Free washer | Five DGs under pressure

The stinging defeat of the Canadian, Thursday night in Florida, undoubtedly annoyed Kent Hughes, but certainly did not prevent him from sleeping.

Posted at 1:01 p.m.

Barry Trotz, freshly appointed as general manager in Nashville, does not have the pressure of certain other colleagues. He is just entering the Predators reset phase in his unofficial role for now.

Tampa, Boston and Colorado have big aspirations this spring, but a first-round loss wouldn’t cost their managers their jobs because of their past success.

Not everyone is so lucky. Some general managers are in the last year of their agreement, others are seeing a new owner arrive on the scene. There are also those whose successes have been delayed for too long. Here are five DGs under pressure.

Ron Hextall, Penguins

dissatisfaction settled this winter in Pittsburgh even if the Penguins seem in a position to participate in the playoffs. They currently hold a three-point lead over the Florida Panthers, the last club excluded. But again on Tuesday, when the Canadiens visited, there were many empty seats in the amphitheater and Hextall is not a very popular man in town even if he has kept the core of the Penguins intact.

PHOTO KEITH SRAKOCIC, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS

Ron Hextall

Hextall is still under contract until 2025, but he was hired by the former owners of the Penguins. The new bosses since November 2021, Fenway Sports Group, also owners of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool, in the English Premier League, are not beholden to Hextall and its president Brian Burke, even if they most likely gave their approval. long-term contracts granted last summer to Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin.

Trades of Mike Matheson for Jeff Petry and John Marino for Ty Smith don’t make him look good. Nor the contracts granted last summer to Jeff Carter and Kasperi Kapanen. Fortunately, the Blues did him a favor by claiming Kapanen on waivers.

A sixth elimination in the first round (or earlier) could tempt the owners to sacrifice Hextall to calm the discontent.

Pierre Dorion, Senators

The Senators will likely miss the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season after giving up their first-round picks in 2022 and 2023, but they’re not in a bad position because those picks were used to acquire players in the strength of the league. age, Alex DeBrincat and Jakob Chychrun, and the core remains young.

PHOTO SEAN KILPATRICK, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES

Pierre Dorion and Derick Brassard (61) during the 1000^e game of the latter, earlier this month.

But the Senators will be sold in coming weeks by the estate of late owner Eugene Melnyk and a change of guard at the top of the pyramid could spell upheaval in the administration, especially after seven playoff exclusions in eight years, rebuilding or not. .

One of the favorites in the race, actor Ryan Reynolds, has just sold with its partners their shares in the company Mint Mobile for the trifle of 1.35 billion. He will not lack funds to buy the team and his personality does not announce a possible owner in the shadow of his hockey men.

Dorion is nevertheless under contract until 2025 and he hasn’t done a bad construction job so far.

Brad Treliving, Flames

Brad Treliving no doubt heaved a huge sigh of relief Thursday night.

The Flames’ 7-2 win over Vegas, combined with the Jets’ 3-0 loss to Boston, put Calgary within three points of Winnipeg and the final playoff spot.

PHOTO JEFF MCINTOSH, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES

Brad Treliving

Unlike Dorion and Hextall, Treliving’s contract expires at the end of the season. The GM of the Flames reacted promptly to the departure of Johnny Gaudreau and to the trade request of Matthew Tkachuk.

He traded Tkachuk to the Panthers for 2025 first-round picks Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar, before giving them each an eight-year contract extension, for 84 million and 50 million respectively, not to mention the 49 million for seven years. ceded to Nazem Kadri.

Tkachuk, just 25, is fourth in NHL scoring with 91 points in just 65 games. Huberdeau is heading for a 57-point season after amassing 115 the year before. Kadri will be lucky if he hits the 60 mark after an 87-point season at Colorado.

There is no justification for a contract extension at Treliving.

Kyle Dubas, Maple Leafs

To some, the Toronto Maple Leafs panicked by offering two first-round picks, two second-round picks, and third- and fourth-round picks to get veteran Ryan O’Reilly, defenseman Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty. But anyone in the shoes of general manager Kyle Dubas would no doubt have done the same. The Maple Leafs haven’t made it past the first round of the playoffs in the past six seasons. Another loss in such circumstances will undoubtedly turn heads, including that of Dubas, in his last year of contract, and perhaps even that of president Brendan Shanahan. The Maple Leafs already know their opponents: the Tampa Bay Lightning, Stanley Cup finalists for the past three seasons, still formidable this year with a record of 41-22-6, eighth overall.

The pressure is strong on the Maple Leafs, even if we forget how the formula of the playoffs is of an appalling cruelty for the Toronto formation. Bad luck, O’Reilly was injured recently and will miss a few weeks.

Bill Zito, Panthers

Zito’s job isn’t in jeopardy, especially after the Panthers’ brilliant regular season last year, but missing the playoffs this spring would make him look bad, especially after the year-long effort to improve this team.

Luckily for him, the team’s recent successes have the Panthers back in the hunt for the playoffs, not the lottery. The 2023 first-round pick offered to the Canadian for rental defender Ben Chiarot had no special clauses and at some point this season, the CH could hope to win the lottery with this choice. Ben Chiarot for Connor Bedard would arguably have been one, if not the worst trade in NHL history.

The Panthers demolished the Canadian on Thursday and find themselves three points behind the New York Islanders and the last place giving access to the playoffs, with two games in hand. They are also three points behind the Penguins, with that many games played. Everything is therefore still possible in anticipation of the playoffs, and a breakthrough in the playoffs would remove the choice obtained by the Canadian from the top twenty. This choice is located at 15^e rank for now, but cannot win the lottery since the winner cannot advance more than ten ranks. Montreal can also hardly dream of a top ten with this pick. So much the better for Zito, who will sadly avoid going down in history…

New heights for Connor McDavid!

Connor McDavid got his 130^e point of the season on Thursday. He becomes the first player since Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr in 1995-1996 to reach this mark.

PHOTO JASON FRANSON, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES

Connor McDavid

He still has 13 games to play, so he could aspire to a 157-point season, including 68 goals. In NHL history, only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux have amassed more than 155 points in a season. Gretzky did it nine times, including four 200-plus seasons, Lemieux did it four times, but stopped at 199 points. Steve Yzerman had 155 points in 1989 and Phil Esposito 152 points in 1971.

At just 26 years old, and in just 556 games, McDavid finds himself at 159^e rank of counters in history with 828 points. At such a rate, he should break into the top sixty within two years and reach the top twenty by his 30th birthday…

Do not miss

1. Following the Canadian’s discomfiture on Thursday night in Florida, Richard Labbé wonders if Samuel Montembeault or Jake Allen will ever have the makings of a number one goalie.
2. Is this the end of the journey for Jean Pascal, asks Simon Drouin, after the defeat of the Quebec boxer at the hands of the German Michael Eifert, Thursday evening at Place Bell?
3. Félix Auger-Aliassime lost against Carlos Alcaraz for the first time in his career, Thursday evening in the quarter-finals in Indian Wells. Nicholas Richard analyzes.