After not landing a coaching offer from the NHL upon not having his interim deal renewed with Los Angeles, head coach Willie Desjardins decided to return to the WHL for another stint with Medicine Hat. He’s off to a good start with the Tigers which could have him back on the NHL radar when other opportunities become available. However, he told Postmedia’s Steve Ewen that he’s not really giving any thought to possibly taking a third run at being an NHL bench boss. With Medicine Hat, the 62-year-old is also serving as GM which gives him full control over his roster which would be tough to give up at this stage of his coaching career.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- The Jets could get some help on the back end for Tuesday’s game against New Jersey. Ken Wiebe of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Nathan Beaulieu is on track to make his season debut after suffering an upper-body injury late in the preseason. While Winnipeg non-tendered the defenseman back in June, they quickly re-signed him in July to a one-year, $1MM contract, well below his required $2.5MM qualifying offer. After logging nearly 17 minutes a night after being acquired last season, Beaulieu should be able to step in and play a regular role right away.
- The Golden Knights will be without Alex Tuch for the start of their four-game road trip, notes David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Tuch sustained an upper-body injury in just his second game of the season after returning from an LTIR stint to start the season. Head coach Gerard Gallant declined to comment on whether or not the winger is in concussion protocol and suggested that it’s possible that Tuch rejoins the team later on during the trip.
- With the Red Wings struggling early on, it certainly seems as if they’ll be sellers before the trade deadline. However, as MLive’s Ansar Khan points out, GM Steve Yzerman’s options are relatively limited given that the veterans on expiring contracts that they have to sell aren’t likely to attract much interest so someone like Andreas Athanasiou may ultimately be their best trade chip. He has struggled considerably to start the season but he did reach the 30-goal mark last season and has another season of team control after this one as a restricted free agent.
idk what the issue is with the wings,I’ve seen different pieces written saying the coaching staff but,it seems like they have one little thing go wrong they fall apart.That is a indictment of the coaching staff but also one on the players as well in my opinion.sure hope Stevie Y can get a handle on this and get it turned around.i can’t see a team where he’s the GM continuing to go down this road.