Nashville and Washington Hire Head Coaches, Toronto’s New GM? Bad Contract Hunting, and Other Blackhawks Bullets

Another day without playoff hockey means we get a chance to focus on all of the other fun things going on in the world. And teams around the NHL that need a GM — not the Blackhawks — or a new head coach — also not the Blackhawks — can hurry up and make a hire between series. And we had a few roles filled yesterday, so let’s get after it.

  • In the Central Division, the Nashville Predators surprised a few people when they announced they had fired head coach John Hynes and assistant coach Dan Lambert on Tuesday. Wednesday morning they confirmed the reports from yesterday that Andrew Brunette will serve as their next head coach. Brunette, a former Blackhawk forward who was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award last year after taking over for Joel Quenneville in Florida, is the first hire of incoming new Preds GM Barry Trotz. Some media folks raised their eyebrows at how this played out, so we’ll see how things go for Trotz in the front office moving forward.
  • The Washington Capitals also filled a vacancy on Tuesday, announcing Spencer Carbery will be the team’s new head coach. Carbery has been a hot name in coaching searches over the past couple years; I profiled him when the Blackhawks were looking for their next head coach last summer. Now he’ll get to break into the NHL head coaching ranks in a hot mess surrounding Alex Ovechkin in Washington. Good luck!
  • The Maple Leafs appear to be closing in on hiring their next general manager as well. Darren Dreger reported last night that Toronto will hire former Flames GM Brad Treliving this week. A lot went wrong in Calgary this year, beginning last summer with Johnny Gaudreau leaving as a free agent and Matthew Tkachuk asking for a trade. But many thought Treliving had a terrific rebound summer, acquiring Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weeger in the Tkachuk trade and signing Nazem Kadri. He also gave his Jack Adams Award winning head coach, Darryl Sutter, an extension. Now Sutter’s unemployed, too, and Treliving is headed to Toronto. Life comes at you fast, kids.
  • One last note in the “Other Teams Making Changes” category this morning: my buddy Anthony Di Marco at The Fourth Period is reporting there have been more changes in Philly. According to Di Marco’s report, the Flyers have let senior advisor Mike O’Connell and John Riley go from their player development group. He also reports that Riley Armstrong, who had been an assistant coach for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, will be taking over as the Flyers’ director of player development.
  • I’ve gotta be honest: this tweet made me laugh. I know Canada is desperate for a Stanley Cup championship as a country, but the idea that the state of Florida has had as many teams in the Final as the country of Canada in the last 30 years is breathtaking.
  • Over at The Athletic, Scott Powers provided us with a list of names that might be in play as the Blackhawks look to use their draft capital and cap space to add additional assets — or improve their draft position — this summer. Powers names ten players with bad paper who might make sense for the Blackhawks in a trade.
  • A few come from Vancouver; we’ve talked about them before but I want to note that I have zero point zero interest in Tyler Myers, even as a buyout candidate. Keep it. Give be Brock Boeser and No. 11 for the No. 19 in a package and call it a day. Conor Garland is also intriguing, but Boeser is the bigger financial move for the Canucks and the better add for the Blackhawks in my opinion.
  • One other name Powers brings up that got my interest was Rangers’ forward Barclay Goodrow. The Rangers need to dump salary, and — at $3,641,667 cap hit for four more years — Goodrow is a player who probably is worth them moving after he’s score 24 goals in 161 games in two years in New York. He was part of two really good teams in Tampa, which contributed to him getting this lovely contract. With that term left on the deal, a team would need to be compensated fairly well to get him off their books.
  • The Seattle Thunderbirds have a must-win game tonight against Kamloops in the Blazers’ barn at the Memorial Cup. Win, and they’re in the championship game this weekend. Lose? Playing for bronze. Nolan Allan has scored a goal in both games of the tournament thus far for Seattle. We’ll see if he can keep the magic going tonight. Colton Dach has generated a lot of chances — he was credited with a team-leading seven shots on net in their second game — and Kevin Korchinski had an assist on Allan’s goal in the loss to Quebec.
  • Finally, let’s talk about things you don’t see every day. Oppo Taco Tuesday for Nick Madrigal? Let’s go!
  • written by

    Tab Bamford has been writing about the Chicago Blackhawks for almost two decades. He joined Bleacher Nation as the lead Blackhawks writer in May 2022. Tab is a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is the author of two books about the Blackhawks: "100 Things Blackhawks Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" (Triumph Books) and "Chicago Blackhawks: An Illustrated Timeline" (Reedy Press, 2021). Find him on Twitter/X/Instagram/Threads at @The1Tab

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