Dallas summoned Tufte from the minors following Joe Pavelski’s injury in Game 1, giving him some time on the NHL roster during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Head coach Peter DeBoer didn’t insert Tufte into the lineup over the course of four games, however. With Pavelski’s health improving, Dallas has opted to return Tufte to the minors.

The move comes at a natural time for the Stars organization as well. With the Texas Stars finishing high enough in the Central Division to earn a bye past the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, the AHL Stars begin their playoff run on Friday against the Rockford IceHogs. Tufte will be an important middle-six presence for Texas in the playoffs, contributing 35 points in 63 games this season and finishing second among Texas forwards with a +23 rating.

Time is ticking away on the NHL future for the 25-year-old Minnesota native, especially given his first-round billing, but he does play a bruising, power-forward game that translates well enough to Dallas’ bottom six in call-up situations. If Dallas’ season lasts longer than their affiliate, expect Tufte to once again be recalled as part of a complement of Black Aces.

Wallstedt, 20, didn’t have the playoff performance he wanted in Iowa, recording a .897 save percentage in two overtime losses as Iowa lost their best-of-three series against the Rockford IceHogs. It doesn’t diminish what was a promising stretch run to the season for him, wrapping up his first pro season in North America with a .908 save percentage and a shutout in 38 games for Iowa. Selected 20th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft, Wallstedt remains one of the best goalie prospects in the league and should gain valuable experience from being around the Minnesota team for the rest of their postseason.

• After attempting to return from injury in Game 3 and skating just one shift, things aren’t looking up for the health of Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek. Head coach Dean Evason told reporters today Eriksson Ek hasn’t skated since his latest injury, as he’s still in the process of evaluation and “not close” to returning to the lineup. Eyes now turn to Sam Steel and Frédérick Gaudreau, who have both performed well so far in the series, to shoulder Eriksson Ek’s absence.
• On the flip side, Dallas Stars winger Joe Pavelski continues to progress in his recovery after a hit in Game 1 that caused him to enter concussion protocol. Pavelski skated with the team today for the first time since the injury, and head coach Peter DeBoer told reporters Pavelski’s progressed in his recovery each day. It remains unclear whether Pavelski will return this series.

Seguin becomes the third high profile NHLer to suffer a severe cut this season after Ryan Johansen was cut by a blade on his ankle, and Evander Kane had a frightening scene when he had wrist cut against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

With the NHL GM meetings set to take place next week, one has to wonder if the issue of cuts from skate blades will make its way onto the docket. The horrific Kane injury is one that most people will not forget. Player safety is always an issue and with this recent trend it could make for interesting dialogue should changes be discussed.

If Seguin is out long term, it would be a big blow to a Dallas Stars team that is leading the Central Division. Seguin has 17 goals and 42 points in 64 games this season and has been playing much more of a 200-foot game for head coach Peter DeBoer. Should the 31-year-old miss substantial time it would likely mean moving youngster Ty Dellandrea onto the third line to play wing next to newcomer Max Domi.

The Hurricanes, Bruins, Stars, and Golden Knights currently lead their respective divisions, though it’s a close race in three of them. Only the Bruins have a substantial lead, with their 32-4-4 record pacing the entire NHL.

Interestingly enough, three of the four coaches named were involved in something of an employment carousel this offseason. Cassidy was fired by Boston and eventually took the job in Vegas after they dismissed DeBoer. DeBoer took a job in Dallas, one that had only been filled by Rick Bowness after Montgomery’s dismissal in 2020. Montgomery in turn took over in Boston, which gave him another chance as an NHL head coach.

Brind’Amour is the tenured professor of the bunch, taking over as head coach of the Hurricanes in 2018. He won the Jack Adams in 2021, and has an overall record of 199-95-35, plus four playoff series wins. It’s been an impressive transition from player to assistant to head coach for Brind’Amour, who basically never stopped working for the Hurricanes after arriving in 2000. He is reprising his role as head coach of the Metro, after being their last season.

The selections show just how quickly the NHL coaching wheel turns, with Cassidy and DeBoer both appearing at this game with their previous teams. DeBoer has actually gone with three in a row, appearing as the head coach of the Pacific in 2017 with the Sharks as well.

The final player selections will be announced on January 19, and the skills competition kicks off February 3.

General manager Kelly McCrimmon gave the following statement on the hires:

John Stevens is a very respected NHL coach with an extensive resume that adds considerably to our staff. We are excited to add a two-time Stanley Cup winner with head coaching experience. Sean Burke is a great addition to the organization, with tremendous experience as an elite NHL goaltender and an accomplished coach and executive. We are pleased to keep Mike Rosati in an influential role across the organization. With those two and Henderson goaltending coach Fred Brathwaite, we have proven, qualified expertise at the goalie position.

While new head coach Bruce Cassidy won’t get to build the entire bench from scratch, he does get some fresh faces in here to join assistants Ryan Craig and Misha Donskov, who were retained in the wake of Peter DeBoer’s firing. Stevens comes in to replace both Steve Spott and Ryan McGill as an assistant, who were both fired days after DeBoer. Stevens has been an assistant for the Dallas Stars for the past three seasons, but most hockey fans will remember him as the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers (2006-2009) and the Los Angeles Kings (2016-2018). In all, the 56-year-old Stevens has 15 years of NHL coaching experience.

Burke’s hiring isn’t huge news, as it was reported earlier in the week that Vegas would bring him on. Burke was not on an NHL staff during the 2021-22 season, but he spent seven years as the goalie coach of the Arizona Coyotes and a handful of months in 2021 as the goalie coach of the Montreal Canadiens. He replaces Rosati as the goalie coach, who moves to a more behind-the-scenes role in the organization.

General manager Jim Nill released the following statement:

Pete brings a wealth of experience to our dressing room, and we’re thrilled to name him our next head coach. Every team that he has taken over has not only shown immediate improvement but has been ultra-competitive in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He has taken five teams to the Conference Finals, and two of those to the Stanley Cup Final, in his 14 years as a head coach. His resume displays the high standards he sets and his ability to get his team to play up to that level consistently. We’re excited to welcome Pete and his family to Dallas.

June 19: A pair of coaching vacancies have been filled in recent days with Vegas and Philadelphia finding their new bench bosses.  It appears Dallas is on the verge of doing the same as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that the Stars are expected to name Peter DeBoer as their new head coach.  ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski adds (Twitter link) that an official announcement is not expected to come tonight with Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic notes (Twitter link) contract terms are still being discussed.

DeBoer was a fairly late entrant into the coaching market this spring as Vegas waited a couple of weeks before making the decision to part ways with him.  He had a pretty successful run with the Golden Knights he led the team to a 98-50-12 record in 160 regular season games, good for a .650 points percentage.  Vegas also had two good playoff runs with him at the helm as they went 22-17 over that stretch.  However, it was the fact that they didn’t make it to the postseason that resulted in his departure with Bruce Cassidy taking over that job on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Stars have been on the lookout for their next bench boss for the past month after the team and Rick Bowness mutually agreed to part ways with their assistant coaches also departing.  Dallas finished in the top Wild Card spot in 2021-22 (four points ahead of Vegas) and gave Calgary a pretty good run in the first round before ultimately falling in seven games which led to them changing things up.

The fact that the Stars are looking for a win-now coach doesn’t come as much of a surprise as they largely have a veteran core in place with a team that’s built more for the present than the future.  Under Bowness, Dallas has consistently been one of the stronger defensive teams in the league but they have also found themselves in the bottom half of the league offensively with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn both taking considerable steps back in recent years.  Considering both are on the books at a high price tag ($9.5MM for Benn, $9.85MM for Seguin), finding a coach that can coax more out of them offensively would certainly help their chances moving forward.

Dallas GM Jim Nill feels DeBoer is the coach that can bring out more offensive production without drastically compromising their defensive principles.  There is some recent cause for optimism on that front based on his time with the Golden Knights as Vegas was in the top half of the NHL in both goals scored and allowed in each of his three seasons with them.

DeBoer sits 27th all-time in games coached at 1,015 and is 26th in wins with 513 and assuming this contract becomes official, he’ll have a chance to improve those numbers on a Stars team that should once again be in the playoff mix in 2022-23.  He’ll become the fifth different head coach for Dallas since 2013 when Jim Nill took over with the others being Lindy Ruff, Ken Hitchcock, Jim Montgomery, and Bowness.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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.

Now, general manager Kelly McCrimmon has an arduous offseason to retool the roster and find a new head coach. Both will need significant attention, however, the Knights are already entering free agency with the pressing need to shed cap space. With a roster size of 23, the team is already in a salary deficit of about $500,000, even with the small cap increase to $82.5MM next year (CapFriendly).

While some of those players may be sent to AHL Henderson when the team is fully healthy, the team needs to make a decision on RFAs Nicolas Roy, Brett Howden, Keegan Kolesar, and Nicolas Hague, who have all been extremely valuable to the team in their depth roles. It’s clear that unless the Knights somehow make a move to acquire significant long-term injury relief (Shea Weber?), the team needs to move on from a decent chunk of cash to be comfortable under the cap in 2022-23.

Obviously, the choice that jumps off the page is forward Evgenii Dadonov. Signed just through next season at $5MM, the veteran forward was already involved in a trade intended to dump his salary but was reversed due to his limited no-trade clause. He did hit the 20-goal mark again this year and could do so again if given good support. It’s a low-risk acquisition for teams looking for scoring depth, especially with his contract expiring at the end of the year. However, Vegas has absolutely no leverage in this situation given the failed trade in March. If that incident didn’t happen, the Knights could probably have made a decent deal involving Dadonov this offseason. They’ll likely still be able to make a trade, but it won’t involve much benefit for the team other than cap space.

Another potential option is William Karlsson. Given his offensive upside and defensive acumen, teams would probably like to have a top-six centerman under a $6MM cap hit. With the Eichel acquisition and solid play from the cheaper Chandler Stephenson, there is no longer a pressing need for Karlsson in the lineup. He had a very tough season putting pucks in the net, though, and his 40-goal 2017-18 campaign seems like decades ago for him now. He’s scored just 15, 14, and 12 goals in the past three years, and while he still puts up points, he’s signed through 2027. It would clear a tad more cap space than Dadonov, though, and the wing is more a position of need for the Knights. Yet, the relationship between Dadonov and the Knights must be considered. If the relationship is irreparably severed, the team might have no choice. That’s not to say they still couldn’t entertain the idea of moving Karlsson, however.

Lastly, there’s backup netminder Laurent Brossoit and his $2.3MM cap hit. He’s almost surely gone considering the incredibly strong play of youngster Logan Thompson down the stretch. It’s not much cap relief, though, and the team likely needs a little more wiggle room to adjust the roster as desired.

2:33 PM: As reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger, two Golden Knights assistant coaches, Steve Spott and Ryan McGill, have also been let go by the team.

11:02 AM: The Vegas Golden Knights announced Monday morning that the team has fired head coach Peter DeBoer.

General manager Kelly McCrimmon will meet with the media at 3:00 p.m. CT to address the firing. He said the following in a statement today:

After lengthy discussions over the last two weeks, we believe that a new coach will put us in the best position to succeed next season.

DeBoer was appointed as the Golden Knights’ head coach midway through 2019-20 after the team fired Gerard Gallant due to a sluggish start. Through his two-and-a-half seasons in Vegas, DeBoer guided the team to a 98-50-12 record in 160 games (.650 points percentage). DeBoer had one year remaining on his contract, paying him $3.25MM.

His firing comes after the Golden Knights missed the playoffs this season for the first time in franchise history, dropping a series of key games down the stretch with a 4-2-4 record in their final 10 games. Some will be quick to defend DeBoer as the team suffered a laundry list of injuries to star players throughout the season, including captain Mark Stone, sniper Max Pacioretty, defenseman Alec Martinez, and starting netminder Robin Lehner.

However, while the Golden Knights still managed to generate chances offensively despite the injuries to key scorers, defense and special teams were where the team struggled the most this season. The team finished below league average on both the power play and penalty kill, and stellar play at the end of the season from youngster Logan Thompson in goal helped cover up some of the defensive shortcomings the team had developed throughout the year.

Vegas will need to do more than to just find a new bench boss for next season, though. The team is already in the red in terms of salary cap space, boasting a projected cap hit of $83.1MM for 2022-3. The team won’t be able to re-sign any pending UFAs to NHL deals (which include Reilly Smith and Mattias Janmark) and will likely need to shed another contract in order to become cap-compliant and reallocate a small amount of money in free agency. Moving forward, the team will need to count on a healthy and productive trio of Jack Eichel, Pacioretty, and Stone to avoid another disappointing season.

TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report.

I don’t know. And I don’t know how bad Raants is. I’m hoping it’s not too serious. We’ll know more in a few days.

Obviously, this is not a confidence-inspiring statement. But one has to keep in mind that Brind’Amour made these comments immediately after the game, so it is likely that he did not have enough information to make a more definitive statement on Raanta’s health. Carolina has big hopes for this season and is in a fight with the New York Rangers in what remains of this season to lock up the Metropolitan Division title. Raanta has battled injury issues throughout his NHL career, so this development cannot be a shocking one for the team, but it does come at an extremely unfortunate time with Raanta thrust into the number-one role with Andersen’s injury. For Carolina, this injury scare is ideally only a momentary setback, given that having Raanta back in time for Tuesday’s contest against the Rangers (where Carolina can clinch the Metropolitan Division title with a win in any fashion) is of utmost importance for the team.

Here are some other injury updates on goalies across the NHL:

• Another twist in the ongoing Robin Lehner saga came during today’s Vegas Golden Knights morning skate. Lehner was not present, instead, only Logan Thompson and the team’s emergency backup were in attendance, per Jesse Granger of The Athletic. Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer stated that for tonight’s all-important contest against the San Jose Sharks, Thompson would be the starter and Lehner would be the backup. Obviously, given prior reporting on Lehner getting season-ending surgery and his absence from the morning skate today, the prospect of Lehner being the backup for tonight’s game is a confusing one. The entire situation is likely to become a lot clearer by the time puck drops tonight, though.
• The Canadiens recalled goalie Cayden Primeau from the Laval Rocket on an emergency basis in advance of tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins, and there was speculation on what that recall meant for the recently returned goalie Carey Price. Price was unavailable to the media after the team’s loss to the Ottawa Senators because he was receiving treatments from trainers, according to Sportsnet’s Eric Engels. Coach Martin St. Louis stated that the callup was not indicative of an injury-related setback for Price, but instead a measure to give him rest as he settles into the rigors of NHL action. Per St. Louis, Price will not travel with the team to New York for their tie against the Rangers but speculates that he could play on Friday in the team’s season finale versus the Florida Panthers.

Pacioretty, 33, left yesterday’s morning skate and will now not be available for the “near future” according to DeBoer. It’s been a brutal year for the veteran forward, who has appeared in just 29 games–though he has recorded 15 goals and 29 points in those contests.

The Golden Knights head coach also gave an update on Brett Howden, who was stretchered off last night. Howden is out of the hospital and was actually at the practice facility today, with DeBoer confirming nothing is broken.

While an injury is obviously never a good thing, Pacioretty’s absence may actually have something of a silver lining for the Golden Knights, who were going to be in a tough salary cap situation after Evgenii Dadonov’s trade was canceled. Pacioretty is currently only on regular injured reserve, meaning if he’s going to miss an extensive period of time, he could be moved to long-term injured reserve, essentially swapping places with someone like Alec Martinez.

If the Golden Knights were in a better position, one might wonder if this was just a case of resting a veteran player while providing some cap benefit. But even after last night’s win, Vegas is far from a lock for the postseason. In fact, the team currently sits outside of the playoff picture, one point behind Dallas despite having played four more games.

It is an honour to be entrusted with leading Canada’s Men’s Olympic Team next year in Beijing, and to be able to carry on the rich tradition of hockey excellence that is associated with Hockey Canada. The opportunity to work with an excellent management group and an elite-level coaching staff of Barry, Bruce and Peter is a great privilege. I have many fond memories of the Olympics, from watching games as a young kid to thrilling gold medal victories, and I look forward to helping create lasting memories for Canadians across the country while our team competes for a gold medal.

Cooper, has been a head coach of Canada just once previously, leading the 2017 World Championship team to a silver medal. He was never part of the Hockey Canada Program of Excellence, which not only helps develop players but coaches as well. In fact, back in 2008 he served as an assistant with the U.S. squad at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, as he was serving as the GM and head coach of the St. Louis Bandits of the NAHL at the time. Cooper’s path to the NHL is certainly not the one taken by most Canadian head coaches, but it’s hard to argue with the results. He’s won the Stanley Cup two years in a row with the Tampa Bay Lightning and holds an all-time winning percentage of .647 in the regular season.

The staff Cooper will have is incredible and has its own Stanley Cup ring to boast. Trotz won it all in 2018 with the Washington Capitals, and has twice taken home the Jack Adams Award as NHL Coach of the Year. Cassidy has his own Jack Adams, along with a .677 winning percentage since taking over the Bruins, and DeBoer has been absolutely dominant since joining the Vegas Golden Knights. All four coaches have at least made it to the Stanley Cup Final, and will now try to take Canada to Olympic gold.

It is important to note that this does not mean the league is going for certain. The hope is still that the NHL, IIHF and IOC can reach an agreement, but things are not official yet. If the NHL does not participate, the coaching staff will have to be reworked.

• Another player who may unexpectedly be available this summer is young Vegas Golden Knights forward Cody Glass. As relayed by The Athletic’s Jesse Granger, Vegas head coach Peter DeBoer made some comments in his closing media availability on Saturday that were not-so-subtly directed at Glass. A young guy can’t say he never got an opportunity,” DeBoer said. “I think we stuck young guys in all year and tried to put them in situations where they had an opportunity to succeed… Some have seized the moment, some haven’t. Some just aren’t ready yet.” As the Knight’s most high-profile prospect, Glass is certainly one of if not the biggest target of these remarks. Vegas’ first ever draft pick at No. 6 overall back in 2017, Glass has been given ample opportunity so far in his career. He skated in 39 games with the Golden Knights as a first-year pro in 2019-20, recording 12 points, and was expected to take a step forward this year. Instead, he played in only 27 games and recorded 10 points, failing to make an impact at even strength. His lack of reliability kept him out of all but one of Vegas’ playoff games this spring. A prospect with Glass’ draft pedigree is expected to be doing more at this point in his career, especially as the team’s other 2017 first-rounder, Nick Suzuki, is currently first or second in goals, assists, points, and time on ice this postseason among Montreal Canadiens forwards – the team that just knocked out the Knights. With just one year left of waiver exemption, Glass must show this season that he can be an everyday NHL contributor. If DeBoer and the club have doubts, they may decide to trade him now before his stock slips any further.
• Some good news in exit interviews came from the New York Islanders. Captain Anders Lee, whose season was ended by an ACL injury in March, sounded optimistic about his recovery. “I am on track,” Lee stated. “I was able to do a lot of really good things in the past 13-14 weeks since surgery. Looking forward to continuing on that path and getting ready for camp.” ACL injuries can be a difficult and timely recovery, so Lee’s early progress is encouraging. If he is indeed back to full strength in time for training camp, that is an ideal result for the Islanders. Before his injury, Lee was scoring at a pace that closely resembled his career highs in per-game goals and points and was well on his way to a career-best plus/minus, even in the shortened season. New York needs him at that level next year, as their lack of salary cap space will likely prevent them from making any meaningful improvements to the roster this summer.

There is some reason to believe that this is perhaps gamesmanship by the Knights and that Lehner may not start tonight. He has only played once in the playoffs – a disastrous Game One start to the West Division Final against the Colorado Avalanche – and has only played four times total in the past 50 days. In those four appearances, Lehner has allowed 18 goals and posted an .843 save percentage. Lehner only played in 19 games total in the regular season and while his numbers are strong, they tailed off toward the end of the year.

With that said, Lehner is just one year removed from a stellar season postseason that earned him a long-term extension with Vegas. After being acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks, he won all three of his regular season starts with a .940 save percentage and 1.67 GAA. He followed that up with 16 playoff starts in which he posted a .917 save percentage and 1.99 GAA. The Golden Knight’s exit from the playoffs was wholly unrelated to the play they received from Lehner. If there is any chance that he can provide that caliber of play again, especially with Fleury looking flustered at times of late and facing a pivotal Game Four, this move makes plenty of sense for Vegas. They have two No. 1 goalies, may as well use both.

Well, that might not be the case after all. Vegas has announced this evening that Glass has been demoted to the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights in order to take part in their Pacific Division Final match-up. While this is a pivotal game for Henderson, down 1-0 in a best-of-three series, the Knights would not be prioritizing their farm team’s success over their own. The move indicates that Glass will not be in the lineup for Vegas on Friday, as the team would not put him on short rest if they had another choice.

How will Vegas fill the gap up front then if Reaves, Pacioretty, and Nosek are unable to go? Barring a recall of offset Glass’ reassignment, the team is actually without a healthy extra forward on the roster. This could imply that the Knights expect at least one of the injured trio to be available. The team could also employ a seven-defenseman lineup or could play defender Dylan Coghlan up front, as they have previously experimented with. Whatever the decision, the pressure is on head coach Peter DeBoer to field the right lineup to get a win or else risk another first-round upset this season. The first call that he has made is that he feels his options are all better than the 2017 No. 6 overall pick. Will it pay off?