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Bruce Boudreau

Bruce Boudreau Interested In New Jersey, Other Coaching Opportunities

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Long-time head coach Bruce Boudreau is ready and waiting to return behind the bench in the NHL, and the New Jersey Devils appear to be on his short list of teams. In an article from Ryan Novozinsky of NJ Advance Media, the Devils do not appear enthusiastic about retaining interim head coach Travis Green and will look through the market for an upgrade this offseason.

Since Green took over the reins for New Jersey, the Devils have produced a 6-7-0 record, and still find themselves five points back of the Washington Capitals for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, with less than 10 games remaining in the regular season. After last year’s 112-point finish, General Manager Tom Fitzgerald was certainly looking for this team to keep pace in the competitive Metropolitan Division.

One of the main factors in Boudreau’s interest in New Jersey is his connection to the Hughes brothers from many years ago. When asked about the two, Boudreau was quoted as saying, “I got to meet Jack and Quinn when they were three or four years old. I’d watch them skate when we’d have ice. Ellen was the skating coach, so they’ve gotten into this culture and they were very serious about it. Jim Hughes was a very serious coach. I’m sure those guys, at an early age, were doing things that kids couldn’t do at twice their age“.

With an established relationship with one of the team’s most important players, Boudreau may be a seamless fit with the Devils organization. However, he will not be handed the position and will have to compete with several other high-profile coaching candidates this summer.

Even though Boudreau currently sits 22nd all-time in wins amongst individuals who have held the position of head coach in the NHL, he has been unable to capture the Stanley Cup after coaching his teams to the Stanley Cup playoffs more often than not. Because of this, New Jersey may opt to employ a candidate with more recent postseason success, such as Craig Berube, the former head coach of the St. Louis Blues.

Canucks Notes: Pettersson, Hughes, Kuzmenko

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Canucks center Elias Pettersson is the most prominent player among those eligible for restricted free agency this summer.  Although talks were reportedly shelved heading into the season, there have been some discussions since then.  Whether there will be more remains to be seen as Pettersson’s agent Pat Brisson told Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre that he’s unsure if there will be further talks on that front between now and the end of the season.  Pettersson, who can break the all-time NHL record tonight for consecutive games with a game-winning goal (he’s currently at four), has 22 goals and 35 assists in 42 games and stands to land considerably more than his $8.82MM qualifying offer whenever a new agreement is eventually reached.

More from Vancouver:

  • Defenseman Quinn Hughes has shown himself to be quite dynamic offensively throughout his NHL career. However, at least one person in Vancouver’s front office though felt he could be better utilized.  In an appearance on the NHL Network (video link), former head coach Bruce Boudreau indicated that he was approached several times about making the 24-year-old a center, a request he rebuffed each time.  Hughes is having a stellar season on the back end this season with 51 points in 42 games so far, making him a strong contender for the Norris Trophy so it’s safe to say keeping him on the back end was the right call.
  • Things haven’t gone well for winger Andrei Kuzmenko in his sophomore year. After scoring 39 goals last year, he has just eight so far this season and has been healthy scratched five times.  However, his agent told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription link) that Kuzmenko is happy in Vancouver and isn’t looking to leave.  The 27-year-old has another year left on his contract after this one with a $5.5MM price tag which would make finding a viable trade in which they receive full value a challenging proposition.

Snapshots: Kuznetsov, Suter, Boudreau, Richards, Clarke

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Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov was a late scratch for tonight’s game against Philadelphia with the team announcing (Twitter link) that it was due to illness.  It has not been a good year for the 31-year-old who has been limited to just five goals and six assists in 22 games while even being a healthy scratch earlier this month.  Kuznetsov has one more year left after this one with a $7.8MM AAV and if Washington looks to shake things up, it wouldn’t be surprising to see his name land in the rumor mill again after a trade request came to light over the summer.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Prior to their game tonight versus Florida, the Canucks announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated center Pius Suter from injured reserve. The 27-year-old has missed the last month due to a lower-body injury.  Suter was off to a slow start to his first season with Vancouver as he has been limited to four goals in his first 15 games.  Having sent back Linus Karlsson recently, they didn’t need to make another move to open up a spot for Suter’s activation.
  • It’s possible that we could see Bruce Boudreau back behind a bench in the near future. Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports (Twitter link) that the veteran bench boss is in the mix to coach Canada’s entry into the upcoming Spengler Cup, which gets underway on December 26th.  The 68-year-old is currently an advisor for OHL Niagara.
  • The Blues have added long-time NHL center Brad Richards as a power play consultant, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relays in his latest 32 Thoughts column. Richards put up 377 points with the man advantage during his 15-year NHL career, putting him in a tie for 76th in NHL history in that department.  Louis enters play tonight with a power play success rate of just 8.4%, putting them 31st league-wide ahead of only Washington.
  • With Vladislav Gavrikov now out for a little while, some wondered if this could be the opportunity for top prospect Brandt Clarke to be recalled from AHL Ontario. However, Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider notes that promoting him would give them four right-shot defenders and the Kings don’t want to put one of them in a spot of playing on their off-side.  Clarke is off to a very strong start with the Reign, putting up 25 points in his first 24 career AHL appearances.

Niagara IceDogs Hire Bruce Boudreau

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The Niagara IceDogs announced this morning that they have hired former NHL head coach Bruce Boudreau as a Senior Advisor. The former Jack Adams award winner last coached the Vancouver Canucks and was unceremoniously fired by the club this past January after parts of two seasons at the helm.

Boudreau coached the Canucks to a 50-40 record during his time in Vancouver and was let go after weeks of speculation about his job security. Boudreau was stoic despite all the noise around him and he received a lot of support from the Canucks faithful in what was ultimately his last game as a head coach in Vancouver.

The 66-year-old ranks 21st all-time in NHL games behind the bench as well as in coaching victories. He has coached 1087 games in the NHL, compiling a record of 617-342-128. During his time in the NHL, he coached the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild, and the aforementioned Canucks. He won his Jack Adams award in 2008 in a season that saw him guide the Capitals to a Southeast division title with a 43-31-8 record.

Now, at least for the time being, it appears as though Boudreau is ready for a new challenge. He joins his son Ben in Niagara, who joined Niagara’s coaching staff in July as an associate coach.

Latest On Washington Capitals Head Coach Search

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Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic is reporting that the Washington Capitals have been quiet about their coaching search to date, but some details have started to filter through. The names El-Bashir has been hearing are Spencer Carbery, Jeff Halpern, Brad Shaw, Todd Nelson, and one former Capitals head coach in Bruce Boudreau. El-Bashir opens his article by stating that his list of candidates in not exhaustive, it is just the list of potential coaching candidates that he has heard rumblings about.

El-Bashir has heard from sources that current Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach Spencer Carbery is one of general manager Brian MacLellan’s preferred candidates. Sources tell El-Bashir that Carbery was in town today to meet with MacLellan and it is no surprise given his history with the franchise. Carbery coached Washington’s AHL affiliate the Hershey Bears from 2018-2021. On top of this Washington’s once daunted powerplay has slipped to average the past few seasons and Carbery comes with a track record of coaching dominant power play units. He has coached the Maple Leafs powerplay to a 24.1 percent success rate the past two seasons, which ranks second in the NHL during that time.

Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach Jeff Halpern has a similar story to that of Carbery. He has been employed by the Capitals twice before as a player and was the team’s captain at one point as well. He has also been running a very successful Lightning powerplay unit the past few seasons and has been a big contributor to their success the past half decade as they’ve reached three finals and captured two Stanley Cups.

Philadelphia Flyers associate coach Brad Shaw is also a former Capitals player having dressed in four games. It was reported yesterday that Shaw is also in the running for the Anaheim Ducks head coaching job. It is believed that Shaw has already been interviewed by MacLellan and is still very much in play. Shaw has been a head coach in the NHL previously as he took over mid-season for the New York Islanders back in 2006, however he has been an associate and an assistant coach ever since.

Todd Nelson’s name coming up makes a lot of sense given that he is the current coach of Washington’s AHL affiliate, and he currently has the club in the Eastern Conference finals. Nelson also has a Calder Cup on his resume having guided Grand Rapids to the league title in 2017. Nelson comes with some NHL head coaching experience as he spent 51 games behind the bench of the Edmonton Oilers in a previous stint after he replaced Dallas Eakins. Nelson coached the Oilers to a sixth-place finish in the Pacific Division that year going 17-25-9.

Bruce Boudreau guided the Capitals to an incredible run of regular season success including a Presidents Trophy in 2010, however he could never get the team over the hump as they were unable to advance past the second round while he was at the helm. Boudreau coached Washington to four straight division titles but was let go in 2011-12. He garnered a ton of sympathy from the hockey world this past season as he was coaching in his final days for the Vancouver Canucks. Boudreau was left in a precarious position with the club as reports leaked that the Canucks were looking to let him go, a move the team ultimately did make. Despite this, Boudreau has stated a desire to keep coaching, however a source close to him says that he has not yet heard from the Capitals about their coaching vacancy making a reunion appear unlikely at this time.

El-Bashir states that he believes that there are other names in play, however he has only heard about these names thus far. Washington will also need to fill several assistant coach roles once they have selected a new bench boss.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Canucks, Knight

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The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with Zach Hyman leading the way. The Edmonton Oilers swiss army knife had four goals and nine points in three games. Hyman has already flown past the 54 points he had last season and with every point is setting a new career high. It’s been an incredible run for the 30, who has been everything the Oilers hoped for (and more) when they signed him to a seven-year, $38.5MM deal in 2021.

Second and third place went to Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks, two players in very different stages of their careers. Stamkos reached the 500-goal mark last week, joining just 46 other players in the history of the NHL and essentially sealing his future in the Hall of Fame (if it was ever in doubt). Zegras, meanwhile, put up eight points in four games, taking his career total to 114. He’s got quite a way to catch the Lightning captain, but Zegras continues to excite fans every time he touches the puck.

  • The Vancouver Canucks now have three head coaches on the books, as they are still paying Travis Green, the bench boss that preceded the recently-fired Bruce Boudreau. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that Tocchet’s deal is for two years and carries a $2.75MM salary, meaning altogether, the team is forking out $7.5MM this season for head coaches.
  • The Florida Panthers have swapped Mack Guzda and Spencer Knight once again, with the latter coming back up to the NHL. Knight hasn’t played in the NHL since January 8, but did quite well in his two-game conditioning stint, recording a 23-save shutout for the Charlotte Checkers in his first AHL game since last season.

Vancouver Canucks Hire Rick Tocchet

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The Vancouver Canucks have made the worst-kept secret in hockey official. Rick Tocchet has been hired as head coach to replace the outgoing Bruce Boudreau, per a team release Sunday. Former NHL defensemen Adam Foote and Sergei Gonchar have also been added to the coaching staff, replacing assistant Trent Cull.

Foote directly replaces Cull as an assistant coach, and he’ll complement assistants Jason King and Mike Yeo and goalie coach Ian Clark on Tocchet’s staff. Gonchar was brought in as a “defensive development coach,” and it’s unclear whether he’ll be behind the bench for regular game action.

Tocchet replaces Boudreau, one of the most well-respected coaches in NHL history. Boudreau coached just 103 games with the Canucks, however, and finished with a 50-40-13 record. After finishing the 2021-22 season in Vancouver with a great pace of 32-15-10, the Canucks have just a .424 points percentage in 2022-23 and sit well out of the Western Conference playoff picture.

Boudreau’s departure from the Canucks organization is viewed as one of the ugliest in recent history by many, with many details of the veteran coach’s impending firing being leaked to the media throughout the decision-making process. The 68-year-old was visibly emotional as he coached his last games with the Canucks this week and received an outpouring of support from Canucks fans in the process.

Tocchet is now brought into a highly complex situation in Vancouver, where he serves as the 21st head coach in franchise history. In 438 games as an NHL head coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning (2008-2010) and Arizona Coyotes (2017-2021), he has a record of 178-200-60 and just one playoff appearance with Arizona in 2020.

General manager Patrik Allvin had the following statement on Tocchet’s hiring:

Rick Tocchet brings a wealth of knowledge to this team from both a coach and player perspective. He has had more than two decades of coaching experience, guiding teams of various styles. As a player, he displayed a high level of character, grit and intensity, while recording impressive offensive numbers.

Foote and Gonchar are some of the best defensemen in NHL history. They are obviously very targeted hirings by the Canucks organization to plug the defensive holes that have existed on their roster for the past number of years. However, their coaching experience is somewhat limited.

Foote coached midget hockey for a time in the 2010s but most recently served as the head coach of the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets for two seasons from 2018 to 2020. His only NHL front office experience consists of four seasons as a development consultant for the Colorado Avalanche, from 2013 to 2017.

Gonchar, 48, did spend five years as a coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was a defensive development coach there as well from 2015 to 2017, during the team’s back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. He was then on staff as an assistant coach for three years from 2017 to 2020. He’s since served in various coaching capacities with the Russian national team.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Pacific Notes: Meier, Ryan, Boudreau

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Talented San Jose Sharks forward Timo Meier has been the subject of intense trade rumors in recent weeks, and he could be one of the most sought-after wingers on the trade market over these next few months. The 26-year-old Swiss national has scored 26 goals this season and leads all Sharks forwards with 46 points in 46 games. Meier is a restricted free agent at the end of this season, and is owed a $10MM qualifying offer should the Sharks (or another team) want to keep his RFA rights.

Meier’s agent, former NHLer Claude Lemieux, spoke to Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News about his client’s situation, saying “we have not discussed a contract extension and we are very realistic of the possibility of Timo getting traded.” Meier’s expensive qualifying offer makes his status on the trade market somewhat complex, as some teams may only be able to afford to acquire him as a one-year rental. But in any case, it seems that the prospect of the Sharks dealing one of their most valuable players is becoming more and more realistic with each passing day.

Some other notes from the Pacific Division:

  • The Edmonton Oilers are considering signing depth forward Derek Ryan to a contract extension, writes The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman. (subscription link) The 36-year-old is playing on a $1.25MM cap hit this season, and Nugent-Bowman makes it clear that the Oilers will communicate to Ryan that any contract offer would come at a pay cut, “with the understanding that Ryan would be battling for no more than an 11th forward position and could be scratched more often on his new deal.” A veteran of nearly 500 NHL games, Ryan has scored eleven points in 45 games for the Oilers this season.
  • One of the worst-kept secrets in hockey in recent weeks has been the Vancouver Canucks’ desire to move on from head coach Bruce Boudreau. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports that the Canucks are expected to officially announce a coaching change in a Monday press conference, and that tonight is likely to be Boudreau’s last game as Canucks coach. The Canucks organization has faced significant criticism from media and fans alike for their handling of this expected coaching change, and now it seems their long-planned Rick Tocchet era is about to begin.

Canucks Linked To Rick Tocchet

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01/15/23: On Sportsnet’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast last night, Friedman issued another update on the situation with the Canucks and Tocchet. He said “I do believe it will be Rick Tocchet” when or if the Canucks do decide to make a coaching change.

While still not a definite confirmation on the Canucks’ plans behind the bench, this report is a more firm indication that the Canucks are targeting the current TNT analyst to be their next head coach.

01/14/23: Bruce Boudreau has basically been on the hot seat since before the season started.  When the Canucks opted not to extend his contract last summer, it created a situation where he was entering his ‘lame duck’ year.  With a management team in place that inherited the veteran bench boss instead of hiring him, it felt it was going to be a year of uncertainty for the 68-year-old.

That’s exactly how things have played out.  Vancouver’s first half of the season was largely underwhelming with the team collecting just 37 points in their first 41 games and are well outside the playoff picture as things stand.  Between that and a perceived desire for management to hire their own coach, there has been an expectation of change basically all season long.

To that end, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in a recent appearance on The Jeff Marek Show (audio link) that the team had discussions with several coaches earlier in the season including Rick Tocchet but obviously, nothing materialized.  Friedman adds that the Canucks have since circled back and have re-engaged with Tocchet.  However, he cautioned that even with this report, a change isn’t likely imminent.

There’s certainly familiarity between Vancouver’s management group – led by GM Patrik Allvin and president Jim Rutherford – dating back to Tocchet’s time with Pittsburgh when he served as an assistant coach for three seasons, two of which saw the Penguins take home the Stanley Cup.

Tocchet also has parts of six seasons head coaching experience between Tampa Bay and Arizona, sporting a .475 points percentage.  That’s well below Boudreau’s career mark of .628 and even his points percentage with Vancouver which checks in at .566.  However, whether it’s Tocchet or someone else, it sure seems like a coaching change is going to be on the horizon at some point; it’s not a matter of if but rather when and who it will be.  Tocchet, currently an analyst for TNT, certainly appears to be garnering serious consideration for that spot whenever it’s made available.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson Expected To Be Scratched

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When the Vancouver Canucks take on the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight, it appears as though they will have a $7.26MM defenseman sitting in the press box. Oliver Ekman-Larsson was with Kyle Burroughs on the fourth pairing at the morning skate according to Patrick Johnston of The Province, with Travis Dermott taking his place next to Tyler Myers.

Head coach Bruce Boudreau was asked directly about it, and said scratching Ekman-Larsson was “potentially true” though did then go on to call him “arguably [their] best defenseman.”

Ekman-Larsson, 31, has been dreadful this season for the Canucks, who have been outscored 44-34 at even strength with him on the ice. Those 44 goals against put him 7th-worst in the entire league among defensemen, and the worst on Vancouver in particular.

Since arriving from the Arizona Coyotes in a massive 2021 trade, his goal-scoring has also dried up. A two-time 20-goal scorer, Ekman-Larsson has just six in 119 games since joining Vancouver.

What has happened to the Canucks this season isn’t all his fault, but he is emblematic of the problem the team faces. They are not competitive, and yet have plenty of long-term, big-money contracts on the books. The $7.26MM for Ekman-Larsson isn’t even his full contract – the Coyotes retained $990K per season when they dealt him. It extends through 2026-27, and includes a full no-movement clause that he would have to waive again to orchestrate any kind of exit (other than a buyout, which currently would extend through 2031).

The Canucks have more than $69MM committed to just 14 players for next season. That does not include Bo Horvat or Andrei Kuzmenko, who are both pending unrestricted free agents.

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