With the number of teams still playing down to four, the busy offseason draws closer. While the biggest stories are still a few weeks away, there was still some notable news around the league over the past seven days.
Larsen Promoted: The first domino in the head coaching searches around the league has fallen. The Blue Jackets have their new bench boss and it’s someone they’ve had all along as the team promoted assistant Brad Larsen to the top role, handing him a three-year deal. The 43-year-old has been with Columbus since 2014-15 so he will be quite familiar with the current roster and will now be tasked with helping them get through what appears to be a pending rebuild with prized defenseman Seth Jones indicating recently that he’s not interested in signing a contract extension.
Kadri Suspension Upheld…Again: After being suspended for eight games for a hit in the first round of the playoffs, Avalanche center Nazem Kadri decided to try his luck with the appeal process. The first went to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and the eight-game ban was upheld. The next step was to independent arbitrator Shyam Das who also upheld the suspension. A big part of the decision was Kadri’s prior suspension history and the fact that Justin Faulk sustained an injury on the play.
Rask Needs Surgery, Wants To Stay With Bruins: Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask was dealing with lingering hip trouble all season long and now that the season is over for Boston, he’s set to undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum. That procedure will keep him sidelined through the first half of next season. The 34-year-old is also set to become an unrestricted free agent this month and this news certainly doesn’t help his leverage. However, he has also made it clear that he only wants to play for Boston so he’s not in a situation where he will want to shop himself to the highest bidder. If the Bruins are okay with Jeremy Swayman as the starter for the first half of the season, it’s possible that they could bring Rask back to have their playoff tandem back together in the second half.
Shero To Minnesota: Former Penguins and Devils GM Ray Shero has found his next team as the Wild announced that they’ve hired him as a senior advisor to GM Bill Guerin. It’s not the first time the two have worked together as Shero acquired Guerin while with Pittsburgh and then hired him as a development coach after his retirement. Shero will replace Jack Ferreira who spent the past three seasons in an advisory role and has worked in an NHL front office since 1980-81.
Latest On Eichel: It hasn’t been a great offseason for Jack Eichel. The Sabres star bemoaned the “disconnect” between him and management in his end-of-season media availability and wants a surgery to repair a neck injury that the team won’t sign off on. Now, there are reports that Buffalo would also like to move on from the 24-year-old and have a fresh start. Top centers rarely become available and while he carries a $10MM cap hit through 2025-26, there still should be considerable interest although the standoff over his neck certainly isn’t going to help his value.
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