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Atlantic Notes: Senators Coaching Staff, Canadiens, Forbort

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On his 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman confirmed earlier reports about the Ottawa Senators coaching staff. Friedman said that former Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson is expected to remain as an assistant coach behind Ottawa’s bench, as will Ben Sexton. Friedman also went on to say that former head coach Mike Yeo and former NHLer Nolan Baumgartner are also expected to join the Senators staff.

Friedman’s confirmation follows several previous reports about the Senators and likely signals that Ottawa is close to finalizing new head coach Travis Green’s coaching staff. The group will have their work cut out for them as the Senators have struggled to play with much structure in recent seasons despite boasting some very talented young players. Ottawa hasn’t made the playoffs since 2017 and has been mired in a rebuild for the better part of the past decade.

In other Atlantic Division notes:

  • David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period is reporting that the Montreal Canadiens could be buyers once again at this year’s NHL entry draft. Montreal has been a buyer at the two previous drafts and has reportedly made the draft a priority over making trades. Montreal is currently holding the fifth-overall pick as well as the 26th overall pick and Pagnotta wonders if the Canadiens may look to move the later pick as part of a package to acquire a young proven scorer. The Canadiens have several good young scorers in their lineup but would do well to add another scoring forward to their ranks to better balance their offensive attack.
  • Boston Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort is reportedly headed to the free agent market on July 1st (as per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period). The former 15th overall pick spent a great deal of the season on long-term injured reserve and was limited to just 35 games. The 32-year-old has never offered much offense from the backend, topping out at 18 points with the Los Angeles Kings in 2017 and 2018, but he is a big body and can still skate. Forbort will have suitors in free agency, particularly from teams that are looking for a depth defenseman who isn’t afraid to engage the opponent physically.

Daniel Alfredsson Leaning Towards Returning To Coaching Staff

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  • Ottawa Senators great Daniel Alfredsson is leaning towards returning to his assistant coaching role next season under new head coach Travis Green (as per Bruce Garrioch). The franchise’s all-time leading scorer was brought back to the franchise in a player-development role, but that role was changed when the Senators relieved previous head coach D.J. Smith of his duties. The Senators will have to fill out their coaching staff and have been linked to former NHL head coach Mike Yeo as well as former NHLer and current Manitoba Moose assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner.

Senators Undecided On Qualifying Erik Brannstrom

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Back in 2019, the Senators thought they were adding a core piece of the future when they picked up defenseman Erik Brannstrom from Vegas as part of the Mark Stone trade.  While he has worked his way into a regular role, he hasn’t been anywhere near as impactful as they were hoping for.

With the team looking to shake things up in Steve Staios’ first summer as GM, it appears as if Brannstrom is one of the players whose future with the team is in some question.  Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the Sens aren’t sure if they will tender him his required qualifying offer this summer.

It’s a similar situation to the one they found themselves in a year ago, albeit with a higher price tag this time around.  At that time, the qualifying offer was tendered with an agreement pretty much done in principle, finalized on July 1st with a contract that more than doubled his salary to $2MM for 2023-24.  That figure is now the qualifying offer while he will have arbitration rights as well.

Brannstrom played in a career-best 76 games this season, picking up three goals and 17 assists.  He was primarily limited to playing on the third pairing while interim head coach Jacques Martin elected to deploy him as a winger on the fourth line briefly as well.  Those numbers alone might not look great for arbitration purposes but with 69 points in 266 career NHL contests, the longer track record would bolster his case in a hearing.

At the moment, Ottawa already has over $27MM committed to six defensemen for next season, per CapFriendly, with Jake Sanderson’s new contract kicking in this summer.  Should they be allocating at least another $2MM (and likely more to avoid a hearing) to that position or would they be better off using that money elsewhere?  Having said that, if they elect to move a blueliner – Jakob Chychrun has been in trade speculation dating back to the trade deadline – then it might be more justifiable to try to give Brannstrom one more chance.

As things stand, they have a little over $12MM in room for next season with a handful of roster spots to fill.  Pending RFA center Shane Pinto figures to take a good chunk of that so if Staios wants to try to add an impact piece to his roster, it would be difficult to do so and keep Brannstrom on the roster without making some sort of other change first.  Accordingly, this is a decision that could come down to the wire on the June 30th qualifying offer deadline.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Dillon Heatherington Looking Into Signing Overseas

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  • The Senators have already lost Lassi Thomson and Jacob Larsson to overseas contracts and a third blueliner might be joining them as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that Dillon Heatherington is examining his international options. The 29-year-old played in a dozen games with Ottawa between 2021-22 and 2022-23 but didn’t see any NHL action this season.  Instead, Heatherington skated in 60 games with AHL Belleville and was briefly loaned out to play for Canada at the Spengler Cup back in December.

Senators UFA Jacob Larsson Signs In Switzerland

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Rather than see what a trip through unrestricted free agency in July would yield, defenseman Jacob Larsson has opted to head overseas.  The Senators’ depth defender has signed a two-year contract with Rapperswil-Jona in Switzerland, per a team announcement.

The 27-year-old was a first-round pick by Anaheim back in 2015, going 25th overall but hasn’t been able to carve out a full-time NHL role just yet.  He spent five years in their system, getting into 165 NHL games during that span.  However, in 2022, the Ducks elected not to tender a $1.3MM qualifying offer with arbitration rights, making Larsson an unrestricted free agent.

Unable to secure a one-way deal on the open market, Larsson accepted a one-year, two-way deal with Ottawa that summer.  While he got into seven games with the Sens, he spent the bulk of that year with AHL Belleville.  This season, he only saw game action in the minors despite a pair of recalls in the first half of the season.  With Belleville, Larsson played in 61 games, notching a career-best 33 points while adding five assists in seven playoff contests.

Considering the year he had in the minors, Larsson likely would have had strong interest on the open market from teams looking to make him a key defender in the AHL while being a serviceable recall if necessary.  However, he instead will try his hand different where he’s likely to play a big role for the Lakers for the next two years.  A good showing there could get him back on the NHL radar in 2026 if he decides to try his hand at playing in North America again.

Mike Yeo Interviewed For Assistant Coach Job

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  • After parting ways with Vancouver yesterday, veteran coach Mike Yeo might not be out of a job for long. Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the Senators have interviewed Yeo for an assistant’s job on Travis Green’s bench while suggesting that he could be on the Maple Leafs’ radar as well having worked with Craig Berube before.  Yeo spent the last couple of years in that role with Vancouver and also has head coaching experience with Minnesota, St. Louis, and Philadelphia.

Ottawa Senators Not Shopping Brady Tkachuk

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For the Tkachuk family, things could not be more different between the brother duo in the National Hockey League. Matthew Tkachuk, a member of the Florida Panthers, is competing for his second appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in as many seasons, while his brother Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators is once again enjoying a long offseason; a reality familiar to him for the last six seasons.

Even though the Senators have failed to make the playoffs since the 2016-17 season, they still have a flare for the dramatics. Less than one month into the 2023-24 NHL season, Ottawa fired then-General Manager Pierre Dorion, leading to a complete overhaul of the front office. With that change coming to an organization intent on contending in the next couple of seasons, many pundits wondered whether or not the Senators would look to re-engage in their rebuilding efforts.

One name that has begun to surface in the rumor mill lately is the aforementioned Tkachuk brother, Brady. Tkachuk, who has served as the team’s captain for the last three years, has been one of the league’s best competitors since his rookie campaign. Over the last three seasons as the team’s captain, Tkachuk has accrued 102 goals and 224 points in 242 games while throwing a whopping 806 hits against opposing teams.

Nevertheless, do not expect Ottawa to move their captain this offseason, as General Manager Steve Staios recently shut down those rumors while speaking to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (Subscription Article). In the article from LeBrun, Staios was asked about the rumors and bluntly said, “Complete B.S. We are building this team around Brady. His leadership and unique skill set are rare. There is absolutely no validity to it“.

Things could certainly change over the offseason, especially if Ottawa is approached with an offer they cannot refuse. However, judging by Staios’ remarks to LeBrun, it does not appear that any team will be able to reach a hypothetical asking price for Tkachuk.

Senators May Pursue Ullmark Again

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Chris Johnston reported on his show today that former NHLer Marc Savard could be headed to the Toronto Maple Leafs to join their coaching staff just a few days after mutually agreeing to part ways with the Calgary Flames. Savard returned to the NHL this past year as an assistant coach with Calgary but previously worked with Toronto’s new head coach Craig Berube in St. Louis during the 2019-20 season. After his run with the Blues, Savard spent two seasons as the head coach of the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League guiding the team to an 88-35-8-4 record during that time (.695 winning percentage).

The 46-year-old ran the Flames power play this past season, which was seventh worst in the NHL. However, when Savard ran the Blues power play under Berube, St. Louis had the third-best power play in the NHL at 24.3%.

In other Atlantic Division notes:

  • Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch is reporting that the Ottawa Senators are likely to pursue Boston Bruins netminder Linus Ullmark prior to the NHL entry draft next month. The Bruins have received some of the best goaltending in the league over the last two seasons and are in a predicament as they want to sign Jeremy Swayman to a long-term deal but will have Ullmark’s $5MM on their salary cap for one more season. The Senators were reportedly among the teams that tried to acquire Ullmark prior to the NHL trade deadline but were unable to complete a deal. Ottawa received some of the worst goaltending in the NHL last season despite inking free agent Joonas Korpisalo to a five-year $20MM deal last summer. The goaltender position has been a revolving door for the Senators since veteran Craig Anderson left town as a free agent back in 2020.
  • Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic is reporting that it seems likelier than not that Detroit Red Wings forward Patrick Kane will go to free agency on July 1st, but he believes that Kane’s agent Pat Brisson will talk to the Red Wings in the next couple of weeks. Kane took a one-year deal for $2.75MM this past season and will be looking for more term on his next contract after posting solid numbers coming off hip resurfacing surgery. Kane dressed in 50 games for Detroit this season, tallying 20 goals and 27 assists while averaging a career-low in ice time at just 18:23 per game.

Senators Add Rob DiMaio To Hockey Operations Department

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The Senators have hired Rob DiMaio as their director of player personnel and director of professional scouting, per a team announcement Tuesday.

DiMaio, 56, spent the last two seasons with the Ducks as an assistant general manager and GM of their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. He left the organization last week for personal reasons, now returning to his home north of the border.

Before his brief stint in Southern California, DiMaio served in various front-office roles with the Blues from 2008 to 2022. After beginning as a pro scout, he was promoted to St. Louis’ director of professional scouting in 2012 and later their director of player personnel in 2015.

In conjunction with GM Doug Armstrong, DiMaio’s decision-making and scouting helped the Blues assemble the roster that won them their first Stanley Cup in franchise history in 2019. That was also DiMaio’s first championship after going without a Cup during his 17-year, 894-game playing career with the Bruins, Flyers, Hurricanes, Lightning, Islanders, Rangers and Stars.

DiMaio will now report to Senators GM and president of hockey operations Steve Staios. Ottawa has not had a dedicated director of professional scouting since longtime executive Jim Clark, who remains with the team in a pro scouting role but stepped down from the directorship after the 2021-22 season.

Senators Notes: Pinto, Goaltending, Zub

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The Senators and Shane Pinto were trying to work out a new contract before the center suited up for the United States at the Worlds, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch.  However, there seems to be a sizable gap in negotiations.  Garrioch adds that both sides are interested in working out a longer-term agreement (five or six years) but there’s a big gap in the money.  Pinto’s camp is reportedly seeking around $5MM per season on a deal like that while Ottawa is coming in considerably lower.

The 23-year-old missed the first half of the season after being suspended for violating the league’s gambling policy which resulted in him accepting a contract for the pro-rated league minimum of $775K upon his return.  Pinto wound up being productive for the Sens down the stretch, notching nine goals and 18 assists while logging over 18 minutes a night, solid second-line numbers.  Pinto isn’t yet arbitration-eligible so it’s possible that these talks could drag out as they did a year ago before the suspension came down.

More on Ottawa from Garrioch:

  • The Senators shopped goaltender Joonas Korpisalo at the trade deadline but unsurprisingly, there wasn’t any interest. It was a rough first year in Ottawa for the 30-year-old who posted a 3.27 GAA and a .890 SV% in 55 games, hardly the return they were hoping for after giving him a five-year, $20MM contract back in July.  Considering how the season went, a trade seems unlikely without them either retaining money or adding a sweetener so it might be easier for them to move the final year and $2.75MM of Anton Forsberg’s contract.
  • Garrioch added that Ottawa kicked the tires on acquiring Linus Ullmark from the Bruins at the trade deadline. It’s widely believed that Boston will ultimately move Ullmark over the summer so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the teams rekindle discussions on that front in the coming weeks.  Ullmark has one year left on his contract which carries a $5MM price tag and had a 2.57 GAA with a .915 SV% in 40 games this season after taking home the Vezina Trophy in 2022-23.
  • Defenseman Artem Zub is believed to be a possible trade target this summer according to Garrioch. The 28-year-old has been a steady presence in their top four in recent years and is coming off a career-best 25 points in 69 games.  Signed at a $4.6MM price tag through 2026-27, he’d make sense as a trade target for several teams if GM Steve Staios opts to shake up his back end without moving his top pieces.

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