The Toronto Maple Leafs announced Monday the hiring of Soo Greyhounds coach Sheldon Keefe as the new head coach of the AHL Toronto Marlies, replacing Gord Dineen.
The 34-year-old former NHLer spent the last three seasons in Sault Ste. Marie after being hired by current Leafs Assistant GM Kyle Dubas and earned both the 2014-15 CHL and OHL Coach of the Year awards after leading the Greyhounds to a league-best record of 54-12-0-2 and establishing a new franchise record with 110 points.
“As we went through this process, given our goal of finding an elite young coach to develop our prospects with the Marlies, it was clear to our management group that Sheldon Keefe was the best choice for our organization." Dubas said in a press release. "Sheldon has simply excelled at maximizing each players potential while coaching very successful teams at the same time. That balance is exactly what we set out to find for the Marlies."
Dineen has been offered an associate coach position with the Marlies, but it is unknown whether he will accept a position on Keefe's staff or take a position with another organization.
******* With less than three weeks until the NHL Draft, hints of the Toronto Maple Leafs trading one of their core players have started to pop up. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Saturday that representatives of other NHL teams at the Draft Combine in Buffalo, NY have begun making inquiries about what it would cost to acquire Phil Kessel.
The 27-year-old winger led the Leafs for the sixth straight season with 61 points in 2014-15, but posted his lowest goal total in a full 82-game season (25 goals) since 2008 in the first year of an eight-year, $64 Million contract extension.
In spite of the off year, the need for goal scoring around the NHL should generate significant interest in Kessel, who finished in the top-10 of league scoring three straight seasons, but his $8 Million cap hit may necessitate Toronto retaining salary in the deal or more likely taking back a bad contract in the deal.
The traditional return for a top level forward is a young NHL player, a top prospect and a first round pick. When Anaheim swapped Bobby Ryan to Ottawa in the summer of 2013, the return was a 22-year-old Jakob Silfverberg, 2011 first rounder Stefan Noesen and the Senators’ 2014 top pick, which the Ducks used to select Don Cherry’s favorite OHLer, Nick Ritchie.
When the Ducks obtained Ryan Kesler last summer from Vancouver, the Canucks got center Nick Bonino, 24-year-old former first-rounder Luca Sbisa and Anaheim’s 2014 first rounder(Jared McCann).
Both Ryan and Kesler are older and have a more extensive injury history, so factors such as being better two-way players should be counterbalanced by Kessel’s durability and superior offensive numbers.
Last month in pondering which NHL teams would be the most likely to have interest in Kessel, the Nashville Predators, Florida Panthers, St. Louis Blues and New York Islanders were singled out. Since then, the Carolina Hurricanes have also been mentioned in speculation involving the Leafs winger.
In looking at each team and using the traditional return formula plus the salary factor, this is what you could see coming back as part of a Kessel deal if it happens.
Note: A trade with Kessel may involve other Leafs players or their #24 pick in a trade up scenario and this is purely theoretical.
Nashville:
Young Player: Ryan Ellis or Mattias Ekholm Prospect: Jimmy Vesey or Kevin Fiala Bad Contract: Viktor Stalberg First Round Pick: 2016
Both Ellis and Ekholm are under the age of 25 and are second/third pairing defensemen on a club that has no problem unearthing blueline gems. Ellis was just signed to a four-year extension and Ekholm is an RFA after next season and the Preds are loaded on D with Shea Weber, Roman Josi and budding superstar Seth Jones.
Vesey(a 2015 Hobey Baker finalist) and Fiala(Nashville’s ’14 top pick) are the two best forward prospects in the Preds organization.
Former Leaf Stalberg has been a bust since being signed to a four-year free agent deal in 2013 and has two years left at $3 Million.
Toronto already has the Predators first round pick(24th overall) as part of the deal for Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli.
Florida
Young Player: Jonathan Huberdeau or Vincent Trocheck Prospect: Rocco Grimaldi or rights to Zach Hyman Bad Contract: Brian Campbell First Round Pick: 2015(11th overall)
Former Calder Trophy winner Huberdeau bounced back from a bad sophomore season with 54 points last season, but is an RFA with the expiration of his entry-level deal and could be looking for big money. Trocheck played the majority of his second professional season with Panthers and spent four years playing for Leafs Director of Player Evaluation Jim Paliafito with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit.
Grimaldi scored 42 points with San Antonio Rampage of the AHL after three years at North Dakota, while there continues to be speculation that Toronto has interest in Hyman, the University of Michigan leading scorer who will not sign with the Panthers after finishing his college career.
The 35-year-old Campbell scored just three goals in his fourth year with the Panthers and has a $7.1 Million cap hit before becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer.
St. Louis
Young Player: Dmitrij Jaskin Prospect: Robby Fabbri Bad Contract: Patrik Berglund First Round Pick: 2016
The 22-year-old Jaskin appears ready to take a step forward in his pro career, scoring 13 goals in his second season with the Blues. Fabbri was St. Louis’s top pick in 2014(21st overall) and was arguably the best forward for Team Canada at the 2015 World Junior before being his tournament was ended by a high ankle sprain.
Berglund may be a victim of GM Doug Armstrong’s expected roster shakeup following the re-signing of head coach Ken Hitchcock. The 27-year-old Swede scored a career-low 12 goals last season and makes $3.7 Million the next two years.
The Blues 2015 first rounder was sent to Buffalo as part of the Ryan Miller deal. NY Islanders
Young Player: Pick of the Litter Prospect: Griffin Reinhart Bad Contract: Michael Grabner/Mikhail Grabovski First Round Pick: 2016
The Islanders are a veritable treasure trove of young forward talent. Ryan Strome finished third on the team in scoring with 50 points and Anders Lee scored 25 goals in their first full season, Brock Nelson scored 20 goals in his sophomore campaign, while Josh Bailey is entering his eighth NHL season at the age of 25. Add to that 2014 first rounder Michael Dal Colle, who scored 42 goals and 31 post-season points with the Oshawa Generals on their Memorial Cup run.
GM Garth Snow may be tempted to do something big to get some attention away from the Rangers, as they move into the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn.
Reinhart(selected one pick before Morgan Rielly) has played just eight NHL games so far and may be an expendable commodity with the re-signing of Johhny Boychuk and Nick Leddy and Travis Hamonic locked up.
Grabner played only 34 games in 2014-15 and makes $3 Million on the final year of his contract. The Leafs having to take back Grabovski would be the ultimate in farcical theatre after buying out the 31-year-old two summers ago. The center missed 31 games due to recurrent concussion issues last season and has three more seasons at $5 Million.
Carolina
Young Player: Jeff Skinner Bad Contract: Alex Semin First Round Pick: 2015(5th overall)
The much-ballyhooed rumor from last week does not fit the normal formula in return for Kessel, which is one reason for many to be skeptical of the chances of happening. The deal is centered on Carolina clearing out the onerous Semin contract, with three years remaining for $21 Million and possibly Skinner’s deal worth $5.725 Million for the next four seasons presumably to be able to lock up franchise center Eric Staal to a long-term deal.
Kessel would provide the scoring punch that Semin was supposed to provide and Toronto would move up from #24 to the fifth overall pick.
Skinner is a talent but concerns about concussions make him a risky proposition. Semin is a salary dump pure and simple and will be a big contributor if the Leafs goal is to finish in the bottom of the standings the next few seasons.
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