Coyotes Add Three To Coaching Staff
Arizona Coyotes GM John Chayka, via a release on the team’s website, today announced the team has hired Mike Van Ryn, Steve Potvin and Dawn Braid to the club’s coaching staff.
Van Ryn, a former NHL defenseman who skated with Florida, St. Louis and Toronto during an eight-year career, will become the team’s player development coach. According to the team’s post, he will assist Steve Sullivan, the club’s director of player development, “in amateur player development as well as in working with coaches and players in Tucson (AHL) during the season.” Van Ryn was most recently the head coach of the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers.
Potvin joins the team as the skills coach. His responsibilities, again via the team’s website, will include, “player assessment and individual skill improvement.” Potvin enjoyed a lengthy playing career which included 10 seasons appearing in top European professional leagues and 158 AHL games.
Ordinarily a team fleshing out its coaching ranks wouldn’t be of particular note but the addition of Braid makes her the league’s only full-time female assistant coach. Braid is set to become the Coyotes skating coach after filling the same role on a part-time basis in 2015. Prior to that she has served as a skating consultant with the Toronto, Anaheim, Calgary and Buffalo organizations.
Tim Jackman Retires From NHL
According to Elite Prospects, long-time journeyman Tim Jackman has decided to hang up his skates and retire from professional hockey. Jackman played 483 games across parts of twelve seasons, suiting up for the Blue Jackets, Coyotes, Kings, Islanders, Flames and Ducks along the way.
Now 34-years old, Jackman was originally picked in the second round of the 2001 draft, and would contribute 75 points and over 800 penalty minutes across his career. The North Dakota native got into nine playoff games in 2014-15 with the Ducks, his first taste of NHL postseason.
Playing with the San Diego Gulls of the AHL last season, Jackman put up two points (1-1) and 33 penalty minutes in 22 games. Don’t be surprised to see Jackman’s name in a coaching staff in the future, as often tough guys and journeymen find success behind the bench after their playing days are over.
Pacific Division: Remaining RFAs
We’re now in the dying days of August, less than a month away from the start of the World Cup and training camps. However, there are still 15 restricted free agents remaining, and many of them are not who you would expect to be unsigned at this point. Two NHL teams’ leading scorers, four top-four defensemen, and several other high quality players are still looking for new deals.
Let’s break down the remaining RFAs by division, starting out west in the Pacific Division:
Anaheim Ducks – $7.52MM in cap space, according to Cap Friendly – The Ducks have mostly stood pat this summer after bringing back Randy Carlyle to replace the fired Bruce Boudreau. However, the budget-bound Ducks still have some work to do – their best defenseman, Hampus Lindholm, and World Cup-bound center Rickard Rakell still need new contracts. Lindholm logged the most minutes on the Ducks and put up 28 points as a dependable two-way force. Rakell is behind Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler on the center depth chart, but finished fourth on the Ducks in points with 43. The Ducks would like to get both signed long term, but will need to get creative to fit it all under their self-imposed budget. Cam Fowler has been the subject of trade rumors throughout the summer as the Ducks ready themselves for these two contracts and next summer’s expansion draft.
Arizona Coyotes – $7.85MM in cap space, according to Cap Friendly – Arizona has been locked in tough negotiations with Tobias Rieder all summer. It’s believed the talented scorer and reliable two-way winger is looking for a contract similar to new Coyotes forward Jamie McGinn, who signed a three-year, $10MM contract. However, new GM John Chayka isn’t budging, and Rieder has threatened to head to the KHL if the two sides can’t come to an agreement.
Calgary Flames – $8.59MM in cap space, according to Cap Friendly – The Flames have been in an unenviable situation this summer, with their two top forwards needing new contracts. GM Brad Treliving locked up center Sean Monahan to a seven-year, $44.625MM contract last week, but has yet to sign the team’s leading scorer Johnny Gaudreau. Gaudreau has said he won’t negotiate during the upcoming World Cup, where he’ll suit up for Team North America. Their camp starts on the long weekend, so there’s just two weeks remaining for Gaudreau and the Flames to put pen to paper. The Flames also have to sign Freddie Hamilton, minor league center and brother of Dougie. Hamilton played four NHL games last season, potting a goal and an assist.
Atlantic Division Snapshots: Radulov, Holland, Larkin, Kempfer
One of the summer’s more interesting free agent signings, winger Alexander Radulov, met for the first time with the Montreal media and Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette transcribed the event. It’s worth a read in full but here are some of the highlights.
- Radulov talked about how “things change,” as you grow older, implying he feels is a more mature player than the one who left Nashville. Of course Radulov, along with then teammate Andrei Kostitsyn, is notoriously remembered for missing curfew the night before a playoff game in Nashville’s second round series against the Coyotes in 2012. After the Predators were eliminated, Radulov left the NHL to return to the KHL.
- He addressed where he might fit into the Canadiens lineup and gave an answer typical of a player by deferring to his coaches.
- Even though Radulov had other options, Florida and Detroit were both rumored to be interested in the skilled winger, his experience as a junior player in Quebec led to him choosing to sign with Montreal.
“We played and we won the Memorial Cup. It was a lot of fun and I saw those fans when they were the happiest people in the world. What can be better than when you make people, fans happy, and that’s the best time.”
Radulov has the skill to be one of the elite offensive wingers in the game and ordinarily securing a player of his ability to a one-year deal worth $5MM would be considered an absolute steal. But given his baggage, no team wanted to go beyond a one year commitment in case it doesn’t work out. Montreal made a similar addition in the summer of 2015 when they signed Alexander Semin to a cheap contract, one which didn’t work out. It’s possible the Radulov signing won’t work out either but it’s a good gamble to take for Montreal given their need for more offensive firepower.
More from the Atlantic Division…..
- Ansar Khan of MLive opened up his mailbag and answered an array of reader questions. Of particular note was the sense of frustration fans are feeling about longtime GM Ken Holland. Not only is Detroit not considered serious Stanley Cup contenders at this point, there is also the impression that some of Holland’s recent re-signings for veteran Red Wing players will serve to hamstring the club’s salary cap situation in future seasons. Again, there’s plenty of insight in the post so feel free to give it a read in its entirety.
- Writing for the Sun Sentinel, Harvey Fialkov discusses the upcoming battle veteran defenseman Steve Kampfer faces to make the Florida roster despite coming off a career-best season with the Panthers. Kampfer appeared in 47 games in 2015-16 and told Fialkov that if not for a late-season injury he would have been in the lineup during the playoffs. Florida made several notable additions to their blue line this summer, bringing in Keith Yandle, Jason Demers and Mark Pysyk to add skill and puck-handling ability to the defense corps. Joining the new trio is young superstar Aaron Ekblad. Jakub Kindl and Alex Petrovic round out the top six on the team’s depth chart. Kampfer is going to face an uphill battle to earn playing time but it’s a battle the veteran depth defender is fairly accustomed to.
Pacific Notes: Edler, Kopitar, Maloney
In the last 15 years, the Chicago Blackhawks are the only current Western Conference team to reach the Stanley Cup Finals that is not currently in the Pacific Division. The Detroit Red Wings represented the Western Conference in 2002, 2008, and 2009, but currently play in the Eastern Conference. Since then, the only current Pacific Division team not to reach the finals is the Arizona Coyotes. The finalists include the Ducks in 2003 and 2007, the Flames in 2004, the Oilers in 2006, the Canucks in 2011, the Kings in 2012 and 2014, and the Sharks this past season.
What are the Pacific teams doing as they look to continue their dominance over the Central Division? Here are some west coast links to let you know.
- Daniel MacDonald over at Today’s Slapshot has written about trade rumors involving Canucks defenseman Alex Edler. The crux of the situation is that Edler is now on the wrong side of 30, and not necessarily a fit for the Canucks as they re-tool. Edler has been a source of some controversy among Canucks fans, writes MacDonald. It’s still hard to deny that he was one of the best on a very strong defense when they came within a game of the Stanley Cup in 2011. MacDonald notes that Edler’s no-trade clause will make him harder to move. He’s played with a lot of his teammates for years, and he’s lived in Vancouver for a long time. Still, it may be worth considering if it helps them get younger. If the Canucks start slowly, expect the talk to get louder.
- Sean Leahy of Puck Daddy spoke to Anze Kopitar recently. The interview covered both Kopitar’s participation in Olympic qualifiers for his native Slovenia, as well as his assumption of the Kings captaincy. Kopitar says that the Kings were supportive of his decision to play for his country. This despite the fact that, as a member of Team Europe at the World Cup of Hockey, he’ll have another slate of international games before he starts his season in Los Angeles. On the subject of the captaincy, Kopitar insisted that things will be no different between him and former captain Dustin Brown. Kopitar made sure to note that “he was the captain that took us to two Stanley Cups.”
- Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic interviewed former Coyotes GM Don Maloney, and the insight was fascinating. Maloney says he wasn’t surprised by his firing, telling McLellan “I didn’t see any way, shape, or form that this was going to end well for me at the end of the season.” He also offered praise for his successor, new Coyotes GM John Chayka, and the selection of Clayton Keller in this year’s draft in particular. Maloney was recently hired as a scout for the Calgary Flames.
Week In Review: 8/15/16 – 8/21/16
Less than a month away from the start of rookie camps, the NHL free agency period has slowed down nearly to a halt. However, there were a few notable things happening this past week as some noteworthy college players became unrestricted free agents. Here’s your recap of the week that was:
Notable Signings
Antoine Vermette (Ducks) – After being bought out by the Coyotes in early August, Vermette signed a two-year, $3.5MM contract with their division rivals, the Anaheim Ducks.
Radim Vrbata (Coyotes) – The former Coyote returned to the desert after a two year stint in Vancouver, where he had one very good year (31 goals and 63 points) and one very poor year (13 goals and 27 points). Vrbata signed for one season at $1MM, with a possible total of $3.25MM including performance bonuses.
Matt Cullen (Penguins) – The defending Stanley Cup Champions re-signed Cullen to a one-year, $1MM contract. Despite the cheap signing, the Penguins are still $3.9MM over the $73MM salary cap.
Sean Monahan (Flames) – The restricted free agent center signed a seven-year, $44.625MM contract. The Flames now have $8.6MM of cap space to sign their leading scorer Johnny Gaudreau.
Notable Entry-Level Contracts
John Gilmour (Rangers) – The Rangers made an early splash in the college free agent market, which would soon be overshadowed. Gilmour, the Flames seventh round pick in 2013, posted 65 points in 141 games at Providence College. Pro Hockey Rumor’s third ranked college free agent signed for two seasons worth $1.85MM.
Thomas DiPauli (Penguins) – The Penguins signed PHR’s second ranked college free agent to a two-year, $1.85MM entry-level contract. DiPauli was Capitals fourth round pick in 2012, and posted 78 points in 145 games with the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Jimmy Vesey (Rangers) – By far the highest sought-after college free agent, Vesey surprised many and signed with the Rangers. The subject of much speculation this summer, Vesey was the Predators third round pick back in 2012 but was traded to Buffalo this spring when it was clear he wasn’t going to sign. Vesey is expected to step straight into the NHL and produce at a second or third line rate.
Logan Brown (Senators) – In non-college free agent news, the Senators signed their 11th overall pick to a three-year, $4.9MM entry-level contract. The 6’6, 220 lb center has 117 points in 115 career OHL games.
Vrbata Officially Returns To Arizona
As has been speculated over the past few days, veteran winger Radim Vrbata has signed with the Arizona Coyotes, the team officially announced this morning. The deal is for one year and just $1MM in base salary. Although it has not been confirmed, it has been reported by many that the deal will also include performance bonuses. Regardless, the deal stands to be a potential bargain for an elite scorer, as GM John Chayka adds yet another shrewd move to his off-season resume.
One of the more surprising players left on the market, Vrbata has now been scooped up and will return to the Coyotes for his third stint (and seventh season) with the team. Although his 2015-16 campaign with the Vancouver Canucks was forgettable, Vrbata is just one year removed from a 63-point season and had several comparable years as a member of the Coyotes. Arizona hopes that the veteran of nearly one thousand NHL games can bring some consistent scoring to the young team and make up for some of the locker room presence lost by the recent release of Vrbata’s former teammate, Antoine Vermette.
Ranked 27th in our Top 50 Free Agents list, Vrbata’s signing takes one more impact free agent off the board and leaves only Kris Russell and Jiri Hudler as top-end players yet to be signed.
Off-Season To Date: Pacific Division
The NHL has entered its seasonal lull where teams are done signing free agents and will wait until training camp to make major roster moves. We have already documented the off-season moves of the Atlantic Division, Metropolitan Division, and Central Division teams. Now we take a quick look at the Pacific Division.
Anaheim Ducks
Key Additions: Jared Boll, Antoine Vermette, Jonathan Bernier, Mason Raymond
Key Departures: Jamie McGinn, David Perron, Brandon Pirri, Frederik Andersen, Mike Santorelli, Chris Stewart, Anton Khudobin
Unsigned RFAs: Rickard Rakell, Hampus Lindholm
Cap Space: $6,657,500
Projected Roster Size: 21
Notes: The Ducks traded Frederik Andersen away and are going with John Gibson as their number one starter. They have yet to sign Lindholm but have ample cap space to do so. The team experienced some decent turnover from last season, including firing Coach Bruce Boudreau and hiring former Ducks and Leafs coach Randy Carlyle.
Arizona Coyotes
Key Additions: Jamie McGinn, Ryan White, Alex Goligoski, Luke Schenn, Anthony DeAngelo
Key Departures: Antoine Vermette, Alex Tanguay, Boyd Gordon, Sergei Plotnikov, Anders Lindback, Joe Vitale
Unsigned RFAs: Tobias Rieder
Cap Space: $8,847,875
Projected Roster Size: 22
Notes: The Coyotes picked up a trio of forwards to surround their young prospects, and signed Goligoski to beef up their defense. Arizona also took on Pavel Datysuk‘s contract to move up in the first round of the NHL Draft. All that remains is to sign RFA Tobias Rieder, but recent reports says that both camps are far apart. New GM John Chayka is an analytics proponent, so his moves will garner extra scrutiny as the season progresses. Finally, at time of writing Vrbata is close to signing a one-year deal with Arizona, but nothing has been finalized yet.
Calgary Flames
Key Additions: Troy Brouwer, Alex Chiasson, Linden Vey, Brian Elliott, Chad Johnson
Key Departures: Karri Ramo, Joni Ortio, Jonas Hiller, Niklas Backstrom, Kevin Poulin, Joe Colborne, Josh Jooris, Mason Raymond
Unsigned RFAs: Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan
Cap Space: $14,969,600
Projected Roster Size: 20
Notes: The Flames’ offseason is noteworthy for two reasons. One, they completely switched out their goaltending, bringing in St. Louis starter Brian Elliot and Buffalo semi-starter Chad Johnson, and letting Ramo, Ortio, Hiller, and Backstrom walk. Elliot represents a significant upgrade over last year’s goaltending-by-committee. The second noteworthy event—or non-event—is that Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan are still unsigned. The top two Flames scorers last year are playing on Team North America in the World Cup of Hockey, and impressive performances could raise the RFAs’ asking prices.
Edmonton Oilers
Key Additions: Milan Lucic, Adam Larsson, Jonas Gustavsson
Key Departures: Taylor Hall, Rob Klinkhammer, Adam Cracknell, Lauri Korpikoski
Unsigned RFAs: None
Cap Space: $9,238,833
Projected Roster Size: 23
Notes: The Oilers made two big splashes this offseason. First, they traded away Taylor Hall to New Jersey for defenseman Adam Larsson. Hall was one of the Oilers’ best players since he was drafted, but the Oilers desperately needed a top-notch defenseman. Whether Larsson is or becomes that defenseman, however, is up in the air. They then signed top free agent Milan Lucic to a seven-year deal worth $6MM a year. Lucic will add both grit and offense to a team mired in a perpetual rebuild.
Los Angeles Kings
Key Additions: Teddy Purcell, Tom Gilbert, Jeff Zatkoff, Jack Campbell
Key Departures: Milan Lucic, Kris Versteeg, Luke Schenn, Jhonas Enroth
Unsigned RFAs: None
Cap Space: $1,154,773
Projected Roster Size: 25
Notes: The Kings stayed relatively pat this offseason, swapping backup goaltenders and letting Milan Lucic walk. The team was constrained by their cap, which at just over $1M gave them little wiggle room. The team is banking on their core to step up and improve over last season’s first-round exit.
San Jose Sharks
Key Additions: Mikkel Boedker, David Schlemko
Key Departures: Nick Spaling, Dainius Zubrus, Roman Polak, James Reimer
Unsigned RFAs: None
Cap Space: $995,832
Projected Roster Size: 22
Notes: After the Sharks finally made the Stanley Cup Finals, their offseason was uneventful. They took a flyer on Boedker, and will most likely find a backup goalie within the organization. The Sharks are tight against the cap this season, but face an onslaught of UFAs and the end of the year. Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Brett Burns are all UFAs next summer, and the Sharks need to evaluate who they want to keep.
Vancouver Canucks
Key Additions: Loui Eriksson, Erik Gudbranson
Key Departures: Radim Vrbata, Linden Vey, Chris Higgins, Brandon Prust, Dan Hamhuis, Matt Bartkowski, Yannick Weber
Unsigned RFAs: None
Cap Space: $2,771,250
Projected Roster Size: 24
Notes: The Canucks had an odd offseason, signing Eriksson and trading for Gudbranson. More trades were expected—but of a rebuilding variety. The Canucks have one more year of Ryan Miller and two more years of the Sedins, so its possible that they want to try to rebuild on the fly while they still have elite talent. Their defense took a hit by losing Hamhuis, and while Gudbranson was a highly touted prospect, he hasn’t evolved into the player scouts predicted.
Coyotes Nearing A One Year Deal With Radim Vrbata
11:45am: ESPN’s Craig Custance reports that the deal will carry a base salary of $1MM while Morgan adds that bonuses for games played, goals, points, and playoff incentives could make the contract worth as much as $3MM.
August 14: According to Craig Morgan of AZ Central, Arizona is nearing a one year contract with unrestricted free agent right winger Radim Vrbata. Morgan notes that the deal could be announced Monday.
The deal would mark a return to a familiar team for the 35 year old as he has two prior stints with the Coyotes. He spent the 2007-08 season there and then rejoined them two years later, spending another five seasons with the team. Overall, he has played in 428 games for that franchise, scoring 137 goals and 151 assists, posting his highest goals per game and points per game rate compared to his time with other teams.
Vrbata is coming off his worst season in over a decade. Last year with the Canucks, he recorded just 27 points (13-14-27) in 63 games while posting an awful -30 plus/minus rating. His struggles came as quite the surprise as the year before that, he had a career year with Vancouver, collecting 31 goals and 32 assists in 79 games.
Vrbata would provide another veteran presence up front for Arizona, a team that is expected to have several young forwards in its core next season. It would also provide them with some insurance in case they are unable to come to terms with RFA Tobias Rieder, who reportedly is at least mulling over the idea of playing in the KHL next season.
[Related: Coyotes’ Depth Chart]
We ranked Vrbata 27th in our Top 50 UFA list back in June. We had him pegged for a one year, $3.7MM deal at that time but this contract appears to have come in well below that.
Training Camp Invite Tracker
Over the course of the offseason more and more players will accept invitations to join team training camps. Usually these are players trying to resurrect their career or to show that they have one or two more years left before retirement. Notable training camp invites last year included Lee Stempniak and Jonas Gustavsson.
Making a team as an invitee is harder than just being one of the top-12 forwards or top-6 defensemen. Teams are usually looking for specific needs, such as a speedy second line forward or a defenseman who can eat minutes. Teams may want to save their bottom roster spots for developing prospects, so invitees risk being cut unless they meet a team’s identified need.
Here are the notable players who have been invited to training camps thus far. The list excludes players that are attending camps but are already signed to minor league contracts or prospects who are hoping to earn a minor league deal. Check here often for updates.
Training Camp Invites
Anaheim Ducks:
Sean Bergenheim
David Booth
Yann Danis
David Jones
Arizona Coyotes:
Zach Boychuk
Boston Bruins:
Peter Mueller
Calgary Flames:
Luke Adam
Jamie Devane
Matt Frattin
Nicklas Grossmann
Chris Higgins
Lauri Korpikoski
Colby Robak
Carolina Hurricanes:
Raffi Torres
Colorado Avalanche:
Gabriel Bourque
Rene Bourque
Jiri Tlusty
Columbus Blue Jackets:
Keith Aule
Marc-Andre Bergeron
Mike Brown
Aaron Palushaj
Jarret Stoll
Edmonton Oilers:
Eric Gryba
Kris Versteeg
Ryan Vesce
Florida Panthers:
Justin Fontaine
Adam Pardy
Los Angeles Kings:
Lucas Lessio
Tom McCollum
Devin Setoguchi
Minnesota Wild:
Ryan Carter
Tomas Fleischmann
New Jersey Devils:
Brian Gibbons
Anders Lindback
New York Islanders:
Steve Bernier
Stephen Gionta
New York Rangers:
Maxim Lapierre
Ottawa Senators:
Matt Bartkowski
Philadelphia Flyers:
Corban Knight
St. Louis Blues:
T.J. Galiardi
Eric Nystrom
Chris Porter
Yan Stastny
Mike Weber
Tampa Bay Lightning:
James Wisniewski
Toronto Maple Leafs:
Jeff Glass
Raman Hrabarenka
Brandon Prust
Vancouver Canucks:
Jack Skille
Tuomo Ruutu
James Sheppard
Washington Capitals:
Drew MacIntyre