Arizona Coyotes Hire Blaine Forsythe
The Arizona Coyotes have added longtime Washington Capitals assistant coach Blaine Forsythe to their staff, naming him as an assistant to head coach Andre Tourigny. It’s a multi-year deal for the veteran coach, per the team.
Forsythe, 47, brings quite the track record to the rebuilding Coyotes. He’s served as an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals, his only NHL coaching home, for the past 14 seasons, making significant contributions to the team’s power play success. His tenure with the Capitals began in the 2006-07 season when he joined as a video coach before taking on the role of amateur scout in 2008-09. However, Forsythe’s true calling was in coaching, and he rejoined the Capitals’ coaching staff in the 2009-10 season, helping the team capture multiple Presidents’ Trophies, division titles, and a Stanley Cup championship in the meantime.
During his time in Washington, the Capitals’ power play boasted a success rate of 21.8% over the years, leading all NHL teams since 2009. He was let go, along with most of Washington’s coaching staff, after the Capitals and former head coach Peter Laviolette agreed to part ways after the end of last season.
Forsythe also worked closely with Washington’s center corps, helping get the best out of players like Evgeny Kuznetsov while in their primes. Now, he’ll work closely with young Coyotes centers like Barrett Hayton and Jack McBain, trying to develop them into long-term top-nine threats.
Arizona Coyotes Sign Travis Dermott
The Arizona Coyotes have added some blue-line depth, signing UFA defenseman Travis Dermott to a one-year, two-way deal, per CapFriendly. He’ll earn $800K in the NHL and $450K when assigned to the minors.
General manager Bill Armstrong has been quite active in filling out his budding core with depth additions on the UFA market, and Dermott adds to that list. The Coyotes lack many experienced defenders, and without a clear number-one caliber player on the backend, they’ll need a by-committee approach to keep the puck out of their net next season.
Dermott joins that committee after playing just 11 games for the Vancouver Canucks last season, sidelined for most of the 2022-23 campaign with concussion issues. If he can stay healthy, the 26-year-old will compete for ice time in the desert with depth defenders like Josh Brown, Michael Kesselring, and Troy Stecher.
His 279 games of NHL experience rank highly among Coyotes defensemen, although the vast majority of those games came in a Toronto Maple Leafs uniform between 2017 and 2022. Toronto dealt him to Vancouver at the 2022 trade deadline in exchange for a third-round pick.
In his NHL career, Dermott has contributed 14 goals, 41 assists, and 55 points. Limited to third-pair minutes, Dermott has posted strong possession metrics when healthy, something Arizona will look to capitalize on during his tenure there.
If nothing else, his presence allows head coach Andre Tourigny more flexibility to do what he wants with the team’s defense – especially since Dermott has experience playing both the left and right side.
Coyotes Sign Montana Onyebuchi
Jul 11: Arizona has confirmed the two-year agreement over a week later.
Jul 2: The Coyotes are set to add to their prospect pool as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that Arizona is signing defenseman Montana Onyebuchi to an entry-level deal. As a 23-year-old, that should be a two-year agreement for Onyebuchi; financial terms are not yet known.
The blueliner went undrafted after a five-year WHL career between Everett and Kamloops but landed in San Jose’s system in 2021 on an AHL contract. After splitting the season between the Barracuda and Orlando of the ECHL, Onyebuchi again inked a one-year AHL pact with the Barracuda. Last season, he put up three goals and seven assists in 35 games while picking up 73 penalty minutes.
Since the start of free agency yesterday, we’ve seen a handful of players that were on minor league contracts earn NHL entry-level deals with new organizations and it appears that Onyebuchi will be the next to do so. He’ll push for playing time with AHL Tucson, Arizona’s affiliate, next season in the hopes of moving up their depth chart.
Coyotes Agree To Terms With Nathan Smith
Saturday: The team has officially announced the signing. Per club policy, financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Wednesday: One player that was eligible to file for salary arbitration earlier today but didn’t was Coyotes center Nathan Smith. There’s a good reason for that, however, as Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports reports (Twitter link) that the two sides have agreed on a one-year contract and the paperwork is just getting finalized.
The 24-year-old was a third-round pick by Winnipeg back in 2018 (91st overall) but didn’t sign with the Jets. Instead, he was moved along with the LTIR contract of Bryan Little to Arizona back in March of 2022, quickly turning pro thereafter.
While Smith played ten games down the stretch that season with Arizona, playing time at the top level was harder to come by last season. He got into just four games with the Coyotes, averaging just 7:27 per night of playing time. Things went a bit better for him with AHL Tucson as he got into 64 games down there, tallying a dozen goals along with 15 assists.
A one-year, presumably two-way contract would certainly make sense for both sides to allow Smith to try to show that he’s capable of being a part of Arizona’s plans like it seemed was the case a little over a year ago. Still waiver-exempt for one more season, it’s likely that Smith will have to start with the Roadrunners again and try to play his way into a recall as the season progresses.
Coyotes Have Held Preliminary Extension Talks With Andre Tourigny
Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny is set to enter the final year of his contract. Typically, teams don’t like having coaches in ‘lame duck’ years although we’ve seen that happen a few times in recent years. The bench boss indicated to PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan that so far, talks about a new contract have strictly been preliminary with the term of an agreement and the fate of his staff being among the elements discussed.
The 49-year-old has been the bench boss for Arizona for the past two seasons and while his 53-90-21 record isn’t overly exciting on the surface, the Coyotes are squarely in the heart of a rebuild. To that end, they’ve been a fairly competitive squad most nights in spite of the fact they haven’t iced the more talented team in most of their games.
Perhaps more importantly, there appears to have been a positive culture established, something both Nick Bjugstad and Troy Stecher acknowledged as a factor in their decisions to return to Arizona as free agents earlier this month. It also likely played a role in them landing Jason Zucker and Alex Kerfoot, two capable forwards, on the open market.
Tourigny negotiated his first contract on his own but indicated that he wants to hire an agent to get this next one finalized. That hasn’t happened yet which should further hammer home that the discussions so far have been more casual. However, Tourigny has clearly indicated to GM Bill Armstrong that he wants to remain with Arizona beyond the 2023-24 campaign and with how they’ve performed under his watch despite the talent mismatch, it seems reasonable to think an extension will get done eventually. Tourigny is comfortable going into the season without a new contract but it shouldn’t get to that point.
Ilya Fedotov Traded In KHL
After signing both Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi, the Maple Leafs now find themselves nearly $9MM over the salary cap, per CapFriendly. Even with the LTIR allowance for Jake Muzzin, they’re still more than $3MM over that ceiling. Accordingly, there is an expectation that they will need to move out goaltender Matt Murray. To that end, in his latest post for NorthStar Bets, Chris Johnston notes that Toronto’s preference at this point is to try to trade Murray over using the second buyout window, a move that would open up $4MM in cap space in 2023-24 but add $2MM in dead cap charges in 2024-25. Considering they have pricey extensions on the horizon for Auston Matthews and William Nylander, having dead cap charges on the books won’t help.
The Maple Leafs will get a second buyout window if an arbitration-eligible player files for arbitration. That would be RFA Ilya Samsonov so expect him to be one of many players filing for arbitration by Thursday’s deadline. But that’s Plan B for them. For now, GM Brad Treliving will be shopping around to see who’s willing to take on that contract and just how much it will cost in an incentive to do so.
Elsewhere in the East:
- When Detroit waived Filip Zadina yesterday, the move came as a surprise. However, GM Steve Yzerman told reporters including Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press that the youngster had requested a trade a couple of weeks prior to the draft. Clearly, that didn’t materialize and after he cleared today, it’s back to the drawing board on that front. Zadina has two years left on a contract that carries a $1.825MM AAV and it appears that the Red Wings will need to pay some of that down or take a similar contract back if they want to move him. Alternatively, the fact he cleared now suggests they could waive him in training camp, saving $1.15MM in cap room in the process for any time that he’s in the minors.
- Flyers prospect Yegor Zamula is on the move…in the KHL, that is as Torpedo announced that they’ve acquired his KHL rights from SKA St. Petersburg. The 23-year-old split last season between Philadelphia and AHL Lehigh Valley. With the Flyers, Zamula had four assists in 14 games while logging a little over 13 minutes per night. However, he was more productive with the Phantoms, notching 19 points in 44 contests. Zamula is already under contract for the upcoming season on a one-way deal worth the NHL minimum. Coyotes unsigned prospect Ilya Fedotov was also part of the four-player swap.
Cooley: No Timeline In Place For When He'll Turn Pro
The Oilers are expected to have to sign Evan Bouchard to a short-term bridge contract to fit him within their cap structure. On the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link), Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggests that the deal might fall within the $3.5MM to $4MM range. For comparison, Colorado’s Bowen Byram inked a two-year bridge deal with a $3.85MM AAV and Bouchard has more than twice as many games played as points as Byram. The 23-year-old is coming off his second straight regular season of at least 40 points and led all NHL blueliners in playoff scoring with 17 points in just 12 contests.
More from the Western Conference:
- The Stars haven’t given up on pursuing outside help defensively via the trade route, relays Saad Yousuf of The Athletic (subscription link). However, they are prepared to enter next season with what they have now with the hopes that Thomas Harley and Nils Lundkvist can take a step forward in their development to help bolster the depth of their unit. Dallas has been quiet with their back end this summer with their only NHL-related moves being the trade of Colin Miller to New Jersey, the signing of Gavin Bayreuther, and the re-signing of Joel Hanley.
- Coyotes prospect Logan Cooley told Jenna Ortiz of the Arizona Republic that he’s not putting a timeline on when he turns pro. The 19-year-old was the third-overall pick last year and had a standout first season at Minnesota, putting up 60 points in 39 games to finish second in NCAA scoring while also averaging two points per game at the World Juniors. As it is, some feel that Cooley doesn’t have much left to prove at that level so while he’s not willing to put a firm expectation in place for when he turns pro, it certainly feels like that should be happening when his college season comes to an end either next March or April.
Arizona Coyotes Pursuing Matt Dumba
Chris Johnston reported on The Chris Johnston Show that the Toronto Maple Leafs and forward William Nylander remain far apart in extension talks. Johnston said that he believes that the 27-year-old is looking for a contract that pays him over $10MM annually while the Maple Leafs offer is in the range of $8MM-$9MM per season.
Nylander’s ask is reasonable given that he has put up back-to-back 80+ point seasons and is a pending unrestricted free agent. The trouble for the Leafs will be managing a potential Nylander extension with the cap hits of Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and whatever number Auston Matthews signs for. Couple that with the Morgan Rielly extension and a salary cap that hasn’t budged much in recent seasons, and it could create a very top-heavy team in Toronto going forward.
Nylander had a career year last season putting up 40 goals and 47 assists in 82 games and has silenced critics in recent years who doubted his ability to score in the postseason. Nylander has been a point a game player in both the regular season and the playoffs the past few years and would generate a ton of interest if his name were to be floated in the trade market.
In other snapshots from around the NHL:
- Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports is reporting that the Arizona Coyotes have been in pursuit of free agent defenseman Matt Dumba since the start of free agency on Saturday. Dumba picked a very unfortunate time to have the worst offensive season of his NHL career as he put up just four goals and 10 assists this past season in 79 games with the Minnesota Wild. The 28-year-old Regina native has been a 25-point defenseman for most of his career but regressed offensively last year and saw very little in the way of power play time. Arizona has been aggressive in free agency thus far signing Jason Zucker, Alexander Kerfoot, and retaining Nick Bjugstad while trading for defenseman Sean Durzi.
- Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet mentioned this morning that newly acquired Toronto Maple Leafs forward Max Domi would like to remain with the team well beyond the one year he signed on for. Domi was inked to a one-year deal that will pay him $3MM this season, but as Friedman puts it Domi wants Toronto to be his long-term home and it’s easy to see why. Domi’s father Tie Domi was one of the most popular Maple Leafs in recent history and Max spent much of his childhood in Toronto while his father was still playing. He will now get the chance to put on the same jersey he watched his father wear and play in front of the same fans who cheered his Dad on for 12 seasons.
Coyotes Sign John Leonard
Jul 3, 2:52 p.m.: Arizona has made the acquisition official, but did not confirm the terms of the contract.
Jul 2, 6:10 p.m.: The Coyotes are set to add some more forward depth as PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports (Twitter link) that Arizona has agreed to terms with free agent winger John Leonard on a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay $775K in the NHL and $80K in the minors while having a guaranteed salary of $150K.
The 24-year-old was a sixth-round pick by San Jose back in 2018 and spent two years in their system before being moved to Nashville as part of the Luke Kunin trade last summer. Last season, he spent the bulk of the year with the Preds’ affiliate in Milwaukee, putting up 17 goals and 27 assists in 67 regular season games while chipping in with an assist in six postseason contests. However, they opted to non-tender him on Friday, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Leonard has seen NHL action in each of his three professional campaigns, including six with the Predators last season, scoring once. All told, he has 64 career appearances at the top level, tallying five goals and 11 assists while logging an average of a little over 11 minutes per night.
Leonard is likely to start the season with Arizona’s AHL affiliate in Tucson but should be among the early candidates for a recall. If things go well for him in 2023-24, the Coyotes can retain his rights as an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent through the 2025-26 campaign.
Arizona Coyotes To Sign Alexander Kerfoot
The Arizona Coyotes are locking in former Toronto Maple Leafs center Alexander Kerfoot for the next two seasons at a $3.5MM cap hit, PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports.
It’s another significant free-agent loss for Toronto today, who will undoubtedly be looking to add some reinforcements to their top nine in the coming days. For Kerfoot, though, he’ll continue to make the salary he’s made for the past four seasons with fewer taxes in the desert.
Kerfoot’s been a controversial player during his time in Toronto, with very few overtly impressed with his play. He provided immense defensive value this season, though, and he does have 45-50 point upside if given the opportunity to produce.
He could very well glean that opportunity in Arizona, potentially even slotting in as a center between Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz. Even if not, he’ll get the opportunity to play with some other up-and-coming talents like Matias Maccelli and Dylan Guenther, receiving plenty of ice time in the process.
Kerfoot will be a UFA again in 2025 at the age of 30.