Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Hockey Thoughts A Day Before The Stanley Cup Playoffs Start

04/12/2016 at 6:49pm EDT

from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

- What happened with Don Maloney? A lot of it is the different philosophy between a GM (the long view) and a coach (the shorter view, since they tend to have shorter terms). Nick Kypreos, who played with Tippett, has said many times that no one hates losing more than this coach does. Tippett was miserable last season as they plummeted to the bottom of the league. As much as he loves Arizona, it was always possible that if the Coyotes did not recover as quickly as he hoped, he could go elsewhere. There was an “out” after this season, triggered due to the restructuring of team ownership. What this says is Maloney and Tippett disagreed on the next steps, especially as Arizona made a recovery in 2015-16. Ownership obviously agreed with the coach. I’m also not sure Maloney was comfortable with a more analytical approach. There was at least one situation a couple years ago (I believe it involved a goalie) where he reacted negatively to suggestions on what he should offer. Whatever the case, he definitely did not leave the cupboard bare. If Arizona returns to consistent playoff position, the prospects accrued under his watch will be a major reason. He is under contract for at least one more season.

- Montreal media tried to pin down Marc Bergevin on PK Subban, just like they pinned him down on Michel Therrien. Bergevin gave the best answer he could knowing that saying he wasn’t going to do it (and then doing it) is a killer in that market. Before this season, we had a conversation about his philosophy and how it changed. He said one thing he believed very strongly was, “You don’t trade to fill a hole by making another hole.” He talked about the Jack Johnson for Jeff Carter deal and how Los Angeles felt comfortable doing it because they knew what they had in Slava Voynov. That stuck with me watching the 65-minute media conference.

I have no doubt Bergevin wants to make moves but he knows that Subban is his best defenceman by a mile. If he trades Subban for a forward, what’s his blue line going to look like? Is he going to be any better off? He doesn’t have a replacement ready. They like 2015 first-rounder Noah Juulsen, but he’s a couple of years away. I don’t see any chance Bergevin trades Subban unless there is an obvious fix in his absence. Same goes for Max Pacioretty. How do you replace 30-40 goals at $4.5 million? Bergevin, like everyone else in Habs nation, was angry and frustrated by this year. I don’t see a trade out of emotion or anger.

If it does happen, Montreal better get the toughest, most mentally strong, most thick-skinned player(s) in the league. It will be a tough start.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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