Blues Notes: Stastny Brothers, Prospect Tournament Roster
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Dan O’Neill reports that the Stastny brothers couldn’t be more excited to be together at the Blues camp. Yan Stastny, older brother of current Blues forward Paul Stastny, was invited to participate in St. Louis’ camp with a professional tryout. A journeyman hockey player who has played throughout the world, Yan will lace his skates up for an NHL team for the first time since 2010. Though making the team is considered a long shot, Stastny is only concerned about the experience:
“Realistically, I’m going to go have fun,” said Stastny, who makes his home in St. Louis. “I got a phone call out of the blue from (Blues general manager) Doug Armstrong and I asked him if I could take a little time to think about it … But it gives me a chance to skate and stay in shape, if something comes up, in Europe or wherever. Right now, I think I’m the oldest guy going to camp, so I take a little pride in that — the fact that I’m still playing. I’m just going in to compete and have some fun. I know the game has changed quite a bit since I last played in North America. But you never know what can happen. There have been longer shots.”
For the younger Stastny, it’s a thrill to have his older brother in camp. Though they’ve never been on the same professional team, Paul said it will be “exciting” and said it’s a moment that “you dream of” but really aren’t sure that it will actually happen. For the Stastny brothers, it’s a terrific opportunity to spend time together as not only teammates, but brothers and friends. Anything that happens after that would certainly be a bonus.
In other Blues news:
- The Blues have announced their prospect roster for the NHL Prospects Tournament writes Jeremy Rutherford. The Prospect Tournament is held in Traverse City, Michigan, and features the prospects of eight teams that include the Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild and the New York Rangers. In the round robin tournament, the Blues will face the Red Wings, Blackhawks and Blue Jackets. Forward Ivan Barbashev and defenseman Jordan Schmaltz are just two of the many prospects on the list to participate.
Poll: 2005 NHL Draft Take Two: Second Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection isn’t an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams–or players–intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2005 NHL Draft, which kicked off the salary cap era and ushered in many of the current NHL superstars. The question we’re looking to answer is knowing now what we didn’t know then, how different would this draft look now with the benefit of hindsight?
The readers voted already for the first overall pick. and the results were hardly surprising. With nearly 88% of the vote, Sidney Crosby retained his status as the top pick of the 2005 Draft. Now we move forward to the second pick, where there are a number of strong choices as we re-select all of the ’05 Draft.
To recap how this works:
- We will go through the entire 2005 NHL Draft and have our readers select, through a voting process, who they think should have been taken with the selection.
- Every team will be represented, spanning picks one through thirty. The new selection is chosen by the majority of votes. We will continue this all the way through the 30th–and final pick of the draft.
We are now at the second overall pick, which was held by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (now the Anaheim Ducks). With their choice, the Ducks selected Bobby Ryan. While Ryan has enjoyed a productive NHL career, there are certainly other names that stand out: Carey Price, Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Quick, Ben Bishop, and Tuukka Rask just to name a few.
With the second pick of the 2005 NHL Draft, who should the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim select? Cast your vote below!
Snapshots: US-Canada Rivalry, Injury Updates
Though the comments were tepid, many top tier Canadian players took exception to some of the late hits by Team USA during the American squad’s 4-2 victory yesterday. Jonathan Toews was careful with his comments, but was blunt about some of the questionable hits doled out by the aggressive Americans. Via the Chicago Tribune, Toews had this to say:
“Without saying too much, I think there were a couple of borderline hits there where our guys were put in some awkward positions and there’s not much you can do there. The one on Weber was the right call there. We just have to try and protect ourselves and expect that the officials are going to do what they have to do. We have no problem with the chippiness and the physical play (but) it doesn’t matter where you’re playing, I think you always have to respect the player when he has his back to you.”
Toews wasn’t the only one making careful comments. Captain Sidney Crosby and netminder Carey Price both agreed that some hits “crossed the line.” Nick Cotsonika writes that Mike Babcock put the onus on the referees to control the rough play during a game between two rivals:
“There were lots of scrums tonight. They were generated by the players. The referees can clean that up in two seconds. All you’ve got to do is put people in the box. No more scrums.”
The US and Canada meet again in exhibition play tonight.
In other hockey news:
- The Chicago Tribune’s Chris Kuc writes about the concern every team has with the injuries as the World Cup begins its tournament play with an exhibition tilt. With injuries to Marian Hossa, and Marcus Kruger, Blackhawks players were understandably concerned when two significant players from their team suffered injuries. Hossa’s, as it turns out, will not limit him and Europe coach Ralph Krueger said it’s “all green lights” for Hossa to play in Saturday’s game. Kruger, Kuc reports, has a more mysterious upper body injury and will be held out of play during Saturday’s Sweden’s exhibition game against Finland. Both Patrick Kane and Toews, when asked about the possibility of injury, shrugged it off and attributed it to a risk that’s always there, regardless of the circumstance.
Snapshots: World Cup Power Rankings, Updates
TSN’s Scott Cullen writes that Canada is the team to beat in the World Cup of Hockey. Cullen ranks Canada, Sweden, and North America ahead of the American squad, who he pegs as fourth in his tournament power rankings. Cullen expects the Americans to be competitive but can’t see a team squarely more concerned about a “tougher” style of play going very far in a tournament that emphasizes speed and skill. The US, Cullen writes, is all about smash mouth hockey, but their goalie tandem of Cory Schneider, Ben Bishop and Jonathan Quick could give those aforementioned skilled teams some fits. Cullen places Canada at the top simply because of the top end talent they boast on every line. Sweden, he writes, has an “absurd” defensive corps with Erik Karlsson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman, Hampus Lindholm, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Mattias Ekholm all on the roster. He cautions that in order to knock off favorite Canada, they’ll need young forwards Filip Forsberg and Gabriel Landeskog to carry the team in scoring.
Team North America is one that Cullen believes could truly shock everyone. With young, fast, and skilled players like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, and John Gaudreau, the under 23 team could turn some heads, and possibly pull some upsets that could unseat the favorites. For the rest of his rankings, Cullen places Russia, Finland, Czech Republic, and Europe as the bottom four teams respectively.
In other World Cup of Hockey News:
- The USA’s 4-2 victory over Canada featured a lot of aggressive play and injury scares that remained only as fears and nothing serious. Several high profile players took vicious hits, and some had to leave the ice. Flyers captain Claude Giroux took a hit from Joe Pavelski and didn’t return until later in the third period. Logan Couture also took a hard hit from T.J. Oshie in the second period but returned in the third. Though Shea Weber was slammed into the boards by Ryan Kesler in the second period, he didn’t miss any ice time. Kesler was assessed a boarding major and a game misconduct. Pavelski recorded the game winner while Derek Stepan sealed the game with an empty net goal in a contest that became more physical as it wore on. Earlier in the day, PHR recapped some of the other injury scares during exhibition play on Thursday.
Red Wings Notes: Sheahan, Larkin, Renouf
The Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James writes that former Red Wings goaltender and current Wings analyst Chris Osgood believes that Riley Sheahan can be an elite center. Though Sheahan had a career best 14 goals last season, he slumped in terms of total production, notching only 25 points after posting 36 a season prior. Osgood, believes that the best is yet to come for the 24-year-old forward:
“To me, he has a nice offensive ability, he’s responsible defensively, he’s really strong. I think if you put him in the right spot, he’ll flourish. He’ll become one of the best third-line centers in the NHL. And he’s getting to be that age now where he’s a little more mature. He’s played a lot. He had some rough patches last year, and he’s learned from them. He’s a tough kid and he perseveres. So to me, he’s the guy to really look to be kind of that third-line center, power forward, leader, that’s going to get a lot of more points.”
Sheahan will be slotted in as the third line center as Dylan Larkin and Frans Nielsen are expected to center the top two lines.
In other Red Wings news:
- Larkin was a healthy scratch in North America’s victory over Europe on Thursday, but Craig Custance tweets that Larkin will most likely see time on the fourth line during Sunday’s exhibition game against Team Europe. The the Detroit News’ Ted Kulfan reports that Larkin was excited nonetheless–prior to the game–about being part of the North American team and the World Cup of Hockey:
“Talking to other players that are in the tournament, they know we’re going to be pretty good. We’re just excited to get together and start playing some games. I don’t think we’re going to shock any teams. We’re definitely going to play our best. Teams know the kind of players we have. We hope to win the whole thing. It’s cool how players from Canada and the U.S. come together. It’s going to be a bit of a feeling out process, a lot of players from different teams, but it’ll go well and we’ll be an exciting team to watch.”
- MLive’s Brendan Savage pens a piece on Red Wings prospect Dan Renouf and how he hopes to take the same road to the Red Wings as current defenseman Danny DeKeyser did. Renouf is hoping that his career trajectory follows that of DeKeyser, who signed with Detroit as an undrafted free agent out of Western Michigan and has been a mainstay on the blue line since. Renouf played six games with Detroit’s AHL affiliate Grand Rapids but spent the majority of his time with the University of Maine. Renouf was the leading scorer for all defenseman with 15 points (6-9).
Snapshots: Tampa’s Goalies, Lindberg, Kane, Fraser
While it has long been speculated that the Tampa Bay Lightning will have to move one of their two goalies in the near future, GM Steve Yzerman isn’t ruling out keeping both around in the hopes of having above average goaltending for every game this season, writes Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times.
After signing Andrei Vasilevskiy to a three year, $10.5MM extension that begins in 2017-18, Bishop has been speculated as being the odd one out. Those thoughts have become even more prevalent recently with the report that Bishop was close to being dealt to Calgary back at the draft. Yzerman did add that he expects both goalies to be available when they open their season on October 13th.
With Bishop projected to be the top goaltender in next summer’s UFA market, the Lightning could be faced with a situation where they lose him for nothing if they don’t trade him. However, as we saw last season with Steven Stamkos, Yzerman isn’t afraid to hold on to his pending free agents and use them as internal rentals to aid in what they hope to be a lengthy postseason run.
With the goalie market pretty well dried up at this point, they’ll likely have to wait until midseason to see if anyone struggles out of the gate or gets injured before determining whether or not it’s worth pursuing dealing Bishop who has been the Lightning’s starter each of the last three seasons.
Other news and notes from around the hockey world:
- Rangers center Oscar Lindberg has been skating for the past three weeks as he continues to rehab from hip surgery back in May, reports Newsday’s Steve Zipay. The 24 year old had a quality rookie campaign with New York last season, recording 13 goals and 15 assists in 68 games. With the team adding extra forward depth in players like Michael Grabner, Josh Jooris, Brandon Pirri, and Nathan Gerbe, Lindberg will be in a tough battle for a spot in the lineup when he returns to the lineup.
- Prosecutors have submitted additional evidence against Sabres winger Evander Kane in his pending court case, writes John Wawrow of the Associated Press. Kane is facing four counts of non-criminal harassment, one count of disorderly conduct, and one count of misdemeanour trespass. He pled not guilty to all charges back in August and is scheduled to next appear in ourt on October 31st.
- Chicago UFA winger Matt Fraser has signed a one year deal with Rogle BK of the SHL, the Swedish team announced (link in Swedish). The Blackhawks acquired him as part of the Andrew Ladd trade prior to the last trade deadline although he never got into a game with the team; he last suited up in the NHL in 2014-15 where he played 60 games between Edmonton and Boston. The Blackhawks declined to tender him a qualifying offer back in June.
Capitals Notes: Johansson, Eller, Holtby
After playing last season on a one year, $3.75MM deal, Capitals forward Marcus Johansson is looking forward to having more stability this year, writes Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post. Back in July, he inked a three year, $13.75MM contract, one that also affords him a small bit of no-trade protection in the form of a five team no-trade clause. As Johansson notes, not having looming contract talks takes some of the pressure off:
“Especially family-wise, it feels good. You still always put pressure on yourself to do well, and I think that’s never going to change for anyone. It’s just mostly off the ice with the family and all, you can, you know, relax and settle in a little bit more and just focus on the game.”
Johansson is coming off his third straight 40+ point season, picking up 17 goals and 29 assists in 74 games while averaging 16:38 of ice time per game. He also had a solid postseason, adding a pair of goals and five helpers in 12 contests with a 16:41 ATOI.
The 25 year old battled through an injury late in the year and told CSN Atlantic’s Tarik El-Bashir that he is 100% recovered although he wouldn’t specific what or where the injury actually was.
Last season, Johansson shifted between the left wing and center despite not playing the latter position much in the previous three seasons. However, that shouldn’t be the case this season as the addition of Lars Eller from Montreal should free him up to focus primarily on the wing. Johansson is certainly a fan of that as well, noting that it will be nice to just “focus on one thing at a time”.
With the roster as it stands, there’s a good chance that Johansson will start on the left side on the second line behind Alex Ovechkin at that position.
More from Washington:
- Speaking of stability, Eller is looking forward to playing center full-time this season instead of shuffling positions, Khurshudyan wrote in a separate column. Eller spent time both there and on the left wing last year with the Canadiens but noted that he’s “never hidden the fact that I like to play center the most” and that he couldn’t be happier to be at center this season. With both Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom at the World Cup of Hockey, Eller will open up camp as their top pivot, meaning he should have a chance to showcase his offensive skills before settling in to his two-way bottom six role when the season gets underway next month.
- Goaltender Braden Holtby’s World Cup of Hockey mask features a tribute to Canadian band The Tragically Hip and he will auction it off with the proceeds intended to go to the charity of the band’s choice, reports Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. Holtby enters the tournament as the presumed backup goaltender to Carey Price but he will have a chance to debut the mask on Saturday night as he is expected to play half the game in Canada’s second exhibition game against the USA.
Islanders Notes: Strome, Gionta, Ladd
Newsday’s Arthur Staple reports that the Islanders and restricted free agent center/right winger Ryan Strome remain in discussions on a new deal and there isn’t any concern that a deal won’t get done in advance of the opening of training camp on the 22nd (Twitter links). The start date for camp is notable as the team still has a rule in place that any player unsigned as of the beginning of camp will not play for the entire season.
Strome is coming off a down year where he recorded just 28 points (8-20-28) in 71 games, down considerably from a 50 point campaign in 2014-15. As a result, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the team pursue a short-term contract to see how he fares this season before deciding whether or not to commit to him on a long-term deal.
Despite his struggles last season, Strome is still expected to be a top six forward and could push offseason acquisition P.A. Parenteau for time on their top line, a vacancy that was created by the departure of Kyle Okposo to Buffalo at the beginning of free agency.
[Related: Islanders Depth Chart]
In other Islanders news:
- In a separate tweet from Staple, the New York Islanders are in discussions with Stephen Gionta regarding a training camp tryout. Gionta has spent parts of the last six seasons with New Jersey and played in all 82 games last year for the first time in his career, collecting 11 points (1-10-11). He would potentially battle for a depth forward role with the team or possibly even as a veteran for their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport. Gionta has 50 points in 270 career NHL games, all with the Devils.
- Assistant coach Doug Weight played a big role in convincing Andrew Ladd to join the team, writes Cory Wright from the team’s official site. Speaking with Wright, Ladd noted that, “Knowing Dougie from Carolina that relationship with him and knowing what a genuine good guy he is, it was nice to have him here showing me around. He made me comfortable and made my wife comfortable. I trust his opinion on where things are going here.” Ladd had as many as 10 suitors in free agency and is coming off a 25 goal season for the first time since 2011-12. He signed a seven year, $38.5MM deal back on July 1st and should play alongside John Tavares on New York’s top line.
Snapshots: Vegas Name, Concussion Protocol, Cowen Hearing
The Las Vegas something Knights.
What that something will be has yet to be announced, but owner Bill Foley confirmed on Friday that will be the basis for the team’s name. Foley appeared on Brian Blessing’s Sportsbook Radio show on Friday. According to Blessing, the team and league are still fine-tuning the logo, but the name and colors have been chosen.
Throughout the last couple weeks, Foley has trademarked several team nicknames, though he admitted they were a “ruse” to “irritate” people. It’s been long speculated that Foley wanted the team to be nicknamed the Knights, but trademark issues with the OHL’s London Knights will likely squash that.
The Las Vegas something Knights will make their NHL debut for the 2017-18 season.
Elsewhere in the hockey world:
- Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has an new piece up on sportsnet.ca about some changes coming to the NHL’s concussion protocol. Currently, team-affiliated “spotters” are responsible for noting if players have sustained a traumatic injury and are supposed to pull the player off the bench to a quiet room for further evaluation. However, there has been some debate that the spotters aren’t always doing their jobs properly. Now, Friedman reports, there will be four independent spotters watching all games on television. Should they see any visible signs of a concussion, they will notify the team that their player must be pulled from the game for observation. The in-house spotters will remain in each arena. According to Friedman, the full protocol will be revealed shortly before the start of the regular season.
- Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun reported that a resolution between the Maple Leafs and Jared Cowen won’t come for another month. Horby tweeted that the hearing will not take place until early or mid October. The Leafs acquired Cowen in the Dion Phaneuf trade back in February, mainly because of a quirk in his contract that would give the Leafs a salary cap credit if he’s bought out. Cowen underwent surgery after the season on doctor’s orders, and claims he is still injured and therefore ineligible to be bought out. Cowen is entering the final year of his contract, which pays him $3.1MM per season.
Kris Versteeg Joining Oilers On PTO
After returning from Switzerland due to apparent insurance issues, the Edmonton Oilers announced that they have inked veteran winger Kris Versteeg to a professional try-out deal. TSN’s Darren Dreger was first to report that Versteeg was heading to Edmonton.
Versteeg scored 15 goals and 38 points in 77 games split between Carolina and Los Angeles. He plays a gritty game, despite being on the small side for the current NHL at 5’11, 176 lbs.
The two-time Stanley Cup champion (both with Chicago) slots in behind only Jordan Eberle on the Oilers’ right wing depth chart, and would give fourth overall pick Jesse Puljujärvi a challenge to make the team out of camp. The Oilers are often criticized for rushing young players to fill gaping holes in their roster, like Justin Schultz and Leon Draisaitl. While Draisaitl turned it around with 51 points in his sophomore year, Schultz is now a bottom-pairing or depth defenseman after entering the league with much higher expectations. Starting Puljujärvi in the AHL would help him get acquainted with the North American game.
Related: Edmonton Oilers’ depth chart at Roster Resource
Looking at the players Versteeg will be competing with on the starboard side: Eberle and Puljujärvi are likely the top two guys on the depth chart for the better part of the next decade. Both have three years left on their contracts. Other than them, Nail Yakupov, Zack Kassian, and Iiro Pakarinen each are entering contract years, but none scored more than Yakupov’s 8 goals and 23 points in 2015-16. Versteeg also is comfortable on the left side, which would give the Oilers some flexibility to move lines around throughout the year.
The Oilers will also have Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Draisaitl away at the World Cup for the beginning of training camp, so Versteeg will help fill out the pre-season roster veteran quota.