NHL Notebook: Canucks, Maple Leafs add assistant, associate coaches
By Zach Laing
1 month agoA pair of teams have added assistant coaches to their staff Wednesday, with the Vancouver Canucks naming Yogi Švejkovský an assistant coach, and the Toronto Maple Leafs naming Lane Lambert an associate coach.
Švejkovský, 47, is getting promoted within the organization after spending the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons as a skills coach, having held the same role in 2021-22 with their AHL affilate. He has experience behind the bench dating back to the mid-2000s, when he joined the WHL’s Vancouver Giants as an assistant coach, holding the role for seven years.
That’s not the only change coming the Canucks’ way, as both Henrik and Daniel Sedin will become more involved in coaching at both the NHL and AHL levels.
“After exploring all of our options, it became clear very quickly that the best candidate was already in our organization,” said Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin. “The ability to promote from within will help us in the transition, as Yogi and has a great understanding of our systems and the way we want to play. Including the Sedins more in our day-to-day coaching duties will be hugely beneficial to our group both on and off the ice. Both Daniel and Henrik bring a very unique perspective and competitive mind set to our staff.”
“Since I arrived in Vancouver, I have been very impressed with Yogi’s work ethic and willingness to do anything and everything to help us become a better team,” head coach Rick Tocchet added. “Daniel and Henrik have also had a seat at the table and I have leaned on them more and more as the year went on. Their knowledge and ability to teach the game is a huge plus and they fit in extremely well with our group.”
Lambert, meanwhile, joins the Maple Leafs and brings with him two decades of coaching experience in the WHL, AHL, and NHL. He most recently spent the last season and a half as the head coach of the New York Islanders but spent the 2018-19 to 2021-22 seasons as their associate head coach.
Prior to that, he spent four years as an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals (2014-18), and three years with the Nashville Predators (2011-14) in the same role.
Gustavsson to the Devils?
There’s more than a few big names on the goaltending market this summer, as the likes of Linus Ullmark, Juuse Saros and Jacob Markstrom all being players who could be traded from their respective teams.
But on Wednesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli said the New Jersey Devils could be a sleeper team to land Minnesota Wild netminder Filip Gustavsson:
Tyler Yaremchuk: We have a few goalies who could be available this summer, Linus Ullmark, Juuse Saros, and Jacob Markstrom, but the question is, which goalie do you think would be the best fit for the New Jersey Devils?Frank Seravalli: I am going to go off the board, if I am the New Jersey Devils I am not going to go and trade my No. 10 overall pick for a goalie I am keeping that and finding a mid-tier option and saying Filip Gustavsson. I know that’s not the sexiest name but think between Gustavsson and next year Jake Allen, those two guys combing for $5 million provides you better roster flexibility and lower acquisition cost. Two years ago we were talking about Gustavsson as the “Hey this is the next guy on the rise for the Wild.” He had a .930 save percentage that season, he was lights out. But the Wild have Marc Andre Fleury and he will mentor Jesper Wallstedt which is why they have Gustavsson on the block. I know the Devils need to find a solution, I know fans want that security blanket, that big name, but I think they will have to settle for Gustavsson and resist the urge.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
Recent articles from Zach Laing
