• Former Montreal Canadiens general manager Pierre Gauthier has joined the Chicago Blackhawks as director of player personnel, the Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday.
• Jamie Langenbrunner has inked a one-year contract extension with the St. Louis Blues. The deal is reportedly worth $1.25 million, but he could end up making an additional $250,000 if he meets the requirements for his bonus. Langenbrunner had six goals and 24 points in 70 games with St. Louis last season.
• The San Jose Sharks have named Jim Johnson an assistant coach, the team announced Tuesday. Johnson last season was an assistant coach for the Washington Capitals under Dale Hunter.
• Tyler Eckford signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Ottawa Senators. Eckford had 25 points and 37 penalty minutes in 75 games with the AHL Portland Pirates in 2011-12. He might be called up at some point as an injury replacement, but he’s expected to spend the vast majority of his time in the minors.
• Chris Neil has reportedly signed a three-year/$5.75 million contract extension. Neil wasn’t scheduled to become a free agent until the summer of 2013. He had 28 points and 178 penalty minutes in 72 contests with the Ottawa Senators last season.
• Tim Stapleton has agreed in principal to a deal with KHL Dinamo-Minsk, according to the team’s website. Stapleton had 11 goals and 27 points in 63 games with the Winnipeg Jets.

Darren Dreger reports that the Washington Capitals have selected former passing genius Adam Oates as their next head coach.

The Washington Post suggests Michel Therrien, Marc Crawford, Mike Keenan, Jacques Martin, and Jon Cooper (AHL Norfolk Admirals) also belong on the list of potential candidates.

“It was good while it lasted. With the lack of playoff success, with the direction they are going. They decided to change directions. That’s within their rights. Alex doesn’t fit into that system obviously,” Gandler told ESPN the Magazine. “It just doesn’t make any sense to him. He plays, he did the best he could under the circumstances and he earned his right to be a free agent.”

Gandler said the strong priority for the Russian native is to play in the NHL rather than in the KHL next season and at 28 years old Semin would prefer to play somewhere his role is being expanded, including time on the penalty kill, rather than diminished.

“I think the issue is with the organization, not necessarily with the coach,” Gandler said. “They told us Alex is not going to play short-handed, he’s not going to play in the last minute. He’s going to get the same icetime as everybody else Alex is not ready to be a role player. He wants to be a full-time player. It’s important to him.”

Semin, who earned $6.7 million this season, had 21 goals in 77 games for the Capitals in 2011-12, including three in the playoffs. He’s two seasons removed from scoring 40 goals under former Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau and is an interesting option for teams looking for scoring in a weak free-agent market. Often frustrating in Washington, there still aren’t many guys hitting the market capable of scoring 30 or 40 goals.

“I don’t know what the market for him is going to be,” Gandler said. “I know there aren’t many players like Alex around.”

Hunter, who replaced Bruce Boudreau on November 28th, signed a deal only for the remainder of the 2011-12 season, which ended for the Capitals when they lost to the New York Rangers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Saturday.

Hunter went 30-23-7 with the Caps, guiding them to seventh in the Eastern Conference, but the team seemed to improve as the postseason wore on, with the Capitals embracing Hunter’s defense-first system. They beat the second-seeded and defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins in seven games in the first round and pushed the top-seeded New York Rangers to the brink in the second round.

During his tenure, Hunter showed a willingness to bench superstar Alex Ovechkin, even in key situations. It will be interesting to see how the next coach handles Ovechkin.