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Snapshots: Wild, Babcock, Trouba

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Questions are sure to arise this offseason in the State of Hockey. The Minnesota Wild, although they forced the series to six games, were dealt with pretty handily in the final days of their season by the St. Louis Blues, capped off by a 5-1 rout in Game 6.

Now, with the full effect of the controversial Zach Parise/Ryan Suter buyouts kicking in next season, many wonder how the Wild will be able to manage their cap space moving forward. NBC Sports’ James O’Brien looks at a few routes the Wild could go down to manage their salary cap situation next season. The buyouts take up a combined $12.74MM next season, and although the team’s cap situation is fuzzy due to the amount of playoff Black Aces still on the active roster, they’ll surely have less than $10MM to work with this offseason. That includes signing Kevin Fiala, who’s a restricted free agent with arbitration rights (again), to a new deal, and finding a goalie to replace (or to-resign) Marc-Andre Fleury. While Fiala could be dealt, especially after an underwhelming playoff performance, they could also look to clear out some depth names. O’Brien names Dmitry Kulikov, who carries a $2.25MM cap hit next season, as another trade piece, although he does have an eight-team no-trade list (somehow).

  • While there hasn’t been any official link, and there likely won’t be knowing the tight-lipped Lou Lamoriello, The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz names former NHL bench boss Mike Babcock as a potential fit for the New York Islanders’ coaching vacancy. Kurz references Lamoriello’s history with Babcock in Toronto, and Lamoriello’s history of opting for tougher, more aggressive voices in the room as a solution to unsatisfactory team performance. Since then, he’s served as a senior adviser at the University of Vermont and the head coach of the University of Saskatchewan.
  • After Jacob Trouba’s controversial hit that gave Sidney Crosby a reported concussion, The Athletic’s Eric Duhatscheck looked at whether the NHL could examine a potential rule change to penalize similar hits in the future. Duhatschek notes that penalizing all hits to the head is extremely unlikely, as evidenced by current NHL leadership’s hesitation against cracking down on body contact. While illegal head contact exists in the NHL, by its definition, the league viewed Trouba’s hit as legal.

Snapshots: Verhaeghe, Broberg, Sellgren

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If the Florida Panthers are able to advance to the second round for the first time since 1996 (and only second time ever), Carter Verhaeghe might be the series MVP. The 26-year-old forward has ten points through the first five games, including five in the team’s come-from-behind game five victory. Unfortunately, with the Panthers looking to eliminate the Washington Capitals tonight, Verhaeghe may not be in the lineup. He’s a game-time decision according to head coach Andrew Brunette.

It’s been quite a rise to prominence for the 2013 third-round pick, who spent quite a bit of time in the ECHL before really getting his professional career on track. This season he set a career high with 24 goals and 55 points in 78 games after signing a three-year, $12.5MM extension last summer. Hopefully, he’s able to appear again soon, as Verhaeghe has been a force every time he touches the ice so far in the playoffs.

  • With Darnell Nurse now back from suspension and the Edmonton Oilers still alive, Philip Broberg has been returned to the AHL. That’s certainly an important transaction for the Bakersfield Condors, who are looking to stave off elimination themselves in their Calder Cup playoff series against the Stockton Heat. They’ll try to do just that tonight and can now insert Broberg back into the lineup, while Nurse retakes his place on the Oilers bench after serving his one-game ban.
  • Minor league defenseman Jesper Sellgren has once again been linked to the SHL for next season, once his contract with the Carolina Hurricanes comes to an end. There were reports last month that he had already agreed to a deal with Lulea HF for 2022-23, and now that seems even more likely. For now, Sellgren is still starring for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL, where he had 26 points in 73 games this season. The 23-year-old defenseman’s rights could be retained by issuing a qualifying offer, as he is still just scheduled to be a restricted free agent when his entry-level deal expires this summer.

Bruce Boudreau Will Return As Canucks Head Coach

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The Vancouver Canucks have made it official, announcing that Bruce Boudreau will return as head coach for the 2022-23 season. While that doesn’t come with a long-term commitment, it will at least put some of the chatter to rest about who will be behind the bench. In a statement, general manager Patrick Allvin explained the decision:

We are pleased to see Bruce’s commitment to return to the Canucks next season. He has done a great job since arriving in Vancouver and we are eager to see the team continue to perform under his leadership as they did during the second half of the season.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Boudreau is back, especially given the reports that he was in the meeting with prized Russian free agent Andrei Kuzmenko recently. The question was is about whether the Canucks will be willing to commit past the 2022-23 season, something that is still very unclear. In his end-of-year availability, president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford explained that he needed to see more than half a season before handing out an extension like that, something that at least made some wonder if Boudreau would take his talents elsewhere.

For now, he will stay put and build off that half-season, which was exceptional even if the Canucks didn’t end up qualifying for the playoffs.

After starting 8-15-2 under Travis Green, the organization decided to clean house, firing almost the entire management group and coaching staff. Boudreau took over behind the bench, while Allvin and Rutherford moved into the front office to start cleaning up the mess left behind by Jim Benning. The team had only made the playoffs once in the last six years and yet had some of the most exciting young talent in the league. Under Boudreau, they went 32-15-10 down the stretch, coming oh-so-close to climbing all the way back into the playoff picture.

That trio of Quinn Hughes, Thatcher Demko, and Elias Pettersson will obviously be the building blocks for the Canucks moving forward, though there are plenty of other decisions to be made about who will surround them. Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat, and J.T. Miller have all heard their names bandied about in trade speculation, and now with the Boudreau situation finalized, the front office can get to work on either extending them, or making a move to maximize their return.

A regular season turnaround wasn’t anything new for Boudreau, who has never had a losing season as an NHL head coach. In fact, his .635 winning percentage is right up with the best of all time. It’s the playoffs that have been a different story so far, likely one of the reasons why Rutherford was so hesitant to jump in after 57 games. Boudreau has a 43-47 record in the postseason and hasn’t moved past the first round since 2015.

Sidney Crosby Out For Game Six With Concussion

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1:35pm: Multiple reports including from Emily Kaplan of ESPN and The Athletic have now surfaced confirming that Crosby suffered a concussion on the hit from Jacob Trouba. For any player that is concerning, but especially so for the Penguins’ captain given his history of head injuries. It is not clear when he will be able to return to the lineup.

10:44am: The Pittsburgh Penguins will be without captain Sidney Crosby for a pivotal game six against the New York Rangers, after he suffered an upper-body injury on Wednesday night. Head coach Mike Sullivan explained that Crosby is in a “good place” in his recovery, and the injured forward did skate on his own today.

Additionally, the Penguins updated the status of a few other injured players. Brian Dumoulin is still working through his off-ice recovery and his status has not changed, while Rickard Rakell is now considered a game-time decision. Tristan Jarry, who has been skating the last little while, will not play tonight, meaning it’s Louis Domingue’s net for at least one more game.

If there was ever a time for pending free agents Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang to put a stamp on the first-round series, it’s tonight in an all-important chance to eliminate the Rangers. On home ice, the Penguins will have to find a way past Hart Trophy nominee Igor Shesterkin once again, as the Rangers will put him back in the net after securing the win in game five. It’s been an up-and-down series for the Rangers goaltender, who has allowed 19 goals in five games but still has a save percentage of .905 as the Penguins continue to rack up shots.

Gustav Rydahl Linked To New York Rangers

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While the New York Rangers continue their quest for playoff success, the front office might be looking ahead to the future. In Sweden, a report has emerged in SportExpressen that connects Gustav Rydahl to the Rangers.

Rydahl, 27, has been flirting with an NHL career for years, but to this point has been limited to playing in the Swedish Hockey League. The undrafted forward had 14 goals and 30 points for Farjestads BK this season, but it was his playoff performance that really stood out.

In 19 postseason contests, Rydahl had six goals and 12 points en route to an SHL championship. He also had 21 penalty minutes, a common theme for the physical forward, who has been known to get involved in plenty of extracurricular activity after the whistle.

It was actually the second title of his career, after winning one as a young player in 2015 with Vaxjo. At that point, the 6’3″ forward was an absolute black hole offensively, but things have changed in recent years. With an appearance at the Olympics also on his resume from earlier this year, and now two straight strong offensive seasons (split by one with only nine games played), it is as good a time as any to try his hand in North America.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Roni Hirvonen, Topi Niemela

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A day after experiencing an excruciating overtime loss, Toronto Maple Leafs fans have something to cheer about today. The team has announced three-year entry-level contracts for both Roni Hirvonen and Topi Niemela, which will start next season and carry average annual values o $856,666.

Hirvonen, 20, was the 59th selection in 2020, picked out of Finland’s top league after holding his own as a teenager. In the two years since Hirvonen has shown that was no fluke, and had 26 points in 46 games for HIFK Helsinki this season. His excellent two-way play elevated him to captain of Finland’s World Junior team this year, though the club was only able to play in two games before the tournament was postponed due to COVID-19. He will still be eligible for the event later this summer, though perhaps he will be more focused on competing to land a spot with the Maple Leafs in the fall.

Speaking of World Junior standouts, Niemela made his own name at the tournament in 2021 by leading all defensemen in scoring. He earned best defenseman of the tournament honors and then took that success back to his league play. This season for Karpat, Niemela was a scoring machine, recording ten goals and 32 points in 48 games by constantly joining the rush and letting shots fly from the point. He too will be eligible for the rescheduled junior tournament this summer, though again, a future with the Maple Leafs organization may be more important at this point.

While neither one is a lock to step into the NHL right away, both are on the fast track to making an impact with the Maple Leafs after spending so much time in the professional ranks in Finland. Hirvonen and Niemela were ranked sixth and third respectively in the Toronto prospect pool by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic earlier this year, and should quickly rise up the depth charts now that they have inked their first deals.

2022 Ted Lindsay Award Finalists Announced

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This week, the NHL has started to release the finalists for all the major regular season awards. After the Hart Trophy came out yesterday, the Ted Lindsay Award, given to “the most outstanding player in the NHL” as voted on by members of the NHLPA, is up.

The finalists this year are Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.

While the Lindsay very often mirrors the Hart, the notable difference is that the finalists are peer-selected. McDavid has already won the trophy three times, even taking it home in 2018 when he somehow finished fifth in Hart voting, despite leading the league in scoring. There’s no doubting his place among his fellow players, widely considered the best player in the world at the moment. After setting new career highs with 44 goals and 123 points, there’s certainly reason to believe they’ve put him on top of the mountain once again.

Matthews has more than a fighting chance though, after becoming just the third player in the salary cap era to score 60 goals in a single season. The Maple Leafs forward is the no-doubt best at putting the puck in the back of the net, and reached a new high with 106 points in just 73 games. Perhaps the front-runner for the Hart this season, it will be interesting to see if the players feel the same about the Toronto sniper.

Josi, meanwhile, is the only one of the three that didn’t end as a finalist for the Hart, as Igor Shesterkin took the third spot yesterday. It shows just how outstanding his season was and how much respect his peers have for the historic 96-point campaign he put together. That’s more than just a good year–it puts Josi among a list of the best offensive defensemen to ever play the game. Whether that was enough to draw the votes to pass the two big centers won’t be revealed until later on but it is still an impressive feat to get named a finalist in a year with so many incredible offensive performances.

Washington Capitals Recall Pheonix Copley

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The Hershey Bears are out of the Calder Cup playoffs after losing on Monday to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, so the Washington Capitals are bringing up another goaltender. Pheonix Copley has been recalled to the NHL, while Hunter Shepard is officially assigned to the Bears, even though their season is over.

Copley, 30, will likely serve as the team’s emergency backup as they try to stave off elimination at home. The Capitals are down 3-2 in the series against the Florida Panthers and will try to force a game seven this evening, meaning any goaltending emergencies will be covered by a netminder with plenty of professional experience. Copley has 31 appearances in the NHL and was excellent for Hershey this year, posting a .913 save percentage in 35 regular season games.

Notably, Tom Wilson was back on the ice this morning for the Capitals as well, though he will not play tonight. The physical forward is dealing with a lower-body injury that has kept him out since game one when he saw just three shifts before exiting.

Joe Snively was also back with the group but he remains on long-term injured reserve for the time being.

Montreal Canadiens Hire Christopher Boucher

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The Montreal Canadiens will soon announce the leader of their new analytics department is Christopher Boucher, according to Marc Antoine Godin of The Athletic. The data-crunching guru will serve as director of analytics in Montreal and is the first hire in a department that Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes have promised to implement since arriving with the Canadiens.

Officially a pro scout with the San Jose Sharks for the past two years, Boucher is well-known as an early advocate of hockey analytics and a seminal member of the early days at Sportlogiq, one of the leading data firms for the sport. While the hire seems strong, perhaps more important is that the Canadiens are going down this route at all.

Under previous administrations, the team had limited their analytical departments, something that the new managers vowed to change as they took over. In one of his first interviews after getting the job, Gorton told Sportsnet that the organization had “a little bit of an old-school feel” and that there needed to be a “different way of thinking” as they tried to modernize the front office. Bringing in Boucher to lead a new analytics department is one of those changes, though it still remains to be seen how much influence they will have over Hughes or the coaching staff.

Snapshots: Kuemper, Marchment, Boudreau

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It appears as though the Colorado Avalanche will have goaltender Darcy Kuemper back between the pipes when they host either the St. Louis Blues or Minnesota Wild to start the second round next week (link). Kuemper was back at practice today, and while it’s unclear if he would have been able to play had Colorado’s series against the Nashville Predators continued, he will have a few more days to get ready and continue to recover. St. Louis hosts Minnesota tonight in Game 6 of the first round, the Blues holding a 3-2 series lead.

Kuemper was injured late in the first period of Game 3 of round one when Predators forward Ryan Johansen appeared to get his stick blade caught inside of Kuemper’s mask. The goaltender would leave the game, replaced by Pavel Francouz, who started in net for the Avalanche in their series-clinching win in Game 4. An impending UFA, the Avalanche acquired Kuemper this past offseason in a win-now move to give them a star goaltender for this season, perhaps their best chance at a Stanley Cup. Kuemper compiled another strong season in 2021-22, his first with Colorado, posting a .921 save-percentage and 2.54 goals-against average.

  • The Florida Panthers announced, per head coach Andrew Brunette, that forward Mason Marchment will not be available when Florida takes on the Washington Capitals in Game 6 tomorrow night (link). The forward had been dealing with a previous injury and was considered a game-time decision for Game 5, a game that he ultimately did not play in. Seeing Marchment move from a game-time decision for Game 5 to being ruled out a day ahead of Game 6 is surely a concern for Florida, as the 26-year-old has provided excellent secondary scoring with a physical game to go along with it, putting up 18 goals and 29 assists in 54 games this season.
  • From Rob Simpson of Vancouver Hockey Now, who spoke with Bruce Boudreau, the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, Boudreau said he hopes to return to the organization next week. Currently, Boudreau is still under contract with Vancouver with whom he has an option to return, and said he plans on confirming his option with Canucks’ President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford and General Manager Patrik Allvin sometime early next week. Boudreau has until June 1st to accept the option. The veteran head coach had also made clear to Simpson that he has spent the last couple of weeks simply taking time off, visiting with friends and family and making other arrangements, and the delay was not tactical in nature. There had been recent rumors about a possible extension with Boudreau, however Rutherford made it clear he would not be interested in extending Boudreau just yet, but was open to the idea of it at some point. What exactly Boudreau thought of that situation was unclear, but it appears now that his primary focus is on returning to the Canucks for the 2022-23 season.

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