Baggie Day Buzz: Blashill to return as coach of Red Wings

For 15 NHL teams, there will be no Stanley Cup Playoffs, instead a few days of players packing up their gear and reflecting on the season and the future, as well as front-office members analyzing what went wrong.
Baggie Day Buzz is your one-stop shop for the latest news and analysis from the teams not going to the playoffs.
Here is the news from Tuesday:

Blashill will return for Red Wings next season

Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill will return for the 2018-19 season.
The Red Wings (30-39-13) missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second straight season, but general manager Ken Holland said he saw improvement from Blashill and his players.
"I'm a big believer in experience, and I think we've got a coach that has three years under his belt and is doing a good job with our players," Holland said. "It is a big step up from coaching in the American Hockey League to coaching in the National Hockey League, but he's made that adjustment and kept getting better."
Blashill has gone 104-105-37 in three seasons with the Red Wings.
"I'm glad to still be the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings; it is one of the best jobs in hockey," he said. "But I haven't been worried about if I was going to be back or not. My approach to life has always been to do my best job possible every day, then find a way to get better the next day."
Holland's said at his season-ending press conference he hopes the rebuilding process will have the Red Wings in playoff contention in "a year or two", but Blashill had a different view.
"As GM, Ken has to take a long-term approach, but it is different for players and coaches," Blashill said. "We're focused on the next game and the next season.
"In September, there will be 31 teams that believe they can make the playoffs, and they will all be right. There are teams that make that jump every year, and we'll be trying to be one of them."-- Dave Hogg, NHL.com correspondent

Panthers goalie Luongo 'not going anywhere'

Roberto Luongo said Tuesday he'll return for a 19th NHL season in 2018-19.
Luongo, 39, has four years remaining on a 12-year contract he signed with the Vancouver Canucks in 2009. He leads all active goalies in victories (471) and shutouts (76), and joined Martin Brodeur (1,266) and Patrick Roy (1,029) as the only goalies to play 1,000 NHL games when he started April 5.
"Oh yeah, for sure," Luongo said. "I'm not going anywhere. I want to be part of the playoffs again. I want to have a run at it. Hopefully more than one. For now, we'll just focus on getting healthy for next year and in shape and having a good run at it."
Luongo played a big role in the Panthers' push for a playoff spot this season, a run that came up one point short.
Thumb and groin injuries caused Luongo to miss 32 games, but he finished with an 18-11-2 record, a 2.47 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage.
Luongo said he was planning to rest the next couple of weeks before starting his offseason training regimen.
"Even though I missed a couple months, I did play a lot of hockey down the stretch," Luongo said. "You have to manage your body. I dealt with some things at the end but tried to play through it, so I just want to make sure that I'm all healed up and ready to go once I start training." -- Alain Poupart, NHL.com correspondent

Barkov injury not serious for Panthers

Aleksander Barkov's shoulder injury that caused him to miss the final two games of the regular season for the Florida Panthers will not require surgery.
The center sustained the injury in a 3-2 victory against the Boston Bruins on April 5, and will not play for Finland in the 2018 World Championships.
Panthers general manager Dale Tallon said Barkov would have been in the lineup for Game 1 or Game 2 in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs had the Panthers qualified.
The second pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, Barkov led Florida with 78 points and was second in the NHL in ice time among forwards at 22:04, behind Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar.
"I think I got better in everything," Barkov said. "My goal every summer, every day I work, I try to get better. Better at everything. Skating. Shooting. I'm a centerman, so face-offs and everything. I think I got better in every game situation."
Added Tallon: "What more can you ask of that young man? Obviously stay healthy and play all 82 games and keep getting better offensive numbers. It's limitless for him. But we need to surround him and help him and have other guys contribute offensively and defensively as well."
As of Tuesday, defenseman Aaron Ekblad (Canada) was the only Panthers player confirmed to play in the World Championships. Center Vincent Trocheck declined an offer to play for The United States. --Alain Poupart, NHL.com correspondent

Blues hope to improve power play, acquired top-six forward in offseason

The Blues finished 44-32-6 in coach Mike Yeo's first full season, but didn't qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and general manager Doug Armstrong took ownership of the team's failures.
"We've taken a step backwards this year," Armstrong said. "That responsibility lies firmly on my shoulders. As I said to Mike and the players, every contract, whether it's a player, coach, trainer, has my signature on the bottom and it's my responsibility now to get this going in the right direction."
The Blues had a power play which ranked 30th in the League (15.4 percent), their worst since the 2007-08 season when they were last in the League (14.1 percent).
"To miss the playoffs by one point having the 30th-ranked power-play, that means we were doing our job 5-on-5 offensively," said center Brayden Schenn, who led St. Louis with 70 points (28 goals, 42 assists) this season. "You've got to be in the top-10, top-15 at least if you want to do any damage.
Armstrong said the Blues will be active in the market this offseason, whether through free agency or via trades, and a top-line center or top-six forward would be the ideal target or targets. -- Louie Korac, NHL.com correspondent

MONDAY

Pacioretty looking ahead after tough season, trade rumors in Montreal

Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty would be ready to start next season without signing a contract extension.
"I would be, but I think that wouldn't be the ideal plan for the team and the organization," Pacioretty said. "In the position they're in, they would want to either commit to someone for long term, or they would want to not let someone expire and lose them for nothing. I think that given the salary cap world, that's the way things works. So, I would be open to it, but just off the top of my head, don't go too deep into it."
The Canadiens captain has one season remaining on a six-year, $27 million contract extension. He had 37 points (17 goals, 20 assists) in 64 games before sustaining a season-ending knee injury.
Pacioretty, 29, scored at least 30 goals in each of the previous four seasons, and five of the previous six.
He acknowledged that it was difficult being the subject of trade rumors.
"Yeah, if anyone told you otherwise they'd be lying, so I know everyone wants to say that they're a superhero and they don't let any let any of that creep into their mind, but we're all human," Pacioretty said. "And I was more frustrated I guess with my game, that it got to the point where those rumors were surrounding me.
"So, I've said it so many times before, I love playing in Montreal, I take a lot of pride in playing for Montreal, I've had a lot of success playing in Montreal and I'm very proud of that. And ideally, what I want to be is a Montreal Canadien for life, but we know that things aren't ideal right now. So, obviously things will change, I'm not sure what, and we'll see what happens." -- Sean Farrell, NHL.com correspondent

O'Reilly bemoans struggles in Buffalo

After missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third straight season with the Buffalo Sabres, center Ryan O'Reilly made it clear Monday how hard the losing has been.
O'Reilly finished his ninth NHL season and his fourth straight without a playoff appearance going back to his final season with the Colorado Avalanche. While he's been consistent, scoring 55 or more points in five straight seasons, the losing has gotten to him, and, he, believe, his Sabres teammates.

"We're stuck in this mindset of just being OK with losing," O'Reilly said as the Sabres cleared out their lockers. "I feel, too, I think it's really crept in with myself and, over the course of the year, I lost myself a lot and where you just kind of get through and being the guy and being OK with making a mistake and that's just not winning hockey at all and it's crept into all of our games. It's disappointing, it's sad. I feel throughout the year I've lost the love of the game multiple times. I need to get back to it; it's eaten myself up and you can see other guys too. It's eaten myself up, it's tough."
O'Reilly had 61 points (24 goals, 37 assists) in 81 games this season and set the NHL record for face-off wins in a season (1,274), surpassing the 1,268 wins by Rod Brind'Amour with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2005-06. The Sabres, though, finished 31st in the NHL and will have the best odds of winning the 2018 NHL Draft Lottery on April 28. It's the third time in the past five years the Sabres finished last in the NHL.
"I can't speak for Ryan O'Reilly but I don't feel he lost his passion for the game," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "I look at our team and I look at individuals, some guys had career years and some guys were spot on with their careers. To me, I think for Ryan O'Reilly, I don't think he lost the love or the passion for the game, I think it's just a result of where we are." -- Joe Yerdon, NHL.com correspondent

Price, Canadiens optimistic for 2018-19

Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens had a season they would like to put behind them.
The 30-year-old goalie went 16-26-7 with a 3.11 goals-against-average and a .900 save percentage in 49 games. Montreal was 29-40-13 and missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time in three seasons.
"I'm not worried about the future of this team," Price said. "We just had a bad year. We had a lot underachieving performances, myself included. That's disappointing but next year's a brand new year and we've got to go in with the most optimism."
Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said it was a disappointing season from start to finish, adding, "the overall attitude of our team needs to change."
Price, the Hart and Vezina Trophy winner in 2014-15, signed an eight-year contract extension July 1.
"On the side of his attitude, his performance, he had a difficult season," Bergevin said. "But his track record, he's not a talker, that's understood. And I even talked to him about it this morning. I grew up with Mario Lemieux. Mario and Carey, their personalities are similar. Mario is not a big talker, but when he enters a room he has a presence. When he enters, you know it's Mario Lemieux.
"Carey, he has a bit of that. He's a guy that doesn't talk, but he's a guy who when he enters a room, he has a presence. But guys like that, they don't always realize how much they can affect a team. And it's my job and that of (Canadiens coach) Claude (Julien) and everyone to make guys like that realize, 'the players, they're looking up to you.' I know he's done it in the past, and he had a difficult year, and I've looked elsewhere and other star players have had difficult seasons, he's not alone.
"But that doesn't make things any easier. And that's not all on Carey, but he's a big piece of this team." -- Sean Farrell, NHL.com correspondent

Ekman-Larsson welcomes opportunity to sign extension with Coyotes

Oliver Ekman-Larsson said he would like to sign a contract extension once he becomes eligible to do so on July 1.
"I would obviously like to figure something out," Ekman-Larsson, the team's No. 1 defenseman, said Monday. "I've said it so many times. This is where I want to be. Hopefully we can work something out."
Ekman-Larsson, 26, has one season remaining on a six-year contract.

He had 42 points (14 goals, 28 assists) in 82 games. He led the team in average ice time per game, 23:40. In 576 NHL games, he has 290 points (102 goals, 188 assists). From Jan. 1,
Ekman-Larsson scored his 100th NHL goal in a 5-2 win against the Calgary Flames at Gila River Arena on March 19. He is the sixth Swedish defenseman to reach 100 goals, joining Nicklas Lidström (264), Börje Salming (150), Fredrik Olausson (147), Erik Karlsson (125) and Calle Johansson (119).
Like many of the Coyotes, Ekman-Larsson said it took time to adjust to coach Rick Tocchet's style of play. He was minus-32 through the first three months of the season. Ekman-Larsson had 23 points in 41 games and was a plus-4.
"I felt like I was off to a rough start and I think it took some time to get used to the new coaching staff and the system that we were playing," he said. "The last two, three months, I've been playing good and I've been feeling good about my game."
Ekman-Larsson also said Monday, during the exit-interview process, that he plans to play for Sweden at the World Championships in Denmark in May. -- Craig Morgan, NHL.com correspondent

Monahan expects to resume skating by June

Calgary Flames center Sean Monahan had four surgeries since he was removed from the lineup to repair two hernias, his groin and wrist, he said Monday.
Monahan missed the final seven games of the season. He expects a six-week recovery from the hernia and groin surgeries, three months for his wrist to heal, and to resume skating by June.
"I actually feel a little bit relieved and better everything is taken care of," Monahan said. "I'm happy I got it taken care of. I'm just looking forward to being pain free hopefully here soon."
Monahan played through the injuries until March 21 and was shut down March 23. The Flames were eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention March 26.
"You play for each other," Monahan said. "Everyone has injuries and stuff, but you just battle through it. You're playing for the guy next to you and we were in a race trying to make the playoffs, and I wanted to be part of it."
Monahan led the Flames with 31 goals, matching an NHL career high set in 2014-15. His 84 points were a career best and second on Calgary behind Johnny Gaudreau's 84.
"To push like that, it's great to see how bad he really wanted it and how bad he wanted to make the playoffs," Gaudreau said. "I know he was hurting there. I was watching him before each game. He was in the medical room for a pretty long time before each game. He was definitely pushing there at the end of the season."
The wrist was a reoccurring injury for Monahan.
"It's been something that's been bothering me for a while," said Monahan, whose 64 points are his most in an NHL season and his 31 goals match his previous best set in 2014-15. "I got surgery last summer and that didn't work. This year it got really bad, and it was something that needed to be fixed and I got it taken care of. Over time, it hasn't been good. It's been lingering. This season, it got really bad." -- Aaron Vickers, NHL.com correspondent

Stars confident they can reach agreement with Seguin

The Dallas Stars hope to have an extension in place with forward Tyler Seguin after July 1.
Seguin will be in the final season of his six-year contract in 2018-19. The team can negotiate with Seguin beginning July 1.
"I'm pretty confident we can get something done," general manager Jim Nill said Monday.

Seguin scored 40 goals for the first time in the NHL and his 78 points were six short of his NHL career high set in 2013-14. He became the third Stars player to score 40 in one season (Mike Modano: 50 in 1993-94; Jamie Benn: 41 in 2015-16).
"I haven't given it much thought at all," Seguin said. "Obviously, it's home."
The Stars (42-32-8) finished three points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
Ken Hitchcock, who began his second term as Stars coach April 13, pushed Seguin to expand his game, including as a primary penalty killer.
"He's made all of the necessary adjustments to become a great player and I'm really proud of him," Hitchcock said.
Goalie Kari Lehtonen, and defensemen Dan Hamhuis and Greg Pateryn, could become unrestricted free agents July 1. Each indicated interest in staying with the Stars.
Lehtonen was 15-14-3 with a 2.56 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in his ninth season in Dallas, his first backing up Ben Bishop.
"I'm happy where I am as of today," said Lehtonen, 34. "Of course, it's going to get really exciting in a couple months here. It's something that I'm looking forward to"
Hamhuis had 24 points (three goals, 21 assists) in 80 games of his second season with the Stars.
"If there's an opportunity to come back, I'm looking forward to it," said Hamhuis, 35.
Pateryn had 13 points (one goal, 12 assists) in 73 games during his first full season with Dallas.
"I'd obviously really like to come back here," said Pateryn, 27. -- Jeff Miller, NHL.com correspondent

Crawford should be ready for Blackhawks training camp

The Chicago Blackhawks struggled when goaltender Corey Crawford missed the second half of the season with an upper-body injury. But coach Joel Quenneville said Monday he expects Crawford to be ready to start next season.
"He's on the right track, close to being ready to go," Quenneville said.
Crawford was 16-9-2 with a 2.27 goals-against average and .929 save percentage when he played his final game of the season on Dec. 23, saving seven of 11 shots in a 4-1 loss at the New Jersey Devils. He last skated with the Blackhawks in Glendale, Arizona on Feb. 12.

The Blackhawks didn't find consistent success with backup goaltenders Anton Forsberg (10-16-4, 2.97 GAA, .908 save percentage), Jeff Glass (3-7-3, 3.36 GAA, .898 save percentage) and J-F Berube (3-6-1, 3.78 GAA, .894 save percentage).
How Crawford, 33, approaches the offseason is not yet known, but the Blackhawks are optimistic that he'll return to form.
"We have expectations he'll be the same goalie he's been," general manager Stan Bowman said. "The last three or four seasons, he's gotten better every year. Corey has been an underrated performer, League-wide. We've known for years how good he is, but people are starting to recognize how effective he was at stopping some of those really difficult chances against." -- Tracey Myers, NHL.com staff writer

Hossa not expected back for Blackhawks

When the Blackhawks lost right wing Marian Hossa for the season, it left a huge void in their lineup. And it looks like Hossa, who is on long-term injured reserve with a progressive skin disorder, won't be back anytime soon.
"His physical condition hasn't improved, so at this point there's no indication he's going to play next year, either," Bowman said. "That's about all I know at this point. We'll probably have more discussions on that in the coming weeks, but his medical condition is unchanged."
Hossa, 39, had 45 points (26 goals, 19 assists) for the Blackhawks in 2016-17. He was as strong on defense and in penalty killing as he was on offense, and the Blackhawks missed all aspects of his game.
"Our team predictability, as far as structure, started off OK, and as the year went on it wasn't as effective as it's been in the past. And [Hossa] was always the leader in that area," coach Joel Quenneville said. "Technically, he was always in the right spot. He did everything you would want to do, backside pressure, positioning in his own end, the way he would pursue pucks, come up with pucks and keep pucks. Those were areas we lost a lot in. Our team game, we lost a little in that area and certainly [Hossa] had an impact in that area." -- Tracey Myers, NHL.com staff writer

Stone, who can be RFA, wants to remain with Senators

The Ottawa Senators will be looking to avoid arbitration with forward Mark Stone.
"I've stated I want to be here," Stone said Monday. "But at the same time, you need to know if the team's going in the right direction. ... I think there's good pieces here. We've got arguably the best defenseman on the planet, we've got some really good prospects at the World Juniors, and it looks like we have some good ones in Belleville."
Stone, 25, had 62 points (20 goals, 42 assists) in 58 games this season and can become a restricted free agent July 1.
Forward Matt Duchene, who is from Ontario and was traded to the Senators Nov. 5, has one year remaining on a five-year contract and can become an unrestricted free agent following next season. The Senators can offer him an extension July 1.
The Senators, who came within one goal of advancing to the Stanley Cup Final last season, finished 28-43-11 and 30th in the League standings this year.
"I want this to work," Duchene said. "Obviously, there's a business side of things that comes into play this summer potentially. I don't know if I'll get an extension offer or not, I'm sure we'll talk about it. I'm three hours from home, the city has been a great spot so far for me and I'm encouraged from what I see here."-- Callum Fraser, NHL.com correspondent