The New Jersey Devils hired Hall of Famer Mark Recchi to serve as an assistant coach under new bench boss Lindy Ruff, the team announced Tuesday.
For the past three seasons, Recchi was an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he was largely responsible for working with their power play. Over the past three seasons, the Penguins rank third in the league with a 23.8% success rate with the man advantage.
"We are extremely excited to add Mark to our coaching staff, where his experience as a player, coach, and in development will be invaluable," Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said. "His work with the power play and managing personnel in Pittsburgh are skills that will benefit our group moving forward. Mark's leadership, communication abilities, patience, and presence will be integral for the growth of our young core."
Prior to Recchi's role as assistant coach in Pittsburgh, he served as the team's development coach for three seasons. He worked with Penguins prospects in the minors, juniors, and college.
The NHL has moved the 2020 Draft ahead a couple of days, with the first round now scheduled for Oct. 6 and the remainder of the event taking place Oct. 7, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
In the NHL's return-to-play plan, they had targeted Oct. 9 and 10 for the draft. The festivities were supposed to take place in Montreal in June, but the pandemic pushed it back.
Early October is jam-packed for the NHL - in addition to the draft, the Stanley Cup Final's conclusion and the opening of free agency are also at beginning of the month.
The New York Rangers won the draft lottery in August, securing the right to select first overall with the expectation to take No. 1 prospect Alexis Lafreniere. The phenom dominated the QMJHL and world juniors this past season.
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Round 3 started on a winning note, with the Stars (+150) coming through for us in Game 1.
Let's keep the momentum going into Game 2 of the conference finals.
Dallas Stars (+140) @ Vegas Golden Knights (-160)
Not to be that guy, but what I wrote about this contest in my Game 1 preview rang very true Sunday night. I said the Golden Knights weren't scoring enough for all the offense they've been creating - most expected goals for in the playoffs - and that was a real concern against the Stars, who excel at suppressing offense. Vegas is the only Western Conference team with more expected goals than actual ones in the postseason, and if the Knights are going to win this series, they have to convert chances to goals at a much higher clip.
Well, my prediction was essentially Game 1's script - the Knights only mustered up five high-danger scoring chances and 1.4 expected goals for. Both are new lows for them in these playoffs, with their previous lows being 10 and 2.29. This postseason, the Knights have averaged 13.4 high-danger chances and 3.36 expected goals for per 60 minutes, painting a clear picture of just how low the first game's totals are.
Having come through back-to-back series against the defensively challenged Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks, the first game against a Dallas team capable of playing a suffocating defensive game was a reality check for Vegas. I'd expect a strong response from the Knights in Game 2, but this price is still too high for me to pass up.
Pick: Stars (+140)
New York Islanders (+160) @ Tampa Bay Lightning (-180)
The Lightning remain my Stanley Cup favorite, but what happened in Game 1 against the Islanderswas an anomaly. New York was coming off an emotional Game 7 win,while Tampa Bay had the chance to rest and focus.
And it didn't help that the Islanders couldn't buy a save - Thomas Greiss let in three goals on nine shots before Semyon Varlamov allowed five on 25 in relief. That's basically how the Lightning scored eight goals, despite a mark of just 2.87expected goals for.Oh, and the insane number of shots hitting the net didn't hurt, either.
TB went 58:53 without missing the net. First (and only) miss with 67 seconds to go (Paquette).
The series opener wasn't nearly as lopsided as the score suggests, so we can expect to see a much tighter contest in Game 2.Tampa managed just 1.46 expected goals for at five-on-five, so it's not like the Isles were defensively bad Monday, but Barry Trotz will demand a stifling effort in response to the 8-2 loss. With some better goaltending - because it can't possibly get any worse - the second matchup should better represent this series going forward.
Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.
Jon Cooper isn't expecting another blowout victory for his Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final.
"You've got to take advantage of a tired team," the head coach told the assembled media, including Fox Sports Florida, after the Lightning rolled to an 8-2 win over the New York Islanders in Game 1 on Monday. "Let's be honest. This is a one-off."
New York eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 7 of its second-round series on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Lightning finished off the Boston Bruins in Game 5 of their matchup on Aug. 31.
Lightning stars Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov both racked up five points in Tampa Bay's Game 1 win. Point scored twice, including a dazzling first-period marker, but he downplayed his squad's dominance postgame.
"Let's be honest, we got a lot of bounces tonight," Point said, according to Bryan Burns of the team's website. "Things went well for us. We can't hang our hat on that."
Point may be on to something. Despite the six-goal margin, the possession and scoring-chance figures show the game was more evenly contested than it appeared.
Kucherov's goal moved him past Martin St. Louis as Tampa Bay's all-time playoff goals leader.
McDonagh's marker chased New York's starting goaltender Thomas Greiss late in the first period. The German netminder allowed three goals on nine shots before Semyon Varlamov replaced him. Varlamov didn't fare much better, stopping 20 of the 25 shots he faced.
The honor is bestowed annually upon the player who "best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey," with the Professional Hockey Writers Association voting on the award. Dallas Stars defenseman Stephen Johns and Philadelphia Flyers forward Oskar Lindblom were the other two finalists.
Ryan left the Senators to enter the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program in November. He rejoined the club in late February and notched a hat trick in his first home game following his return.
The 33-year-old later revealed he had struggled with alcohol abuse.
Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner won the Masterton Trophy last season while with the New York Islanders.
“We will be seeing what the open market has to offer,” his representative, Todd Diamond, told The Athletic's Adam Vingan on Monday.
When asked if Granlund has ruled out rejoining the Predators, Diamond declined to answer directly, instead reiterating that his client won't re-sign before free agency begins.
Granlund will be one of the top free-agent forwards. The 28-year-old struggled after the Minnesota Wild traded him to Nashville in 2018-19, and he remained inconsistent at the start of this season.
However, the Finnish veteran raised his game when the Predators hired John Hynes to replace Peter Laviolette as their head coach in January. Granlund posted only six goals and 14 points across the first 35 games of the campaign under Laviolette, but he led the club with 11 goals in the 28 regular-season contests following Hynes' hiring. His average ice time also rose from 16:45 to 19:07 after the coaching change.
The Wild traded Granlund to the Predators for forward Kevin Fiala in February 2019. Granlund spent the first six seasons of his career with Minnesota, which dealt him to Nashville during his seventh. The Wild drafted him ninth overall in 2010.
Granlund is in the final campaign of a three-year, $17.25-million contract he inked with Minnesota in summer 2017.