Jets’ Nikita Chibrikov, Elias Salomonsson Undergo Surgery
The AHL’s Manitoba Moose will face big lineup impacts as they move on to the Calder Cup Playoffs’ second round. Top Winnipeg Jets prospects Nikita Chibrikov and Elias Salomonsson will both be out for the remaining playoffs after undergoing surgery. Chibrikov is out six-to-eight weeks after a core muscle surgery per Murat Ates of The Athletic. Salomonsson will be on the mend much longer, set to rehab for five-to-six months after shoulder surgery per Ates.
Rehabbing through the summer could cut down Salomonsson’s chances at breaking camp with the Jets next summer. The 21 year old had an encouraging start to his NHL career in the second-half of this season. He scored five points and a minus-six in the first 32 games of his NHL career, to go with nine points in 29 AHL games. He was a wall on the blue-lines for much of the year, bringing confident defense into his first year of pro hockey in North America. With little depth on the Jets blue-line after the trade of Logan Stanley, Salomonsson seemed to have a chance at securing a third-pair role early into the 2026-27 season. Now, those chances could hinge on how he recovers from shoulder surgery.
Chibrikov’s summer training shouldn’t be knocked too far off course by his surgery. The 23 year old filled a third-line role with the Moose for much of the season. He finished the year with 16 points and a minus-19 in 53 AHL games and no scoring in 11 NHL games. Chibrikov has just four points in 16 career NHL games, a quiet mark for the former 50th-overall draft pick. Chibrikov had a strong rookie season in the AHL, netting 47 points in 70 games – a mark he hasn’t been able to match in 83 games over the last two seasons combined. The 2026-27 season will be focused on getting back to that first-year performance. If he can, Chibrikov could earn another chance to prove his productivity at the top flight.
Manitoba will look to find a spark from late-season addition Alfons Freij on defense, and Brayden Yager or Colby Barlow on offense, to help supplant their pair of missing prospects. The Moose will kick off a series against the Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday.
Wild’s Jonas Brodin Out Day-To-Day With Lower-Body Injury
The Minnesota Wild will be forced to make a change on defense ahead of a potentially-decisive Game 6. Top-four defender Jonas Brodin will be forced to miss the outing due to a day-to-day, lower-body injury sustained in Game 5 per NHL.com’s Dan Rosen. The injury occurred when Brodin blocked a shot from Stars winger Mikko Rantanen. He left the game with two minutes left in the second period and did not return.
Brodin has averaged 19:41 in ice time through five games this series. He has had a quiet postseason, with just one assist, four penalty minutes, and 14 shot blocks in five games. Brodin has still shined as a defensive impact, on the ice for four goals-for and two goals-against at even-strength.
His role has quelled significantly after averaging nearly 23 minutes of ice time through the 2024-25 season. That step down the depth chart is largely thanks to Minnesota’s newly-christened top pair of Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber, who are two of only four players averaging more than 30 minutes of ice time in the postseason. Both defenders have five points in as many games in these playoffs. Their presence, alongside Wild captain Jared Spurgeon, should help the Wild mitigate Brodin’s hole at even-strength and on the penalty-kill.
Jacob Middleton will move up to a second-pair role next to Spurgeon. Middleton recorded 16 points and a plus-two in 75 regular season games and has since notched one point and a plus-three in the postseason. He led all Wild defensemen with 87 hits through the regular season, underlining the physical and defense-first presence Middleton brings to the lineup.
Jeff Petry will come down from the press box in Brodin’s absence, playing in his first postseason game since 2021. Petry joined the Wild just ahead of the Trade Deadline and has scored one assist and a minus-five in nine games since. He has lost some spark in the sunset years of his career but has a career-long stat line of 13 points and a minus-two in 48 postseason games. He should offer a puck-moving boost to the third-pair.
Even with replacements at the ready, Minnesota will still need Hughes, Faber, and Spurgeon to step up if they want to seal the first round on Thursday. If they do, they could buy enough time for Brodin to recover from his injury before the start of the second round.
Kraken’s Jessica Campbell To Explore Options This Summer
The Seattle Kraken could have a bench spot to fill this summer. Assistant coach Jessica Campbell is set to be a free agent for the first time since being promoted to the NHL in 2024. She is expected to take the chance to explore other options around the league, per a press release from Kraken general manager Jason Botterill. Botterill said:
Jessica has been an important member of our coaching staff for the past four years, demonstrating deep knowledge and a unique ability to connect with, and develop, players.
While this could likely result in Campbell moving on from the Pacific Northwest, it doesn’t appear Seattle has closed the door to bringing Campbell back next season, per ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. Kaplan adds that Campbell has generated interest from across the NHL.
Campbell became the first woman to fill a full-time, assistant coach role in the NHL. She accomplished the same feat in the AHL when she joined Dan Bylsma‘s staff on the Coachella Valley Firebirds in 2022. Campbell already had an extensive hockey resume at the time, with one World Championship silver medal, three NCAA conference championships, and one season as an assistant coach for the DEL’s Nurnberg Ice Tigers, part of Germany’s top pro league, under her belt. Coachella Valley raced to the Calder Cup Finals in both seasons under Bylsma and Campbell’s reign, though they lost to the Hershey Bears both times.
A pair of appearances in the championship series was still enough to earn Bylsma and Campbell a promotion to the NHL. It was a reunion for Bylsma, who spent seven seasons as an NHL head coach between 2009 and 2017. Unfortunately, that reunion quickly turned sour, with Bylsma being dismissed after leading Seattle to a 35-41-6 record and bottom-12 finish in both goals-scored and goals-against in the 2024-25 season. The Kraken opted to retain Campbell despite firing their top coach, a bode of confidence in the former professional skills coach.
Now one season later, the Kraken are continuing to speak praise towards Campbell’s ability to lead at the top level. She could be an intriguing candidate for teams looking to bring a bit more finesse to their lineup. The Columbus Blue Jackets recently fired two assistant coaches, opening the door for the NHL’s oldest head coach, Rick Bowness, to hire his own bench staff. The New York Islanders also recently parted with head coach Patrick Roy, in favor of free agent Peter DeBoer. Both clubs could use a jolt of offense after impressive seasons that still fell short of the postseason. Campbell, once a dynamic and intelligent playmaker at Cornell University and for Sweden’s SDHL Malmo Redhawks, could bring that jolt with an extra focus on developing some of the club’s burgeoning stars.
Cole Caufield, Anže Kopitar, Jake Sanderson Named Lady Byng Finalists
The NHL has announced the finalists for the 2026 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. The trophy is presented annually to the player who exhibits a high standard of sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct, and playing ability. This year’s finalists are Montreal Canadiens winger Cole Caufield, Los Angeles Kings centerman Anže Kopitar, and Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson.
Kopitar has won the Lady Byng three times, including in 2023 and 2025. He has exemplified sportsmanship and leadership through 10 seasons as the Kings’ captain. That run came to a peak this season as the 38-year-old Kopitar went on his final tour around the league. In what was the planned finale to his career, he scored 12 goals and 38 points in 67 games and helped Los Angeles push into their fifth consecutive playoff berth. After a first-round exit at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche, Kopitar officially announced his retirement after 20 seasons in the league. He was a perennial 60-point scorer who reached as high as 92 points at his peak.
While Lady Byng voting will be based on this season, it will be hard not to consider Kopitar’s legacy in Los Angeles. One more Lady Byng win would tie him with Pavel Datsyuk for the most since 2000. Red Kelly also won four times between 1951 and 1961. Wayne Gretzky won the Lady Byng five times between 1980 and 1999. The all-time record holder is Frank Boucher, who won the trophy seven times in eight years between 1928 and 1935. Boucher’s run of wins let him take home the original Lady Byng Trophy and prompted the creation of the Memorial Trophy.
Caufield receives his first finalist bid for the Lady Byng this season, after finishing 64th and 34th in voting in the last two seasons respectively. The Canadiens’ star winger is predominantly known for big smiles and great goal-scoring, two traits that ramped up as he achieved a breakout 51 goals and 88 points in 81 games this season. Caufield became the first Canadiens player to cross the 50-goal mark since Stephane Richer in 1990. He also led the league with 12 game-winning goals. That performance helped boost Canadiens center Nick Suzuki to his first 100-point campaign and brought Montreal into their second consecutive postseason. Caufield does not wear a letter for Montreal but the impact of his personality on and off of the ice is still top class. Even if he does not win the Lady Byng this season, a nomination at the age of 25 speaks to Caufield’s chances at one day cementing the trophy.
The same can be said for the 23-year-old Sanderson, who stepped into Ottawa’s top defense role with a breakout season. Sanderson finished the year with 14 goals and 54 points in 67 games. He averaged nearly 25 minutes of ice time a night, in part thanks to the string of injuries that plagued fellow top defenseman Thomas Chabot – who missed 25 games. Only seven players averaged more ice time than Sanderson at even-strength. He also ranked in the top-15 of penalty-killing time per game. His ability to step into a major role for Ottawa, intermixed with a Gold Medal win with Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics, make Sanderson a great candidate for multiple nominations this award season.
Kings’ Brandt Clarke Hoping For Bigger Role
One of the top priorities for the Los Angeles Kings this summer will be re-signing top, young defenseman Brandt Clarke. The 23 year old racked up 81 points in 185 NHL games on his entry-level contract, including 40 points while playing in all 82 games of this season. He has already expressed his desire to stick in Los Angeles for the foreseeable future – but that desire may come with a catch. After a strong campaign, Clarke feels it’s time for more responsibility, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on the April 27 episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast.
Clarke lined up as Los Angeles’ second-pair, right-defenseman this season. He operated behind Kings legend Drew Doughty and alongside veteran depth defenseman Joel Edmundson. Even with Edmundson’s knack for quiet results, the Kings’ second-pair still managed to outscore opponents 50-to-36, while racking up an expected-goal differential of 42.1-to-38.7 per Line Blender. Clarke’s game shined even brighter away from Edmundson. He outscored opponents 17-to-eight in roughly 350 minutes away from Edmundson, which amounted to only one-third of his total even-strength ice time this season.
Those are encouraging numbers for the Kings. On the heels of his first 40-point campaign, Clarke has proven an ability to step up and drive his line. He also proved to be a fantastic power-play quarterback, on the ice for 19 goals in 184 minutes of power-play ice time. But even when considering special teams, Los Angeles faces the same question. Can Clarke do enough to play above Doughty in the lineup?
Next season will be a contract year and almost certainly represent the beginning of sunset years for the 36-year-old Doughty. He fell to 23 points in 72 games this season after missing 52 games last year due to injury. It seems the days of Doughty’s 50-point seasons are well behind him. The two-time Stanley Cup champion added another feather to his cap this season with his third appearance at the Winter Olympics and now must face the challenge of turning over his role. It won’t be an easy transition. Even in a quiet year, Doughty led the Kings roster with 23 minutes of ice time on average, two more minutes than any other skater on the team. He continued to stand as a pillar of the lineup, while Los Angeles’ second and third defense pairs didn’t average more than 20 minutes each game.
On the first free agent contract of his career, Clarke will hope to flip those roles. Even ceding two minutes of ice time each night would bring the two defenders much more in-line. Los Angeles could also face a question of who to partner Clarke with as he climbs to star minutes. They will have roughly $18MM in cap space this summer, per PuckPedia, with Clarke and Andrei Kuzmenko as their biggest pending-free agents.
Any remaining salary cap could be dedicated to bringing in a difference-maker at left-defense – someone who could operate behind Michael Anderson while still offering more top-end upside than Edmundson. The market for left-defenders is slim this summer but a player like Mario Ferraro has experience standing up to 20 minutes a night for L.A.’s division rival, the San Jose Sharks. Ferraro is hoping for a deal with term this summer, which could go far in helping Los Angeles cement a top-four they can move into the future with – one that has Clarke at the helm.
This season, Clarke became the second Kings defenseman since 2000 to post a 40-point season before their 23rd birthday. The only other defender to achieve the feat in black-and-silver was Doughty. Now, the two will need to find a balance – with one in the midst of their big break and the other fading into retirement. Finding the right balance for their ice time could go far in cementing Los Angeles’ future, and helping the team break past the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after five early exits in a row.
Hurricanes Recall Charles-Alexis Legault
The Carolina Hurricanes shared earlier today that Charles-Alexis Legault has been recalled from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.
With Chicago currently in the Calder Cup playoffs, it’s an inopportune time. There’s a real need to add a defenseman to the team’s stock, although Legault’s chances to get into the playoff action are slim. The transaction is likely stemming from Alexander Nikishin‘s concussion, suffered in the fourth and deciding game of the opening round versus Ottawa.
Luckily for the Hurricanes, they made quick work of the Senators, and will have several days to rest up prior to Round Two. Still, if Nikishin will miss any time, Mike Reilly will be set to enter the lineup, needing an extra blueliner, leaving Legault to take duty. Reilly, 32, has 21 games of playoff experience, his last tenure coming as an Islander, where his club were sent packing in five games, interestingly against the Hurricanes themselves.
Legault, 22, broke into the NHL for the first time this season, his second campaign as a professional, skating in 12 games. After an eight game stint early in the year, the defender had to wait until mid-April for another look, making four more appearances to close out the regular season, benefiting from top players getting rest. Such circumstances resulted in an uptick in ice time, as he played 22:01 in game 82 against the Islanders, by far a career high.
Standing at 6’4″, the righty has made his mark physically across the NHL and AHL this year, 63 penalty minutes across both leagues. A strong penalty killer still working to put together a more complete offensive game, Legault was a steal in the fifth round of the 2023 draft out of Quinnipiac University, with real NHL third pairing upside. As a small note worth mentioning depending on his eventual development, the pick was acquired from Vancouver in the Ethan Bear trade.
The Wolves will hope he can return for their playoff matchup against the Texas Stars shortly. Yet with the puck dropping on game one tomorrow night, their series could very well be concluded by the time Nikishin’s fate is known, directly affecting the Wolves in a domino effect of sorts.
As for the big club, Carolina’s second round opponent could be finalized tonight, as they await the winner of the Flyers/Penguins series. Either way, they’ll get started on home ice, with Legault expectedly taking in the experience from the press box. As his teammate Reilly’s contract ends this summer, the Montreal native could be in for a bigger role next year, even if he doesn’t skate on the biggest stage this spring.
PHR Mailbag: Predators, Lottery, Hellebuyck, Rookies, Playoff Pressure Players
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include Nashville’s open GM position, what players have a lot to gain or lose by their playoff performances, and more. If your question doesn’t appear here, watch for it in one of our next two mailbag columns.
Gbear: Who gets the Preds GM job and does Bruno stay or go?
While Barry Trotz is on the way out, I tend to believe his words from earlier this week when he talked about the thought of keeping a lot of this roster intact. That has me leaning toward a candidate that’s a little more predictable in Tom Fitzgerald. While he took some swings toward the end of his tenure in New Jersey, he’s not going to come in saying that they need to execute a full rebuild. I can’t help but wonder if some of the other first-time candidates might be recommending the other direction which might hurt their chances.
I think what also works in Fitzgerald’s favor is that he has held a dual President/GM role before with the Devils. Throughout this long search, it certainly doesn’t sound like the team is looking to hire two separate people for those roles. If that’s the case, having an experienced candidate who can handle both might appeal a little more.
Fitzgerald, of course, is familiar with head coach Andrew Brunette, as he hired him to join the Devils as an assistant coach. Brunette then left a year later to take this job. With what seems like a good history from their one year together and how this group finished the season, I suspect they’d stay conservative and keep the status quo intact for now if it winds up being Fitzgerald getting the job. If things don’t go well in 2026-27, then it would be easier for them to make a change.
rayk: What is your opinion of the draft lottery which is approaching on 5/5? Is having teams like the Islanders and Mammoth move up so many slots as they did in 2025 really help promote league parity?
For me, the lottery is a partial solution to a problem that doesn’t have a great solution to it. Teams that want to tank are going to try to position themselves as low in the standings no matter what the draft order rule is. If it’s straight reverse standings, we’ve seen how bad that can go. The lottery creates some randomness which is fun but the bottom-feeding teams are still going to want to get as low as possible to increase their odds of picking first and ensure they don’t slide down as much. There’s no getting around that.
One solution that is gaining some popularity is the Gold Plan. Named after its inventor, Adam Gold, the idea is that the first pick goes to the team that gets the most points after being eliminated from playoff contention. The PWHL uses it. However, the workaround there is that a team struggles early, has a bunch of core guys get ‘injured’ midseason, then they all come back in March after the team has been mathematically eliminated. All it does is change when a team decides to sit all its players for tanking purposes.
The lottery isn’t perfect. But I don’t think there is a perfect solution out there as they’re all easily manipulable. So having some randomness that gives teams (and fans) a bit more hope seems like a good enough solution for now, at least.
SkidRowe: Will the league rig the lottery so the Toronto Maple Losers are in the top 2?
I feel like this is an important time to remind you that the lottery is done with ping pong balls. Literal dollar store ping pong balls. They first provided the video of it in 2022 and if you’re not familiar with the mechanics of how it’s done, I recommend you watch it. It’s dry and boring but it does provide a good overview of each step.
It’s 14 equally weighted ping pong balls and a lottery-drawing machine. This isn’t drawing for an envelope that may or may not have been left in a freezer, it’s a 10-cent ball which somehow is harder to rig. The lottery combinations are assigned to teams in advance (and sometimes are even posted online before the actual proceedings) so there’s no room for uh, excess creativity on that front either. Conspiracy theories can be fun but how they do the lotteries is legit.
Toronto has greater than a 17% chance of picking in the top two. After what has happened in recent years, their landing a top-two spot is very much within the realistic range of possibilities.
Cla23: With Hellebuyck’s frustration with the Jets’ season, do you see a trade? If so, where do you think he lands and what do the Jets get in return?
Keep in mind he wants to contend, not rebuild, and NT/NM contracts come into play.
Probably not this summer. His comments about not wanting the team to be too complacent again this summer suggests to me that he still wants to be there; he just wants to see some other changes to the roster. If that doesn’t happen, then yeah, he might want out. The problem is that by the time Hellebuyck will have a chance to assess the state of the roster, most teams will already have their rosters set (or at least wouldn’t be looking to trade for a number one netminder). So even if he looked at their roster in August and said it’s time for a move, there probably isn’t one available until midseason at the earliest or, more likely, next summer.
But, let’s say he does ask out so that I can tackle the second part of the question. Vegas stands out to me as a potential fit. Adin Hill had a rough year while Carter Hart and Akira Schmid have shown good flashes at times but have been inconsistent. Hellebuyck would give them a much more proven starter. I could see both Hill and Schmid in the return, negating the need to bring back Eric Comrie. To make the money work, I think William Karlsson could also be in there, giving Winnipeg at least a short-term center at the same time. Hill and Karlsson both have 10-team no-trade clauses which could scuttle things so let’s get that out of the way.
Given Hill’s struggles and Karlsson’s short-term deal, either Karlsson would need to come with an extension or there would need to be another piece of significance in there. I could see Kevin Cheveldayoff asking for Trevor Connelly but he’s someone Vegas doesn’t want to move. If it landed them a top-end goalie though (and got them out of Hill’s contract), maybe that’d make it worthwhile.
I could also see Florida in there but the potential return is harder to peg down. They don’t have a starter to send the other way which makes it a tough sell right away. With both Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennett signed long-term, teams will call about Anton Lundell and I imagine Winnipeg would do that, hoping to fill the longstanding 2C issue and then trying to get a goalie from elsewhere. I’m not sure the Panthers would, however. But at any rate, I don’t expect Hellebuyck to be asking out this month.
Evening Notes: Kleven, Tippett, Ostlund
Defenseman Tyler Kleven is continuing to progress in his recovery from an upper-body injury sustained in April 2nd’s win over the Buffalo Sabres. He has now taken two practices with full contact and a face-guard and could be back in the lineup soon. Despite that, head coach Travis Green would neither confirm nor deny if Kleven was an option for Thursday’s Game 3 per TSN’s Bruce Garrioch. Meanwhile, Artem Zub remains out of practice since sustaining what appeared to be a lower-body injury in Saturday’s loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Green did not have an update on Zub’s availability either per Sportscenter’s Claire Hanna.
It seems Ottawa will be forced to roll out the same blue-line that led them to a double-overtime loss on Monday. That will mean heavy minutes for usual stars Jake Sanderson and Thomas Chabot, as well as rising depth defender Jordan Spence who has taken over top-four duties in Zub’s absence. Nikolas Matinpalo should also stay up the lineup, though the Senators could rotate him with Lassi Thomson and Dennis Gilbert. Sanderson is the only Senators’ defenseman to score so far this postseason. He has two assists in as many games. So long as he can continue to elevate the blue-line, Ottawa stands a chance of hanging on against the Hurricanes.
Other notes from around the league:
- Top Philadelphia Flyers winger Owen Tippett missed the team’s Wednesday practice to nurse an injury that he has been playing through, head coach Rick Tocchet told NBCS’ Jordan Hall. He is expected to suit up for Wednesday’s Game 3 against the Pittsburgh Penguins despite the injury. Tippett has one assist in two playoff games so far, while Philadelphia holds a 2-0 lead over the Penguins. He should continue to line up next to Tyson Foerster and Trevor Zegras, maintaining a trio that has proven explosive in the early postseason.
- Buffalo Sabres rookie center Noah Ostlund could return to the lineup in Thursday night’s Game 3 against the Boston Bruins per Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic. Ostlund has not played since sustaining an injury in Buffalo’s March 25th matchup – an overtime loss to the Bruins. The rookie emerged as a reliable, fourth-line center for Buffalo. He played through his first NHL season and racked up 11 goals and 27 points in 60 games, to go with 10 points in seven AHL games. He should take on a fourth-line role over one of Beck Malenstyn, Joshua Dunne, or Jordan Greenway if and when he returns to full health. The decision of who to pull out of the lineup will be a delicate one for Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff, as the fourth-line has currently brought a lot of physicality to a hard-nosed matchup. Ostlund is still adjusting to NHL physicality and will be making his Stanley Cup Playoff debut when he makes it back into the lineup.
Bruins Sign Billy Sweezey To One-Year, Two-Way Extension
The Boston Bruins have re-signed pending unrestricted free agent Billy Sweezey to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will carry a cap hit of $850K in the NHL. Sweezey has spent the last five seasons in the AHL. He joined the Providence Bruins in 2024 and serves as an alternate captain for the club.
Sweezey has racked up 17 points, 84 penalty minutes, and a career-high plus-21 in 69 games this season. His single goal on the season gave Sweezey three consecutive seasons with only one score – a pattern he repeated in the first three seasons of his career at Yale University. Sweezey has continued to offer the chippy, defensive style that he took on way back with the USHL’s Chicago Steel in 2015.
Sweezey signed his first pro contract with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2020, after racking up 29 points and 159 penalty minutes in 127 games at Yale. He only reached four assists in 22 games in the AHL’s shortened 2020-21 season. He left the Penguins and signed a deal with the Cleveland Monsters in the following summer. A move to Ohio proved to bring much more action, pushing Sweezey to 11 points and 114 penalty minutes in 70 games of his first season in Cleveland.
His 2021-22 performance was such a pleasant surprise that the Columbus Blue Jackets signed Sweezey to a two-way NHL contract in March 2022. The Blue Jackets vindicated that deal roughly one year later, when Sweezey made his NHL debut on February 26, 2023. He would go on to play in nine games with Columbus marked by one assist, nine penalty minutes, and a minus three. Sweezey has since spent the last three seasons in a full-time, AHL role – though the Boston Bruins kept him on an NHL contract when they signed him out of free agency. Sweezey has already recorded 27 points and 151 penalty minutes in 133 games with the Providence Bruins and will stay on a two-way NHL deal next season.
Canucks Granted Permission From Leafs To Speak With Shane Doan
The Vancouver Canucks are continuing to seek out new names for their front office. Their latest candidate could come from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Vancouver has requested permission to speak with Toronto special advisor Shane Doan position per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. It was later reported that permission was granted per John Shannon of 100% Hockey.
It is not yet clear what position Vancouver sees Doan stepping into. Doan has filled a GM advisory role in Toronto for the last three seasons, after three seasons as the Director of Hockey Administration with his alumni Arizona Coyotes.
Doan has not yet filled a GM role at the NHL or AHL level but the job is not unfamiliar. He served as Team Canada’s GM at the 2022 Winter Olympics, World Championship, and Spengler Cup. Canada won a Silver Medal at the World Championship but did not reach the podium at the other two events . Doan was also an assistant GM at the 2019 Spengler Cup, 2021 World Championship, and 2023 World Championship. Canada won the Spengler Cup and two Golds at the World Championship in those tournaments.
Doan is much more known for his accomplishments as a player. He was originally drafted by the Winnipeg Jets and played his NHL rookie season in the team’s final season before moving to Phoenix. Doan became a star in the desert, routinely rivaling 50 points and 50 penalty minutes each season. He was quickly one of the team’s most reliable forwards and took on a top-line role next to hockey legends Jeremy Roenick and Keith Tkachuk in his early career. He did not leave that role through the final 20 years of his career, all spent with the Coyotes franchise. Doan was awarded the Coyotes’ captaincy in 2003 and carried it until he retired in 2017. He called his career to a close with the most games (1,540), goals (402), assists (570), and points (972) in Coyotes history. Doan’s son, Josh Doan, was drafted by Arizona in 2021 – but has since been traded to the Buffalo Sabres. Doan’s wife, Andrea Doan, was named to the Phoenix Hockey Exploratory Committee – a group geared towards returning NHL hockey to Phoenix – in September.
How the Vancouver Canucks see Doan fitting in is not clear but there is no doubt about his rich experience in NHL and international hockey. He has now served six seasons in NHL front offices and could fit in a variety of assistant, advisory, or development roles. Before they can brainstorm around a job title, Vancouver will first need to get permission from the Maple Leafs, who may see Doan as a helpful support to their own search for a new GM.