Latest news with #32Thoughts'
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NHL Insider Links Ducks With Former Joel Quenneville Star
NHL Insider Links Ducks With Former Joel Quenneville Star originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Anaheim Ducks are entering a crucial offseason following another year of missing the playoffs. Despite a big jump in the standings, Anaheim was still left on the outside looking in on everything. Advertisement But the team has already made some moves to rectify that, bringing in veteran head coach Joel Quenneville. Quenneville gives Anaheim an experienced leader behind the bench, and someone who understands what it takes to win at the highest level. While Quenneville is now with the team, the roster also needs a massive upgrade as well. Anaheim could be looking for both home-run hitters and sleeper, low-risk, high-reward players to help round out the team. One name that has made its way around NHL circles of late is that of former Chicago Blackhawks star Jonathan Toews. Toews is expected to make a comeback to the league after being away from the NHL for the last two seasons. And now the veteran is being linked with the Ducks, due to the connection that he has with Quenneville while in Chicago. Advertisement SportsNet's Elliotte Friedman weighed in on Friday's edition of his '32 Thoughts' podcast and named the Ducks as a potential fit. 'The reports are out now that Jonathan Toews is going to do his comeback next year,' Friedman said. 'I do wonder if Anaheim takes a shot at this. It makes a lot of sense.' Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) and right wing Patrick Kane (88) talk against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Chicago Blackhawks Guillory-Imagn Images Throughout his career, Toews has been great at winning faceoffs, putting up a 57 percent win rate. The Ducks were the worst faceoff team in the NHL last season, putting up a 44.6 percent rate. Toews could potentially help with this, while giving Anaheim a nice addition to the roster. In his last action on the ice, Toews scored 15 goals and 16 assists over 53 games. Advertisement While Toews isn't the same player that he once was, he could be a solid veteran to help show the young team the ropes. Anaheim could be a great place for him to go after his comeback, and he saw massive success under Quenneville in Chicago. Related: NHL Insider Drops Shocking Take on Maple Leafs' Mitch Marner Related: Ducks Being Linked With 3-Time All-Star After Joel Quenneville Hire This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on May 31, 2025, where it first appeared.
Chicago Tribune
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Are the Chicago Blackhawks closing in on a new coach? What to know about Jeff Blashill.
Former Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill has emerged as a top contender for the Chicago Blackhawks, according to reports. The buzz since the weekend has been that Blashill's hiring looked like a certainty, but Sportsnet journalist and 'Hockey Night in Canada' analyst Elliotte Friedman pushed back on that notion. 'I heard on Friday morning that he was in as the head coach of Chicago – he was going to be the guy,' he said on his '32 Thoughts' podcast Monday. However, 'I had a couple people tell me it's too soon. That would be premature. … There was a job interview he had somewhere else, but it got canceled, that's why it began to spread like wildfire that he was going to Chicago.' Still, Friedman called Blashill a 'very serious contender.' Blashill has a wide-ranging background. He has been a head coach and assistant with the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, United States Hockey League, American Hockey League, USA Hockey and National Hockey League. He coached the Red Wings for seven seasons from 2015-2022. And for the past three seasons, he was an assistant on Jon Cooper's staff with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Another known contender for the Hawks is Anders Sörensen, the current interim head coach. But however the job search turns out, Sörensen likely will remain with the organization in some capacity. Chicago Blackhawks draw the No. 3 pick in the NHL draft lottery — but whom to select?General manager Kyle Davidson said of Sörensen after the season in April, 'We hold great value in Anders. If the coaching search doesn't go in his favor, he's going to be part of our organization. We want him as part of the organization, no matter what. … 'We love Anders. He's been part of the organization for some time, he's a great hockey mind, he's a great person and those are the type of people we want in our organization.' Sörensen was promoted from Rockford IceHogs head coach to interim coach of the Hawks when the team fired Luke Richardson on Dec. 5. The Hawks finished 25-46-11 for the NHL's second-worst record.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
What a Mikko Rantanen Trade to the Ducks Could Look Like
The NHL trade deadline is just under one week away, set for noon PST on Friday, March 7. The biggest story heading into this pivotal week of the season is the circumstances surrounding Mikko Rantanen and the Carolina Hurricanes. Trevor Zegras Suspension May Have Been Costlier Than Anticipated The Canes acquired the 6-foot-4, 215-pound winger from the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 24 along with winger Taylor Hall in exchange for Martin Necas, Jack Drury, a 2025 second-round pick, and a 2026 fourth-round pick. Reports of the two sides working on an extension have surfaced, but have yet to come to terms. The growing sentiment is if the Canes don't feel with complete certainty they can get a deal done with Rantanen, that they'd be open to trading him ahead of Friday's deadline. In his recent '32 Thoughts' column and again on his '32 Thoughts' podcast, premier NHL insider Elliotte Friedman speculated if the Anaheim Ducks could be a team that could surprise and become involved in trade talks surrounding Rantanen. This was his blurb from his column last night: — Patrick Present (@PatrickCPresent) February 28, 2025 'So let's just say this was a team I looked at: Anaheim,' Friedman said on his podcast. 'Last summer, swing at Marchessault, don't get him. Swing at Stamkos, don't get him. What if they have a chance?' Friedman made very clear he was simply speculating, but a few of his previous speculations surrounding the Ducks have come true. In Sept., he speculated the Blues could be interested in acquiring Cam Fowler at some point during the season after they had engaged in talks earlier in the Summer. He also speculated the Ducks could target Greg Cronin while they were in the midst of their coaching search a month before he was hired in June, 2023. Rantanen is a superstar, detail-oriented NHL winger coming off of back-to-back 100-point seasons after winning his first Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2021-22. He's in the final year of a six-year contract that carries an AAV of $9.25 million. The Chicago Blackhawks retained half of Rantanen's salary for this season in the deal that sent him to Carolina. Nothing official, but I continue to believe that Carolina will roll the dice on Mikko Rantanen without an extension. A team would have to *really* step up and pay through the nose for an extension-less Rantanen to get it done. Seems unlikely we'll see that. — Cam Robinson (@Hockey_Robinson) March 2, 2025 Every team in the NHL could use a Mikko Rantanen. The Ducks are at the point in their rebuild where they have most of their young talent in the NHL and are taking a significant stride in the standings, even pushing for a playoff spot in early March. They have only so many spots on their depth chart to fit more young players pushing for NHL jobs in the coming years. If their goal is to eventually add a superstar talent, the time seems to be now to get them over the hump and to where they want to go. Rantanen's contract comes with a nine-team no-trade clause he submits before the start of each season. Given where the Ducks were expected to be this season, there's a good chance they're on his 'no' list. It may require a waive of his NTC if Anaheim indeed intends to acquire him this season. The driving reason behind the Canes even considering trading Rantanen revolves around their uncertainty he'd re-sign with the organization. The Ducks would likely want a guarantee of some sort of his intention to sign a long-term contract with the club. The benefit of trading for Rantanen versus attempting to sign him as an unrestricted free agent in the summer would be exclusive negotiating rights until July 1, and that the team that acquires him can offer him an eight-year deal instead of a seven-year deal, providing extra security should the player value it. The Ducks will enter the offseason with a roughly projected $30 million in cap space, so they are among the teams who could afford any asking price from Rantanen's camp. Assuming the Canes intend to trade Rantanen, the fact that he would come with an extension in place, and the pool of teams vying for his services could be up to 22 NHL clubs, the price of acquisition could be the largest NHL trade in recent memory. The Hurricanes are firmly in their Stanley Cup contending window while also having a large pipeline of talented prospects on the way. The Ducks have several remarkably talented players just beginning their NHL careers or soon will be who are cost-controlled and could be appealing to Carolina. Deciphering Rantanen's actual value in a deal like this is nearly impossible, but some comparable deals could be the trade that sent Jack Eichel to Vegas in 2021 or Matthew Tkachuk to Florida in 2022. If the Ducks enter trade talks with the Canes to bring Rantanen to Anaheim, they'll likely have to part with multiple talented, young players along with a high draft pick or two. It would hurt in the short term, but players like Mikko Rantanen aren't made available very often. Photo Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images Takeaways from the Ducks 6-3 Loss to the Blackhawks Penalty Issues have Reappeared for Ducks Since Return from Break
New York Times
22-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Is Mikko Rantanen a bad fit with Hurricanes? Only if you're not paying attention
The fact is, Mikko Rantanen doesn't really know whether he likes Raleigh yet. He's barely spent any time there. Four of his first six games with the Carolina Hurricanes were on the road, and then it was off to Montreal for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Sebastian Aho invited Rantanen over for dinner Thursday night, but he hasn't exactly had a good opportunity to drive his old friend and new teammate around town and show him all the best restaurants and hidden gems. Advertisement And no, Aho didn't spend all his time in Montreal and Boston giving Rantanen the hard sell on sticking around for, say, eight more seasons. 'I leave him alone, mostly,' Aho said. 'It's probably a big shock to get traded midseason, so I just try to be there as a friend and help him off the ice. If he needs help figuring out where to eat, I'll help with that. Normal stuff. It's quite a lot to jump to a new city and a new team.' It's been an eventful month for Rantanen, who's still just trying to get his bearings. That might be why he can only laugh when the idea of his being flipped again before the March 7 trade deadline — something Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman floated rather seriously on his '32 Thoughts' podcast Friday. 'I understand people are speculating and stuff like that, it's normal,' Rantanen told The Athletic later that day. 'I don't worry about that. I just try to focus on what happens on the ice.' Could Rantanen be moved again? Sure. He's still a pending unrestricted free agent, and the Hurricanes could lose him for nothing this summer if they can't re-sign him. It's why the Colorado Avalanche traded him to Carolina in the first place. And frankly, Rantanen hasn't produced the way he's expected to in Carolina. So, yeah, the Hurricanes could feasibly deal Rantanen away. But a better question is: Why would they? It's true Rantanen has just one goal and one assist in his first six games with the Hurricanes, far below the 100-point pace to which he's become accustomed. And the Hurricanes have lost four of the six games he's played in, including the last three. It's led to the inevitable rending of garments and gnashing of teeth around the league. Is he a bad fit in Rod Brind'Amour's unique system? Were his stats inflated by playing alongside Nathan MacKinnon in Colorado? Did the Hurricanes make a massive mistake dealing away Martin Necas, who is two years younger, is signed for next season and just so happens to have four goals and five assists in eight games with the Avalanche? Advertisement Well, all you have to do is watch a single Hurricanes game to realize Rantanen is doing just fine and has been far more dynamic than the counting stats suggest. 'Mikko has been fantastic,' Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky said. 'He has fit in very well to the way we play, creating some tremendous chances around the net for himself and his linemates. A couple of posts and some great saves have kept it from showing up on the scoresheet yet, but we can all see that the points will come. He has been exactly what we had hoped for on the ice, and off the ice, he has been a great addition to our locker room.' Tulsky is as analytically driven as any GM in league history, and the data certainly backs up that rosy picture just as well as the eye test does. It's a small sample, of course, but Rantanen leads the Hurricanes in shots per 60 minutes, individual attempts per 60, individual expected goals per 60, individual scoring chances per 60, rebounds created per 60 and takeaways per 60 (per Natural Stat Trick). And in every key metric, Rantanen has dramatically improved from how he fared in Colorado over the first 49 games of the season. Expected-goals share? Up from 51.86 percent to 63.44. Scoring-chance share? Up from 55.66 percent to 72.73 (a whopping 64-24 edge at five-on-five). High-danger chance share? Up from 47.52 percent to 61.54 (24-15). Compared with his numbers in Colorado, Rantanen is averaging nearly five more shots per 60 minutes, 0.4 more expected individual goals per 60, more than six more individual shots per 60, more than two more rebounds created per 60, and more than one more takeaway per 60. Now, it's worth pointing out that Brind'Amour's aggressive, high-volume system can be flattering to just about any player. But Rantanen's underlying numbers are staggering. Advertisement The one that isn't? Shooting percentage — down from 11.49 in Colorado to just 6.67 in Carolina. In other words, Rantanen is due. 'We've definitely had some chances and looks,' said Aho, Rantanen's center on the Hurricanes' top line. 'I don't know if it's puck luck or what. Sometimes you try too hard because you want to succeed right away so bad, so maybe you're not relaxed when you have a chance. But he's an unbelievable hockey player. He's fit right in.' Here's just a smattering of grade A chances Rantanen has had or has created. Some players are completely unfazed by a scoring drought as long as the chances are there. Other players just need to see the puck go in and can crawl inside their own heads when it's not, no matter how well they're playing. Rantanen said he's somewhere in between. 'Obviously, it's frustrating, especially when you lose games,' he said. 'We lost three in a row there. You just try to stay calm, though. As long as you're getting chances and creating, you know eventually it's going to start going in. It's hard sometimes not to get frustrated, but that's the key. If you can keep working and stay calm in those moments, it's going to pay out at some point.' Playing in the Western Conference his whole career, Rantanen only saw the Hurricanes twice a season. But he always found them particularly maddening to play against, because between their speed and their relentless forecheck, there was never any room to operate. Advertisement Now that he's on Brind'Amour's side, he's suddenly a big fan. 'He's obviously a really good coach, and all the guys buy into his stuff,' Rantanen said. 'You can tell he was a very good player because he understands the game really well.' Aho has seen plenty of players come and go during his nine seasons in Carolina. Some players have had trouble adjusting, others haven't. So are the Hurricanes particularly difficult for newcomers? 'Mikko's a smart hockey player,' Aho said. 'So for him, it's not. Really, I don't think it's that complicated. He's already figured out the system.' Brind'Amour has been generally pleased with Rantanen's play so far but acknowledged there's always an adjustment period. 'He's a great player, he's going to fit anywhere,' Brind'Amour said. 'And I think he's adapting his game a little to what we do, how he has to play. And that takes time. … But I think he's getting more and more comfortable every day.' Comfortable enough to stick around eight more seasons? That's the big question. And it's one Rantanen — who could command a contract akin to Leon Draisaitl's eight-year, $112 million deal on the open market — is still mulling. In the very near future, the numbers suggest Rantanen is due for a points spree. In the longer term, he has a different kind of windfall coming his way. It's just a matter of where. 'You think about it,' he said. 'But with the 4 Nations, I just had a week and a half thinking about Team Finland stuff. Now we're back, but I haven't really had too much time to sit down and really think. For now, I'm just trying to focus on the games and try to help the team here. But eventually, you've got to think about the future.' (Photo of Sebastian Aho and Mikko Rantanen: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
