Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup – March 23, 2025
The latest coaching speculation plus updates on the Wild and Sharks in the Sunday NHL Rumor Roundup.
FOUR COACHES COULD BE ON THE HOT SEAT
THE HOCKEY NEWS: Adam Proteau believes four current NHL head coaches could be searching for new jobs in the offseason.
Andrew Brunette of the Nashville Predators could be among the job hunters following his club’s disappointing performance after a summer of notable free-agent additions like Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: General manager Barry Trotz deserves some of the blame, as he’s the one who made those big signings last summer. Nevertheless, the coach suffers for management’s mistakes and Brunette could take the fall here.
Lindy Ruff’s return to the Buffalo Sabres failed to reverse their fortunes. The Sabres are poised to extend their league-record playoff drought to 14 games.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Bringing back Ruff was a mistake. His style isn’t suited for the type of team the Sabres have constructed.
Joe Sacco took over as Boston Bruins head coach on an interim basis following the firing of Jim Montgomery last November. The Bruins continued to slide on Sacco’s watch and are five points out of a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe also believes Sacco will be replaced as head coach. He expects he’ll be retained as part of the coaching staff if ownership retains Don Sweeney as general manager and Cam Neely as team president.
Mike Sullivan has been the bench boss of the Pittsburgh Penguins for a decade. However, they could decide to part ways with Mike Sullivan as they continue retooling their roster.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Sullivan has done the best he can with the rosters Dubas and his predecessor have given him. However, the Penguins are transitioning toward younger talent and Dubas could decide to shake things up behind the bench.
New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette could be added to this list. He guided the Blueshirts to the Presidents’ Trophy in 2023-24 but has sometimes looked lost seeking solutions for this season’s on-ice woes. It hasn’t helped that management has been shaking up the roster in the trade market since December. Nevertheless, they could decide that a coaching change is in order.
WILL THE WILD BE BIG SPENDERS THIS SUMMER?
NHL.COM: Dan Rosen reports Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin has his eyes on the offseason and what could be available to his club once the buyout charges for Ryan Suter and Zach Parise go down.
The combined cost of buying out Suter and Parise is over $14.7 million against the Wild’s cap. However, that cost drops to $1.66 million annually for the next three seasons, giving them a projected cap space of $21.8 million for 2025-26.
Rosen warns that doesn’t mean the opening of the 2025 free-agent market on July 1 will be like Christmas Day for the Wild. They must keep in mind the significant raise required to re-sign superstar Kirill Kaprizov before his eligibility for unrestricted free-agent status next year. Young center Marco Rossi is a restricted free agent and will seek a significant raise coming off his entry-level contract.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Guerin could make a cost-cutting move to free up extra cap space if he wants to go big-game hunting this summer. If not, he could content himself with affordable depth signings to improve his club’s chances of a deep playoff run next year.
SHARKS MUST ADDRESS GOALIE DEPTH THIS SUMMER
THE MERCURY NEWS: Curtis Pashelka observed the San Jose Sharks must improve their goaltending depth and defensive play. They have the league’s worst goals-against per game (3.64 as of March 23) while their .890 save percentage is 30th.
Rookie goaltender Yaroslav Askarov is the only Sharks goalie under contract next season. Veteran Alexandar Georgiev is UFA-eligible this summer and has been inconsistent this season, though he cannot bear sole responsibility for the Sharks’ defensive woes. Rookie Georgi Romanov is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Pickings for goalies are slim in this summer’s free-agent market. The notables include New Jersey’s Jake Allen, Carolina’s Frederik Andersen, former Sharks netminder Vitek Vanecek, Calgary’s Dan Vladar, Detroit’s Alex Lyon and Los Angeles’ David Rittich.
Trade options aren’t much better. John Gibson of the Anaheim Ducks is the most noteworthy having frequently surfaced in trade rumors over the last two years. He’s signed through 2026-27 with an average annual value of $6.4 million. Gibson also has a 10-team no-trade list, which could put the Sharks out of the running.
In regards to Sullivan, does Mcavoy really want to play for his father in law?
McAvoy will do what he’s told and like it.
LOL
I’m sure he’ll be absolutely fine with it
Really ? Has he been perfect no . Personally would have loved Demidov over levshunov . However he took over a Stanbo disaster and has worked miracles . Prospect pool is top 2-3 in the NHL . Defence is set for the future . Not rushing players out of desperation into the NHL to early and leaving them mentally , physically and emotional mature in the minors where they should be . The talent that he drafted at forward will start coming in waves as of next year . Goalie depth is four deep as of now . Cleared up cap space for this off season over 40 million in cap space for 2025-26 . What more could he do other than get on skates and score goals himself ?? And they are set ting up with trade and draft ammunition with multiple first and second round picks in the next two drafts . Stay the course the improvment will come as of next season and by 2027 playoffs and Stanley Cup contenders for a decade . Look at all the teams that went into a rebuild /retool and rushed it just to regress and implode . ( Rangers , Calgary , flyers buffalo )
Nothing will change in BUF until they hire an established team president.
I will disagree on bringing back Ruff was a mistake. The Sabres need an experienced head coach committed to winning and holding players accountable for underachieving.
The Sabres’ problems are a general manager who failed to bring in top talent and keeping bad assistant coaches from previous head coaches who have overstayed their welcome.
You need a team president who is experienced at creating a winning atmosphere. Everyone below the new team prez needs to be evaluated.
Toronto St Pats:
A president of hockey operations is past due for the Sabres. Business and hockey are two important operations that should operate separate of each other.
Two assistant coaches that could see their employments terminated are Matt Ellis and Marty Wilford. Ellis is better suited as a player development coach. Wilford, a former defenseman, cannot coach defense.
Trotz is in over his head as a GM and should have stuck to coaching or retired. He should be let go and have a GM give Brunette a shot to coach a better team.
Adams and Ruff need to go, but with the Pegulas owning that franchise, they will never succeed. Franchise is cursed
Don’t like what the Rangers or Canucks have done with their teams, they both got rid of a lot of talent and depth from the teams, and both are shells of recent teams. Both teams need a reset, but will the current administrations be able to do that? I’d have more optimism with Rutherford/Allvin than Drury, who seems to make moves just for the sake of it
Most everyone thought Barry’s FA additions would work out. His other moves were not stellar, but not terrible either. Nd to give him another year, and have him appoint a new coach.
Agree.
The guy has a history of success.
Before the start of the season the Preds looked like they’d do more. They didn’t. It happens.
New coach and then see.
same with Sweeney, he is in over his head. I’ve replace Neely/Sweeney but is the B’s ownership afraid of getting rid of the franchise’s legacy players and face backlash?
Sullivan should stay. Dubas hasn’t done much except that Drury way of making moves for the sake of it, he should be re-evaluated. If he can’t get rid of Karlsson and Malkin this offseason then he should be on the hotseat
Malkin going nowhere. He controls the situation and said he wants to retire penguin. Plus he’s a decent not great 2 center making appropriate cap hit. Karlson should hopefully want to go.
Askarov is the Sharks goalie going forward. His injury was the reason he wasn’t called up at the deadline. Sharks need some defensive help, and vet or two could help. They could also use a PP QB.
They are on a good plan going forward, but need to transition from always trading players by the deadline to one that keeps players long term. if they go with that they’ll be just fine
Sharks can have Gustafson from Detroit to be PPQB, for next to nothing……..I hope Y doesn’t add a 2nd to Gus. 😜
and no mention of the brewing disaster in Chicago? the franchise center getting frustrated with a terrible roster, and no vision from management, other than to collect players for trade for picks every year? that needs to be watched before it turns into the Hawks needing to trade Bedard. They need an experienced GM (or hockey operations VP) to steer the ship. Stop collecting rejects in free agency and actually add to the roster (for example a Tyler Toffoli for the Sharks)
Really ? Has he been perfect no . Personally would have loved Demidov over levshunov . However he took over a Stanbo disaster and has worked miracles . Prospect pool is top 2-3 in the NHL . Defence is set for the future . Not rushing players out of desperation into the NHL to early and leaving them mentally , physically and emotional mature in the minors where they should be . The talent that he drafted at forward will start coming in waves as of next year . Goalie depth is four deep as of now . Cleared up cap space for this off season over 40 million in cap space for 2025-26 . What more could he do other than get on skates and score goals himself ?? And they are set ting up with trade and draft ammunition with multiple first and second round picks in the next two drafts . Stay the course the improvment will come as of next season and by 2027 playoffs and Stanley Cup contenders for a decade . Look at all the teams that went into a rebuild /retool and rushed it just to regress and implode . ( Rangers , Calgary , flyers buffalo )
Lyle, you can probably add UFA goalie Anton Forsberg to the slim list of available goalies, as there is little point in keeping him in the Ottawa system. For one thing, his and Hamonics expiring cap hits add almost $4 mil to the Staios war-chest to go along with the $4.5 mil increase in the cap and whatever the difference will be between Giroux’s expiring $6.5 mil and whatever new (slightly lower) cap hit for which he re-signs (and he most likely will remain), plus the fact that Merilainen has earned the backup slot to Ullmark heading into next season.
Staois has the Sens on the right track. Green has worked out for implementing a sound defensive structure, which they needed. Ullmark has also helped as an experienced vet goalie the team needed
With those slim pickins I gain the faintest of hopes that Jarry might be tradable. Or at least Ned. Gotta clean up the goalie backlog so musharev can get his reps.
Working against a Jarry deal is his modified no-trade clause and the 12-team no-go list on top of that $5.375,000 per cap hit which has 3 more years to go after this. They’d have a better chance of dealing Nedeljkovic who has no such protection and a $2,500,000 cap hit that only has a year to run.
That and the fact he’s got more holes in him than a block of Swiss Cheese.
Nedjelkovic should br movesble with just s 2nd and B prospect as sweetener
In fact, I doubt UFAs Nick Cousins, Highmore and Gaudette (expiring $1,550,000 combined cap hits) will be back either, so with those, Forsberg’s and Hamonic’s combined cap hits of $4,650,000 + the increased cap of $4.5 mil + likely something in the vicinity of a $1.5 mil saving on a new deal for Giroux, Staios should have around $12.2 mil with which to easily re-up expiring RFAs Zetterlund ($1,450,000), Kleven (916,667), Matinpalo ($775,000) and Merilainen ($820,000) – totaling $3,961,667 and likely costing just over $5.5 to re-up – leaving him with around $7 mil to either do a bit of UFA shopping or engage in a trade (in which case could also involve a salaried player going the other way, depending upon the magnitude of the deal.
No point in standing pat in the off-season, even if they DO make the playoffs this year.
GeorgeO,you’re right you can t stand Pat. Old coaches saying,you’re never the same player or team from year to year. You either get better or you get worse!
I think Terry Pegula’s taste for paying coaches and G.M.’s he has fired all these years is waning. I don’t think he would have allowed Adams to make the Cozens-Norris trade if Adams is coming back. I do think there will be a revamping of the assistant coaches for next season. Otherwise its the same old same old for this old Sabres fan.
Sully to Bruins,
1)replaced by one of Gallant. Quenville, Boudreau;
2)plus getting rid of the likes of Hayes, Accairi, Grzylcyck; Nieto
AND
3)trading Karllsson (@50%); Rust (50%); and Rackell (no retention) to different teams to net 3 cuurent young NHLers; AND 3 NHL-ready prospects;
AND
4)Using a couple of picks + Nedjelkovic to get a back-up upgrade;
AND
5)signing ZERO UFAs that will be 29 or older by December 31st this year:
Would result in Pens in playoffs next year; AND lowering cash commitments (appeasing ownership)
1,2,4,5 fully in Dubas’ controll
3 certainly attainable by Dubas
Karlsson 50% retained is attractive and an easy sell.
5.75 million cap hit for 2 years
4.5 million pay next year.
3.75 million pay second and final year.
Assuming that the signing bonuses are included in the retention of course.
That’s very affordable for a RD with offense in him. #10 points. #15 goals.
Terrible +/- but so do all the Pens.
correction, cap hit would only be $5 million, I forgot that San Jose retains $1.5 million/yr.
After his SB is paid (on July 1st); Pens cash owing to him is just $10 M for final 2 years
Retaining 50% of their (Pens’) commitment; final team gets him at $5 M Cap hit but EFFECTIVELY only $2.5 M cash per year ($5 M cash over 2 years; $1.74 M in 25/26 and $3.26 M in 26/27)