The Devils’  situation between the pipes has been an issue dating back to last summer when the team was strongly connected to Winnipeg Jets’ goaltender Connor Hellebuyck before he signed a seven-year contract extension in Manitoba. Throughout this season, New Jersey has largely been connected to nearly all the names currently present on the market, while almost acquiring Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames a few weeks ago.

The problem in net has been persistent this year, with the Devils currently ranked 22nd in the NHL in goals against per game, and 31st in the league in team save percentage. Combining the numbers from Vitek Vanecek, Nico Daws, and Akira Schmid at the NHL level this season, the team has a .892 SV%, 3.22 GAA, and a whopping -20.5 goals saved above average.

Even with experiencing a down-season by his standards, Saros would mark an immediate upgrade over all three goalies that have started for New Jersey this season. In 46 starts, Saros has managed a 23-21-2 record coupled with a .904 SV% and a 2.95 GAA. Before this year, Saros finished top-10 in Vezina Trophy voting in each of the last three seasons and is still signed for a moderate $5MM salary for one more year.

Owning just short of $9.5MM in cap space come deadline day, the Devils could comfortably afford the contract of Saros, especially if they were able to move out Vanecek in the same deal too. Nashville may not be too high on Vanecek overall but could view him as an expensive short-term backup with his contract ending after the 2024-25 season.

As Seravalli highlighted in his article, the Predators do not seem keen on making a substantial move in net when the team currently holds the last wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Things could change leading up to the March 8th trade deadline, with Nashville sustaining plenty of pressure from the St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, Calgary Flames, and Seattle Kraken for that spot.

If the Predators do end up moving out Saros, they already have an heir-apparent in Yaroslav Askarov currently playing for their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. As the team currently rides a 19-game winning streak, Askarov has produced a 21-7-1 record throughout the season with a .920 SV% and 2.11 GAA, showing that he may be ready to take the full-time step to the NHL.

I can honestly say I have no intentions of coaching again. My coaching career, you can put it in an envelope.

Trotz was active this summer, hiring Andrew Brunette (a more offensive-oriented coach) to replace John Hynes, making several front-office moves, and changing things up with their forward group, parting with Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen while bringing in several veterans in free agency to change up the core.  It’s fair to say he jumped in with both feet into his new role and is leaving his old one behind.

More from the Central:

• Still with the Predators, defenseman Dante Fabbro is no stranger to trade speculation as it has followed him for basically the last couple of years. Speaking with Penalty Box Radio’s Alex Daugherty (Twitter link), the blueliner expressed that his goal is to remain in Nashville for the long haul.  The 25-year-old averaged a career-low 17:27 per game last season with his average through his first few games a bit below that this year as well; as a result, he’s no longer viewed around the league as a prominent part of their future back end.
• The Jets announced (Twitter link) that they’ve placed forward Gabriel Vilardi on injured reserve. The move comes as no surprise as it was revealed yesterday that he’ll miss at least the next month with a sprained MCL.  While Winnipeg is eligible to place Vilardi on LTIR given how long he’ll be out for, that move doesn’t make sense for them yet as they have ample cap space to bring up someone to replace him if they so desire.  That move wasn’t made prior to their game tonight but should be coming soon as they’re currently down to 12 healthy forwards.

Multiple reports suggest the Predators have called the Montreal Canadiens about trading up to fifth overall, and Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli now reports Nashville’s put goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov into play. The Russian netminder, who was the 11th overall pick in the 2020 draft, is one of the best netminder prospects in the world and posted a .911 save percentage in 48 games with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals this season.

Askarov would make tremendous amounts of sense for the two teams Nashville’s called about in the top five – Montreal and the San Jose Sharks, who Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic says are getting multiple calls about their fourth overall selection. Both teams have a decent pool of goalie prospects but no surefire starter in their future.

It’ll take much more than Askarov to get either of those teams to part with their picks, though. Nashville holds the 15th and 24th overall selections tonight, with the latter acquired from the Edmonton Oilers for Mattias Ekholm. It’ll take at least Askarov plus the 15th pick, potentially a tad more given the game-breaking, franchise-changing talent available with each of the first five picks in this draft.

With Trotz’s public posturing of wanting high-upside, skilled players in Nashville’s prospect pool, it’s fair to wonder if Nashville is targeting Matvei Michkov if they do move up. While there are some concerns about his defensive engagement (depending on who you ask) and obvious off-ice questions given his contract status and geopolitical uncertainty, he’s the highest-upside prospect in this draft not named Connor Bedard.

For the most part, Hjorth has spent most of his playing time since his draft year in the Swedish minor leagues. Most recently, playing in the HockeyAllsvenskan for the HC Vita Hasten, Hjorth scored three goals and six assists in 43 games played this year.

Although most teams are hoping for NHL-bound talent even into the later rounds, it does not appear that Columbus is missing out on a player that is ready for professional hockey in North America. Fortunately for the Blue Jackets, Hjorth is the only player in the organization that had expiring draft rights this season.

Other snapshots:

• In an interview with the press today, Barry Trotz partly explained the draft plan for the Nashville Predators this year. Alex Daugherty of PenaltyBoxRadio, reports that Trotz has told his scouts to “take some swings” and be aggressive in this month’s draft. Although coaching his teams to a relatively “boring” style of hockey, it appears that Trotz may employ a much different tactic as General Manager of the Predators.
• Earlier this week, it was reported that the Blue Jackets were on the edge of hiring the next head coach of the team. Unfortunately, Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch reports that the expectation is the team will not name a new head coach tonight, or at any point tomorrow. The Blue Jackets are still close to making a decision, but it appears that the front office has not yet come to a fully unanimous agreement.

May 30: The Nashville Predators have confirmed at least part of their widely reported coaching change, officially announcing that head coach John Hynes has been relieved of his duties with one year remaining on his contract. The team also announced that assistant coach Dan Lambert, who also had a one-year tenure left on his deal, will not be returning.

Somewhat interestingly, the team did not confirm today’s earlier reports that New Jersey Devils assistant coach Andrew Brunette was set to take over as Hynes’ replacement. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun now expects the official announcement to come tomorrow morning.

Lambert worked with the Predators’ forward group and power-play units for four seasons from 2019 to 2023. During Lambert’s tenure, the team achieved a power-play success rate of 19.5 percent, including a franchise record of 24.4 percent in the 2021-22 season. Incoming general manager Barry Trotz commended Lambert as a quality power-play coach and thanked him for his contributions, particularly during a season marked by roster changes.

Trotz also released an official statement on Hynes, who was fired after recording the second-highest point percentage by a head coach in franchise history:

John Hynes is a good man and a good hockey coach. He did an outstanding job after the trade deadline with our team, especially with our young players, and he is a well-prepared, hard-working coach who will continue to grow in the NHL. After our year-end meetings and some additional evaluation, it was time to change the voice and time to go in a different direction. On behalf of all of us at the Predators, we’d like to thank John for all his work here and wish him and his family all the best moving forward.

Team president and CEO John Henry also released a statement, thanking Hynes and Lambert for their work during a difficult time off-ice for the team and the city of Nashville.

I’d like to thank John, Dan and their families for all they did for the Predators and our community. We appreciate all their work during their respective tenures with us, helping our team push through so many difficulties that hit us all in 2020 – from the tornadoes to the pandemic and the Christmas morning explosion, they always had our team ready to serve the community. John and Dan also guided us to three playoff appearances and additionally ensured our team represented Smashville well in the 2022 NHL Stadium Series and in Bern and Prague in the 2023 NHL Global Series. We will always be grateful for their contributions.

Poile, 73, has led the Nashville franchise since 1997 before they were even known as the Predators. He navigated the expansion process, bringing hockey to a market where few believed it would be successful. The team, even without a Stanley Cup championship, has become one of the league’s most stable organizations, drawing strong crowds and reaching the playoffs in 15 of the last 18 seasons.

This season, he became the first executive in NHL history to serve as general manager of a franchise for 3,000 games, combining his time in Nashville with years leading the Washington Capitals previously. This is his 41st consecutive season as an NHL GM.

Trotz, 60, was a big part of bringing hockey to Nashville as well. The team’s first head coach, he was behind the bench for the first 15 years of Predators hockey, leading them to a 557-479-60-100 record. He would then, coincidentally, head to Washington, where he won a Jack Adams and Stanley Cup with the Capitals, and then to the New York Islanders, where he would take home his second Coach of the Year award.

After leaving the Islanders, Trotz has spoken publicly about his desire to get into an NHL front office. The Predators are the perfect fit, given his ties to the organization and the need for something of a new voice in the front office.

Poile’s direction has been questioned in recent years, as the Predators struggled to stay among the league’s elite after reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2017. The books are filled with long, expensive contracts for veteran players, and a potential teardown may be in the cards at some point.

That was signaled with this weekend’s trade of Nino Niederreiter, but there is a lot more surgery to be performed on this roster if Trotz is to lead them to a championship. The Predators are expected to be serious players in the next few days, and the incoming executive will likely be involved in many of those decisions, even if his title won’t be official for a few months.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet broke the news on Twitter.

I don’t know yet. I’m deciding. There’s a couple of teams that reached out, and I said I’m not there yet. I’m probably going to take the rest of the year off and see where I am. It’s still a part of me, but I’m going to continue to stay true to myself and my family right now.

Back in October, Trotz had suggested that an opportunity with an Original Six franchise might give him the spark he was looking for.  However, at this point, it’s unlikely that an opportunity with one of those teams is going to materialize in the coming months which takes that option off the table.

This is the first time that Trotz has had any sort of family time during the season as he had previously spent the last 23 seasons behind the bench between the Predators, Capitals, and Islanders.  The 60-year-old was offered the job in Winnipeg during the offseason but declined with the Jets then turning to Rick Bowness, a choice that has worked out quite well for them so far.  Trotz has the third-most wins in NHL history with 912 and when he wants to come back, he’ll almost certainly have a chance to add to that number.  But by choice, that chance isn’t likely to come this season.

Speaking on his timeline on whether or not Trotz would return to coaching, he gave the following explanation:

I think probably to get everything settled, I’m going to be into early December before I feel comfortable (that) I’ve got family stuff in control and after that, I’m probably going to have to take a little break, a week or two, to maybe go somewhere warm in the winter, and then after that…

Trotz nearly got his first experience coaching a Canadian team this season, presenting as a finalist for the Winnipeg Jets’ head coaching vacancy before ultimately deciding that he wouldn’t coach anywhere during 2022-23. The 60-year-old coach is enjoying some well-earned time with his family after 23 straight seasons behind an NHL bench.

In terms of Original Six teams that Trotz could head to, there’s really only one feasible option for next year: the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Boston Bruins are already off to a strong start under new head coach Jim Montgomery; the same could be said for the Chicago Blackhawks and Luke Richardson and the Detroit Red Wings and Derek Lalonde. It doesn’t seem like the New York Rangers or Montreal Canadiens would be willing to part ways with Gerard Gallant or Martin St. Louis after impressive coaching stints, either. Keefe is the longest-tenured out of all six, and after a continued pattern of playoff losses, a wholesale change could be on its way to Toronto this offseason.

8:25am: The coaching carousel is chugging along, with new hires in Dallas, Florida, Philadelphia, and Vegas over the last few days. The name that still hasn’t come off the board, Barry Trotz, appears to be running out of options, though four teams still remain without head coaches. Ken Wiebe of Sportsnet reports that the latest meeting between Trotz and the Winnipeg Jets happened earlier this week and it is now up to the veteran coach on whether to accept the job.

Winner of the 2018 Stanley Cup, Trotz is sometimes even more lauded for his work with the New York Islanders, turning them from one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL to one of the best over the course of a single offseason. Even if that kind of improvement isn’t entirely because of a coaching or system change, there are few who doubt Trotz can have a positive impact no matter what kind of situation he ends up in.

Interestingly enough, Wiebe also notes that the deal Winnipeg is offering includes a succession plan that would have him move to the front office at some point down the line. That kind of management role has been speculated about since Trotz hit the market, fired by the Islanders after his fourth year there.

After all, the two-time Jack Adams winner has now coached more than 1,800 regular season games in a long career, trailing only Scotty Bowman on the all-time list. At some point, a transition out from behind the bench seems inevitable, and what better place than his hometown club.

Still, there are some other attractive openings. The Detroit Red Wings, for instance, have a young impressive group that looks like it will be contending in a few years, and might be ripe for a veteran coach to push them over the edge. Whether Detroit, Boston, or Chicago have a realistic chance (or interest) in Trotz at this point isn’t clear but Winnipeg has made him a top priority from the beginning. Now it’s up to him to decide whether he’s going back home.

More from the Central:

• The Jets are expected to meet with coaching candidate Barry Trotz this weekend, reports Postmedia’s Paul Friesen. The bench boss has been linked to multiple teams since being fired by the Islanders earlier this offseason and this will be the Manitoba native’s second interview with his hometown team.  Winnipeg currently has Dave Lowry as their interim head coach and while he is believed to be among the candidates that would be considered for the full-time role, their preference would certainly be to land a top-flight candidate like Trotz.
• Coyotes prospect Dylan Guenther will miss the upcoming Memorial Cup due to a lower-body injury sustained in the WHL Final against Seattle, notes PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan (Twitter link). While his playoff run came to an early end, it was still a strong one for the 2021 ninth-overall selection as he had 13 goals in 16 postseason contests after putting up 45 goals and 46 assists in just 59 regular season contests to finish sixth in league scoring.

This option may not seem likely to many fans, as Trotz is an in-his-prime coach widely seen as one of the best in hockey. But TSN’s Darren Dreger adds that getting into management is something that Trotz has “been interested in for quite a while,” and a landing spot in Nashville, where he coached from their inaugural season in 1998 through 2014, seems like a perfect fit. There are already seismic changes set to come in Nashville, with new ownership confirmed for the near future, and perhaps Trotz re-joining the organization that started his NHL coaching career could be another step in a summer of major news for the Predators.

Now, for some other notes regarding this NHL offseason:

• At first, it might seem as though the Montreal Canadiens are one of the few teams at the NHL Draft who are best situated to sit tight and make their draft picks at their allotted slots. But that may not be the route the team chooses. The Canadiens, who own the first-overall selection and host the draft itself, have a new President of Hockey Operations in Jeff Gorton. One thing that defined the later years of Gorton’s tenure as GM of the New York Rangers was his aggressiveness in trading up in the draft in order to secure desired players. In a video released by the Rangers as part of their 2020 draft coverage, Gorton can be seen imploring his draft war room to find players worthy of moving up for. Gorton traded up at the 2018 draft to secure defenseman K’Andre Miller, and also did so at the 2020 draft, in order to select defenseman Braden Schneider. Gorton’s Canadiens own 14 picks at the 2022 draft, and with that in mind, combined with the evidence of Gorton’s prior drafts, it seems clear that the Canadiens are a team to watch in terms of trading up. TSN’s Darren Dreger seems to agree, reporting that the Canadiens are “going to try and move up” at the draft. With the draft held in Montreal, the combination of the number-one pick and the home team’s desire to trade up could make this one of the more entertaining drafts in recent memory.
• While the mid-season signing of Evander Kane soaked up all the headlines, the deadline-day acquisition of defenseman Brett Kulak could go down as Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland’s shrewdest move of 2022. While some scoffed at the idea of Holland dealing a second-round pick for a defenseman without an extremely long track record of proven NHL success, Holland’s bet was a solid one, as Kulak helped solidify Edmonton’s defense and provide steady, reliable play next to frequent partner Tyson Barrie. Pierre LeBrun reports on TSN that Holland has met with Kulak’s agent, Gerry Johannson, and that the Oilers “want to re-sign” Kulak. LeBrun does stipulate that the cap hit on any new contract must make sense for the Oilers, but since both Kulak and the Oilers reportedly want to finalize a reunion, it would definitely not be surprising to see Kulak return to his hometown Oilers on a new deal this summer.

That type of production along with his defensive reputation is sure to earn Nichushkin a solid chunk of change this summer. However, Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland reports that Nichushkin and the Avalanche discussed a contract extension earlier in the season, but the two sides weren’t close to an agreement. Now 27 and an unrestricted free agent off a strong contract year, this is the best chance Nichushkin will have to capitalize financially. It would surprise few if the Avalanche can’t afford to retain him, especially as the team needs to prioritize their goaltending uncertainty and a contract extension for Nathan MacKinnon.

• Strickland is also confirming this morning that the Winnipeg Jets have interviewed former Dallas Stars head coach and current St. Louis Blues assistant Jim Montgomery for their head coaching vacancy. While most have linked the Jets most strongly with top free-agent coach Barry Trotz, it’s no guarantee that he takes the job (or any job) this summer. Dallas fired Montgomery just a few months into the 2019-20 season for “inappropriate conduct,” leading Montgomery to seek residential treatment for alcohol abuse. Montgomery found a job with the Blues for the following two seasons, mainly as a power-play coach. The Athletic’s Murat Ates reported last week that Montgomery was Winnipeg’s current second choice to Trotz. Montgomery has also been linked to the Philadelphia Flyers’ coaching vacancy this offseason.
• The field for the 2022 Memorial Cup, which begins next week in Saint John, New Brunswick, is nearly set. After both winning their respective league championships, the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings and QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes will join the host Saint John Sea Dogs at the tournament. The fourth and final spot will go to the winner of tomorrow’s Game 7 in the OHL finals between the Hamilton Bulldogs and Windsor Spitfires.

What’s unclear at this point is whether surgery will be required or not. It’s bad timing for Strome, who could hit unrestricted free agency on July 13 if he’s not re-signed by the Rangers. Strome did express his interest in re-signing today, but it’s anyone’s guess whether or not that will come to fruition. With the bevy of Rangers prospects finally starting to emerge through the cracks, the team will have to make space for those kids somewhere. It seems logical from an organizational perspective that Strome wouldn’t be retained, especially with the acquisition of Andrew Copp.

• The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco refutes the reports that the Philadelphia Flyers have narrowed down their coaching search. He does go so far as to say that the three rumored finalists of Barry Trotz, John Tortorella, and Peter DeBoer are still under consideration, but he makes the distinction that the Flyers have just two or three names remaining on their coaching search list. Whether or not an outsider to those three ends up with the job remains to be seen.
• The ’Baby Penguins’ made some news today, as AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton announced the signing of defenseman Clay Hanus from the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks for 2022-23. The Pittsburgh Penguins affiliate will add some solid defensive depth, as Hanus exploded for 74 points in 68 games this year. He’ll look to continue his development as an undrafted free agent with WBS and hopefully receive an NHL deal from Pittsburgh at some point down the road.

Seeing the Flyers narrow their field is an interesting development for the coaching market as a whole, as more positions, and candidates, have opened up as time has gone on, but few of those positions have been filled. Philadelphia making a decision, depending on when that decision comes and who is selected, could serve to get the ball rolling for the rest of the league. Philadelphia has struggled in recent seasons, culminating in trading franchise forward Claude Giroux to the Florida Panthers in March, however the organization has shown an unwillingness to commit to a true rebuild. Hiring either of Tortorella or Trotz would certainly help the organization get back to its winning ways, even as the team’s roster experiences some transition in personnel.

• From one high-profile search to another, it appears the San Jose Sharks are also planning to narrow their list of candidates for their vacant General Manager position this week, says The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. It’s unclear who exactly would be on the Sharks’ shortlist, though LeBrun says the organization has had lengthy interviews of 4 to 6 hours each with a dozen candidates. The organization made clear after former GM Doug Wilson stepped down that they would take their time finding his replacement. Much like the Flyers, the organization has shown they are not interested in a lengthy rebuild and would like to find a GM who shares that vision (link).
• After earlier reports that Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point could be a game-time decision for tonight’s Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals, it appears he is now considered doubtful, says Seravalli. Though it would be disappointing for Tampa to again be without one of their best players, Seravalli does add that Point is very likely to play in Tampa’s next game, whether that be in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals, or in Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals, depending on the result of tonight’s game. Point was injured during Game Seven of Tampa Bay’s first round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs and has not played since. As crucial as Point has been to Tampa Bay’s recent playoff success, the team has managed to go 8-2 since he went down, including the game against Toronto, losing only the first two games of the conference final.
• The Abbotsford Canucks, the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, announced they have signed defenseman Alex Kannok-Leipert to a one-year contract extension that covers the 2022-23 season. Originally a sixth-round draft pick of the Washington Capitals in 2018, Kannok-Leipert spent five years with the Vancouver Giants of the WHL, where he was team captain for two seasons before turning pro and signing with Abbotsford ahead of the 2021-22 season. The defenseman had a solid rookie campaign in the AHL, putting up five points to go with a plus-5 rating in 41 games. An interesting note on Kannok-Leipert is though a Regina, Saskatchewan native, he was born in Thailand and is the first Thailand-born player in AHL history and the first to be drafted in the NHL Entry Draft.

Today, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic examined some of the younger or more inexperienced options that could be available this summer, including names like Derek Lalonde, Jeff Halpern, and Spencer Carbery, all currently serving as NHL assistants. It’s quite an extensive list and includes some outside-the-box suggestions, including someone like Jukka Jalonen, head coach of the Finnish national team. Jalonen recently took Finland to gold at both the Olympics and World Championship and has a long history of success on the international stage.

• Another option from overseas not on LeBrun’s list is Serge Aubin, who got a shoutout in Elliotte Friedman’s latest for Sportsnet. The former NHL forward has been coaching in Germany for the past three seasons, and before that was leading benches in Switzerland and Austria. Friedman writes that Aubin could be getting attention for an AHL coaching role at the moment.
• Like every coaching discussion right now, things always work their way back to Barry Trotz and his impending decision on where to go next. Friedman suggests that the whole carousel might be being held up by the veteran coach but also notes that the Winnipeg Jets are “very very serious” about Trotz and may not have even done any detailed interviews with other candidates to this point. The Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers, and Vegas Golden Knights are the other teams currently linked to Trotz, as the hockey world waits on his decision.