- Rick Tocchet and his fellow members of the Vancouver Canucks coaching staff are preparing for a three-day summit as referenced in an article from Thomas Drance of The Athletic (Subscription Article). The group’s primary focus is to address the Canucks offense for the 2024-25 NHL season and how best to score on the rush and make in-game counter adjustments. Opposing teams caught on to the fact that Vancouver’s offense was being run from the back by Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek, limiting their productivity for the rest of the season. Although the Canucks will still look for a fair bit of offense from their defensive core, Tocchet is looking to engage the entire group rather than having a one-dimensional scoring system.
[SOURCE LINK]
Canucks Rumors
Rick Tocchet Named Assistant Coach For Team Canada
Team Canada is already making significant preparations for the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament that is set to take place in mid-February next year. The organization announced four assistant coaches who will be on the bench with the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Jon Cooper. Bruce Cassidy of the Vegas Golden Knights, Peter DeBoer of the Dallas Stars, Rick Tocchet of the Vancouver Canucks, and Misha Donskov of the Stars will all represent their native Canada in next season’s tournament.
- Former depth forward for the Colorado Avalanche and Vancouver Canucks, Borna Rendulic, has decided to extend his stay with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL. According to EliteProspects, Rendulic is in agreement with St. Petersburg on an extension that will keep him with the organization for the 2024-25 KHL season. Rendulic was acquired from HC Sochi last year and 11 goals and 27 points in 51 games to close out the season.
How Long Is The Vancouver Canucks’ Competitive Window?
In an article today from Harman Dayal of The Athletic (Subscription Required), he analyzes the Vancouver Canucks competitive window with their current salary cap structure. The Canucks experienced a 26-point jump in the standings last season while winning the Pacific Division for the first time since the division was created ahead of the 2013-14 NHL season. Additionally, Vancouver qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third time in 11 seasons before being ousted in Round Two by the eventual Western Conference Champions, the Edmonton Oilers.
The Canucks have high-priced players at the top of their salary cap table with $11.6MM and $8MM contracts for forwards Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller, respectively. The organization has just over $15K available in salary cap space according to PuckPedia but has done a nice job in parsing out the rest of their roster. Vancouver arguably has two of the better bargain contracts in the league with defenseman Quinn Hughes ($7.85MM until 2026-27) and goaltender Thatcher Demko ($5MM until 2025-26).
Dayal argues that the Canucks are similar to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the late 2010s and the early 2020s as they captured two Stanley Cup Championships while paying Andrei Vasilevskiy, Mikhail Sergachev, Anthony Cirelli, Brayden Point, and Blake Coleman well-below market value. Because of this, Tampa Bay was able to fill out the rest of the roster and create one of the better dynasties in the league since the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings.
The argument seems a little off-base as the Canucks core is a little bit further ahead in their contractual lives than the comparables from the Lightning. Tampa Bay does have the benefit of being in a no-tax state which keeps contracts lower on average but the players listed were not as far into their careers at that point. Once the chickens came home to roost, the Lightning have been bounced from Round One in back-to-back years and the organization has had to make tough decisions to stay salary cap compliant.
This is why Vancouver’s contention window largely comes down to the contracts of Hughes, Demko, and Brock Boeser. The latter becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season and could earn nearly $9MM if he comes close to repeating his 40-goal campaign from the 2023-24 season. Boeser’s shooting percentage (19.6%) throughout last year was more than seven points higher than his career average which points to regression next season. If Boeser comes back down to earth near the 20-30 goal range, his asking price should come down substantially.
Hughes and Demko will be much tougher to absorb for Vancouver especially if the former continues to play at a Norris Trophy-level pace. This year’s award winner finished with 92 points in 82 games and could be in line for a contract near the $12MM average on his next deal. Regardless of the salary cap projections over the next three years, this would be a pricey contract for any team let alone the Canucks.
Demko may provide an easier contract situation to resolve as his injury history continues to mount. He did play in 51 games for the Canucks this past season while maintaining a .918 save percentage but was absent from the team for much of this year’s playoff run. If Demko can stay healthy, this may cause a financial hurdle for Vancouver if he continues to post one of the better save percentages in the league compared to his peers.
All in all, Vancouver’s contention window is at least over the next two years with Demko and Hughes signed to team-friendly contracts. If general manager Patrik Allvin can continue to be crafty on the trade market like he was last season, the Canucks should be well poised to make a run soon. However, much like Tampa Bay’s recent history, Vancouver could be positioned to make some difficult decisions regarding their roster in only a few short years.
NHL Teams Facing Fall Cap Crunches
There’s still plenty of time for NHL teams to sort out their active rosters and salary cap pictures this summer. After all, teams can exceed the $88MM upper limit by up to 10% during the offseason, and training camps are still nearly two months away.
Still, this year’s early July rush means that all the notable contracts for this season, at least in terms of salary cap impact, have likely already been handed out. It’s left a handful of teams with projected rosters that sit over the cap or, in one very peculiar case, right at it.
These teams must use a mix of long-term injured reserve placements, trades, and waivers to become cap-compliant before opening night. Per PuckPedia, here are the teams currently pacing to boast a projected cap hit above $88MM.
Washington Capitals
($98.27MM projected cap hit, $10.27MM above upper limit)
The Capitals have been one of the league’s most active teams this summer, making a pair of impact additions up front with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Andrew Mangiapane. They also reshaped their blue line, shipping out serviceable veteran Nick Jensen as part of a package to the Senators to pick up the younger, higher-upside Jakob Chychrun while also replacing Jensen’s shutdown role in free agency with the signing of Matt Roy.
They also went for cost-effectiveness with their goaltending duo, shipping out Darcy Kuemper and his $5.25MM cap hit to the Kings in the Dubois trade before acquiring serviceable tandem netminder Logan Thompson from the Golden Knights, who carries a cap hit of just $767K.
These moves have still left them with a handful of bloated deals for their veterans. But the biggest one of them all won’t be an issue. 36-year-old Nicklas Bäckström is entering the final season of his five-year, $46MM deal with a $9.2MM cap hit, but he’s not expected to play again due to lingering hip issues.
While many teams will look to avoid using LTIR to be cap-compliant to start the season, the Caps won’t be one of them. Bäckström will remain there as he did last season, but placing him on LTIR won’t be enough on its own to bring Washington’s total projected cap hit back under $88MM.
They’d still need to clear a little over $1MM in space, which begs the question of T.J. Oshie’s health. The 37-year-old winger is also entering the final season of his contract at a $5.75MM cap hit, and a wide variety of injuries limited him to 52 games last season. As of earlier this month, Oshie said he hasn’t found a long-term solution to his recurring back issues that would allow him to comfortably play in 2024-25.
If nothing changes between now and September, Oshie could also land on LTIR, making them cap-compliant for opening night. But Washington would need to be reasonably confident that he’ll miss the entire campaign to avoid making any other cap-shedding moves, as they’d need to have space to activate him off LTIR if he becomes healthy enough to return to play.
Vegas Golden Knights
($91.64MM projected cap hit, $3.64MM above upper limit)
Unlike the Capitals, the Golden Knights were conservative in their offseason moves. Their cap crunch forced them to walk away from key offensive contributors Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson, among others, and their UFA pickups were limited to reclamation project-type pickups such as Victor Olofsson and Ilya Samsonov.
But like Washington, LTIR is Vegas’ only clear path to cap compliance in September. The status of 33-year-old netminder Robin Lehner remains a relative mystery as he enters the final season of his contract with a $5MM cap hit. He hasn’t played the last two seasons after undergoing hip surgery and hasn’t been seen with the team during that time.
General manager Kelly McCrimmon said in May that it’s likely Lehner will return to LTIR this fall. This would give the Knights about $1.36MM in space in an LTIR pool with a full 23-man roster, as projected by PuckPedia.
Philadelphia Flyers
($88.83MM projected cap hit, $830K above upper limit)
LTIR is a good safeguard for teams who need it to be cap-compliant, but it’s not ideal. Teams who utilize it don’t accrue cap space throughout the season, significantly limiting their flexibility come deadline day.
The Flyers have one LTIR-eligible contract in defenseman Ryan Ellis ($6.25MM cap hit through 2027). They also have Ryan Johansen signed at a $4MM cap hit next season, and his playing status is in doubt due to a hip injury that surfaced after they acquired him from the Avalanche at last year’s deadline. Unfortunately for them, if Johansen remains injured, they also can’t send him to the minors to knock $1.15MM off his cap hit. They attempted to do so last year, but it was reversed by the league after his injury came to light.
But notably, they don’t have any league-minimum contracts projected on their active roster to start the campaign, per PuckPedia. Their cheapest one is Tyson Foerster’s entry-level contract, which boasts a cap hit of $863K. Thus, just one AHL assignment would be enough to make them cap-compliant without placing either Ellis or Johansen on LTIR. There aren’t any obvious candidates, though, as Foerster is coming off a 20-goal campaign and was one of their top two-way forwards last season.
The trade of a depth forward, such as 25-year-old pivot Ryan Poehling ($1.9MM cap hit through 2026), could be something to watch for if general manager Daniel Brière decides he wants to stay out of LTIR.
Edmonton Oilers
($88.35MM projected cap hit, $354K above upper limit)
Unlike the other teams on this list, the Oilers still have some offseason business to handle. RFAs Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway need new deals, meaning this projected cap hit is artificially low.
Also unlike the others, Edmonton doesn’t have an LTIR-bound contract next season. Considering PuckPedia’s projection above uses a roster size of 21, warranting them only one extra skater, a cap-clearing trade is coming for Edmonton sometime before the puck drops in October.
The most obvious candidate to move is defenseman Cody Ceci, who’s on an expiring contract with a $3.25MM cap hit. It would cost fewer assets to ship out than oft-injured winger Evander Kane, who’s locked in at a $5.125MM price tag for two more years. And with Ceci averaging north of 20 minutes per game for the last three seasons in Edmonton, they might be able to dump him for future considerations without attaching a draft pick to get out of his deal.
Others to watch
- The Islanders are currently at the $88MM upper limit after settling on a one-year, $1MM contract with Oliver Wahlstrom yesterday, PuckPedia projects. That figure comes using a roster size of 22, forcing international free agent signing Maxim Tsyplakov and his $950K cap hit on an entry-level deal to the minors.
- The Canucks are within just $16K of the cap after signing Daniel Sprong to a one-year, $975K contract last weekend. But that figure comes with a full 23-player roster projection, giving them a decent amount of flexibility in the case of short-term injuries. They can also place the final season of defenseman Tucker Poolman’s $2.5MM cap hit contract on LTIR if necessary.
- The Predators are within $600K of the cap with a bare minimum 20-player roster and still have RFAs Juuso Pärssinen and Philip Tomasino to sign. After their big UFA spending spree, they’ll likely move out one of their depth defenders to open up space for an expanded roster, potentially 26-year-old Dante Fabbro (signed at $2.5MM through this season).
- The Lightning have $730K in projected cap space with one open roster spot. That’s tight, but with room for two healthy extras, they’ll probably start the season with no changes to their projected roster.
- The same can be said about the defending champion Panthers, who have $767K in space with a roster size of 22.
Prospect Notes: Hemming, Berggren, Willander, Dragicevic
Dallas Stars 2024 first-round pick Emil Hemming has signed with the OHL’s Barrie Colts for the 2024-25 season. Hemming will forgo the final year of his three-year contract with Liiga’s TPS, where he’s played the past two seasons. Much of his 2022-23 campaign was spent on the TPS U20 roster – with Hemming potting 16 points in 22 games. He returned to the U20 lineup at the start of last season, though quickly earned a promotion to the Liiga after scoring 11 goals and 18 points in the first 13 games of the U20 season.
Hemming took the move to Finland’s top flight in stride, showing off just how physically mature his heavy, shoot-first style was. He only managed 11 points in 40 league games but showed plenty of growth as the year progressed, becoming much more confident in the defensive zone and more aggressive on offense. He curbed a meager two-point performance at the World Juniors with six points in five games at the World U18 Championships, continuing to show his strides as the season went along. All of that was enough to earn Hemming the 29th overall selection in the 2024 NHL Draft, coupling him with a Stars team that’s quickly become known for finding draft-day steals. Hemming has shown he’s sturdy enough to play at a pro level and will now join Utah prospect Cole Beaudoin and Edmonton prospect Beau Akey as some of the many heavy and physical options in Barrie.
Other notes from around the league:
- Jonatan Berggren is a bit buried down the Detroit Red Wings depth charts, but Max Bultman of The Athletic says he isn’t expecting Berggren to be traded. Instead, Bultman posits the benefits of a role reminiscent of Daniel Sprong’s role: operating on the team’s third line but still managing consistent power-play minutes. Berggren led the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins in scoring last season, netting 24 goals and 56 points. He’s also scored a commendable 17 goals and 34 points in 79 NHL games over the last two years. He’ll now have a golden chance to secure a consistent NHL role, with Sprong headed to the Vancouver Canucks on a one-year contract.
- Vancouver Canucks defense prospect Tom Willander has suffered a minor lower-body injury and won’t play at the World Junior Summer Showcase, shares Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK Sports. Willander was a surprising choice at 11th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, though he showed top-prospect upside during his freshman year at Boston University. Willander scored 25 points in 38 games, ranking second among Terrier defensemen. With injury now holding him out of Team Sweden’s summer games, Willander will shift his focus towards a breakout sophomore season at BU, where he’ll get a full run towards the top-defender role after Lane Hutson signed his entry-level contract.
- Seattle Kraken defense prospect Lukas Dragicevic has seen his WHL rights traded from the Tri-City Americans to the Price Albert Raiders as part of a massive, seven-asset trade. Dragicevic signed his entry-level contract with Seattle in March after Tri-City missed out on the WHL playoffs. He finished the year with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, recording one assist through his first three AHL games. Prince Albert paid a hefty price for Dragicevic, suggesting that he could be set for a return to the CHL after getting a quick taste of the pros. If that is the case, he’ll return looking to rediscover his strong scoring touch after recording 25 fewer points this season (50) than he did in 2022-23 (75).
Canucks’ Dmitri Zlodeyev Signs With KHL’s Avangard Omsk
It was a short stay in North America for Canucks center prospect Dmitri Zlodeyev. After spending last season on an AHL contract with their affiliate in Abbotsford, he’s returning to his native Russia with Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League on a two-year deal, per the club.
Zlodeyev, 22, was a Vancouver sixth-round pick back in 2020. The 5’11” pivot had middling offensive numbers in Russian juniors during his draft year, posting 28 points (12 goals, 16 assists) in 42 games. But he was still viewed as high as a second-round-caliber pick by some, including TSN’s Craig Button.
He slowly worked his way up the Russian professional ranks over the following few seasons but never cemented himself as a full-time KHL talent. Zlodeyev instead plied his trade in the VHL, Russia’s second-tier pro league. In 2022-23, Zlodeyev played his first full season of professional hockey, recording 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in 33 games for VHL side Khimik Voskresensk. He also played 18 games on a call-up to the KHL’s Spartak Moscow, where he had one assist – his lone KHL point to date.
It was enough to convince the Canucks to bring him over, but not on an entry-level contract. He instead signed a minor-league pact with their affiliate in Abbotsford, but Zlodeyev failed to make an impact. He was a frequent scratch and dealt with injuries, appearing in just 21 games throughout last season. He scored once and had a -5 rating and also went pointless with a -3 rating in four playoff games.
Outmatched at the AHL level, it’s not surprising to see Zlodeyev head back overseas. As a draft pick out of a Russian league, the Canucks will hold his exclusive signing rights indefinitely should he ever attempt to make the jump to the NHL. He joins the Predators’ Semyon Chistyakov, the Avalanche’s Mikhail Gulyayev and the Hurricanes’ Alexander Perevalov as NHL-affiliated prospects on Omsk’s roster this season.
Nikita Zadorov's Wanted To Return To Canucks
Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now poured cold water on the trade rumors circulating around Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry. The 29-year-old Jarry has seen his name being floated in trade rumors since he sat on the bench for the final 13 games of the regular season. Jarry had an uneven season in Pittsburgh after he signed a five-year $26.875MM contract last summer and eventually lost the net to backup goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic.
Many expected the Penguins to try and trade Jarry this summer, but a deal never came to fruition. Jarry’s trade value isn’t particularly high at the moment and the Penguins have a likely goalie of the future in the AHL in Joel Blomqvist. The Athletics’ goaltender rankings don’t look too kindly on Pittsburgh’s goaltending situation, and at nearly $8MM annually for Jarry and Nedeljkovic for the next two seasons, it’s easy to see why the trade rumors around Jarry have been so popular.
In other news around the league:
- Wes Gilbertson of The Calgary Herald wonders if the Calgary Flames will be a contender when their new arena opens. The Flames are going through a dramatic roster overhaul that has seen them move Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane, and Jacob Markstrom out for future assets. The Flames haven’t gone through a change like this since the early 2010s when they moved on from veterans Jarome Iginla and Jay Bouwmeester and they seem better equipped for this rebuild off the ice as they have a larger management team and development staff than they had a decade ago.
- Boston Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov sat down with RG.org’s Daria Tuboltseva to discuss free agency and his move to the Eastern Conference. Zadorov said that returning to the Vancouver Canucks was his first choice in free agency, but ultimately, he went to Boston because it gave him the best chance to win and the best situation for his family. Zadorov also revealed that the Canucks and Bruins made offers and one of his former teams, the Colorado Avalanche entered the fray as well. Zadorov signed a six-year $30MM deal with the Bruins on July 1st and figures to play in their top four alongside either Charlie McAvoy or Brandon Carlo.
West Notes: Stastney, Sprong, Lorentz
Predators RFA defenseman Spencer Stastney is indeed having his arbitration hearing today, Nick Kieser of the team’s radio network confirms. The NHLPA is deviating from past tradition this year by not releasing a calendar of hearing dates, but arbitration figures are always exchanged two days before the hearing. When Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported the filings on Saturday, it was clear Stastney’s hearing was slated for Monday.
The Preds are down to $595K in projected cap space with a bare-minimum roster of 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goalies, per PuckPedia. Even though Stastney’s cap hit will come in under $1MM after arbitration (the player filed at $950K), a league-minimum $775K deal would still put Nashville slightly over the cap for now.
Even without Stastney’s arbitration hearing, a cap-clearing move would likely be coming for the Preds this offseason for the sake of roster flexibility. One has to think a cap dump would come from the blue line, where none of Nashville’s six rostered defensemen cost less than $2MM against the cap. Dante Fabbro is the only pending UFA of the bunch, and his $2.5MM cap hit is fair value for his services. He’ll be a likely trade candidate, given his cap hit could be replaced by three league-minimum players – Stastney being one of them.
They’ll get exact clarity on Stastney’s cap hit next season within the next 48 hours.
Elsewhere out West:
- In his latest for The Athletic, Thomas Drance took a deep dive into the Canucks’ signing of Daniel Sprong over the weekend. Among other points, Drance articulates that Sprong is likely viewed internally as a lower-cost replacement for Andrei Kuzmenko, who was dealt to the Flames in last season’s Elias Lindholm blockbuster. If so, it seems the Canucks will be more willing to utilize Sprong in top-six spot duty, likely on Elias Pettersson’s right flank, than his recent homes. His offensive success with the Kraken and Red Wings the past two seasons has come despite receiving solidly bottom-six minutes.
- It’s bottom-of-the-barrel time for teams still looking to add depth from the UFA market. Thus, the next few weeks will be the time for cap-strapped teams who were rather quiet around July 1 to shine. The Avalanche are one of those squads, and if they’re looking to replenish some fourth-line depth, it’ll need to be a league-minimum pact. Colorado Hockey Now’s Evan Rawal names ex-Panther Steven Lorentz as a candidate who fits that bill. Lorentz, 28, had three points in 16 playoff games for the Cats in their run to the 2024 Stanley Cup and would provide competition for veteran Chris Wagner and youngster Jean-Luc Foudy for fourth-line center duties in Denver.
Canucks Sign Daniel Sprong
A day after it was reported that the Canucks had interest in free agent winger Daniel Sprong, they have indeed agreed to terms with him. The team announced that the two sides have agreed to a one-year contract. PuckPedia adds (Twitter link) that the deal will pay $975K. GM Patrik Allvin released the following statement on the signing:
Bringing in another solid winger will be a boost for our club this season. Daniel has matured a lot as a player and has shown he can contribute offensively when called upon. His addition up front will give us better depth and should help with more balanced scoring throughout our forward group.
The 27-year-old has bounced around throughout his eight-year NHL career, having played for five teams already with Vancouver set to be his sixth.
After putting up limited numbers in his first three stops spanning six seasons, Sprong had a breakout year in his second year with Seattle in 2022-23, one that saw him record 21 goals and 25 assists in 66 games despite averaging just 11:25 of playing time per game. However, their concern about his arbitration eligibility led to him being non-tendered where he quickly signed a one-year, $2MM deal with Detroit on the opening day of free agency.
While Sprong didn’t quite produce at the same rate last season, he came relatively close, coming up three goals short of his 2022-23 performance while matching his assist totals. And again, he didn’t play in the top six while surpassing 30 even-strength points for the second year in a row. But that wasn’t enough to earn an extension with the Red Wings who opted to shake up their roster a bit, nor did it help him get a deal early in free agency.
With two good offensive years under his belt, Sprong landed 35th on our Top 50 UFA list last month. With that came a projection of him earning a raise and a multi-year agreement but clearly, that didn’t come to fruition as instead of a raise, his salary has been cut by more than half.
Instead, Sprong is taking a very team-friendly deal to land in what should be a favorable environment in Vancouver. The Canucks finished seventh in the NHL in scoring last season and while they lost Elias Lindholm in free agency and moved out Ilya Mikheyev in a cap-clearing move, they were able to bring in Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen from Boston while retaining Dakota Joshua after his breakout showing. With Vancouver, Sprong should have the same type of role that he has become accustomed to, one that should see him playing in the bottom six at five-on-five with some secondary power play time.
With the move, the Canucks are effectively capped out. Per PuckPedia, they now have less than $16K in cap room at their disposal with a full-sized roster. Notably, that does not include Tucker Poolman being on LTIR so if they want to put him back on there, they will have some more flexibility to work with. However, it would put them in a position of being unable to bank in-season cap space. Alternatively, they could opt to not carry a full-sized roster to start the season, allowing them to have closer to $800K in room (with Poolman only on regular IR), giving them a shot to bank some space heading into the trade deadline.
If Sprong can have the same type of success with the Canucks in that role that he had with Seattle and Detroit, this contract has the potential to be one of the best bargains of the summer. And if that happens, perhaps next summer will be when Sprong can land a bit of job security that he has been seeking for several years now.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston was the first to report that an agreement between the two sides was in place.
Snapshots: Sprong, Misiak, Julien
The Vancouver Canucks are among the teams interested in free agent winger Daniel Sprong, shares Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK News (Twitter link). Sprong is the top remaining free agent from PHR’s Top 50 Unrestricted Free Agents.
Sprong has fought his way into NHL legitimacy over the last two seasons, kicked off with a breakout 2022-23 with the Seattle Kraken. He recorded career-highs across the board – netting 21 goals, 25 assists, and 46 points in 66 games despite a measly role on Seattle’s third line. It was a flash-in-the-pan season for the veteran Sprong, who had only managed 70 points in 202 career games up to that point. And he held onto the scoring through a move to the Detroit Red Wings last summer, netting 18 goals and 43 points despite averaging just 12 minutes of ice time. He’s seemingly proven his ability to produce in a depth role, though it’s hard to ignore the long streak of struggles that started his career. Now 28, Sprong doesn’t seem destine for a long-term deal, though he could prove a valuable late-market add for a Canucks team in need of boost down their wings.
Other notes from around the league:
- Chicago Blackhawks prospect Martin Misiak is expected to return to the OHL next season shares Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link). Misiak played through his first year in the OHL this season, netting 23 goals and 47 points in 60 games with the Erie Otters. He signed his entry-level contract with the Hawks at the end of Erie’s season, coupling the deal with an amateur try-out in the AHL. But it seems he’s now quite ready to jump to the pros, instead focused on finding another layer of scoring after a meager debut in the OHL.
- The St. Louis Blues are sitting happy with their addition of long-time NHL head coach Claude Julien, who joined the team as an assistant coach last June. Blues general manager Doug Armstrong compared the hire to when Larry Robinson, an NHL Hall-of-Famer, joined Craig Berube’s coaching staff ahead of the team’s 2019 Stanley Cup win, telling Lou Korac of NHL.com that he hopes this move will have similar long-term ramifications. He said, “The experience Larry Robinson showed a young staff, it was really impressive. I think Claude’s at a portion of his life now where I think accepting this is easier and seeing the joy of working with young coaches and making them better, sharing his experiences, sharing his experiences with players.” Julien, a 19-year veteran of NHL head coaching, seems set on maintaining his mentoring role in St. Louis, as the team promotes up-and-coming coaches in Drew Bannister and Steve Ott.