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Todd McLellan

Evening Notes: Hitchcock, Chiarelli, Husso, Fox, Vidmar, Capitals

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It’s been an interesting coaching season for Edmonton Oilers head coach Ken Hitchcock, who retired from coaching in April last year. Instead, he returned to coaching in November to take over for Todd McLellan for a struggling Oilers’ squad and has led the team to a 24-24-7 record so far, despite the team surging to a 7-2-1 start when Hitchcock took over.

Since then, the team has moved on from general manager Peter Chiarelli and there remain lots of questions of whether Hitchcock would even want to come back. Pressed for an answer about whether he’d be interested in returning next season, Sportsnet’s John Shannon writes that Hitchcock would be open to coming back.

“For the record, I feel if I’m good I can coach until I’m 99,” Hitchcock said.

Of course, with the team looking for a new general manager once the season ends, there is a good chance that the new GM will want to hire his own coach, which could end Hitchcock’s tenure in Edmonton.

  • Speaking of Chiarelli, The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford reports that the former GM has been seen in the Blues’ management booth alongside St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong. While there is no word on whether Armstrong is considering bringing Chiarelli aboard or what role he might have in St. Louis, Rutherford points out that Armstrong has a history of hiring former GMs, including Bob Gainey and Dave Tippett.
  • St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jim Thomas notes that he saw St. Louis Blues goaltending prospect Ville Husso in a walking boot walking through the press box of Enterprise Center, suggesting that the San Antonio Rampage goaltender is out for the season. It’s been a rough season for the 24-year-old, who was considered the heir-apparent to Jake Allen last season. Instead, Jordan Binnington has surpassed him on the team’s depth chart, while Husso struggled with a 6-17 record with a 3.67 GAA and a .871 save percentage.
  • TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the Carolina Hurricanes remain hopeful that they can sign Harvard University star defenseman Adam Fox to a contract once his season is over, but there are no guarantees. Harvard has a good chance to make the NCAA tournament, which means the Hurricanes will have to wait until the blueliner’s season is over. The 21-year-old is in his junior year, posting 10 goals and 48 points so far this year but due to signability issues, was already traded once when the Calgary Flames sent him to Carolina as part of the Dougie Hamilton–Elias Lindholm deal last summer.
  • The Calgary Flames’ AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat announced that they have signed undrafted college free agent forward Sebastian Vidmar out of Union College. The 25-year-old just wrapped up his senior season with 10 goals and 22 points and finished a career with 40 goals and 63 assists in 137 career games. The 6-foot-3 forward joins a struggling Stockton team that is currently sixth in the AHL Pacific Division.
  • Isabelle Khurshudyan writes that the Washington Capitals will likely have even more salary cap problems next year as the team is currently tight on cap space, but with bonus expected for both Jakub Vrana, who triggered a $212K bonus for reaching 20 goals recently and could get another bonus if he finishes among the top six forwards in ATOI (he’s currently sixth). Throw in the $500K that Brooks Orpik will get and the team will go over the cap at the end of the season, which will count against their cap space next year.

Pacific Notes: Karlsson, Stone, Benning, Puljujarvi

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The San Jose Sharks have won six of their last seven games and should only get stronger on Saturday as the team expects star defenseman Erik Karlsson to return to their lineup from a lower-body injury after missing the past nine games, according to NBC Sports’ Adam Gretz.

Karlsson, who is still among the top 10 defensemen in scoring this season despite missing those nine games, has three goals and 43 points in 47 games and had been red-hot before getting injured. The team has gone 6-3 without Karlsson in that span, but the team has played its best hockey of the season recently, not including a tough loss to Washington on Thursday, in which it had won six straight games and taken over first place in the Pacific Division.

The blueliner should only add to the team’s offense with his return. He is expected to reunite with Marc-Edouard Vlasic to form one of the NHL’s top defensive lines.

  • Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reports that while it’s not a surprise that the Winnipeg Jets are the most aggressive suitors for Mark Stone, there is another team that has shown a significant amount of interest as the Vegas Golden Knights are interested in adding Stone to their core of talent, although the Golden Knights are only interested if they can work out an extension with the 26-year-old winger. Stone already has tied his career-high in goals this season with 26 and looks to be having a breakout year. However, considering the Golden Knights have stated in the past that they don’t want to move any more draft picks or top prospects, there are serious questions as to what they would be willing to give up to get Stone.
  • The Edmonton Oilers announced they have placed defenseman Matt Benning on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury, which will open up a roster spot for recently acquired forward Sam Gagner. The 24-year-old Benning has struggled this year with just two goals and 10 points, but has also seen his playing time dwindle as he is averaging just 14:46 of ATOI this year, well below his career average of 16:25.
  • Sticking with the Oilers, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reports that Edmonton is likely going to return the struggling Jesse Puljujarvi to the AHL soon. With Puljujarvi struggling again under head coach Ken Hitchcock, the team wants to send him down, possibly for the rest of the season, and let him regain his confidence which was their plan when they sent him down earlier this season. However, Hitchcock immediately recalled him after spending just a few days there, when he took over as head coach for Todd McLellan.

Pacific Notes: Vegas’ Defense, Boeser, Kovalchuk, Luff, McLellan

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The Vegas Golden Knights have always followed a general philosophy when it comes to pairing up their defensemen. Head coach Gerard Gallant loves to pair a fast, quick-moving offensive defenseman with a bigger defensive counterpart. However, with Nate Schmidt missing the first 20 games of the season with a suspension, Gallant hasn’t had the opportunity to put together his perfect pairing, which included Schmidt matched up with Brayden McNabb, Shea Theodore with Deryk Engelland and Colin Miller paired with Nick Holden.

The Athletic’s Jesse Granger (subscription required) analyzes those new changes which has produced a 3-0 record since Gallant put those pairings together, including a 2-1 overtime win over Arizona and a pair of shutouts over Calgary and San Jose, Friday and Saturday. That’s just one goal allowed in 183 minutes. While it has been made clear that the team missed Schmidt, Vegas’ entire defense missed him as everyone had been shuffled out of alignment without the speedy blueliner. Without Schmidt, the team lacked a third offensive defenseman as the team had to pair Holden with Jonathon Merrill, which struggled throughout the first quarter of the season.

“It adjusted our defenseman because they all played different roles when Nate was out,” Gallant said. “So, everybody is in their spots now and playing pretty well and they are confident.”

  • Rick Dhailwal of Sportsnet reports that he’s heard from a source that Vancouver Canucks winger Brock Boeser is making good progress recovering from his groin injury. The 21-year-old has been out since Nov. 2. The scribe adds that Boeser is getting closer and should be back at some point next week. He has four goals and 11 points in 13 games so far this year.
  • One of the Los Angeles Kings struggles comes from the play of major off-season acquisition Ilya Kovalchuk who has failed to record a point in eight straight games, according to Curtis Zupke of the Los Angeles Times. The 35-year-old, who signed a three-year, $18.75MM contract this summer, has gone from the team’s top winger to a third-stringer and has dropped to the second unit of the power play. The team broke their 0-for-16 slump on the power play Saturday with Kovalchuk on the bench.
  • Fox Sports Jon Rosen writes that the Kings need to get more playing time to rookie Matt Luff, who has played well since being called up from the AHL. The 21-year-old has three goals in eight games after dominating in Ontario. Head coach Willie Desjardins re-teamed him with Carl Hagelin and Adrian Kempe, which found some success for the Kings. The scribe writes that Luff needs playing time and needs to start receiving power play time as well.
  • Rosen also adds that the Kings have no interest in bringing former Edmonton Oilers’ coach Todd McLellan aboard.

Ken Hitchcock Replaces Todd McLellan As Head Coach In Edmonton

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The NHL coaching ranks are under fire once again, as Ken Hitchcock will replace Todd McLellan as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. Hitchcock will take over immediately, and will be behind the bench when the Oilers take on the San Jose Sharks tonight.

Like the firing of Mike Yeo in St. Louis, McLellan’s end seemed inevitable given the performance of the Oilers since the beginning of the 2017-18 season. A team front loaded with stars like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton has struggled to find any kind of consistency and are in danger of missing the playoffs for a second consecutive season. They’ve lost seven of their last ten games and find themselves just a few points from the very bottom of the Western Conference standings, plagued by middling goaltending and a lack of secondary scoring.

The team does have upside, obviously, but needed a boost right now. Hitchcock is notorious for bringing about immediate defensive results when he joins a team, though there have been many examples of his tactics wearing thin after a few years. The team may not need to worry about that, given that they have only signed the legendary coach on for the rest of the season, at which point they will re-evaluate their position. That will likely also be when the organization evaluates their front office structure, as GM Peter Chiarelli is also feeling the hot seat after some questionable trades and signings the last few seasons.

Chiarelli admitted as much at a press conference to announce the hiring, but also announced that he still believes this roster has enough talent to go all the way. That will be tested thoroughly over the last three quarters of the season, with many expecting a change at the General Manager position if the Oilers were to miss the playoffs again. To avoid that, the team will need to buy-in to Hitchcock’s structured defensive style right away, something that may limit their already shaky offensive performance even further. Several current Oilers should be able to help their teammates in the transition though, as players like Kris Russell and Kyle Brodziak have plenty of experience under Hitchcock in the past.

That history is a very good one, despite the bristly reputation that Hitchcock has around the league. The 66-year old sits third on the all-time list for coaching wins with 823, and won the Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999. He also took home a Jack Adams award in 2012 for guiding the St. Louis Blues to a 43-15-11 record after taking over from Davis Payne early in the season. That’s exactly the kind of turnaround that the Oilers are hoping for with this move, especially given the fact that this team has legitimate superstars on the roster, something that Blues team lacked. In fact, the highest-scoring players on the Blues that year were David Backes and T.J. Oshie who ended with a combined 108 points, the same number McDavid accomplished on his own last season.

There is plenty to like about this move for Oilers fans, but also several troubling factors to consider. Most notably that McLellan was not able to motivate or structure this roster to reach the playoffs again even with the star power McDavid represents. It’s tough to pin that entirely on the veteran coach, given his record of success in the NHL previously. McLellan reached the playoffs in six consecutive seasons as the head coach of the San Jose Sharks, and never had a losing season in the seven years he spent behind the bench there. In fact, prior to coming to Edmonton McLellan had only experienced two losing seasons in all his time as a head coach, including his days in the WHL, IHL and AHL. There’s no doubt that he can lead a team, but for some reason wasn’t able to find sustained success in Edmonton.

If there is a turnaround coming, it will be a nice (potentially) final chapter for a coach that has waved goodbye to the game several times in the past. Hitchcock is an Edmonton native and could put the ultimate crowning achievement on a Hall of Fame career if he could take the team back to the Stanley Cup. That’s a lot to ask of just a coaching staff though, and will need more than just systems to accomplish.

Todd McLellan Safe In Edmonton For Now

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Coming into the season, one of the coaches most often listed as on the “hot seat” was Edmonton Oilers boss Todd McLellan. Much of that speculation came from the disappointing 2017-18 season when the Oilers missed the playoffs entirely despite another Art Ross-winning season from Connor McDavid, and it has recently resurfaced as the team went through an ugly four-game losing streak. According to Darren Dreger of TSN on the latest Insider Trading though, that speculation surrounding McLellan is somewhat unfounded as the team’s leadership met and have decided to “stay the course” for now.

The Oilers did demolish the Montreal Canadiens on home ice this week, but will have a tough back-to-back against the Calgary Flames and Vegas Golden Knights this weekend that could put them back under the .500 mark and in danger of falling down the Pacific Division standings. The San Jose Sharks lead the most wide open division in hockey right now, that has only a single team—Arizona—with a positive goal differential and just six points separating first and seventh place.

With plenty of opportunity to succeed in the Pacific, and arguably the game’s top player performing at such a high level, the Oilers should be able to get back to the playoffs this season. If things take a turn though, McLellan’s seat could get warm pretty quickly. The team does have a former NHL head coach on the staff already, as they brought in Glen Gulutzan as an assistant for McLellan this summer. Gulutzan has been the boss in both Calgary and Dallas, though it’s not clear where the Oilers would turn if they decided to make a change.

Edmonton Fans Still Waiting For Big Changes

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The Edmonton Oilers were one of the biggest disappointments of the 2017-18 season. Despite being led by one of the best players in the world in Connor McDavid, the team dropped 25 points in the standings and finished well out of the playoffs. Only three players on the team broke the 15-goal or 40-point thresholds, and goaltender Cam Talbot posted his worst season as a professional. Changes were obviously needed, and big things were expected from GM Peter Chiarelli, who had never been known for his hesitation in the past. Chiarelli has always been willing to trade players who he believed were problems, and acquire assets that could help his team.

In April, just after the Oilers season had come to a close, Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal wrote a piece outlining ten changes that could happen in order to get the team back to the playoffs in 2018-19. Among them was a common thread, that basically everyone on the roster outside of McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins should be considered available. Real additions also needed to be made up front, to help add some secondary scoring to the rest of the lineup. A puck-moving defenseman should be added, and something needs to be done about the left-handed imbalance of the blue line.

This summer though, almost none of those things have happened.

A change in the coaching staff was expected, and the team did bring in several new faces to help head coach Todd McLellan this season. Glen Gulutzan, Trent Yawney and Manny Viveiros were all hired as assistants, replacing several outgoing names. That should give the team a different look in terms of system, but those asked to perform will be the same. The defense corps remains relatively unchanged, other than the fact that Darnell Nurse is still without a contract and Kevin Gravel was brought in on a two-way contract. No additional puck-movers have been added, meaning as it stands the burden will once again fall on players like Nurse and Oscar Klefbom to really drive the team.

On the topic of secondary scoring, there has been little change. Tobias Rieder and Kyle Brodziak were the Oilers’ big free agent additions, giving the team two more middling offensive talents to plug into the lineup. While Rieder has shown potential at times, he still only recorded 12 goals and 25 points last season. Brodziak is actually coming off one of the better offensive campaigns of his career with 10 goals and 33 points, but shouldn’t be expected at age-34 to be an answer to the team’s problems.

Perhaps the biggest change came in net, where the team opted to avoid signing one of the more proven names in free agency and instead brought in Mikko Koskinen from the KHL. The 30-year old goaltender had an incredible season for SKA St. Petersburg in 2017-18, but hasn’t played in North America on a full-time basis since 2011. If Koskinen can push Talbot back to the level he had previously shown the Oilers will be much more competitive, but there’s no guarantee they’ll have any consistency in the position this year.

No instead of the big changes that were expected, the Oilers have generally sat on their hands this summer and hoped a change could come from within. Even their 10th-overall pick in the draft which they were open about potentially trading, was eventually used to pick Evan Bouchard. There’s clearly a boatload of talent in the London Knights blueliner, but if Bouchard isn’t able to jump right to the NHL this season he can’t help a team that needs to compete immediately. If it’s not Bouchard, then perhaps Jesse Puljujarvi is the key to the offseason in Edmonton. The fourth-overall pick from 2016 is now 20 years old, and needs to become an impact player this season. In 65 NHL games last year he registered 12 goals and 20 points, but those numbers need to improve drastically if the Oilers are to expect a winning season.

There is a chance that the team still makes a big splash to bring in some scoring help, but there financial situation is obviously limiting them. With just $4.98MM in cap space and Nurse still to sign, the team likely couldn’t go after someone like Jeff Skinner. In order to land the talented winger from Carolina, the Hurricanes would have had to accept another contract back in order to even out the salaries. That puts the Oilers in a distinct disadvantage in trade talks, and one that won’t be fixed anytime soon. None of the hefty Oilers contracts come off the books next season outside of Talbot and Koskinen, but there isn’t a brilliant young goaltender ready to step into that void on an inexpensive contract. Without moving a defenseman or Milan Lucic’s contract, the Oilers will remain in salary trouble as they try to add pieces in the future.

For an offseason that was expected to bring fireworks in Edmonton, and help surround McDavid with a team that could give him a legitimate chance for the Stanley Cup, things have been awfully quiet. Oilers fans will have to hope that change is coming from places they didn’t expect, and someone can step up to alter their fortunes. Otherwise it could be a long season, and another wasted opportunity with one of the game’s premiere talents.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Poll: Who Will Be The First Coach Fired In 2018-19?

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Not a single NHL head coach was fired during the 2017-18 season, though several changes have been made since. Barry Trotz and Bill Peters resigned their positions in Washington and Carolina, and were each hired to replace the outgoing bench bosses in New York and Calgary. Those two were Doug Weight and Glen Gulutzan, who both failed to get their teams to the playoffs in year two of their coaching history (Weight replaced Jack Capuano partway through the 2016-17 season). Assistant coaches moved up the ladder in Washington and Carolina, while the NCAA ranks were mined for new openings for the Dallas Stars and New York Rangers. Jim Montgomery and David Quinn took over for Ken Hitchcock and Alain Vingeault respectively, bringing new ideas and fresh faces to the NHL coaching circuit.

It’s not new for coaches to be fired in the offseason, but seeing no one sent packing during the year is a very rare occurrence. It was the first time it had happened since 1966-67, meaning the likelihood of it happening again in 2018-19 seems very low. So then, who will be the first to feel the seat burning underneath him? The last time we asked a question like this the readers correctly guessed that Vingeault was on his way out, but also listed Claude Julien in Montreal, Jeff Blashill in Detroit and Rick Tocchet in Arizona as possibilities.

Who will be the first coach fired in 2018-19? Will it happen at all? Cast your vote below and make sure to explain why in the comment section.

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Edmonton Oilers Hire Glen Gulutzan, Trent Yawney, Manny Viveiros

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Friday: The Oilers have made the hirings official, and Viveiros is indeed the third assistant coach. Edmonton likely had to wait until his Swift Current Broncos were eliminated from the Memorial Cup, which happened with their Wednesday defeat at the hands of the Regina Pats. Viveiros led Swift Current to a WHL championship this year, after a 48-17-7 season, and will now get his first opportunity to coach in the NHL.

Thursday: The Edmonton Oilers have been on the lookout for new assistant coaches for Todd McLellan, and have apparently settled on some familiar names. John Shannon of Sportsnet and Jason Gregor of TSN are both reporting that Glen Gulutzan and Trent Yawney are expected to be announced in the near future as new assistant coaches, while Manny Viveiros could be the third name.

Gulutzan of course was most recently the head coach of the Calgary Flames, but was fired after just two seasons on the job. Despite his 83-68-14 record while there, the Flames failed to reach the playoffs the season and needed a change. He’ll join Edmonton and attempt to bring the same sort of high possession results he enjoyed in Calgary, though he’ll be working under McLellan.

Yawney had worked with the Anaheim Ducks organization for the last several years, but failed to receive a contract renewal after the team was eliminated early. The former NHL defenseman has worked all over the Western Conference, spending time in Anaheim, San Jose and Chicago over the years. He’ll likely be tasked with improving the production from the blue line for the Oilers, who struggled to find much consistency last season from a talented group. It will be interesting to see if that group stays together through the summer, as there are continual rumors that Edmonton might be interested in acquiring another big-name option.

Edmonton To Make Several Coaching Changes

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1:40pm: The Oilers have confirmed the assignment for Woodcroft, and announced that Johnson and Ian Herbers would both not return to the team. McLellan will indeed remain head coach for the 2018-19 season. No word on who the new assistants will be so far.

8:30am: The Edmonton Oilers are expected to announce several changes to their coaching staff today, starting with the reassignment of Jay Woodcroft from NHL assistant to AHL head coach. Fellow assistant Jim Johnson will also not be back according to John Shannon of Sportsnet. The overwhelming belief is that recently fired Glen Gulutzan (Calgary Flames) and Trent Yawney (Anaheim Ducks) will be added to the NHL staff. If that happens, it likely means Todd McLellan would be staying on as head coach, though no one has confirmed his job yet.

It’s not clear exactly how everything will shake out in Edmonton, but there was clearly a need for some change after an incredibly disappointing season. The club was expected to be Stanley Cup contenders with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl leading the way, but despite outstanding offensive performances from both players they found themselves near the bottom of the standings.

Gulutzan was replaced in Calgary after just two seasons, but is still well respected around the league. Working his way up from the ECHL, he’ll have to take a step backwards and wait for another head coaching opportunity to present itself. Yawney has a long history as a coach in the NHL, dating back to 1999-00 when he was an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks. His contract wasn’t renewed by the Ducks, but it isn’t surprising to see him land on his feet quickly.

Black Monday: The Day The Coaches (Could) Disappear

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The NHL looks like it will finish an entire season without seeing a single coach fired for the first time since expansion in 1967, but there could be a dark lining on that stat coming next week. “Black Monday” as it is being termed could be coming after the final game of the regular season this Sunday, with close to a dozen coaches finding themselves on the hot seat.

In last night’s Insider Trading segment on TSN, Bob McKenzie broke down a list of potential firings that looked like this:

Glen Gulutzan, Calgary Flames
Bill Peters, Carolina Hurricanes
Joel Quenneville, Chicago Blackhawks
Jeff Blashill, Detroit Red Wings
Todd McLellan, Edmonton Oilers
Doug Weight, New York Islanders
Alain Vigneault, New York Rangers
Guy Boucher, Ottawa Senators
Barry Trotz, Washington Capitals

Some of these names simply don’t have a contract for next season, including Trotz, who also happens to be the only coach on the list heading to the playoffs. The Capitals have won the Metropolitan Division for the third year in a row, but will be judged entirely on their postseason performance. Washington must find some success past the second round, or there could be a shake up in order starting with the man behind the bench.

The rest of the list is a who’s who of disappointing seasons, with Quenneville sticking out like a sore thumb. Arguably one of the best coaches of all-time, Quenneville’s firing could cause what McKenzie terms a ripple effect throughout the league. Though he doesn’t expand on that idea, many have wondered whether another team would fire their incumbent to have the opportunity to hire Quenneville should he become a free agent, much like the Montreal Canadiens did last season when Claude Julien was let go from Boston.

In New York, while both coaches might not be back it would be for very different reasons. Vigneault has had a lot of regular season success with the Rangers, but as they enter into an unfamiliar rebuild they could want to start with a fresh face behind the bench. For Weight and the Islanders, this season was an abject failure as they tried to woo John Tavares with a trip to the postseason. They won’t get there, and now have to worry about whether their captain and superstar will stick around.

There could be many other names you could suggest for the list, and it is extremely unlikely that all of these will get the boot before the start of 2018-19. You can be sure some changes are coming though, even if it does come after a remarkable season of patience by general managers around the league.

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