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Afternoon Notes: Devils Coaching, Drouin, Zadorov

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The New Jersey Devils have seemingly found their favorites on the coaching market, with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reporting on the Jeff Marek Show that the team is currently favoring Sheldon Keefe and Jay Woodcroft (Twitter link). More specifically, Woodcroft was the favorite before Keefe’s firing. But the Devils were quick to interview Keefe when he became available, even going as far as requesting permission to interview him amidst his closing days in Toronto. The interview clearly went well, with Keefe now a favorite for what Elliotte Friedman described as the coaching role with the highest ceiling.

New Jersey would offer a similar backdrop for Keefe – boasting some of the strongest top-end forwards but struggling to find the same consistency in net. The Devils have the exciting advantage of a much, much deeper defense group than Toronto carried during Keefe’s tenure – with the core quartet of Dougie Hamilton, Simon Nemec, Luke Hughes, and Jonas Siegenthaler stronger than what most of the league offers. New Jersey’s season was marred by injuries, best exemplified by star centerman Jack Hughes missing 20 games and star defender Hamilton missing 62. The inconsistent lineup was too much for head coaches Lindy Ruff or Travis Green to handle, with the Devils ending the year with a 38-39-5 record.

But even after the slow season, the sky still seems to be the limit for the New Jersey Devils. A fully healthy season out of Jack Hughes, a full year of young defenders Hughes and Nemec, and a fruitful addition with the 2024 10th-overall pick should set the bar high for the skilled Devils lineup, giving them playoff aspirations under the right leader.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Colorado Avalanche could be set to add a top-six winger back to the lineup, with head coach Jared Bednar dubbing Jonathan Drouin as a game-time decision, per Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). Drouin has so far missed every postseason game with a lower-body injury – but upgraded to a full-contact jersey, and top power-play unit reps, at the team’s Monday practice. Those are good signs of progress for Drouin, who recorded a career-high 56 points in 79 games this season. He’s seemingly found his footing in Colorado, and will now be set to add to his postseason career totals of 21 points in 33 games. His return should bump one of Joel Kiviranta or Brandon Duhaime out of the lineup, depending on if Colorado wants to prioritize skill or grit.
  • The NHL Department of Player Safety has fined Vancouver Canucks defenseman Nikita Zadorov for cross-checking Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid at the end of Game 3. Zadorov hit McDavid right into Carson Soucy, who landed a cross-check on McDavid’s face. Soucy will have a hearing sometime today for the incident. And while they’re certainly holding their breath in anticipation of a possible Soucy suspension, the Canucks are certainly relieved that Zadorov avoided harsher punishment. He has been one of Vancouver’s best defensemen this postseason, posting four goals and seven points through nine games, while averaging over 20 minutes of ice time each night. Zadorov has brought skill, finesse, and grit to the lineup – although maybe a bit too much of the latter, as he’s now facing DoPS punishment.

Ron Ellis Passes Away At 79

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Former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ron Ellis has passed away at the age of 79, the team has shared (Twitter link). Ellis spent the entirety of his 16-year career in the NHL with the Maple Leafs, joining as an undrafted free agent in 1964. He is one of just five players to play 1,000 games with the Leafs and ranks seventh on the club’s all-time scoring list, recently being passed up by Auston Matthews.

Ellis is most well known for his role on Toronto’s 1967 Stanley Cup team. At just 22, Ellis tallied 22 goals and 45 points in 67 games, ranking him third on the Leafs in scoring. He slowed down a bit in the postseason, with just three points in 12 games, though he still recorded 36 shots en route to the Cup.

That season was just the beginning of Ellis’ successful career. He’d top the 45-point mark in each of the next nine seasons, including two years reaching the 50-point mark and a career-high 61 points in 1974-75. Ellis and Dave Keon were pillars of the Maple Leafs’ offense throughout the 1970s, offering consistent scoring as Toronto brought in their next generation through the likes of Lanny McDonald, Darryl Sittler, and Borje Salming.  Ellis was also a member of the infamous  1972 Summit Series, where Soviet Russia took on a Canadian lineup full of NHL talent. The Canadians would win the series 4-3, with Ellis recording three assists.

Ellis was the runner-up to Roger Crozier’s Calder Trophy win in 1965, following a year where Crozier played 70 games and posted a .913 save percentage. His rookie season was his only time in the race for an award, though he did receive Lady Byng Trophy votes in 1979. Ellis was one of seven members of the 1967-Cup winners to be recognized with the 2024 NHL Alumni Association ’Keith Magnuson Man of the Year’ Award in February.

Ellis is survived by his wife Jan, son RJ, daughter-in-law Renata, and their families. PHR sends our condolences to Ellis’ family, friends, and the entire Maple Leafs fanbase.

Tavares Named Captain For Canada At Worlds

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  • After being added to Canada’s roster on Friday, Maple Leafs captain John Tavares has been named as captain for the Canadians at the Worlds, Hockey Canada announced (Twitter link). The 33-year-old saw his output dip this season but he still managed 29 goals and 36 assists for Toronto in 80 games but was limited to just one goal and one assist in their first-round loss to Boston.  This is his fourth appearance at the World Championship although it has been a while since Tavares has taken part; he last participated back in 2012.

Maple Leafs Notes: Trades, Shanahan, Injuries

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While the Maple Leafs’ management didn’t give any updates about their search for a head coach during Friday morning’s end-of-season media availability, there was still a handful of information divulged worth discussing.

That includes team president Brendan Shanahan confirming nothing has been ruled out regarding possible trades or other changes to the roster this summer (via Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman). After this year’s first-round loss to the Bruins, Toronto has lost eight of its nine playoff series in the Mitch Marner/Auston Matthews/William Nylander era. Matthews and Nylander have signed recent extensions and won’t be moved after career seasons, but Marner and captain John Tavares each are pending UFAs beginning July 1.

Both Marner and Tavares have full no-move clauses, though, something that makes general manager Brad Treliving’s job much harder if they do opt to free up a sizable amount of cap space by moving a core piece. Even with a lack of scoring largely dooming them against Boston this year, expect any of Treliving’s moves or adds this summer to be centered around defensive or physical play – he confirmed as such today (via TSN’s Chris Johnston). That would fall in line with the moves Treliving made before this year’s trade deadline, picking up shutdown defensemen Joel Edmundson and Ilya Lyubushkin as well as checking forward Connor Dewar.

Other updates from Leafland:

  • After the team fired head coach Sheldon Keefe yesterday, many thought Shanahan’s job could be in jeopardy as well since he’s overseen all of the Maple Leafs’ playoff losses since Matthews was drafted in 2016. That won’t be the case, though. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley confirmed the organization would retain Shanahan this summer with one year left on his contract (via the Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan). Shanahan has been in the president/alternate governor role for the Leafs for over a decade now, joining the club in April 2014 after serving as the NHL’s director of player safety.
  • Treliving also spoke to the injuries that plagued many of Toronto’s core pieces throughout the first round, including Matthews and Nylander (via The Hockey News’ David Alter). Namely, he confirmed that Matthews’ absence in Games 5 and 6 – which they both won – wasn’t solely due to the illness he’d picked up earlier in the series, but rather a head injury sustained in Game 4. Treliving also confirmed that Nylander’s absence through the first three games of the series was due to migraines, while goaltender Joseph Woll sustained an SI joint sprain in his back during Game 6 that kept him out of their Game 7 loss. The lower-body injury that kept depth winger Bobby McMann out of action was an MCL sprain sustained near the end of the season, and he would have been available to return during the second round if they made it. Dewar, who doesn’t have a contract next season but is a restricted free agent, also requires shoulder surgery but will be ready for training camp.

Maple Leafs May Be Looking For Two Goalies This Summer

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At the moment, the Maple Leafs only have one goaltender with NHL experience signed for next season, Joseph Woll.  With that in mind, Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic suggested on his latest podcast (video link) that Toronto is likely to sign a pair of experienced netminders for 2024-25.  At first glance, finding a partner for Woll will be the top priority while also trying to fill the role that Martin Jones had this season as the veteran third-string option that can be serviceable when called upon.  Ilya Samsonov, Matt Murray, and Jones are all set to hit the open market in July with Johnston believing that it’s possible that one of the three could return to fill one of those two spots.

Maple Leafs Fire Sheldon Keefe

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have relieved head coach Sheldon Keefe of his duties this morning after their latest first-round exit in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The team will begin a coaching search immediately and has not named a replacement. Toronto was eliminated by the Boston Bruins on Saturday night in a 2-1 overtime loss after they had finished the regular season 46-26-10.

Keefe coached the Maple Leafs for five seasons and reached incredible levels of regular season success with the team but was never able to get the group over the hump, winning just one playoff round during his term behind the bench. Keefe’s firing comes before his extension from last August has even started. Keefe signed a two-year deal with the Maple Leafs last summer and coached this season under his previous contract. Keefe finished his career with the Maple Leafs as the fifth-winningest coach in team history with a record of 212-97-40 record. Despite their playoff failures, the Maple Leafs are currently tied for the longest active playoff streak in the NHL, and while that is an accomplishment in a vacuum, the Maple Leafs have lost in the first round in seven of the eight playoff appearances.

Keefe first began working with the Maple Leafs in the AHL eight years ago becoming the head coach of the Toronto Marlies. Then under Kyle Dubas, Keefe took over after the firing of Mike Babcock in 2019. Keefe and Dubas were intertwined throughout their respective careers having worked together for the Ontario Hockey League’s Soo Greyhounds. His departure marks a second massive move in consecutive summers for Toronto. The Maple Leafs let Dubas go last May and brought in former Calgary general manager Brad Treliving. Despite the change in management, it was more of the same for Toronto this season, as the core remained largely intact under Treliving and the team bowed out of the playoffs early.

The Maple Leafs announced on Monday that Brendan Shanahan, Treliving and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley will have an end-of-season press conference tomorrow, after originally saying that management would speak today. The delay in the media appearance led to speculation this week as to what management would do with Keefe going forward, with many predicting that the Maple Leafs would move on and find a new bench boss, despite the term left on Keefe’s contract.

NHL Announces Ted Lindsay Award Finalists

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The National Hockey League has announced the three finalists for the 2024 Ted Lindsay Award given to the most outstanding player in the NHL as voted on by the players. The finalists are Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Connor McDavid was last year’s winner and Matthews previously won the award in 2022. Kucherov and MacKinnon are both finalists for the Hart Trophy as well.

Kucherov was the NHL’s leading scorer this season, tallying 44 goals and 100 assists in 81 games. His 144 points were the highest total ever for a Lightning player surpassing his own record of 128 points in 2018-19. Kucherov has already taken home the Art Ross Trophy for the most points in an NHL season and previously won the Ted Lindsay Award back in 2019, along with the Hart Trophy.

MacKinnon’s presence was of massive importance to the Avalanche this season as they dealt with a slew of injuries to key players. MacKinnon played in every regular season game and finished with 51 goals and 89 assists for 140 points, all of which were career-highs. It was the second consecutive season that the 28-year-old has topped 100 points.

Finally, Matthews had an incredible season leading the league with 69 goals and setting a career high with 107 points. On top of his goal-scoring prowess, Matthews also took on increased responsibility on the penalty kill playing nearly 58 minutes of short-handed ice time compared to just 3:29 for the whole season a year ago. Matthews increased defensive awareness led to him also being nominated as a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy, given to the League’s best defensive forward.

The winner of the award will be announced in late June.

Maple Leafs Notes: Samsonov, Giordano, Brodie

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David Alter of The Hockey News writes that Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov is looking for stability on his next contract after working under a one-year deal for the last few seasons. The 27-year-old is an unrestricted free agent this summer and will be seeking a multi-year commitment on his next deal. Whether or not he will command more than one year remains to be seen as his body of work was unsteady in 2023-24. While he did rebound towards the end of this season from a poor start, he’s just a few months removed from passing through waivers unclaimed.

Samsonov didn’t have a great year despite what his record will tell you. He posted a 23-7-8 record but his save percentage was just .890 and his goals-against average ballooned almost a full point to 3.13.

The goaltending market is weak this summer and this will work in Samsonov’s favor, making it unlikely that he will return to Toronto, particularly after the Maple Leafs were unwilling to commit multiple years to Samsonov last summer after he had a strong first year with the team.

In other Maple Leafs notes:

  • Pending free agent defenseman Mark Giordano is keeping his cards close to his chest when it comes to his future plans (according to Joshua Kloke of The Athletic). The oldest active player in the NHL last season wouldn’t fully comment on Kloke’s questions about whether he plans to retire or keep playing, instead, he simply stated, “It’s a pretty great lifestyle.” Giordano became the eighth defenseman for Toronto and was a healthy scratch for a big portion of the season, dressing in just 46 games and not seeing the ice in the playoffs. Luke Fox of Sportsnet writes that he believes Giordano will announce his retirement this summer, but that remains speculation at this point.
  • Sportsnet’s Luke Fox doesn’t believe that the Maple Leafs will try to retain defenseman T.J. Brodie as he approaches unrestricted free agency. Brodie started the season near the top of Toronto’s depth chart but slid down the list as the season wore on and became a healthy scratch towards the end of the year. General manager Brad Treliving reportedly didn’t engage in extension talks with Brodie and seems primed to let him walk into free agency for a second time after he let Brodie go while he was the GM of the Calgary Flames. At 33, Brodie is not the defender he once was, but he could still be an effective player in the right situation as a bottom-pairing defenseman. Brodie had a goal and 25 assists in 78 games last season while averaging almost 22 minutes a game. His even-strength analytics fell off considerably, particularly his high-danger chances against. Brodie spent roughly 40% of his shifts against opponents’ top lines and struggled in those minutes but could still fair very well against mid-tier opponents or the bottom of opposing teams’ lineups.

Eastern Notes: Forbort, Devils, Maple Leafs

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Boston Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort returned tonight for Boston taking Kevin Shattenkirk’s spot in the lineup. The 32-year-old Forbort was recalled two weeks ago from an LTI conditioning loan in which he played two AHL games and hasn’t played an NHL game since March 2nd due to an undisclosed injury.

The Duluth, Minnesota native posted four assists in 35 games with the Bruins this season, his third year with the team since signing a three-year deal as an unrestricted free agent in July 2021. The former first-round pick won’t put up much offense from the backend but will add a physical element for the Bruins, something that they are sure to need when they take on the Florida Panthers in the second round.

In other Eastern Conference notes:

  • Jonathan Bailey of New Jersey Hockey Now is reporting that the New Jersey Devils had detailed talks with former Stanley Cup champion head coach Craig Berube regarding the Devil’s head coaching vacancy. The 58-year-old Berube won the Stanley Cup with the Blues during his first season behind the bench in 2019 and was fired this past December after a 13-14-1 to start the season. He previously coached the Philadelphia Flyers for two seasons before an extended run in the AHL. The Devils also reportedly engaged in conversations with former Kings bench boss Todd McLellan.
  • David Alter of The Hockey News is reporting that the Maple Leafs Sports And Entertainment President Keith Pelley, Toronto Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan, and general manager Brad Treliving will now speak with the media on Friday instead of Thursday. While the scheduling change is a minor time and date change, it is sure to create additional speculation about what the Maple Leafs will do this summer. The Maple Leafs have won just a single playoff series since Shanahan took over the team back in April 2014, and have had three different general managers and two head coaches during that time. There is no indication as to what will be said during Friday’s press conference, but speculation is sure to heat up over the next 72 hours.

Marner Wants To Remain In Toronto Long-Term, Bertuzzi Open To Staying

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The Florida Panthers have added forward Patrick Giles to their playoff roster after recalling seven other players earlier today. Giles will effectively serve as one of the Panthers’ black aces and will practice with the team throughout their current playoff run. Giles recently completed his third season in the AHL with Florida’s AHL affiliate the Charlotte Checkers and will join many of his teammates in Florida.

Giles was an undrafted free agent signing out of college after spending four seasons with Boston College. The 24-year-old hasn’t produced much offensively at any level dating back to his junior days. This season with the Checkers, Giles posted 13 goals and 10 assists in 66 games in what was his best offensive season at any level in the past decade.

In other Atlantic Division notes:

  • NHL Insider Chris Johnston tweeted today that Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner remains insistent that his desire is to remain a member of the Maple Leafs long-term. Much has been made of Marner’s play in the recent playoff losses, but the 27-year-old remains one of the top point producers in the league. The chatter around Marner is likely to heat up as Toronto is coming off another disappointing playoff exit, and his situation is further complicated by his contract status. Marner has one year left on his current deal at a cap hit of $10.9MM and is eligible to sign an extension on July 1st. The Markham, Ontario native had a bit of a down year this season, failing to hit 90 points for the first time in three seasons.
  • David Alter of The Hockey News tweeted today that Maple Leafs forward Tyler Bertuzzi told reporters that he would be open to extending his contract with Toronto beyond this season. Bertuzzi is an unrestricted free agent this summer after signing a one-year $5.5MM deal with the Maple Leafs last July. Bertuzzi hit the 20-goal mark for the fourth time in his career but likely didn’t have the season he was hoping for despite playing a career-high 80 games. The 29-year-old tallied 21 goals and 22 assists with Toronto and should receive a multi-year contract this summer after settling for a one-year deal in his first trip through free agency.

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