Archives for September 2023

Boston Bruins Promote John McLean To Assistant Coaching Role

September 18, 2023 at 1:32 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

The Boston Bruins have named John McLean an assistant coach, per a team release today. MacLean spent last season in the Bruins organization as a skills and skating consultant.

Boston also announced a flurry of other minor hockey ops changes, namely in the scouting department: Dan Darrow has been named Assistant Video Coordinator; Josh Pohlkamp-Hartt has been named Associate Director of Hockey Analytics; Campbell Weaver has been named Director of Hockey Systems; Derek MacKinnon has been named Pro Scout; and Milan Jurcina has been named European Scout.

McLean, 58, is not to be confused with longtime NHLer and current Islanders power play coach John MacLean. McLean, once a captain of Boston College’s men’s program, has just one season of NHL experience under his belt after serving in assistant coaching roles with Boston College, Merrimack, and serving as the head coach of prep school Malden Catholic throughout the 2000s and 2010s.

While an assistant in name, McLean won’t be on the bench with head coach Jim Montgomery and his other assistants, Chris Kelly and Joe Sacco, during games. That’s according to a report from Montgomery himself late last month, in which he said the Bruins would pursue an assistant coach to replace the departing John Gruden, although their hire would serve in a development role and would watch games from the management box. Gruden departed Boston after one season to accept a head coaching role with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies this summer. That means while McLean will likely add some jobs to his plate with the promotion, his core focus on skills and skating development will remain unchanged.

Darrow joins Boston as an assistant video coordinator after serving as the San Jose Sharks’ video coach from 2015 to 2022. He also was the director of hockey operations for the University of Massachusetts-Lowell from 2011 to 2015 and was an assistant coach for Team USA at this year’s U18 World Juniors.

Pohlkamp-Hartt, 35, earns a promotion within the organization after spending the last five seasons as a data scientist in the team’s analytics department. He also previously served as the director of hockey analytics for the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs before accepting a role with the Bruins. Weaver also earned a promotion after spending the last four seasons working with Pohlkamp-Hartt in the team’s analytics department.

MacKinnon comes as an external hire, joining the Bruins as he celebrates his 20th year in an NHL role. He had been with the Calgary Flames for the past nine seasons, serving as a pro scout before earning a promotion to their director of player personnel role. He’s also held scouting and coaching roles with the Dallas Stars and Phoenix Coyotes dating back to 2003.

Jurcina, once a defenseman for the Bruins in the mid-2000s, assumedly ends his pro career with this move. The 40-year-old was active as recently as last season, skating in 12 games for HC Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga. The Slovak defender last suited up in the NHL with the New York Islanders in 2011-12 and will likely play a large role in scouting the Czech and Slovak regions, helping to get more talent out of a region the Bruins have had major success with in recent years.

Jarmo Kekalainen Apologizes To Blue Jackets Players

September 18, 2023 at 12:55 pm CDT | by Josh Cybulski 18 Comments

Aaron Portzline of The Athletic is reporting that Columbus Blue Jackets General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen has apologized to his players in the wake of the Mike Babcock scandal.

Kekalainen himself told the media that he’d apologized to the team for hiring Babcock in the aftermath the former coach’s resignation yesterday afternoon. Blue Jackets ownership released a statement to the media as well expressing their disappointment and frustration with the events of the last week.

Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff wrote an article today that asked the question “when will the sword fall on Kekalainen?” Kekalainen has been at the helm of the Blue Jackets for a decade now, and while they’ve reached the playoffs in five of the ten seasons, they have had a lot of missteps along the way. Seravalli begins the article with criticism of Kekalainen for thanking Babcock for his services and then begins to dissect the good and bad of his run as Blue Jackets GM. While the team has reached heights they have never seen before, like their playoff series win in 2019, they have had a lot of lows in that time too.

Seravalli is balanced as he highlights Kekalainen’s good drafting record, as well as the two Seth Jones trades (both of which he won), as well as getting the most out of the Nick Foligno and David Savard trades.

But he also finds a lot of room for criticism with some of Kekalainen’s moves as well. Columbus famously emptied the tank in 2019 to trade for Matt Duchene as they knew both Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky would be leaving as free agents that summer. While it got them their first playoff series victory, one wonders how many future assets they could have kept and acquired if they opted to sell at that deadline rather than buying. Couple that deadline with last offseason and a free agent shopping spree that yielded a 59-point season, and it gives you room to wonder if Kekalainen’s tenure (the third longest in the NHL) is coming to an end after the Babcock scandal has once again highlighted some of Kekalainen’s mistakes.

Philadelphia Flyers Interested In Ottawa’s Shane Pinto

September 18, 2023 at 10:58 am CDT | by Gabriel Foley 13 Comments

The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco shared that the Philadelphia Flyers made an offer on unsigned Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto. The offer would have also sent Mathieu Joseph, who makes $2.95MM for the next three years, to Philadelphia alongside Pinto as a cap dump. No return from Philadelphia is mentioned, although Di Marco notes that it would’ve been a roster player. He also shares that Philadelphia has, “kind of moved on” after not receiving a prompt response from Ottawa.

Shane Pinto’s contract negotiations have quickly become news worth following, as little progress has been made in finding a deal. Both Di Marco and Elliotte Friedman, in his 32 Thoughts podcast, agree that Ottawa’s preference is still to re-sign Pinto. But Friedman noted that Ottawa is aware any trade involving Pinto would return a quality player.

And that’s the real challenge. While few teams in the league are in a position to take on more cap, especially any potential cap dump that may need to be associated with the deal, Pinto is a player worth finding room for. The 22-year-old centerman scored 20 goals and 35 points while appearing in all 82 games last season – a defiant rookie showing. Friedman remains confident that, following this strong season, a market value contract for Pinto would carry a cap hit of around $2.5MM. That price coupled with Joseph’s cap dump would equate to roughly $5.5MM that any potential suitor would need to make room for.

There’s also the matter of what a fair trade return is for a player of Pinto’s quality. Friedman and co-host Jeff Marek discuss the Boston Bruins as another team that could be interested but are likely out of any true conversations given their cap situation and lack of expendable assets. With training camp looming, movement with Pinto is likely right around the corner. But whether a new deal with come with Ottawa or a new team is yet to be seen.

Calen Addison Expected To Sign Before Training Camp

September 18, 2023 at 7:56 am CDT | by Gabriel Foley 3 Comments

The Athletic’s Michael Russo recently shared that he expects the Minnesota Wild to sign Calen Addison before they kick off training camp. It’s been a complicated contract season for Addison, who doesn’t currently have arbitration rights but will earn them after the 2023-24 season. This fact jumbles up the technicalities of a new deal, drawing out the 23-year-old defender’s contract negotiations.

Calen Addison was drafted in the Second Round of the 2018 NHL Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins. But before he could play more than three games with Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate, he was traded to the Minnesota Wild, along with Alex Galchenyuk and a 2020 First Round pick used to take Carson Lambos, in exchange for Jason Zucker.

Since then, Addison has appeared in 74 AHL games and 80 NHL games with the Minnesota organization. He’s tallied 56 career AHL points and 33 career NHL points, including 29 points in 62 games last season. This scoring ranked third among rookie defenders, just a few points behind Buffalo’s Owen Power and Ottawa’s Jake Sanderson. It also marked the most points a rookie defender has scored for Minnesota since Filip Kuba put up 30 points in 2000-01.

But despite the promising scoring, Addison hasn’t carved out a clear NHL role just yet. In an interview with Russo, Wild head coach Dean Evason insinuated that Brock Faber could get a top-four nod. However, he also spoke to the rotation of talent at Minnesota’s disposal when asked if a top-four role may overwhelm Faber, saying: “We are confident [in Faber], but if there’s a situation where we feel that maybe he is overwhelmed because of his first year — we don’t think that’s going to happen, but if he is — it’s an easy flip for us to him and (Jake Middleton) or even Jonny Merrill or Alex Goligoski and Addy. We’ve got seven guys in those guys that we think can all play in the National Hockey League, obviously.”

How Addison finds his footing in such a talented blue-line is yet to be seen. But for the strong-scoring defender, a new deal will at least open an opportunity.

Five Key Stories: 9/11/23 – 9/17/23

September 17, 2023 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 6 Comments

With training camps now less than a week away, there was a bit of an uptick in activity around the NHL. As always, we recap the biggest news in our key stories.

Third Time’s A Charm? Things didn’t go particularly well the first two times the NHL set up shop in Atlanta. Despite that, the league appears to be open to the idea of giving that market another opportunity should they decide to expand beyond 32 teams. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly feels that the demographics in Atlanta have changed enough since the Thrashers left in 2011 and that a better-placed arena could give that market an opportunity to succeed the next time around. Despite this, expansion isn’t believed to be at the top of the priority list for the league right now but when the time comes, it might be a familiar city that gets another chance.

Latest Round Of PTOs: As expected, there was another sizable batch of veteran players accepting training camp tryout offers in the hopes of eventually landing a guaranteed contract for the upcoming season. Adam Erne will look to catch on with Edmonton while Zach Aston-Reese is one of many tryouts in Carolina. The Ritchie brothers inked tryout agreements on the same day; Nick Ritchie is heading to St. Louis while Brett Ritchie will look to crack Florida’s roster. Josh Bailey was linked to Ottawa earlier this summer and is indeed now taking part in their camp while defenseman Olli Juolevi is one of many players getting an opportunity with Arizona. Dozens of PTOs have been signed around the league and there are still more to come.

Tatar To Colorado: It was a busy summer for Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland as he had already brought in five new forwards to his group. Make that six now as Colorado signed winger Tomas Tatar to a one-year, $1.5MM deal. It’s a considerable pay cut for the 32-year-old who made $4.5MM in each of the last two years and $5.3MM for the four before that. Tatar is actually coming off a pretty good season in New Jersey, one that saw him record 20 goals and 28 assists although he struggled considerably in the playoffs, managing just a single point in 12 games. Tatar adds to what should be an interesting battle on the left side in training camp with Gabriel Landeskog out for the regular season (but returning for the playoffs is a possibility).

Wright AHL-Eligible: It was looking like Kraken center Shane Wright was going to be facing another year of either playing in the NHL or returning to major junior. However, that’s no longer the case as the NHL and OHL has granted Wright an exemption that allows him to suit up with AHL Coachella Valley this season if Seattle elects to send him down. CHL players are typically ineligible to play in the minors unless they are 20 years old on or before December 31st and Wright doesn’t turn 20 until January 5th. The other way to get out of that situation is to play four CHL seasons. Wright wasn’t able to do so as the OHL didn’t play at all in the 2020-21 campaign. However, they’ve basically decided that since he would have done so had the league taken to the ice, they’ll grant him the year of service time, enabling him to become AHL-eligible this season. That’s an ideal outcome for one of Seattle’s top prospects.

Coaching Change In Columbus: Mike Babcock’s tenure as head coach in Columbus is already over before he stepped behind the bench for a single game. Following a joint NHL/NHLPA investigation spurred by allegations that Babcock asked to view phones and/or photographs of several Blue Jackets players, it was mutually decided that Babcock would resign. Babcock had been out of the league since 2019 and after what transpired here, it would be surprising to see him back behind an NHL bench. Meanwhile, Columbus has looked to an internal candidate to take over, promoting associate coach Pascal Vincent to the top job while giving him a new two-year deal. Vincent has seven years of NHL coaching experience between Columbus and Winnipeg but this will be his first time as the head coach at the top level.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Notes: Fabbro, Sutter, Canucks

September 17, 2023 at 7:57 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 4 Comments

The Predators are believed to have looked into the possibility of moving defenseman Dante Fabbro this summer, reports David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. The 25-year-old’s future with the team has seemed murky at times over the past couple of years and the fact that he took a step back last season offensively (going from 24 points to just 11) won’t help his value. Nevertheless, Fabbro has shown himself to be capable of holding down a fourth or fifth spot on a defensive depth chart and at a $2.5MM AAV, it’s not a particularly pricey gamble for a team to bring him in. The fact he still has another year of club control after this one doesn’t hurt either. Clearly, Nashville didn’t find a trade offer to their liking but Fabbro could be one to keep an eye on as new GM Barry Trotz puts his stamp on this team.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Boston Bruins

September 17, 2023 at 6:46 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 5 Comments

Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2023-24 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Boston Bruins

Current Cap Hit: $83,070,834 (under the $83.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

None that are likely to be full-timers on the roster.

Signed Through 2023-24, Non-Entry-Level

F Jesper Boqvist ($775K, RFA)
F Jake DeBrusk ($4MM, UFA)
D Derek Forbort ($3MM, UFA)
F A.J. Greer ($762.5K, UFA)
D Matt Grzelcyk ($3.688MM, UFA)
F Milan Lucic ($1MM, UFA)
D Ian Mitchell ($775K, RFA)
D Kevin Shattenkirk ($1.05MM, UFA)
G Jeremy Swayman ($3.475MM, RFA)
F James van Riemsdyk ($1MM, UFA)
D Jakub Zboril ($1.138MM, UFA)

Potential Bonuses
Lucic: $500K

DeBrusk’s future with Boston has been murky for a few years now. First, it was a trade request that wasn’t granted and was later rescinded. Since then, he has become an important part of their attack, notching at least 25 goals in each of the last two seasons. Now, they need to decide if he’s part of their future plans on a contract that’s likely to cost closer to $6MM or if he could be a possible part of an offer to try to get some center help. Lucic returns after a long stretch out West and is no longer the top-six forward he once was. However, he has been a serviceable bottom-six piece in a limited role and this contract fits in with the role he’s likely to provide.

Not many players saw their stock fall last season as much as van Riemsdyk. After being a top power play threat in previous years, he struggled with the man advantage last year which resulted in his lowest goal total since 2011-12. In doing so, the Flyers weren’t able to find a taker for him at the trade deadline. He’ll look to rebuild his stock in Boston and if he can have success in a top-six role, his market should be considerably stronger next summer. Boqvist was non-tendered by New Jersey this summer to avoid arbitration. He’s a capable fourth-line checker and this should prove to be a team-friendly deal before too long. Arbitration rights will be in play next summer as well. Greer held down a regular spot on the roster last season, getting into a career-best 61 games. Another year like that should increase his chances of another one-way pact but he’s the type of player that teams will be looking to sign for the minimum.

With Boston’s cap situation, Grzelcyk’s future has come into some question as well. He was basically relegated to an even strength-only player last season and while that type of player still has some value – he’s still a capable offensive player – it’s one that’s hard to afford given their current roster structure. Next summer, if he has another season like this one, he might be looking at a small dip in pay but should still land a multi-year deal. Forbort is another speculative cap casualty if GM Don Sweeney makes a move to create some flexibility or needs to match money in a trade. More of a prototypical third-pairing/penalty killing piece at this point of his career, his market value is probably closer to $2MM unless he can stake a regular claim to a top-four spot this season.

Shattenkirk was one of many bargain signings by Boston this summer, coming over after three years in Anaheim. He’s starting to slow down but is still capable of logging upwards of 20 minutes per game and certainly left money on the table to join the Bruins. A good season with them could push him back over the $3MM mark next summer if he wants to maximize his next contract. Zboril has seen very little NHL action over four years due to injuries, demotions, and being scratched at times; his career GP total is less than a full year. When he played last season, he was sparingly used. If that’s the role he has again, his next offers are going to be closer to the minimum salary. That’s where Mitchell finds himself after taking less than his qualifying offer, presumably in the hopes of trying to secure a spot on Boston’s roster. Once viewed as a key prospect in Chicago, his stock has dipped but he has had enough success in the minors to warrant another look.

Swayman’s contract was one of the more interesting ones signed this summer. He had a very strong year, posting a 2.27 GAA along with a .920 SV% but in just 37 games. For his career, he has just 87 career appearances which isn’t a large sample size to work off of. A multi-year deal would likely have cost upwards of $4.5MM per year, a sum they simply couldn’t have afforded with their current roster. Instead, the sides went to arbitration to get this deal. Another year somewhat similar to this one could push his single-year value into the $4.5MM range – even as a platoon goalie – while a longer-term agreement could push closer to the $6MM mark.

Signed Through 2024-25

F Patrick Brown ($800K, UFA)
F Trent Frederic ($2.3MM, UFA)
F Morgan Geekie ($2MM, RFA)
F Brad Marchand ($6.125MM, UFA)
G Linus Ullmark ($5MM, UFA)

Marchand’s production isn’t where it was at his peak anymore but he was still close to a point per game last season. Without his long-time linemate Patrice Bergeron, it will be interesting to see how that affects his output but Marchand should still provide positive value on the final two years of his deal. He’ll be 37 when his next contract begins and it wouldn’t be surprising if he takes another team-friendly pact again. Frederic took a step forward last season, providing Boston with some good secondary production despite having a limited role, allowing him to more than double the AAV of his previous contract. He’ll need to maintain that at a minimum while moving up the lineup to push up his price tag again in two years.

Geekie came over after being somewhat surprisingly non-tendered by Seattle. He’ll have a chance to play a bit higher in the lineup with Boston’s turnover down the middle and if he can hold down the third-line center role, this should be a good pickup for them. Notably, he’ll still have another year of control through arbitration if things go well. Brown came over in free agency after splitting last season between Philadelphia and Ottawa. He’s a serviceable checker on the fourth line without providing much offense so future deals for him should come in close to the minimum as well.

Ullmark had an incredible season last year. He blew past his full-season career bests in GAA (2.45) and SV% (.917) by putting up 1.89 and .938 respectively in those categories. Wins and losses certainly aren’t everything for a goalie but he had 40 victories in 48 starts, a win rate that is quite difficult to come by. That made him a well-deserving recipient of the Vezina Trophy while making mid-tier starter money. Few are expecting a performance like this in 2023-24 but even if he goes back to his career averages, they’ll get good value here.

Signed Through 2025-26

F Charlie Coyle ($5.25MM, UFA)

Coyle has been a secondary producer for the majority of his career, even coming back to his time with Minnesota. That made this contract a bit on the high side when it was signed back in 2019. However, he’s coming off back-to-back years with more than 40 points and has moved back to primarily playing at center after splitting the previous few seasons between center and the wing. The full-time position switch helps the value. So do the departures of Bergeron and David Krejci as it will push Coyle into a more prominent role offensively. As long as that results in an uptick in production – a reasonable expectation – the return on the second half of this contract should be a bit better than the first half.

Signed Through 2026-27 Or Longer

D Brandon Carlo ($4.1MM through 2026-27)
D Hampus Lindholm ($6.5MM through 2029-30)
D Charlie McAvoy ($9.5MM through 2029-30)
F David Pastrnak ($11.25MM through 2030-31)
F Pavel Zacha ($4.75MM through 2026-27)

Pastrnak had a dominant performance last season, scoring 61 goals while averaging at least a point per game for the fifth straight season. That put him in the driver’s seat when it came to negotiating an early extension in-season, one that immediately became the richest deal in franchise history. It’s hard for a player making that much to live up to the contract but he’ll be the go-to player in Boston for a long time. Zacha’s contract is on the pricey side based on his career numbers but he had a breakout performance in 2022-23, notching 57 points. Like Coyle, he’ll be asked to play a bigger role this year and if there’s an uptick offensively as a result, this will become a team-friendly deal.

McAvoy has emerged as a legitimate top-pairing defenseman who is above-average at the offensive end. Those players get paid quickly and he was no exception as he now sits tied for fourth in the NHL in AAV among blueliners. That’s a hard contract to live up to but the Bruins are banking that he has another gear to get to yet. Lindholm found a gear offensively that he never could reach with Anaheim, becoming an ideal top-pairing fit in the process. There’s some concern about how the deal might age as he’ll be out of his prime by then but that’s a problem for down the road, not now. Carlo is a capable defensive defenseman but his ideal role is a fourth or fifth defender who can kill penalties. With minimal offensive contributions, it’s a deal that’s above market value at this point.

Buyouts

D Mike Reilly ($333K in 2023-24, $1.33MM in 2024-25)

Retained Salary Transactions

None

Still To Sign

None

Best Value: Shattenkirk
Worst Value: Carlo

Looking Ahead

The bonus carryover penalties from Bergeron and Krejci’s deals cut into Boston’s cap space by $4.5MM. They’re unlikely to afford a full-sized roster to start the season but if they want to get creative, they might be able to waive someone like Forbort and shuffle him back and forth, freeing up a pro-rated $1.15MM for each day he’s off the roster. That could give them some extra space to hedge against injuries but if they want to add to their group this season, it’s going to be a money-in, money-out situation barring LTIR for someone coming into play.

Fortunately for the Bruins, the cap challenges could be short-lived. With over $20MM coming off the books next summer plus the carryover charge being cleared (aside from potentially Lucic’s half-million), Sweeney should have ample flexibility to re-sign his core pieces and then try to add one either via trade or in free agency. Meanwhile, at the moment, there are just six players signed for the 2025-26 campaign, giving Boston a relatively clean canvas to work with for the future.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Metro Notes: Wahlstrom, Voronkov, Othmann

September 17, 2023 at 4:40 pm CDT | by Ethan Hetu 2 Comments

2023-24 is shaping up to be a make-or-break year for Oliver Wahlstrom and his future with the New York Islanders. The 2018 11th overall pick has a one-year, $874k contract in place and is coming off of a season where he had some real momentum, only for injuries to keep his campaign to just 35 games played. The start of the season will be important for the 23-year-old, as The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz writes that if Wahlstrom “can’t stay in the lineup, it will probably be time for the Islanders to give him a fresh start somewhere else” via a trade. (subscription link)

A change-of-scenery trade for Wahlstrom could end up being the best course of action for his future, as he has struggled for years to put together a productive season in the Islanders organization. In Wahlstrom’s lone season as a full-time AHLer, he managed 10 goals and 22 points in 45 games, decent numbers but not the overwhelming production expected of a top prospect. In the NHL, Wahlstrom’s best offensive season saw him score 12 goals and 21 points in 44 games, a 22-goal, 39-point 82-game pace. He clearly has the offensive talent to accomplish more in the NHL than he’s shown so far, so tracking how he’s doing for the Islanders early in the season will likely be one of the more intriguing storylines to watch on Long Island.

Some other notes from the Metropolitan Division:

Although the Columbus Blue Jackets rookie drawing the most attention is rightfully 2023 third-overall pick Adam Fantilli, Russian import Dmitri Voronkov could end up a quietly effective first-year player in Ohio. The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline names Voronkov as one of three Blue Jackets prospects standing a decent chance to make the team’s opening-night roster. (subscription link) Voronkov, 23, is a big six-foot-three pivot who hasn’t yet played in North America, but impressed with 18 goals and 31 points in the KHL last season. He could be in play to make new head coach Pascal Vincent’s opening-night roster.
As one of the New York Rangers’ top prospects, Brennan Othmann is expected by many to make an impact on the Rangers’ NHL roster sooner rather than later. But according to USA Today’s Vince Z. Mercogliano, Othmann may have to wait. Mercogliano writes that the “expectation is that” Othmann will begin the season in the AHL with the Hartford Wolf Pack, although a strong training camp could obviously change things. But since New York signed several veteran bottom-six forwards such as Alex Belzile and Tyler Pitlick, Othmann may begin his pro career off Broadway.

Mike Babcock Resigns As Columbus Blue Jackets Head Coach

September 17, 2023 at 3:01 pm CDT | by Ethan Hetu 79 Comments

3:08 PM: The Blue Jackets have now officially announced Babcock’s resignation. Assistant coach Pascal Vincent has been named the club’s new head coach, and has signed a two-year contract extension.

2:48 PM: According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Mike Babcock is expected to resign his position this afternoon.

Columbus officially named Babcock their head coach on July 1 after his previous contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who fired him in November of 2019, expired. This week, Babcock was the subject of a joint NHL/NHLPA investigation spurred by allegations that Babcock asked to view phones and/or photographs of several Blue Jackets players, originally reported by former NHL player Paul Bissonnette on a recent episode of the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast.

NHLPA officials met Friday after meeting with several Blue Jackets players and staff and said they “provided the NHL with an update on our ongoing review” in a statement released after the meeting. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that the now-concluded NHLPA investigation “left no path for Babcock to continue as coach.” Friedman reported on an earlier edition of Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts podcast last week that while veterans Boone Jenner and Johnny Gaudreau were comfortable with their exchanges with Babcock regarding the photo-sharing exercise, multiple younger players on the roster did not feel the same way.

The Blue Jackets have yet to release a statement. At the time of writing, it’s unclear what path the Blue Jackets will take to name an interim head coach with training camp starting this week.

By resigning, Babcock walks away from the remainder of a two-year contract that was set to pay him a total of $8MM.

Minnesota Wild Sign Jujhar Khaira

September 17, 2023 at 3:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 4 Comments

09/17/23: The Wild have now officially announced a one-year, two-way contract for Khaira. The deal carries a $775k NHL salary and a $300k salary in the AHL, according to CapFriendly.

09/16/23: It appears that the Wild will be bringing in some extra forward depth, at least for training camp. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they’re in discussions with Jujhar Khaira about a contract. Whether that’s a PTO agreement or a full-fledged contract remains to be seen.

The 29-year-old spent last season with Chicago, playing out the final year of a two-year deal that carried an AAV of $975K. Khaira got into 51 games with the Blackhawks but also missed more than two months with a back issue. That, of course, came on the heels of him missing 43 games with back trouble the year before. Khaira’s production was actually his best since the 2018-19 campaign as he pitched in with six goals and eight assists while logging just shy of 14 minutes per game.

Khaira’s career thus far spans parts of eight NHL seasons, the majority of which were spent with Edmonton who drafted him in the third round (63rd overall) back in 2012. He has 336 appearances at the top level under his belt, tallying 33 goals, 47 assists, and 783 hits while averaging 12:37 per contest of ice time.

With Minnesota being one of many teams that are tight to the salary cap, it’s likely that Khaira will be signing for the minimum if he does wind up with a guaranteed deal. His ability to play all three forward positions and kill penalties would certainly give the Wild some desired flexibility on the fourth line, a trio that figures to be particularly physical as it currently stands.

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