In today’s NHL rumors rundown, the Buffalo Sabres are making a coaching change. Meanwhile, the Montreal Canadiens have announced that they’ve reached an agreement with Luke Tuch. Finally, Connor McDavid became the fourth player in NHL history to reach 100 points in the regular season. Will he sit the remaining regular season games now that he’s reached the milestone? Finally, are the Pittsburgh Penguins ready to make a bad trade to fix their goaltending issues?
Sabres Moving on From Don Granato
The Buffalo Sabres announced on Tuesday that they are making significant coaching changes. Head coach Don Granato, Assistant Coach Jason Christie, and Video Coordinator Matt Smith are all being relieved of their duties. As Chris Johnston of TSN points out, “During the 13-year playoff drought in Buffalo, the Sabres have now churned through seven head coaches: Lindy Ruff, Ron Rolston, Ted Nolan, Dan Bylsma, Phil Housley, Ralph Krueger and Don Granato.”
The Sabres ended this season with a mediocre 39-37-6 record and didn’t live up to any of the expectations the organization had set for them. With a young and talented blue line, some really strong young forwards, and a few additions that should have made them a better team, they missed the playoffs again. GM Kevyn Adams said, “My expectation is to be a consistent contender, and unfortunately, that goal has not been met.”
Canadiens Sign Luke Tuch
The Canadiens have agreed to terms on a two-year, entry-level contract (2024-25 to 2025-26) with forward Luke Tuch. GM Kent Hughes announced that Tuch has also signed a one-way contract with the Laval Rocket, allowing him to finish the current season in the AHL.
Related: Canadiens Prospect Logan Mailloux to Make NHL Debut
Standing at 6-foot-2 and 209 pounds, Tuch notched 10 goals and 20 assists in 39 NCAA games with Boston University Terriers. Despite reaching the 2024 Frozen Four semifinals, Tuch’s Terriers fell to Denver University. Previously, Tuch and BU won the Hockey East Division title, followed by a championship game loss to Boston College. Selected 47th overall in 2020, Tuch hails from Syracuse, NY.
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The Canadiens have also recalled defensive prospect Logan Mailloux from the Laval Rocket of the AHL. The 21-year-old has posted 14 goals and 33 assists in 70 games this year for the Canadiens AHL affiliate.
McDavid Hits 100 Assists… Now What?
Connor McDavid became the fourth player in NHL history to reach 100 assists in a single season. In a 9-2 victory of the San Jose Sharks, McDavid helped set up Zach Hyman to reach the marker only previously set by Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, and Mario Lemieux.
The Oilers picking up the win keeps them in the conversation for first in the Pacific Division depending on what the Vancouver Cnaucks do. There was some talk that McDavid wouldn’t play all of the remaining games considering he was nursing a bit of a nagging lower-body issue. He looked good on Monday night but it’s not clear what the plans are for McDavid to end the year. The Oilers are resting a few players with issues in the hopes of each healing up for the playoffs.
Penguins Need to Make Goalie Moves
Rob Rossi of The Athletic writes that the Pittsburgh Penguins have a monumental task ahead of them this offseason. Noting that goaltending isn’t the only issue, he writes it’s a major one.
He notes in a recent article:
President of hockey operations/general manger Kyle Dubas would be foolish to focus too much of his attention in a pivotal offseason on bad goals. His Herculean task is to shed dead-weight contracts — some of them his own doing last summer — while trying to maximize what greatness remains from Crosby. There is a lot more to fix with the Penguins than their goaltending. Then again, he has to fix the goaltending.
source – ‘Penguins’ goalie decision isn’t just about rest of this season’ – Rob Rossi – The Athletic – 04/15/2024
He suggests that Dubas should be open to making a bad trade to move the Tristan Jarry contract if that’s what it takes. Suggesting his $5.375 million annual cap hit deal was a blunder, the Penguins need to move on from it.