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Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag

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The first round is complete and many teams are facing significant questions about their future. How do you bounce back from another first-round exit? Which managers and coaches are now on the hot seat? What will happen to those deadline rentals that were unable to provide any postseason push? The offseason is right around the corner and things are starting to get exciting.

With that in mind, it’s time to run another edition of the PHR Mailbag. Last time, it was split into two parts. The first included a discussion about Ryan Ellis’ future in Philadelphia, Evander Kane’s ongoing grievance with the Sharks, and touched on a potential Kevin Fiala offer sheet. The second looked at Filip Forsberg’s pending free agency, the mess that the Golden Knights find themselves in, and some buyout candidates for this summer.

You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below. The mailbag will run on the weekend and we will try to answer as many questions as possible.

Rick Bowness Will Not Return As Dallas Stars Coach

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The Dallas Stars are the latest team to be on the hunt for a new head coach. They have officially announced that Rick Bowness, along with assistants Derek Laxdal, John Stevens, and Todd Nelson will not be back next season. Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News confirms goaltending coach Jeff Reese, video coach Kelly Forbes, and assistant video coach Matt Rodell will remain in their positions.

Bowness released a statement explaining the mutual parting:

After careful consideration with my wife Judy, we feel it’s best to step away and allow the organization the opportunity to pursue a different direction at the head coaching position. I’d like to thank all the passionate fans and the dedicated staff for their support and hard work in my time here. It has been an honor for me, and my family, to represent the Stars and the city of Dallas.

The 67-year-old coach has been behind an NHL bench more than any other coach in history, first becoming an assistant in 1984 with the Winnipeg Jets. His near 40-year coaching career in the NHL included stops in Winnipeg, Boston, Ottawa, New York, Phoenix, Vancouver, Tampa Bay, and Dallas, while also taking him through Sherbrooke, Moncton, and Maine in the AHL.

While his statement doesn’t confirm retirement, it does mean his time with Dallas is over, and the Stars will need to immediately begin the search for a new head coach.

After taking over during the 2019-20 season, Bowness took Dallas all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, and had an overall regular season record of 89-62-25 in parts of three seasons. The team was defeated in seven games in the first round this year.

Kevin Weekes of ESPN broke the news on Twitter. 

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Update On Barry Trotz

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One of the hottest free agents in the NHL right now is head coach Barry Trotz, who parted ways with the New York Islanders earlier this month. Trotz had already been linked to the Winnipeg Jets, and recently rumors had emerged that he would interview for the Philadelphia Flyers job on Friday.

It doesn’t appear as though those rumors are true, though Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now tweets that Trotz will meet with Philadelphia brass “soon.” Notably, they weren’t the only teams to reach out, as Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet reports that six to seven teams have already contacted the Trotz camp. Kypreos adds that teams believe the price tag will be in the $6MM range, more than the $4MM he was earning per year with the Islanders. Trotz had one year remaining on his deal when he was relieved of his duties.

Of course, the Flyers are also paying Alain Vigneault $5MM/year through the 2023-24 season, meaning committing to Trotz as well would be an incredibly expensive proposition. When team chairman Dave Scott said that he was giving general manager Chuck Fletcher a “blank check” to fix the group, most expected that to mean spending big on free agent players; perhaps it will also mean on a head coach.

Trotz is one of many experienced bench bosses on the market, and was something of a surprise addition after taking the Islanders to two consecutive Conference Finals, before missing the playoffs this season. Since winning the Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals in 2018, he has generally been regarded as one of the most effective coaches in the league.

Columbus Blue Jackets Extend Joonas Korpisalo

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After a bad year and a serious surgery, Joonas Korpisalo isn’t going anywhere. The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed the pending free agent goaltender to a one-year contract extension for the 2022-23 season. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports that the deal is worth $1.3MM.

Korpisalo, 28, underwent hip surgery in early April, ending his season after just 22 appearances. Those games also went poorly, with the netminder posting an .877 save percentage and a whopping 4.15 goals-against average. That followed a 2020-21 season that also ended with disastrous numbers, making the extension surprising at this juncture.

General manager Jarmo Kekalainen released a statement to explain:

Joonas has been a consummate pro during his Blue Jackets career and just two years ago was coming off a season in which he was selected to play in the All-Star Game and had a record-setting performance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. His 2021-22 season was derailed by injury, but we fully believe he will return to form, and are happy that he will continue to be a part of our team.

Still, the Blue Jackets already have their starter Elvis Merzlikins in place, and Korpisalo is taking a serious pay cut on this new contract. He made $3.4MM this season and carried a cap hit of $2.8MM, meaning he’ll cost the team a relatively small amount. With Daniil Tarasov also a pending restricted free agent and Jet Greaves not ready for the NHL, the team did need a second netminder.

Whether he can come back from injury and establish himself as a legitimate option in the NHL again remains to be seen. Four of Korpisalo’s seven seasons in the NHL have finished with a save percentage under .900, and the big netminder has a career number of .902. The team has continued to show plenty of trust in him but has rarely been rewarded, with his best season coming way back in 2015-16 when he posted a .920 save percentage as a rookie.

Of course, there was also that performance in the 2020 bubble playoffs that showed just how much potential there is in the 6’3″ frame. Korpisalo posted a .941 over nine games, including an 85-save performance against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a game that went to a fifth overtime period. If that’s the goaltender they’re signing, $1.3MM will be a huge bargain. If not, this could be his last chance in Columbus.

Morning Notes: Nylander, Sweden, Dubois

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The Swedish national team is getting a nice boost for the rest of the World Championship, as Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander will join for the event. Nylander last appeared at the tournament in 2019, where he scored an incredible 18 points in eight games, two years after being named MVP in his first appearance.

Nylander is coming off his best season in the NHL. In 81 games, he racked up 34 goals and 80 points, both career highs, and was a point-per-game player in the team’s first-round loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Despite all that, his name continues to surface in trade speculation as the Maple Leafs have been unable to find any semblance of postseason success with this group.

  • There’s going to be an interesting development in Swedish women’s hockey for next season, as the SDHL’s second tier will introduce a pilot program allowing certain body checks. Greg Wyshynski of ESPN details the new rules, which are based on a study that suggests with increased physical play, the players have actually increased their on-ice awareness, resulting in fewer concussions. In international play, body checking continues to be banned in the women’s game.
  • One of the more interesting names to watch at the Worlds right now is Pierre-Luc Dubois, who is playing for Canada despite not having an NHL contract for next season. If his hope was to show off a little bit more before a contract negotiation, it’s going well, as he is tied for the tournament lead with four goals and leads Canada with six points. Dubois, 23, is an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent this summer and will be due a qualifying offer of $6MM just for the Jets to retain his rights.

2022 King Clancy Finalists Announced

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After revealing the 32 nominees earlier this month, the NHL has announced the finalists for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, annually presented to “the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.” Last year’s winner was Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators.

The selection committee, a group of senior NHL executives led by Gary Bettman and Bill Daly, applies the following criteria to determine a winner:

  • Clear and measurable positive impact on the community
  • Investment of time and resources
  • Commitment to a particular cause or community
  • Commitment to the League’s community initiatives
  • Creativity of programming
  • Use of influence; engagement of others

The finalists this year are Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks, Darnell Nurse of the Edmonton Oilers, and P.K. Subban of the New Jersey Devils.

In reality, all of this year’s nominees deserve recognition for their efforts, and picking a single winner doesn’t change the impact that each player has. Like usual, the award will have a new winner this year, as none of the three have taken it home previously. There has only ever been one player to be awarded the King Clancy multiple times; Henrik Sedin won it in 2016 on his own, and split it with his brother Daniel Sedin in 2018.

Subban has been a finalist three times previously, including each of the past two seasons. Other active winners include Patrice Bergeron, Nick Foligno, Jason Zucker, and Matt Dumba. You can read more about each of their community efforts here.

Dean Kukan To Sign In Switzerland

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Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Dean Kukan is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and he isn’t expected back. While playing for Switzerland at the World Championship, Kukan told SRF that he will return home next season to play in the National League, though wouldn’t confirm which team.

Kukan, 28, was a regular in the Blue Jackets lineup the last few seasons, playing in 41 games this year. Signed to a two-year, $3.3MM deal in 2020, he would have entered the market as an interesting depth option that has more than 150 games of NHL experience. Still, even the Blue Jackets never iced him much, with Kukan averaging just over 16 minutes a night this season, and he provides almost no offensive upside with 30 career points.

It will be interesting to see how long his new contract is, and if it will essentially end his career in North America. Given he will turn 29 in July and obviously wants to return home, this season may have been the last we’ll see him in the NHL.

Undrafted, he came up through the ZSC Lions program before heading to Sweden back in 2011, meaning this will be quite the homecoming for the 2016 Calder Cup champion.

East Notes: Flyers, Lazar, Rakell

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The Flyers are expected to interview Barry Trotz for their vacant head coaching position on Friday, reports Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now.  Philadelphia is among the teams looking for a new bench boss after opting not to give interim coach Mike Yeo the full-time job and with Chuck Fletcher looking for someone to turn things around quickly, Trotz’s track record certainly is appealing.  Trotz’s former team, the Islanders, made the playoffs in each of his first three seasons while making the Eastern Conference Final in two of those while his defensive tactics would certainly help to shore up a team that allowed 298 goals this season.  Philadelphia certainly isn’t the only team interested in the 59-year-old, however, as Trotz interviewed in Winnipeg earlier this week.

More from the Eastern Conference:

  • Bruins center Curtis Lazar told reporters, including Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic (subscription link) that there is mutual interest in signing a new contract. The 27-year-old had eight goals and eight assists in 70 games this season while chipping in with 186 hits and is the type of energetic depth player that should garner some interest on the open market this summer.  Lazar will be coming off a deal that paid him $800K and he should be able to get a little bit more than that at least either from Boston or someone else in free agency.
  • Penguins winger Rickard Rakell told Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he’s definitely open to re-signing with Pittsburgh for next season although no contract talks have been held just yet. The 29-year-old did well after being acquired from Anaheim at the trade deadline, collecting 13 points in 19 games during the regular season before being injured and missing most of the first round.  Rakell is coming off a deal that paid him $3.8MM over each of the last six seasons and while he hasn’t come close to matching the 34 goals and 35 assists he had in 2017-18, he should be able to land a bit of a higher price tag on the open market this summer.

Offseason Checklist: New Jersey Devils

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The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t playoff-bound plus some that were eliminated early in the playoffs.  It’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at New Jersey.

While the Devils made a big splash last summer when they handed Dougie Hamilton the biggest UFA contract, they weren’t picked by many to contend for a playoff spot this season.  That said, not many expected them to struggle as much as they did either.  They’re a team that’s viewed as being on the rise with a good young nucleus so the focus now needs to be on strengthening their squad to get back into postseason contention which is a big part of their summer checklist.

Defensive Decisions

GM Tom Fitzgerald has a few decisions to make this summer when it comes to his back end.  For starters, Damon Severson and Ryan Graves will be entering the final year of their respective contracts next season and both will be UFA-eligible next summer.  Severson had a career year this season and was their top defender in terms of production and playing time.  That has him in line for a sizable raise on his current $4.167MM AAV.  But with Hamilton (another right-shot rearguard) locked up at $9MM per year through 2027-28, can they afford another high-priced blueliner on that side?  If a deal can’t be reached, then he becomes a trade candidate.

Graves’ situation is a little trickier.  He quietly had a career year offensively and didn’t look out of place in his first season with New Jersey.  But his track record is a lot smaller; he has just three full NHL seasons under his belt and two of those were shortened due to COVID.  He’s trending towards a raise on his $3.33MM AAV but has he shown enough to be part of their long-term plans?  If so, Fitzgerald will likely want to try to work on an extension once he’s eligible to sign one in July.

The other decision they’ll need to make pertains to P.K. Subban.  While it’s likely that he won’t be retained, how are they going to redistribute his $9MM cap hit across the roster?  They have the ability to try to swing big and add another impact blueliner or try to use some of that to cover extensions for one or both of Severson and Graves.  Alternatively, if Fitzgerald opted to reallocate the bulk of that money to his forward group, that could bolster their forward unit.  With the team being near the middle of the pack in that regard this season, a big boost up front could propel them closer to the top ten in that department.

Re-Sign Bratt

If someone was to ask who New Jersey’s top scorer was this season, it’d be understandable the first name that came to mind was either Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier, their core building blocks down the middle.  But that wouldn’t be the right answer.  No, the leading scorer was winger Jesper Bratt, a player who more than doubled his previous career-high in points while putting up 26 goals and 47 assists in 76 games.  He picked a perfect time to do so as he’s set to be a restricted free agent this summer with arbitration eligibility.  As a result, a new deal for the 23-year-old will be high on Fitzgerald’s to-do list.

It won’t be an easy task, however, when it comes to finding the right number for a contract.  Is his 73-point season a sign of things to come or an outlier considering his other four NHL seasons had point totals between 30 and 35?  Bratt’s camp will certainly argue the former while the Devils will want to hedge against the latter.  Fitzgerald has stated his intention to get Bratt signed to a long-term contract and with only two RFA years remaining, it’s going to take a big number to get the winger to lock down the prime years of his career.  He’s coming off a deal that carried a $2.75MM AAV and a long-term deal that buys out some UFA seasons will almost certainly cost double that or more.

Add A Goalie

Two years ago, the Devils thought they had the right veteran partner for Mackenzie Blackwood when they signed Corey Crawford to a two-year deal.  However, he had a last-minute change of heart, retiring before training camp.  New Jersey went down a similar path last summer, inking Jonathan Bernier to a two-year deal.  But a hip injury limited him to just ten games this season and he may not be ready to start 2022-23.  In the meantime, Blackwood’s stock has fallen considerably from a goalie on the rise to one that couldn’t crack the top 50 in the NHL in SV% among qualifying goaltenders this season.

Generally speaking, carrying three goaltenders isn’t a desirable situation.  But for the Devils, it’s basically a necessity to hedge against Bernier’s injury and Blackwood’s struggles.  Nico Daws was okay in his first taste of NHL duty but he needs to be in the minors for another season or two so they’ll need to look outside the organization for that third netminder.

The UFA market would be the easiest way to go with players like Jack Campbell and Ville Husso representing upside buys, albeit risky ones with their limited track records.  Veterans like Marc-Andre Fleury and Braden Holtby are shorter-term options if their intention is to just shore the position up for now and look for the big fix later.  (Darcy Kuemper is also available but it’s hard to see the Devils being the winner for his services.)  With where New Jersey is in terms of still emerging from its rebuild though, will they be appealing to those free agents if they’re looking to win sooner than later?

The trade market is another option although that market won’t materialize for a while.  Alexandar Georgiev should be available but is he much of an upgrade (and would the Rangers move him to their rival)?  Washington may move one of their goalies if they can land a more proven veteran but again, they come with question marks.  Others will come available over the coming months but will they be considerable upgrades?  That’s far from a guarantee.

There aren’t any truly obvious choices here for New Jersey other than the fact they’ll need to add a goalie at some point over the next couple of months.

Add Win-Now Talent

While New Jersey opted to keep Lindy Ruff behind the bench (instead opting to make a couple of changes to their assistants), it’s fair to surmise he’ll be on a short leash to start next season.  At some point, they need to go from rebuilding to pushing for a playoff spot; they’ve only made the playoffs once in the last decade.  That switch should be flipped this summer.

They have a little over $25MM in cap space this summer with Bratt’s deal being the only one that will be a high-priced contract.  While they also need to re-sign Miles Wood and Pavel Zacha, they’ll have well above $10MM to spend on the open market or in trades which puts them in a much better position than most of the league.  While it’s understandable if they want to leave themselves a bit of a cap cushion heading into the season, they should be within a few million of the Upper Limit so there is definitely room to work with.

They have the ability to outbid teams in free agency as they did for Hamilton last summer.  They can take on a bad contract for cheap in a trade that would double as an upgrade on their roster.  The options are plentiful but by the time October rolls around, Fitzgerald needs to find a way to add multiple impact veteran players if the Devils are going to have a realistic shot of trying to get into the Wild Card hunt next season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Salary figures courtesy of CapFriendly.

International Notes: Semin, Leskinen, Wingerli

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Long-time NHL winger Alexander Semin has decided to soon hang up his skates, as the VHL in Russia announced that he’ll be retiring after playing in an All-Star game next month.  The 38-year-old had 517 points in 650 career NHL games over parts of 11 seasons, the last of which came in 2015-16 with Montreal who terminated his deal midseason.  Since then, the 38-year-old has played in Russia and had 19 points in 40 games with Vityaz Podolsk this season.  Semin will now begin his front office career as he has been named an advisor to Sokol Krasnoyarsk of the VHL.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Canadiens defenseman Otto Leskinen has signed a two-year deal with Frolunda, the SHL team announced. The 25-year-old opted to return overseas this season, signing with Jokerit in the KHL but left when the team suspended operations, signing with Tappara for the stretch run.  He’ll now try his hand in Sweden where he’ll effectively take the place of another Montreal prospect in Mattias Norlinder with Frolunda.  The Canadiens will retain Leskinen’s RFA rights through 2024 which is when his deal in Sweden expires so if he wants to try his hand again in North America at that time, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent.
  • Avalanche winger Andreas Wingerli is expected to return to Skelleftea of the SHL next season, reports Expressen’s Johan Svensson. Colorado signed the 24-year-old last June with an eye on giving him a chance to push for a spot at the back of the roster or play an impact role in the minors.  Neither really happened as Wingerli had just 22 points in 64 games with AHL Colorado this season, a performance that won’t have him pushing for an NHL spot next season.  The Avs can retain Wingerli’s NHL rights with a qualifying offer this summer.

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