Hunter, an assistant coach at the 2017 and 2018 World Junior Championships, has been promoted to head coach of Team Canada's world junior squad, Hockey Canada announced Tuesday.
The former NHL player (Flames, Nordiques, Canucks, Sharks) and NHL coach (Capitals, Sharks, Maple Leafs) will be tasked with leading Canada to glory in a tournament that's becoming increasingly difficult to handicap. This year's event, hosted by Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, runs from late December to early January.
Joining Hunter on the 2019 world junior coaching staff are Marc-André Dumont, Jim Hulton, and Brent Kisio. Hunter and his assistants are all head coaches in the Canadian Hockey League - Hunter in Moose Jaw, Dumont in Cape Breton, Hulton in Charlottetown, and Kisio in Lethbridge.
"To be in a position to have familiarity in our coaching staff with Tim Hunter gives us the opportunity to again compete for a gold medal," Scott Salmond, Hockey Canada's senior vice-president of national teams, said in a statement. "All three assistant coaches have also had prior experience working within our Program of Excellence at various levels. Their experience and knowledge will help our players succeed in this prestigious international tournament."
The Canadians won the gold medal in Buffalo in 2018, settled for silver in Montreal/Toronto in 2017, and failed to medal in 2016. Over the past 10 world junior tournaments, Canada has won three golds, three silvers, and one bronze.
The unrestricted free-agent forward has signed a one-year deal with the Anaheim Ducks, the team announced Monday. The first one-way contract of Gibbons' career is worth $1 million, reports Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports.
In 2017-18, he recorded 12 goals and 14 assists in 59 regular-season games. He leaves the New Jersey Devils organization after two campaigns.
The 30-year-old Boston College alumnus has also dressed for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets over a 125-game NHL career. In total, Gibbons has posted 17 goals and 31 assists.
On Monday, Voynov had his petition for the dismissal to the Los Angeles County Superior Court granted, Strang reported. The 28-year-old didn't appear in court, according to Curtis Zupke of the Los Angeles Times.
The Kings terminated his contract shortly after the arrest, though the right-handed blue-liner has since played in the KHL for SKA St. Petersburg and internationally at the world championships and 2018 Olympics for Russia.
Multiple NHL teams are said to be interested in signing Voynov if NHL officials allow the two-time Stanley Cup champion to re-enter the league.
On Monday, Voynov had his petition for the dismissal to the Los Angeles County Superior Court granted, Strang reported. The 28-year-old didn't appear in court, according to Curtis Zupke of the Los Angeles Times.
The Kings terminated his contract shortly after the arrest, though the right-handed blue-liner has since played in the KHL for SKA St. Petersburg and internationally at the world championships and 2018 Olympics for Russia.
Multiple NHL teams are said to be interested in signing Voynov if NHL officials allow the two-time Stanley Cup champion to re-enter the league.
TORONTO - The most famous hockey-related list in recent memory shrunk by two-thirds as the weekend neared. The wheels were in motion.
John Tavares, the brightest free-agent star of the NHL's salary-cap era, paced back and forth on his Toronto-area pool deck. His mind raced. He poured over the pros and cons of signing a long-term contract with one of the remaining suitors: the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New York Islanders.
The Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, and San Jose Sharks - all of whom had pitched Tavares earlier in the week at his agency's Los Angeles headquarters - were old news, out, and, as the 27-year-old detailed Sunday, the list was narrowed down to "where I'm from" and "where I've been for a long time."
"My heart was tearing apart trying to figure out what I wanted to do," Tavares said at his introductory press conference.
In the end, with the hockey world in the palm of his hand, the ultra-loyal Tavares opted for what "felt right." His inner calculus spat out Toronto sometime mid-to-late Saturday afternoon.
His camp informed the Leafs not long after, and the two sides began discussing the particulars of a long-term contract. Outlined in the chart below, thanks to TSN's Pierre LeBrun, the signing bonus-heavy deal came to fruition in the wee hours of Sunday.
"I just had this feeling that this was the right fit for me, the right thing to do," said Tavares, stoic as always while his seven-year, $77-million agreement captivated Leafs Nation on Canada Day.
YEAR
SALARY
BONUS
AAV
2018-19
$650K
$15.25M
$11M
2019-20
$910K
$14.99M
$11M
2020-21
$910K
$11.09M
$11M
2021-22
$910K
$8.44M
$11M
2022-23
$910K
$7.04M
$11M
2023-24
$910K
$7.04M
$11M
2024-25
$910K
$7.04M
$11M
Hockey's modest version of LeBron James' infamous Decision in 2010, capped by a bombshell announcement on Tavares' Twitter account, centered around three factors, according to the player, Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas, and Toronto president Brendan Shanahan.
First, the Leafs' indisputably strong roster. Second, the organization's pledge that his family would find comfort under the Toronto glare. Third, the opportunity and challenge of leading his hometown team to glory.
"We worked really hard on our presentation," Shanahan told theScore of the Leafs' pitch in L.A. "We were very clear in who the communicator was and that was Kyle, and we felt we told our story and put our best foot forward. Regardless of what happened, I think there was a quiet confidence around here, that we had done our best, and we were hopeful that he'd choose us."
Fittingly, the Leafs' home rink has a new name. On Sunday, the Air Canada Centre became Scotiabank Arena. The so-called Shanaplan, which started in earnest inside the ACC in April 2014, has entered a new stratosphere.
It's an imperfect comparison, sure, but it's difficult to pump the brakes on the best-case scenario when Auston Matthews, who turns just 21 this fall, is already arguably a top-10 center, and Tavares, a top-10 center for the better part of the past decade, is finally in a position to skate alongside another difference-maker.
Leafs coach Mike Babcock laid out his plans to Tavares in L.A. Stressing that it's the offseason and nothing is set in stone, he revealed Sunday that he has Tavares teaming up with Mitch Marner and Zach Hyman this fall.
Patrick Marleau, Babcock added, will join the dynamic duo of William Nylander and Matthews to complete the top six. With considerable depth, the Leafs' forward group evolved Sunday from very good to great.
LW
C
RW
Patrick Marleau
Auston Matthews
William Nylander
Zach Hyman
John Tavares
Mitch Marner
Andreas Johnsson
Nazem Kadri
Kasperi Kapanen/Connor Brown
Josh Leivo/Carl Grundstrom
Par Lindholm
Brown/Kapanen
On paper, placing Marner on Tavares' wing is a foolproof plan. The former is a tremendous playmaker (who can also finish) and the latter is a 12.9 percent career shooter (who can also thread the needle). Expect more tap-ins, one-timers, and breakaways in No. 91's near future.
"His speed, his ability to control the play, control games at times, his ability to move the puck and create time and space with his feet," Tavares said, rhyming off Marner's alluring qualities. "It's extremely impressive ... when you're on the ice, you know he's around the puck, he's on top of the puck and he wants it."
Exiting the forward fold via free agency are three longtime Leafs. Goal-scoring winger James van Riemsdyk is returning to Philadelphia, third-line centre Tyler Bozak is St. Louis bound, and sparkplug Leo Komarov is off to Dallas. Tavares will slide into Van Riemsdyk's net-front position on the Leafs' first power-play unit, according to Babcock.
Similar to Van Riemsdyk, the Mississauga native is creative around the goalmouth. He has averaged north of three power-play minutes per game over his nine-year career, making a second home in the crease area, and, in 2017-18, bagged 12 of his 37 goals on the PP.
Along with elite skill, vision, finishing ability, durability, and three-zone attentiveness, Babcock believes the newest Leaf brings veteran clout. It's no coincidence Tavares' seat in the locker room neighbors the stalls for both Marner, 21, and Nylander, 22.
"John being older, and John going through the hard knocks of the National Hockey League already - no different than Patrick Marleau when he arrived (last offseason from the Sharks) - the impact he's going to have on our young people is going to be immense," Babcock said.
What now for the league?
The Maple Leafs' odds to win the Stanley Cup vastly improved Sunday. That's a fact. But, in reality, the Tavares signing doesn't guarantee a single thing.
The NHL, of course, has a salary cap, which means the Leafs must be savvy spenders moving forward. Nylander (up now), Matthews (up in 2019), Marner (2019), and blue-liner Jake Gardiner (2019) need contract extensions, while the right side of their defense is ordinary at best.
What's more, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins stand in the doorway. The Atlantic Division is top-heavy, and neither of those teams lost a player of significance through free agency.
Tavares and Steven Stamkos (Getty Images)
Past the Atlantic side of the bracket are Crosby and the Penguins, and Alex Ovechkin and the reigning Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals. Both will be Eastern Conference heavyweights until further notice. It isn't Toronto and another team; it's Toronto and four others.
The West is harder to handicap, yet it features a group of projected Cup contenders in the Winnipeg Jets, Nashville Predators, and Vegas Golden Knights, and the three reloading California teams. Winnipeg, in particular, is primed for a string of deep playoff runs and on a similar trajectory to the Leafs.
A comprehensive league assessment would be premature right now. It's July. The dust must settle on free agency and the rumor mill (hello, Erik Karlsson). Until then, though, Leafs fans can dream big. The power has shifted.
Tavares, who slept in a Leafs-themed bed growing up, talked Sunday about what it would mean to end the decades-long Cup drought.
"It's hard to put that into words, right?" he said.
"People have been waiting for it for a long time. People are hungry for it. The passion for the game, the passion for the Maple Leafs, is unprecedented."
McCann, a 2014 Vancouver Canucks first-rounder acquired by the Panthers via trade in 2016, is coming off his three-year entry-level deal. Financial details of the forward's new contract were not disclosed.
"Jared is a versatile two-way centerman who possesses excellent speed and suits our team well," Panthers general manager Dale Tallon said. "He has improved his game during his time with our organization and we look forward to him taking the next step in his development."
McCann, 22, recorded nine goals and 19 assists in 68 games last season. The 6-foot-1, 198-pounder has accumulated 19 goals and 34 assists through 166 career NHL games.
Jonathan Bernier is off to his fifth NHL city and fourth in as many years.
Bernier, considered one of the top free-agent goalies, signed a three-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday. The team did not disclose money details but Craig Custance of The Athletic reports that Bernier will earn $3 million per season.
With Capitals brass and Stanley Cup-winning bench boss Barry Trotz unable to agree on an extension earlier this month, Reirden's promotion had been expected.
The 47-year-old has been with Washington for four seasons, first as assistant coach, and more recently as an associate coach. Reirden has mainly worked with the club's defensemen.
According to the arrest warrant, Watson admitted to pushing his girlfriend and mother of his child on June 16 following an argument inside a car at a gas station in Franklin, Tenn. He remains free on a $4,500 bond.
If convicted, Watson could receive a sentence of up to 11 months and 29 days in jail and a fine maxing out at $2,500, said Williamson County District Attorney Kim Helper.
Watson had eight points in 13 playoff games this spring and is one season into a three-year deal with the Predators.
The Red Wings appear confident Mike Green will return to Detroit for multiple seasons.
The team and the right-shooting defenseman have had productive talks this week, according to MLive.com's Ansar Khan, who added that the Wings believe they can ink Green to a two-year extension.
Green, who many consider a top blue-liner among 2018 unrestricted free agents, especially after John Carlson re-signed with the Washington Capitals earlier this week, put up eight goals and 25 assists in 66 games for the Wings in his contract year.
Last week, Craig Custance of The Athletic reported the two sides were working toward a deal. Term was the sticking point during draft-weekend discussions, Custance wrote, with the Wings hoping for a two-year agreement and Green's camp pushing for three or more.
The 32-year-old is coming off a three-year contract that paid him $6 million per season. The new deal would be Green's fifth over a 13-year career.
