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Islanders Expected To Offer Lou Lamoriello Contract Extension

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With the contract of general manager Lou Lamoriello believed to be expiring at the end of next month, some had wondered if the time was right to make a change in the front office.  However, Newsday’s Andrew Gross reports that after some deliberation, that will not be the case as the team has decided to offer the 80-year-old a three-year contract extension.

Lamoriello has been at the helm in New York for the last five seasons with the team making four playoff appearances during that stretch, highlighted by a trip to the Conference Final in the bubble in 2020.  However, they’ve failed to win a playoff series the last two years so with his contract expiring, there was a logical jumping point to make a change if they wanted to.

Despite the lack of postseason success the last couple of seasons, that hasn’t stopped Lamoriello from acting like a win-now GM.  Last year at the draft, he moved their first-round pick to Montreal to pick up defenseman Alexander Romanov.  Then, back in February, he moved their first-rounder for next month’s draft along with Anthony Beauvillier and prospect Aatu Raty to Vancouver for Bo Horvat before signing the center to a long-term extension.  Lamoriello also inked Mathew Barzal to an eight-year, $73.2MM extension that will kick in next season.

At the moment, the Islanders are a veteran-laden team that has been tight to the salary cap for the last few years, a trend that’s likely to continue next season as they have barely $6MM in cap room this summer, per CapFriendly.  With that money, they need to sign a backup goalie as Semyon Varlamov is a pending UFA while they’d also likely want to bring wingers Zach Parise and Pierre Engvall back, along with blueliner Scott Mayfield.  Those three are also set to hit the open market in July and clearly, the cap room they have is nowhere near enough to re-sign them all.

Accordingly, creating cap space will be at the top of Lamoriello’s to-do list this summer.  Josh Bailey and his $5MM price tag is someone the team would likely want to move on from but doing so would require incentivizing a team to do so.  However, their prospect pool has taken a hit lately while they only have one pick in the top 110 next month which doesn’t exactly give them a surplus of assets with which to use to try to entice someone to give them that cap room.

Based on Gross’ report, it appears that Lamoriello is going to get a vote of confidence from the team, one that will likely extend to first-year head coach Lane Lambert as well.  But the veteran manager is going to have a lot to try to accomplish in terms of re-signing his free agents, creating cap room, and doing so while trying to get a little younger and quicker while trying to restock a dwindling prospect pool at the same time.  That’s a tall task for any general manager but the Islanders feel that Lamoriello will be up to the challenge.

Panthers RFA Logan Hutsko Signs In Sweden

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After a pair of seasons in the minors, Panthers prospect Logan Hutsko has opted for a change of scenery.  The forward has signed a two-year contract with IK Oskarshamn of the SHL, per a team release.

The 24-year-old was a third-round pick by Florida back in 2018 (89th overall) but only has a couple of years of pro experience under his belt since he played a full four years at Boston College.  Hutsko had a good first season in the minors last year with 38 points in 71 games but injuries limited him to just 43 appearances in 2022-23 where he was fairly productive with 27 points.  That makes his decision to leave a little surprising but the fact that he wasn’t among Florida’s ‘Black Ace’ promotions earlier this month probably didn’t help things.

Florida can still control Hutsko through 2026 and with this deal running through the end of the 2024-25 campaign, it seems likely that they will still tender him a qualifying offer this summer to retain his rights.  In the meantime, they’ll hope that Hutsko can take another step in his development in Sweden and then assess if he’s worth bringing back in a couple of years.

Golden Knights UFA Sakari Manninen Signs In Switzerland

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A year ago, center Sakari Manninen was coming off an impressive season in the KHL plus a strong showing at the World Championship, helping him earn a one-year, one-way deal with Vegas with the hopes that he could push for some playing time with the Golden Knights this season.  However, that didn’t happen and as a result, he’s heading back overseas as Geneve-Servette of the Swiss NLA announced that they’ve signed Manninen to a one-year deal.

The 31-year-old got a fairly long look with Vegas in the preseason, getting into four games before being one of their final cuts.  The expectation was that he’d be back up once injuries arose but others got that opportunity instead.  Manninen had a fairly successful season with the Silver Knights, picking up 40 points in 53 games to finish third on Henderson in scoring but somewhat surprisingly, he wasn’t among their list of ‘Black Ace’ recalls once the AHL campaign came to an end.

While Manninen could have waited for NHL free agency in July to see if another team might be interested in giving him an opportunity in North America, he’s instead opting to give the top division in Switzerland a try having already played in the top leagues in Finland, Sweden, and Russia.  At his age and with him not getting into a game with Vegas this season, it seems unlikely that Manninen will find himself back on the NHL radar in the future.

Latest On Kyle Dubas, Sheldon Keefe

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The Toronto Maple Leafs’ season ended last night, with the team eliminated five games into the second round thanks to an overtime goal from Florida Panthers forward Nick Cousins. Their elimination from Stanley Cup contention begins what is likely to be a franchise-defining offseason.

General manager Kyle Dubas is on an expiring contract, while “core four” franchise faces such as Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander are eligible to receive contract extensions this summer. Those players will also see the trade restrictions tighten on their existing contracts, with Matthews and Marner receiving full no-move clauses on July 1st, while Nylander receives a 10-team no-trade list at the same time.

While past playoff disappointments did not catalyze any major organizational changes, it seems this offseason could be different. The Athletic’s James Mirtle shed some light on the challenges Toronto faces heading into their offseason, reporting that keeping Toronto’s front office together “will be far more complicated than simply coming up with a modest extension offer” for Dubas. (subscription link)

According to Mirtle, Dubas “will want to be paid handsomely,” especially if there are offers from competing franchises. Mirtle also writes that Dubas “will want greater job security and autonomy within whatever structure Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment settles on” for the future of the organization. It’s fair to wonder whether the Maple Leafs’ top decision-makers are ready to make that sort of commitment to Dubas after this disappointing playoff loss.

Tied to Dubas for the vast majority of his coaching career, Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe’s future is similarly up in the air. Mirtle reports that if the Maple Leafs do end up with a new general manager, “it’s hard to see [Keefe] retained, after four consecutive playoff losses.” But even if Dubas remains in place, Mirtle reports that “there will be a lot of pressure to make a change” behind the bench, especially given some of the high-profile names currently available to be hired as a team’s new head coach.

The reasoning behind Keefe’s departure seems to stem largely from his failure to win more than one playoff series at the helm of some extremely talented Maple Leafs teams. This is likely due to the fact that excluding the postseason, Keefe’s body of work behind the bench in Toronto has been stellar.

He originally rose to the role of head coach after the firing of Mike Babcock, when Toronto was in a relatively tenuous place. He immediately stabilized the Maple Leafs’ season and guided them to a 27-15-5 record in his first campaign behind the bench.

But that regular-season success would go largely forgotten as Toronto fell in the qualifying-round series to the Columbus Blue Jackets, a loss that would serve as a sign of things to come.

Keefe went 35-14-7 the following season but saw his team blow a 3-1 series lead to their arch-rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, in the first round of the playoffs. Over the past two years following that series, Keefe has amassed a 104-42-18 record, and his sterling track record of regular-season success is certainly not easily dismissed given how difficult consistent contention in the NHL can be. But Maple Leafs fans surely expected more from this star-studded era, and Keefe’s teams have failed to provide much of anything after the conclusion of the regular season.

It’s a similar story for Dubas, who has made quite a few excellent moves and rightfully earned a reputation as one of the league’s better general managers over the course of his tenure in Toronto. He has made several moves that have paid off wonderfully, such as the team’s buy-low acquisitions of Jack Campbell, Michael Bunting, Ilya Samsonov, and to a lesser extent Conor Timmins. But some larger bets have backfired. Both Matt Murray and Petr Mrazek proved to be salary cap anchors rather than saviors in the crease, while some trades have not aged as well as the team might have hoped, such as deals that sent away players such as Nazem Kadri, Mason Marchment, or Alexander Barabanov.

So, like anyone else who has ever been in charge of team-building for an NHL franchise, Dubas has made his fair share of mistakes. But are his mistakes, which have been largely outnumbered by shrewd moves, enough to punch his ticket out of Toronto? Or will any Dubas departure instead be more related to the inescapable reality that his plethora of savvy moves has not yet resulted in any sort of sustained playoff success?

This is the dilemma that the Maple Leafs face right now. They will have to navigate internal and/or external demands to make a change after such a disappointing string of early playoff exits with an understanding that there aren’t a whole lot of general managers who have won as consistently as Dubas, or head coaches with as many wins as Keefe.

As Mirtle indicates in his reporting, “ownership pressure” in Toronto “is sure to dial up to a new level, perhaps to the point they’re demanding substantive change rather than merely suggesting it,” as they may have in the past. So understanding that, could the first major change that gets made by Toronto be of the off-ice variety?

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Offseason Checklist: Detroit Red Wings

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The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those that were eliminated early.  It’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Detroit.

Many NHL fans will remember the dynastic Detroit Red Wings teams that took home four Stanley Cups between 1997-2008. Unfortunately, those days are behind America’s most winningest hockey franchise, and the likes of Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom, Kris Draper, and Niklas Kronwall, have all transitioned from the ice to the front office. With the Red Wings finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for their strenuous rebuild, we’ll look at some boxes they should check this offseason. 

Find Time For Prospects

One of the most out-of-nowhere trades from this year’s deadline was the Red Wings shipping promising defenseman Filip Hronek to the Vancouver Canucks for the New York Islander’s first-round pick in this year’s draft. Arguably the team’s top defenseman at the time of the trade, finding time for prospects with a higher potential than Hronek is an intelligent move for Detroit to continue to make. 

To start, we’ll walk through a comparison of some of the top five forward selections from 2017-2021. In Group A, we have Tim Stutzle, Matthew Beniers, Nico Hischier, Brady Tkachuk, and Elias Pettersson. In Group B, we’ll compare Alexis Lafreniere, Barrett Hayton, Andrei Svechnikov, Kaapo Kakko, and Quinton Byfield. The averages for Group A: 273 GP, 225 P, 0.83 PPG, and 18:15 ATOI. For Group B: 215 GP, 112 P, 0.52 PPG, 15:02 ATOI. 

Although there is a major learning curve transitioning to the professional level, younger players are benefiting immensely from averaging more time on ice. With high-end prospects such as Simon Edvinsson, Marco Kasper, Albert Johansson, and William Wallinder right on the cusp, it is time for the Red Wings to swing more trades (much like they did with Hronek) to find adequate ice time to lead to the maximum growth for these players. 

Two players that immediately come to mind that the Red Wings should be seeking to move on from would be forwards Joe Veleno and Filip Zadina. Both players were drafted in the first round of the 2018 NHL draft, and have yet to establish much on-ice value for Detroit up to this point. With more notable prospects coming up the pipeline, and these two players likely still maintaining some value due to their young age and draft selection, the Red Wings should be looking to deal both of them this summer.

Establish Consistent Scoring

Since the 2019-20 season, Detroit has had a massive problem putting the puck in the net. The team has yet to finish outside the bottom ten in GF/G since the 2018-19 season. Luckily for Detroit, there should be players outside the organization that should help them improve in this category. 

In this year’s upcoming free agency period, the high-end scoring talent has already been thinned out, with the likes of David Pastrnak, Joe Pavelski, Andrei Kuzmenko, and Bo Horvat having already signed extensions. Of the remaining players, only Alex Killorn, Patrick Kane, Max Domi, J.T. Compher, and Vladimir Tarasenko would present real opportunities for Detroit. However, with the average age of the team only getting younger with prospect graduation, none of these players seem to fit the Red Wings’ timeline. 

Enter the trade market. Looking ahead at this offseason’s potential trade options, there are three players that seem to stand out as viable solutions to Detroit’s goal-scoring issues. Elias Lindholm from the Calgary Flames, Alex DeBrincat from the Ottawa Senators, and Brock Boeser from the Canucks. 

All three players fit into the Red Wings’ timeline, they have all shown an ability to score goals, and they all find themselves in precarious situations on their current teams. The Flames and Canucks are headed toward serious shakeups this offseason, and DeBrincat was very noncommittal on signing a contract extension in Ottawa. 

If any of these players become available, it would make sense for Detroit to swing a big trade to bring one of them in. 

Goaltending Upgrades

After acquiring goaltender Ville Husso from the St.Louis Blues after a brilliant 2021-22 season, the Red Wings may have thought their goaltending issues were finally shored up for the time being. Unfortunately, the move did not pan out as they may have hoped. 

This season, all of Detroit’s three goalies, Husso as well as Alex Nedeljkovic and Magnus Hellberg, all held a Quality Start Percentage less than 50% and produced a Goals Saved Above Average of -13.5, -4.4, and -8.2, respectively. In more topical statistics, none of their goaltenders produced a GAA of 3.00 or less, and none were able to sport a SV% of .900 or more.

After trading up in the 2021 draft to select goaltender Sebastian Cossa at 15th overall, it is evident that he will be the goaltender of the future in Detroit, and is likely sitting above another goaltending prospect, Carter Gylander, in their prospect depth chart. 

For the time being, with this year’s free agent market for goaltenders sporting the likes of Joonas Korpisalo, Antti Raanta, Semyon Varlamov, and Adin Hill, Detroit must once again be on the lookout for a better stop-gap until Cossa is ready to make the jump to professional hockey. 

Name An AHL Head Coach

As the Red Wings are prepared for an influx of talent to the minor league level, Yzerman highlighted the need for a winning culture when it comes to prospect development. In mid-April, after a last-place finish in the AHL’s Central Division, the Grand Rapids Griffins announced they would not be renewing the contract of head coach Ben Simon.

One of the top coaching candidates that comes to mind is Norm Bazin, the current head coach of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell of the Hockey East conference. Since taking over as head coach for the 2011-12 season, Bazin has accrued a 254-145-39 record, as well as one Frozen Four appearance in 2012-13, losing to the eventual champion Yale University.

With a track record of success, and a clear ability to coach younger players, Bazin would be a prime candidate to take over behind the bench for the Griffins next season. If the team is unable to convince Bazin to coach in Grand Rapids, Yzerman, and Assistant General Manager Shawn Horcoff will have plenty of work to do this summer in finding the best candidate.

NHL Announces 2023 Hart Trophy Finalists

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The time has finally come for the NHL to announce the finalists for the league’s most prestigious individual award, as they have announced Connor McDavid (Edmonton), David Pastrnak (Boston), and Matthew Tkachuk (Florida) will be the three finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy. The NHL’s version of the MVP award that is handed out in most leagues, the award is given out annually to the player “adjudged to be the most valuable to his team”.

As he continues to become better each year, McDavid took things to a different level during the 2022-23 season. After topping out with 123 points last year, McDavid finished up this season with 64 goals and 89 assists, leading the league in both categories. Not only was this the best season of his career, but also 15th best all-time in terms of points scored, joining the likes of Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux, and Wayne Gretzky.

In what would have been his free agency year, Pastrnak also managed the best individual season of his career as well. Playing for the regular season powerhouse, Boston Bruins, Pastrnak scored 61 goals and 52 assists, finishing first in Eastern Conference total scoring. There were also several categories that Pastrnak led the league in, including even-strength goals (43), game-winning goals (13), and total shots on goal (407). His incredible season led the Bruins to sign him to an 8-year, $90 million contract extension that came at this year’s trade deadline.

Finishing off the finalists has been the inspiring performance from Tkachuk playing on the Florida Panthers. Acquired from the Calgary Flames last offseason, although not leading the league in any offensive categories, the tough forward put together an exceptional season, scoring 40 goals and 69 assists. Although playoff performance is not taken into consideration for this award, Tkachuk essentially willed the Panthers to this year’s playoffs and continues to be their emotional leader as they are on the cusp of the Eastern Conference Final.

The 2023 NHL Awards will take place at the home of the Nashville Predators, Bridgestone Arena, on Monday, June 26th at 8:00 PM ET.

Washington Capitals Sign Aaron Ness To AHL Extension

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The AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals, the Hershey Bears, announced today that they have signed defenseman Aaron Ness to a two-year contract extension. Ness returned to the Bears for the 2022-23 season, spending the previous three years split between the Tuscon Roadrunners and Providence Bruins.

Drafted back in the 2008 NHL Draft by the New York Islanders, Ness has almost exclusively been an AHL player throughout his career. Throughout at least seven years he saw action in the NHL, Ness spent time with the Islanders, Capitals, and Arizona Coyotes. In 72 games played, Ness has one goal and six assists.

Throughout his AHL career, Ness has racked up 660 games, scoring 53 goals and 245 assists, becoming one of the most stable defensemen of the last decade. The most impressive season of his AHL career was back during his first stint with the Bears in 2019 when he scored five goals and 50 assists in 71 games played.

Although it is unlikely that Ness sees any NHL action under this contract, he will at least provide consistent play for one of the better teams in the AHL. In this year’s Calder Cup playoffs, the Bears find themselves up in their Division Final series against the Hartford Wolf Pack after one game.

 

Snapshots: Brossoit, Maggio, Marchment

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Ben Gotz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal gave some updates from the head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights, Bruce Cassidy, this afternoon, mentioning that injured goaltender Laurent Brossoit will remain out for Game Five. Brossoit has been out since the team’s victory in Game Three during their second-round matchup against the Edmonton Oilers.

Although averaging some very solid numbers in limited regular season games this year, Brossoit has left a lot to be desired for Vegas so far in this year’s playoffs. In eight games played, he does have a very good record at 5-2-0 but is also carrying a .894 SV% and a GAA of 3.18. Working out well for the Golden Knights up to this point, it is hard to imagine overall success as the team gets deeper into the playoffs with those numbers.

Picking up for Brossoit after leaving Game Three early was netminder Adin Hill. Playing for nearly the last 50 minutes of Game Three, Hill stopped 24 of 24 shots, helping his team take the lead in the series. Unfortunately in Game Four, Hill did not impress as much, giving up four goals on 33 shots. With veteran goaltender Jonathan Quick still at their disposal, the Golden Knights will surely be looking for more consistent goaltending as they look to take back the series lead against the Oilers in Game Five.

Other snapshots:

  • The OHL announced today that New York Islanders prospect, Matthew Maggio, has been awarded the Red Tilson Trophy, given annually to the OHL’s Most Outstanding Player. Earlier this month, the Islanders signed their 142nd overall pick from the 2022 NHL Draft to an entry-level contract. Although his team, the Windsor Spitfires, was eliminated in the first round by the Kitchener Rangers in the OHL playoffs, Maggio had an unbelievable season nonetheless. In 66 games played, the young forward scored 54 goals and 57 assists, helping his team secure first place in the Western Conference.
  • Missing last night’s Game Five victory against the Seattle Kraken, Dallas Stars’ forward Mason Marchment will be available for Game Six according to Joey Hayden of Dallas Morning News. Although the team played well in his absence, Marchment would be a welcomed return as the Stars look to move on to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since the 2019-20 season. In 10 games played so far in this year’s playoffs, Marchment has scored three goals and provided two assists.

Maple Leafs/Panthers Notes: Samsonov, Knies, Lomberg

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Another day of morning skates for the Toronto Maple Leafs brings more updates on their duo of injured players, who are both ruled out for Game 5 against the Florida Panthers tonight but making progress in their recoveries. This morning, The Hockey News’ Mike Stephens relayed that netminder Ilya Samsonov was skating on his own this morning, practicing in isolation with Toronto’s skills coaches.

This is Samsonov’s first practice since sustaining an upper-body injury two games ago when Toronto defenseman Luke Schenn collided with him whilst defending a rush. While signs are pointing to Samsonov not being out much longer, Toronto’s season can end at any point, down 3-1 in their series. In the meantime, the starter’s net is filled by rookie Joseph Woll, who stopped 24 of 25 shots in a must-win Game 4 road win on Wednesday.

  • Rookie forward Matthew Knies is also practicing for the first time today since his concussion in Game 2 of the Florida series, says The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel. Knies was injured on a play behind the net, forced to the ice by Panthers forward Sam Bennett. While he won’t play tonight, Knies’ status is day-to-day and he hasn’t been ruled out for a potential Game 6 on Sunday.
  • The Hockey News’ David Dwork believes forward Ryan Lomberg is doubtful to return to the lineup in the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes, should they advance. Lomberg has not played since Game 4 of the First Round against the Boston Bruins and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The physical winger had already racked up 18 penalty minutes through four games, 14 of which game in Game 2.

Columbus Blue Jackets Considering Pascal Vincent For Coaching Vacancy

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After firing Brad Larsen as head coach last month, the Columbus Blue Jackets are searching for a new leader behind the bench. According to general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, associate coach Pascal Vincent is one internal candidate being considered for the position.

Kekalainen revealed this to the public during an interview with 97.1 The Fan’s Rothman & Ice show, stating that Vincent’s internal status would not hinder his chances in the search process. Kekalainen also acknowledged that Larsen, promoted from within the organization when they named him head coach in June 2021, did not work out as well as hoped but expressed confidence in Vincent’s potential.

Kekalainen also said his list of candidates for the coaching vacancy is short, but have yet to begin the interview process.

Vincent joined the Blue Jackets coaching staff in 2021 after serving as head coach of the AHL’s Manitoba Moose for five seasons. Before that, he spent five seasons as an assistant coach with the Winnipeg Jets, making it 10 straight seasons coaching in the Winnipeg organization. He also has extensive head coaching (and general managing) experience in the QMJHL, spending nine seasons with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles and three more seasons with the now-relocated Montreal Juniors.

While he may not have head coaching experience in the NHL, Columbus would be hard-pressed to find a candidate with more general coaching experience than Vincent. He’s held a coaching position at various levels every season since the 1994-95 campaign, dating back to his days as an assistant in juniors. The 51-year-old has earned Coach of the Year honors in both the AHL and QMJHL levels, having success with young players. Given the state of Columbus’ rebuild and their on-ice success revolving around a wave of prospects, few would bat an eye at the hire given Vincent’s résumé.

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