The St. Louis Blues sent shockwaves around the NHL last week, as they fired head coach Drew Bannister, less than a year onto the job, and replaced him with former Boston Bruins‘ head coach Jim Montgomery.
Montgomery was fired earlier in the season by the Bruins, and was only out of a job for five days before the Blues signed him to a five-year contract. Montgomery is familiar to the Blues, as he’s served as an assistant coach from 2020 to 2022, under then-head coach Craig Berube.
Montgomery becomes the 28th head coach in the history of the franchise, and looks to get the Blues back on track and pushing towards a Stanley Cup Playoff spot in the Western Conference.
On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli discussed the Blues’ new head coach and what it’s going to take for Montgomery to turn things around in St. Louis.
Yaremchuk: You look at the Blues’ roster, if they get a little bit better goaltending, Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Pavel Buchnevich, there is talent there, do you think Jim Montgomery can maybe give them a bit of a jolt here? Or, is their roster just a little bit too mid?
Seravalli: I think it’s a little bit too mid, but I think they can get a jolt. I think there is enough talent there to play better than they’ve shown. Can they be an 85-88 point team? Yeah, I don’t think that’s unreasonable by any stretch of the imagination. But, go through the playoff teams that are in spots right now. Who are the St. Louis Blues knocking out?
They’re technically behind Utah HC in points percentage, and they’re without two of their top-four defencemen. And, they’ve had a bit of a goaltending crisis in net. The Colorado Avalanche are about to take off. The Dallas Stars have surprisingly, I don’t want to say scuffled a bit, but they haven’t been as good of late. The Minnesota Wild haven’t showed any signs of letting up, and then the Winnipeg Jets.
Where’s the path forward for the Blues this year? I don’t necessarily think it’s about this year, but I also think when you look at where the Blues are going from here, mediocrity is not acceptable to them. Which I love that they’re aggressive, they just go out and take it. If there’s something better available, we’ve got two players that are being jammed up by their own club this summer with offer sheets, Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, hey, we see a tough situation and we’re going to use it to our advantage. And, Doug Armstrong said then at the time, basically I’m paraphrasing here, cause there was some talk on whether he would offer sheet the Edmonton Oilers if Ken Holland was still the GM, he basically said I’d do this to my own mother if I needed to. Here you go, I’d fire Drew Bannister if it meant there’s a better coach available. I love the aggression.
Yaremchuk: Yeah, I think you need to applaud it. You made the point on the DFO rundown, what was the average pick for the St. Louis Blues, their first draft pick averages in at like pick 30, right?
Seravalli: Yes, so over the last 14 years since Doug Armstrong took over, for their average of first draft position in the NHL is 30th.
For more on the Blues’ future under Montgomery, and the very latest from around the NHL, watch the full episode here.
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Mike Matheson may not be in the Montreal Canadiens’ long-term plans, but he fits the lineup now Dan Rosen of NHL.com: Montreal Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson has a year left on his contract and it still an important piece to their blue line. Lane Hutson will need a new deal after next season, and it could exceed Noah Dobson’s $9.5 million. Ivan Demidov will need a huge deal in two years. The Canadiens top four beyond next season will likely consist of Hutson and Kaiden Guhle on the left side and Dobson and David Reinbacher on the right. Right-handed Alexandre Carrier has two years left, and they have LHD of Jayden Struble (RFA) and Arber Xhakaj (one year away from RFA). NHLRumors: Rossi and Wild at Contract Impasse Potential trade destinations for Jason Robertson Ryan Dixon of Sportsnet: A look at seven teams that could be potential trade destinations for Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson. The 25-year-old Robertson carries a $7.75 million cap hit for one more season. He’ll be an RFA after next year and would be a UFA the following year. He doesn’t have any trade protection but does have some leverage if he were to indicate whether he’d sign an extension with a potential team acquiring him or not. Los Angeles Kings – Hometown team, and they could be looking to add more scoring. Immediate business for the Kings is that they need to re-sign RFA Alex Laferriere, and Adrian Kempe is extension-eligible. Carolina Hurricanes – Already signed Nikolaj Ehlers, but could use some more scoring. Could the Stars reacquire some of the picks they sent in the Mikko Rantanen deal? Washington Capitals – Would need to move out some salary, and could be some scoring insurance depending on Alex Ovechkin’s future. Additional scoring for next year would be welcomed. Columbus Blue Jackets – Would the Stars be interested in winger Dmitri Voronkov? The Blue Jackets made him available in Noah Dobson trade talks. Detroit Red Wings – The Red Wings may need to go the trade route to add scoring, as they weren’t even able to talk to UFAs they would have been interested in. Seattle Kraken – The Kraken could use some high-end scoring. Have the cap space and multiple first-round picks in the next two drafts. Utah Mammoth – If the Stars are looking for a current NHLer in the return, maybe Nick Schmaltz at $5.85 million could fit into their top-six. The Mammoth have three 2026 second-round picks and prospects as well.
New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has stirred up a whirlwind, looking to fulfill his priority of bringing a frontline starter to New York. In his latest round of relentless phone calls, MLB insider Jon Heyman reports that Cashman spoke to San Diego Padres general manager, A.J. Preller, about two-time Cy Young candidate Dylan Cease. Cease has been a source of interest for MLB teams since 2022, when he pitched to a spectacular 2.20 ERA with 227 strikeouts in 184 innings, coming second in the Cy Young voting. Landing with the Padres last season, Cease again flashed potential, tossing to a 3.47 ERA with 224 strikeouts through 189.1 innings of work. That year, he placed fourth in Cy Young voting. But as much as Cease is talented, he is also flawed. In 2023, just after his best year, Cease posted a lackluster 4.58 ERA, and this season has been no better. Through 113.2 innings this year, Cease owns a 4.59 ERA with 144 strikeouts. Cease has been quite the strikeout artist since his debut, but the rest of his results haven’t always been that good. His 42 walks and 16 home runs surrendered on the year make him a risky bet. According to Heyman, the Yankees are one of four teams that have “checked in” on Cease. He notes that trading Cease is a long shot since the Padres are in contention, but they still may be inclined to do so as he is in the last year of his contract. One might also add that his performance this year probably won’t help them reach the World Series. For the Yankees, or any other interested team for that matter, dealing prospects or players for a slumping half-year rental might not be the best idea. Still, the Padres might just receive a decent haul for Cease since the market for spotless, front-line aces is non-existent at this trade deadline.
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb reminded teammates to keep their cool after the team had multiple skirmishes during the first two days of training camp. Rookie defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku and tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford got involved in a brief scuffle on Tuesday. At the following practice on Wednesday, a fight broke out between safety Markquese Bell and TE Tyler Neville. New head coach Brian Schottenheimer then stopped practice and pulled the whole team together. He said the next player who threw a punch would be kicked out of practice (via Joseph Hoyt of The Dallas Morning News). "We've got to be professional," Lamb said of the incident after practice, per ESPN's Todd Archer. "I get it that we have a lot of animosity and tension between us and understanding that we want to proclaim our dominance and show like aggressiveness on both sides of the ball, but then again, to what extent?" Fighting in training camp isn't uncommon. It's an intense environment. Many are trying to prove themselves before teams trim their rosters to 53 players. However, too much brawling can threaten to tear a locker room apart. A lack of discipline was also one reason the Cowboys replaced Mike McCarthy with Schottenheimer this offseason. According to NFLPenalties.com, Dallas drew the league's sixth-most flags (128) last season. Per Archer, there were no more fights after Schottenheimer pulled the team aside. Still, the incidents raise questions about his ability to maintain control. The coach spent Wednesday morning's meeting discussing two plays where DE Sam Williams was too physical and sent to the sideline. His players must not have received the message. It's good for Dallas that Lamb seems to be echoing Schottenheimer's sentiments, but the rookie HC still must get through to his team. Rebounding from a 7-10 season could already prove challenging for the Cowboys. As of Wednesday, ESPN's Football Power Index gives Dallas a 34.5% chance to make the playoffs. Infighting will make that even more difficult.
The Florida Gators are in the hunt for a very intriguing college football prospect from the 2028 class. Social media blew up last weekend after a crazy one-handed catch was made at the NFL Flag Championships by receiver Brysen Wright. The original video of Wright's snag has over 7 million views and caught the eye of NFL talent like Patrick Mahomes, Caleb Williams, and others. On3's Adam Gorney caught up with Wright to discuss recruiting and which schools are currently in the lead. Wright revealed he has heard from the Gators, Ohio State Buckeyes and Miami Hurricanes. “The only (main) schools I’m hearing from now really are Ohio State, Florida and Miami,” Gorney compared Wright to sophomore Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith. Smith burst onto the scene last season, leading the Buckeyes with 1,315 receiving yards as a true freshman. Smith was a former five-star prospect and the top receiver in the 2024 class. Wright is rated as a four-star on Rivals, and On3's Hayes Fawcett believes the recruit will be one of the prospects in the class. Wright is familiar with Florida, as the Gators had him in town for an unofficial visit in November of last year. The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine has tabbed Florida as the favorite and gives it a 21.9% chance to land him. Ohio State has a 13.7% chance, while Miami has a 1.2% chance. While Wright's decision may not be imminent, Florida is trending upward as a program. The Gators just secured the first winning season of head coach Billy Napier's tenure, and people are paying close attention to Florida. Greg McElroy even said that Florida could be a problem with a consistent running game. If Wright pans out as people expect, it would be a massive addition to Florida.