year? They finished 11th in the conference and missed the playoffs.

Although Vegas, without an abundance of pro-ready prospects, may appreciate this arrangement for AHL competitiveness reasons, it can only mean a step back for St. Louis. There is no tangible benefit to having your third and fourth line hopefuls lose valuable playing time to outside players. One need only look to the role players of this year’s playoff teams to realize that having a deep bench in case of injuries is always worthwhile. The Penguins for example, have Carter Rowney, Josh Archibald, and currently injured Tom Kuhnhackl performing important spot-duty. Derrick Pouliot even has an outside shot of seeing playing time this series. If any of these had played on a split-squad in the AHL, there is a strong probability they would not have the requisite experience to be inserted into NHL playoff hockey.

GM Doug Armstrong says he has a “comfort level” with Las Vegas GM George McPhee, and that eases his mind about the situation. Regardless of comfort, Blues ownership failed the team and its prospects by not securing a primary home for their players. The Blues need to have a solid farm system, which they had seemingly started to build with a dominant 1st-overall performance this past season. The likes of Jordan Schmaltz, Magnus Paajarvi, and Ivan Barbashev all benefited from a successful AHL outing. Going forward, securing a stable location for all of its players is a must for St. Louis. It’s a disadvantage from the beginning of summer until the end of the season.

Snapshots: Ward, Gomez, Blues

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Sharks right winger Joel Ward has undergone successful surgery, the team announced.  In their press release, GM Doug Wilson notes that the veteran had the choice to have the procedure done or opt for rehab instead but clearly he opted to go under the knife.

Ward battled with this issue throughout the season which could very well be a contributing factor to his offensive decline.  In 2015-16, his first season in San Jose, the 36 year old scored 21 goals while adding 22 assists; his 43 points coming in as the second best output of his career.  However, he only tallied 28 points (10-19-29) this season in 78 games.

Ward is expected to make a full recovery and will be ready to suit up once training camp gets underway in September.

Other notes from around the league:

  • After it was reported earlier this week that Kelly Buchberger is a candidate to join the Islanders’ coaching staff, Newsday’s Arthur Staple reports that former NHL center Scott Gomez is also under consideration for a role on head coach Doug Weight’s staff. Gomez retired back in early September after an NHL career that spanned over 1,000 games.  Staple speculates that the 37 year old could potentially be tasked to work on a power play unit that ranked 28th in the league this season with a 14.9% success rate.  Gomez is no stranger to power play success as 255 of his 756 career points came with the man advantage.
  • The Blues are set to have several notable forwards left unprotected in next month’s expansion draft and Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggests in a reader chat (fifth panel) that winger Ryan Reaves is worthy of the final protection slot, even if that means exposing a more productive forward like David Perron. He notes that secondary scoring is typically easier to find in free agency than a forward like Reaves, who took some strides forward offensively this year, setting a career high in points.  Rutherford adds Dmitrij Jaskin as another candidate to get the last protected spot up front despite only scoring once in 51 games in 2016-17.

Vegas Golden Knights Announce Chicago Wolves As AHL Affiliate

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The NHL’s newest team has announced their AHL affiliate for the 2017-18 season.  As expected, the Vegas Golden Knights have signed a multi-year partnership with the Chicago Wolves to work as their affiliate. The club wanted to wait until the Wolves season had finished, as it did on Saturday at the hands of the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Wolves made it back to the playoffs under the leadership of former Philadelphia Flyers head coach Craig Berube. The team has previously been the affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers and Vancouver Canucks, winning two Calder Cups (2002, 2008) along the way.

Chicago has been the affiliate of the St. Louis Blues since 2013, and despite expectations that the two franchises would share the team this season, it won’t be exactly an even split. The Blues have not extended their agreement, but will “associate with the Vegas Golden Knights and supply players to the Golden Knights’ AHL affiliate next season.” Vegas will have full control of Wolves, including staffing decisions.

The Wolves actually play in Rosemont just outside of Chicago, but remain much closer geographically to the Blues than the Golden Knights. As teams try to get their AHL affiliates closer and closer, the Wolves don’t offer much long-term stability for the expansion franchise. Despite the current multi-year deal, a move to somewhere closer to Vegas seems inevitable down the road. There is no word on where the Blues’ next affiliate will be, but it won’t come until 2018-19 at the earliest.

As of this moment, the Golden Knights don’t have any players ticketed for the AHL as just Reid Duke and Vadim Shipachyov are under contract. That will change soon enough though, as the team selects 30 players in the expansion draft and another crop in the entry draft. Duke is likely to spend this year in the minors, as are several of the young options the team has in the expansion draft.

Snapshots: Blues, Wilson, All-Star Game

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The St. Louis Blues cleared house today, firing coaches Ray Bennett, Steve Thomas, Rick Wilson and Ty Conklin. The quartet had hugely varying experience levels, from Wilson’s 27 seasons as an NHL assistant to Thomas’ three. Conklin may be the most surprising though, as he was part of the team—along with assistant GM Martin Brodeur—to turn around Jake Allen’s season after goaltending coach Jim Corsi was fired. Allen’s second-half turnaround continued into the playoffs and helped the Blues make a splash, recording an amazing .935 save percentage in the postseason.

Brodeur is also not returning as the team’s goalie coach, but is heading up a search for a new one. Many would have presumed that Conklin would have been a front-runner given his familiarity with Allen, but apparently they will go in another direction. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet tweets that both Craig Berube and Darryl Sydor are “good bets” to move up from the Chicago Wolves and take places in the St. Louis coaching staff next season.

  • On Wilson, Friedman believes that he may immediately head to Dallas to reunite with Ken Hitchcock a long-time friend and coaching associate. Wilson was behind the Stars bench going all the way back to the Minnesota North Stars days, and was present for Hitchcock’s entire first run with the team. They won a Stanley Cup together in 1999.
  • The lack of an announcement for next year’s All-Star Game had people wondering if the league was holding out a sliver of possibility of still heading to the Olympics, but it seems as though the announcement will come soon on the host city. After Friedman broke that it may be heading to the southeast this morning, Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the Lightning are the likely candidates. Though it’s “not a done deal yet” Smith writes that Tampa obviously has the capacity to host big events. The city has held several huge sporting events over the years including Super Bowls and Frozen Four tournaments. If the All-Star festivities are announced with the full schedule, it likely means any ray of hope that the league will head to the Olympics is finished. Once plans are set in motion for the city, it would be near-impossible to go back on.

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