Canes making Guentzel’s rights available for trade

The Carolina Hurricanes are open to trading the negotiating rights to pending unrestricted free agent Jake Guentzel, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on the “32 Thoughts” podcast.

The asking price is a mid-round pick, Friedman notes.

Any team that acquires Guentzel’s rights before free agency opens July 1 has the exclusive ability to sign him for eight years. If the star winger hits the open market without being moved, he can only ink a maximum seven-year deal.

The Hurricanes made a huge splash in acquiring Guentzel from the Pittsburgh Penguins prior to March’s trade deadline. He was an instant fit, notching 25 points in 17 regular-season games. Guentzel added five goals and four assists in the playoffs as Carolina was eliminated in the second round.

Guentzel’s price tag will likely be too high for the Hurricanes. The club has approximately $26.5 million in projected cap space, according to Cap Friendly, but only has 18 players signed for next season. It has eight UFAs and five restricted free agents unaccounted for.

Guentzel is arguably this summer’s top free agent. The Stanley Cup champion is a two-time 40-goal scorer and has racked up 491 points in 520 games over eight seasons.

Natalie Darwitz out as GM of PWHL Minnesota

Just eight days after Minnesota won the PWHL’s first-ever Walter Cup championship, general manager Natalie Darwitz is reportedly departing the organization.

According to a report by The Athletic’s Michael Russo and Hailey Salvian on Thursday night, Darwitz was told earlier this week that she would not be back as GM next season and was instead offered alternative options within the league.

Minnesota is set to host the 2024 Draft on June 10 and first-ever PWHL Awards on June 11. Per Russo and Salvian, Darwitz is not expected to be at the draft table for Minnesota on Monday night.

Darwitz was hired back in September 2023 to lead Minnesota and has a successful playing background that includes two NCAA championships with the University of Minnesota and three Olympic medals with Team USA.

The PWHL has not confirmed the news of Darwitz’s departure.

Jazz unveil new logos, jerseys as part of 2-year rollout

The Utah Jazz unveiled on Wednesday a new set of logos and jerseys slated to be released over the next two seasons.

The most courts per capita in the nation ✔️
The largest youth program in the league ✔️
85% of the population near the mountains ✔️

Utah is Mountain Basketball 🏔️🏀#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/awR1WsUee0

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) June 5, 2024

After shifting to black and yellow jerseys and logos ahead of the 2022-23 season, the team’s revamped look is based on their new official colors: “mountain purple,” “midnight black,” and “sky blue.”

Utah Jazz

The Jazz’s new branding consists of four new uniforms. Their City Edition kits for the upcoming 2024-25 season include a purple jersey bearing mountains behind the city name. A black Statement Edition jersey will take over for its predecessor starting Jan. 1, 2025.

Utah Jazz

Utah’s final two releases – white and purple uniforms with a mountainous landscape in the background – will become the team’s Association and Icon Edition jerseys for the 2025-26 season.

“We know the purple pops,” Jazz governor Ryan Smith told ESPN’s Andrew Lopez. “It’s how a lot of people know us. It’s not simple because you have a couple other teams that have a couple other variations of purple. Making this our own has been what we’ve been working on.”

He added: “The one thing that is absolutely part of who we are is these mountains that sit within 15 miles of no matter where you live.”

The Jazz will wear this season’s jerseys as their main kits through the 2024-25 campaign.

Towns hopes to stay as T-Wolves potentially enter tax territory

Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns hopes to remain with the only franchise he’s played for over his nine NBA seasons.

“I would love for the tenure to keep going,” Towns said postgame Thursday after being eliminated in the Western Conference finals by the Dallas Mavericks.

Towns added, “I’m confident that I’m going to be able to be here with my brothers and continue to do what I love here at home. So that’s the plan. Nothing’s ever changed on my side, and I love this city, I love this organization.”

Towns, 28, is set to enter the first season of a four-year, $224-million contract. Minnesota’s payroll is expected to exceed $200 million for the 2024-25 campaign, with the 10 players under contract accounting for $185 million, according to Basketball Reference. The franchise is expected to pay the luxury tax for the second time since 2007-08.

The organization can take back more salary, aggregate contracts, and send cash in trades but would trigger the second apron restrictions under the league’s new collective bargaining agreement for next season if done before July 1. Those restrictions include losing the mid-level exception and the ability to combine multiple salaries in trades.

If the Timberwolves were to trade Towns, the receiving team would also have the first apron hard cap triggered due to his $49.4-million salary for 2024-25 – the seventh highest in the league.

Towns struggled at times during the playoffs, averaging just 15 points over the first three games of the conference finals. He averaged 19.1 points and nine rebounds over Minnesota’s postseason run.

The Timberwolves are coming off their second-best season in franchise history, going 56-26 and reaching the conference finals for the second time.

Report: Pistons parting ways with GM Weaver

The Detroit Pistons are planning to part ways with general manager Troy Weaver, sources told The Athletic’s Shams Charania and James L. Edwards III.

The move comes in response to the Pistons hiring New Orleans Pelicans general manager Trajan Langdon as the organization’s new president of basketball operations.

Detroit is in serious talks to hire Pelicans vice president of basketball administration Michael Blackstone as the No. 2 decision-maker under Langdon in the front office. Blackstone has also served as assistant general manager with the Atlanta Hawks and executive director of basketball operations with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The franchise offered Weaver an off-site scouting role to stay with the organization, but he declined the position.

Weaver was hired by the Pistons in 2020 after he spent time as the assistant general manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Over his four seasons with Detroit, the team compiled a 74-244 record.

Blue Jackets hire Waddell as GM, president of hockey ops

The Columbus Blue Jackets hired Don Waddell as general manager, president of hockey operations, and alternate governor, the team announced Tuesday.

Reports on Saturday indicated Waddell would join the Blue Jackets as the team’s top hockey operations executive.

Waddell resigned from his post as president and GM of the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.

The Blue Jackets fired GM Jarmo Kekalainen in February. President of hockey operations John Davidson served as interim GM in the meantime.

Davidson will now transition to a senior adviser and alternate governor role.

“I’ve known Don for many years, and he is one of the great gentlemen in our business,” Davidson said. “He is a very smart, dedicated professional who has shown a great ability to bring people together to work towards a common goal and achieve success. I believe this is a great day for our organization and our fans.”

The Blue Jackets have missed the playoffs in four straight years and have only qualified for the postseason six times in their 23 seasons. They’ve never advanced past Round 2.

During Waddell’s six years as GM of the Hurricanes, the team made the playoffs every season, won three straight division titles from 2021-23, and made the conference finals in 2019 and 2023.

However, Waddell didn’t find quite the same level of success in his previous GM gig. He held that position with the Atlanta Thrashers from 1998-2010, overseeing a single postseason appearance in 2007 when the club was swept in Round 1.

Waddell will join a franchise that boasts a talented young core led by 2023 No. 3 pick Adam Fantilli. The Blue Jackets hold the No. 4 pick in the 2024 draft.

Clippers agree to reported 5-year, $70M deal with Lue

The Los Angeles Clippers have agreed to a long-term contract extension with head coach Tyronn Lue, the team announced on Wednesday.

The deal is valued at $70 million over five seasons, league sources tell The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

The 47-year-old, who was set to become a free agent after the 2024-25 season, will become one of the league’s highest-paid bench bosses with the new deal. Earlier this month, it was reported that Lue was considered a candidate for the vacant Los Angeles Lakers job after Darvin Ham’s firing.

Had Lue taken the Lakers job, he’d have reunited with LeBron James. The pair won the 2016 NBA title together as a part of the Cleveland Cavaliers organization.

Lue will be at the Clippers’ helm as they move to their new home, Inglewood, California’s Intuit Dome, next season.

L.A. could undergo major personnel changes this offseason as both James Harden and Paul George can become free agents this summer. George has a $48.7-million player option, which he could decline. The Philadelphia 76ers are reportedly eyeing the 34-year-old should he decide to leave Los Angeles.

Lue has gone 184-134 during his four-year tenure with the Clippers, good enough for the sixth-best record in the league over that stretch. Los Angeles has made the playoffs in three of its four seasons with Lue in charge, including a trip to the Western Conference finals in 2021.

The Clippers went 51-31 last year, good enough for fourth in the Western Conference, but were knocked out of the postseason by the Dallas Mavericks in six games in Round 1.

Kraken hire Dan Bylsma as head coach

The Seattle Kraken hired Dan Bylsma as the second head coach in franchise history, the team announced Tuesday.

Bylsma, 53, coached the Kraken’s AHL affiliate in Coachella Valley for two seasons. He won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009.

“Dan is a winner with a proven track record of developing both young and veteran talent, and his leadership will help our team as we move forward,” Kraken general manager Ron Francis said. “He has had success at every level.”

The Coachella Valley Firebirds went 94-32-18 under Bylsma, finishing second in the AHL in both campaigns. The Firebirds lost in the Calder Cup Finals in 2023 and are currently in the conference finals again.

“I have a familiarity with a lot of the players and staff here and think we have a chance to build something special together,” Bylsma said.

Bylsma coached the Penguins to the Stanley Cup in 2009 as a midseason replacement. He won the Jack Adams Award in 2011 and remained Pittsburgh’s bench boss until he was fired in 2014.

The Penguins made the playoffs every season under Bylsma. Pittsburgh reached at least the conference finals twice during his tenure and lost in the first round in back-to-back years in 2011 and 2012.

Bylsma later served as the Buffalo Sabres’ bench boss from 2015-17 and last coached in the NHL as an assistant with the Detroit Red Wings from 2018-21. The Sabres finished 23rd in 2015-16 and 26th the following campaign.

Internationally, Bylsma coached the United States at the 2014 Olympics. He was also an assistant at the 2015, 2018, and 2019 World Championship.

The Kraken fired Dave Hakstol in April after missing the playoffs. Hakstol went 107-112-27 in three seasons, leading Seattle to the second round in 2023.

Jets promote Arniel to head coach

The Winnipeg Jets hired Scott Arniel as their new head coach, the team announced Friday.

The 61-year-old has been the Jets’ associate coach for the past two seasons under Rick Bowness, who retired earlier in May.

Arniel served as the Jets’ interim coach on two separate occasions during the 2023-24 season while Bowness was on personal leave, guiding the team to a 10-5-2 record.

His only other NHL head coaching gig came from 2010-12 with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He led Columbus to a 45-60-18 record during parts of two seasons.

Arniel has also held NHL assistant coaching jobs with the Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, and Buffalo Sabres. He was previously the head coach of the AHL’s Chicago Wolves and Manitoba Moose.

A left-winger during his 11-year NHL playing career, Arniel was drafted by the original Jets in the second round in 1981 and played six seasons with the club, reaching the 20-goal mark twice.

Pistons to hire Langdon as president of basketball operations

The Detroit Pistons have chosen Trajan Langdon as their new president of basketball operations, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The deal could be finalized as early as next week, according to Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill.

Langdon spent the last five seasons as the New Orleans Pelicans general manager. The 48-year-old served as the assistant general manager for the Brooklyn Nets before joining the Pelicans in 2019.

Detroit was also reportedly considering Tim Connelly of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Dennis Lindsey of the Dallas Mavericks, and the Chicago Bulls’ Marc Eversley for the position. The Pistons were also interested in Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst but were denied permission to speak with him.

The Pistons had the NBA’s worst record for the second straight season. Detroit holds the fifth pick in the upcoming draft.