Trade Candidates: Curtis Lazar
With the trade deadline quickly approaching, we will be profiling several players in the weeks ahead that are likely to be dealt by March 1st.
When the Ottawa Senators selected Curtis Lazar 17th overall in 2013, there were high hopes for the center out of the WHL. He lead the Edmonton Oil Kings to a Memorial Cup, scoring 169 points in 199 games in the WHL. Lazar also captained Team Canada to the 2015 World Junior Championships (nine points in seven games) during a break in his NHL rookie season.
Unfortunately for Lazar and the Senators, it hasn’t been an easy transition to the NHL. In 2015-16, Lazar scored 20 points, which represents his current career-high. Because of his slow development, the Senators could look to move Lazar to give him a fresh start.
Contract
Lazar is a pending RFA, following his entry-level contract. His AAV is $895K.
2016-17
It’s been a trying year for Lazar. He started the season in the AHL after battling mononucleosis late in the summer. After 13 games with the Binghamton Senators, where he scored four points, he was recalled to the big club. Stuck on the fourth line, he has just one assist in 27 NHL games this season. His most common linemates are aging veterans Chris Kelly and Chris Neil. While the former first-round pick Lazar is expected to drive a line against weaker competition, Neil and Kelly aren’t exactly known for their offensive abilities, even at the peak of their careers.
Season Stats
27 games: 0 goals, 1 assist, 1 point. 39.7 CF%, -6, 8:22 ATOI.
Potential Suitors
It’s unlikely that any playoff contenders will be interested in adding a one-assist fourth liner, but some tweener-teams could look to add Lazar with the hopes that a fresh start re-boots his career. The Islanders, Hurricanes, Lightning, Sabres, Devils, Flames, and Canucks are mid-range teams who could look to add a young player with solid potential.
The Lightning could use a young and cheap forward going into next year, after what is sure to be a tough summer. The Islanders, Hurricanes, and Sabres are all building teams who could use a young forward with potential. The Devils, Flames, and Canucks desperately need offence to take strides forward.
The Oilers could be a wildcard team in the Lazar sweepstakes, as he impressed during his time with the Oil Kings and there are former Oil Kings management members in the Oilers front office. Could the Senators look to acquire a different Oil King alum/ first-round pick looking for a fresh start in Griffin Reinhart?
Likelihood Of A Trade
Because of Lazar’s minimal impact on the Senators this season, it’s not impossible that Pierre Dorion would take a long look at trading the former first rounder, especially if the trade would benefit his team this season. Lazar is eligible to be selected by Vegas in this summer’s expansion draft, meaning the Senators will likely have to decide between Lazar, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Ryan Dzingel. Because Lazar has the highest pedigree, he would likely get the most in a trade. The Senators could trade Lazar and recoup at least a second round or equivalent asset, avoiding losing him for nothing to Vegas.
AHL Announces Realignment For 2017-18
The AHL is set to make some changes to its league structure yet again. The AHL’s president and CEO, Dave Andrews, made the annual AHL All-Star League Address this morning, and NHL.com’s Patrick Williams was on hand to relay the news. While Andrews commented on many issues across the minor league, the main announcement was that of divisional realignment coming before next season, to accommodate the movement of existing teams. The two new teams, of course, are re-located Canadian squads. The Montreal Canadiens’ affiliate, the St. John’s Ice Caps, are moving to Laval, Quebec to become the Laval Rocket. The Ottawa Senators are moving their affiliate, the Binghamton Senators of upstate New York, across the border to Belleville, Ontario.
The realignment plans come as somewhat of a surprise to many. The AHL has gone through massive alignment in recent years, with the move of many franchises to the west coast, including the rookie franchise Tuscon Roadrunners, but appeared to have found a good balance. The league is currently structured as the inverse of the NHL, with eight teams in each Western Conference division and seven teams in each Eastern Conference division, and neither of next year’s moves appears to be in conflict with that formula. While the Laval Rocket will no longer be as far east as St. John’s, Newfoundland, they will still be the most northeastern team in the league and were expected to remain in the North Division with fellow Canadian team, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Marlies franchise. Similarly, the move from Binghamton to Belleville is not exactly a geographic jump, and the AHL Senators were also expected to remain in the North Division. The AHL has not announced the specifics of the 2017-18 realignment just yet, but if it is prompted by these two moves, it is difficult at this point to pinpoint what changes may be made.
The AHL also has to consider future changes when realigning for next season. With the Ottawa Senators moving their team out of Binghamton to fill the void left by the OHL’s Belleville Bulls, the New Jersey Devils have jumped at a similar opportunity, announcing that the Albany Devils will replace the Senators in Binghamton, beginning in 2018-19. There is also the possibility that a 31st AHL franchise will be added as soon as next year to serve as the Vegas Golden Knight’s affiliate, and will certainly be added at some point in the next few years. Andrews briefly touched on the topic of new AHL locations, stating that the AHL will not be going to Kansas City, Missouri next year, nor have they had any talks with the abandoned Nassau Coliseum about putting a team in the Islanders’ old home. Andrews did confirm that talks of new locations are exclusive only to a new franchise right now, as there have been no discussions about moving the Vancouver Canucks’ affiliate, the Utica Comets, from New York to the west coast and the Carolina Hurricanes’ Charlotte Checkers franchise will not be moving either, but will potentially transfer to the Eastern Conference as part of realignment to better accommodate their coastal location. With many questions still yet to be answered regarding the structure of the AHL for next year and beyond, expect more news to continue coming out over the course of the next few months.
Minor Transactions: 1/30/2017
The All-Star festivities are over and teams are back to reloading their rosters before game action starts up again tomorrow. The Washington Capitals were the first to get back at it today, announcing early this morning that they have recalled forward Chandler Stephenson and defenseman Christian Djoos. Stephenson has made multiple trips to Washington this season and made his season debut on his most recent stint. The 22-year-old center, a 2012 third-round pick, has yet to record his first NHL point through 11 career games, but has 24 points in 41 games for the AHL’s Hershey Bears so far this season. Stephenson was demoted on Friday, only to be recalled today, seemingly to get into a game and for some minor cap savings for the Caps. Meanwhile, this is the first career promotion for Djoos. The small, speedy Swedish defenseman has impressed at the AHL level this season with great skating and puck-moving ability to go along with a solid defensive game. However, whether or not he makes his NHL debut anytime soon depends on the status of John Carlson. Djoos’ call-up is likely for insurance in case Carlson is not ready to return from injury just yet, but all signs point to the Capitals’ #1 defenseman being ready to go.
Elsewhere around the league:
- The Boston Bruins continue to flip-flop their backup goaltenders. After recalling Anton Khudobin and sending rookie Zane McIntyre back down to the AHL’s Providence Bruins on Friday, the Bruins then recalled McIntyre again, after he got the start for the P-Bruins, and sent Khudobin down to play for the team on Saturday night. Well, the Bruins then swapped the keepers again yesterday, allowing McIntyre, the AHL’s best goalie so far this season, to take part in All-Star festivities last night and today.
- Another team undoing a recent All-Star break move is the New Jersey Devils, who today announced the recalls of Steven Santini, Karl Stollery, and Seth Helgeson. The defensive trio was re-assigned on Friday to give them some AHL play time with the Albany Devils this weekend. Santini and Stollery have been lining up as the team’s third defensive pair of late, with Andy Greene and John Moore still sidelined with injuries.
- The St. Louis Blue also made a quick switch regarding Ivan Barbashev. The AHL All-Star had been recalled last week after the injury to Kyle Brodziak, but was returned to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves on Friday to play in games over the weekend. However, Barbashev has now been called up again, without participating in any AHL All-Star festivities. Barbashev has 19 goals and 18 assists in 45 AHL games in 2016-17, and is expected to get a long look in St. Louis while Brodziak remains out.
- The Minnesota Wild have promoted defenseman Mike Reilly from the Iowa Wild of the AHL. The Western Conference leaders are about to embark on a four-game road trip through western Canada, and appear to be bringing Reilly along as an extra man with Jonas Brodin still not ready to return to the lineup.
- The Montreal Canadiens have placed defenseman Zach Redmond on waivers today, according to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie. After trading for Nikita Nesterov, Redmond has become expendable to the Habs. While they don’t have such deep defensive depth that they don’t care if he is claimed or not, Montreal feels comfortable subjecting him to waivers in order to send him to the AHL with the right side of their blue line set with Shea Weber, Jeff Petry, and now Nesterov. The 28-year-old defenseman is in his first season with Montreal, and has five assists though 16 games with the team thus far.
- Tampa Bay is bringing back Jake Dotchin, as the the Tampa Bay Times’ Joe Smith reports that the rookie defenseman has been recalled by the Lightning. Dotchin received his first career call-up last week and played in three games with the Bolts prior to the All-Star Break. He then played in a couple contests with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch this weekend before now heading back to the Gulf Coast. Tampa Bay’s roster is very fluid right now, and if Dotchin is impressing the team in his limited bottom pair play, they have no reason to demote him any time soon.
More to come
Lightning Notes: Koekkoek, Callahan, Bishop
After trading Nikita Nesterov the other day to the Montreal Canadiens for a relatively small return, some thought that it would open the door for Slater Koekkoek‘s return to the team. Don’t count on it, as Steve Yzerman told Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times yesterday.
He’s an important part of our future, and I see a very bright future for him still. So if we need a left shot or we feel Slater will come up and play a lot, then I’ll bring him back up.
That’s a good point when it comes to the former 10th-overall pick. If he’s not going to play big minutes with the club, it may be better for his development to stay in the AHL. With Victor Hedman, Jason Garrison and Braydon Coburn locked into the left-side, it doesn’t seem like there would be a lot of time for him.
- The team is looking to pull off more moves in the near future, but one player that hasn’t been approached yet is Ryan Callahan. The injured alternate captain has just four points this season and holds a full no-movement clause in his contract. That means he’ll force protection in the upcoming expansion draft, a spot that the Lightning could really use for a different player. Players can opt to waive their NMC in order to be exposed at the draft, but since they’ve earned the right to have it in their contracts it’s hard to ask them.
- Smith says that the team does want to move Ben Bishop if possible before losing him for nothing this summer. The upcoming free agent has had a season troubled by injuries and inconsistency but still represents a potential upgrade in net for many contenders. A two-time finalist for the Vezina trophy, Bishop holds a career .919 save percentage.
- One of the reasons for the Nesterov trade apparently was Luke Witkowski, who the team didn’t want to lose on waivers. Instead they dealt Nesterov, who would have been a restricted free agent this summer for a team that will have a real cap crunch. Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin will all need new deals this summer.
Carolina Hurricanes Recall Eddie Lack From Conditioning Stint
The last time Eddie Lack suited up for the Carolina Hurricanes, it was still two weeks before Thanksgiving and the season was barely underway. After two games with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL, he’s back in Raleigh and ready to help the team in their quest for the playoffs. Lack was concussed back in November and has been on injured reserve while the team had a carousel of netminders back up Cam Ward.
He’s back now, and hoping to get back to the level he showed in 2014-15 with the Vancouver Canucks. The Hurricanes gave up a third and seventh round selection for Lack two years ago, hoping that he could grow into at least a part-time starter with Ward. Instead, he regressed last season to a .901 save percentage and was off to an even worse start before going down with the concussion.
In his two starts with Charlotte, he allowed just three goals on 62 shots (an impressive .952 save percentage) and hopes to carry that momentum up to the NHL. The Hurricanes could use it, as they currently sit seven points back of a playoff spot and fading fast. Mired in a five-game losing skid, the team will need to really turn it around in the second half if they want to pose any threat to Philadelphia, Toronto and the rest of the Wild Card chasing teams. Carolina will take on those Flyers on Tuesday in a game that could really define their season’s next chapter.
Minor Transactions: 29/01/17
Good All-Star morning folks, even on this short mid-season break teams aren’t holding back from their roster shuffling. Here are all the minor transactions of the day.
- According to Joe Haggerty of CSNNE, late yesterday the Bruins did a flip-flop, sending Anton Khudobin back to the AHL and bringing up Zane McIntyre. That came less than 24 hours after the two made the opposite trips. After McIntyre played for the Providence Bruins on Friday night, Khudobin started last night and allowed four goals on 33 shots.
- Staying with flip-flopping goalies, the Columbus Blue Jackets have again swapped Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg, this time with Korpisalo heading to the NHL. Korpisalo also played last night, winning in a shootout when Oliver Bjorkstrand scored in the ninth-round.
- Cory Conacher (Lightning), Chris Terry (Canadiens) and Justin Bailey (Sabres) have been added to the AHL All-Star Rosters for your viewing pleasure tomorrow night. All three are having outstanding years in the lower level and will be replacing Joe Blandisi, Vojtech Mozik and John Quenneville, all from the Albany Devils.
- It didn’t take long for former NHL defenseman James Wisniewski to impress his new team. Just days after signing a 25-game tryout with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL, Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune is reporting he has now signed an AHL deal. That means Wisniewski would be eligible to come up to the NHL if needed at some point, but it’s unclear if he’s rediscovered his game enough for that level.
Snapshots: Olympics, Waivers, Hurricanes Sale
In what proved to be a short meeting, the NHL Board of Governors met today to discuss the 2018 Olympics and whether the league will be participating. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly reported to Frank Seravalli of TSN that the meeting lasted just ten seconds, and said there was nothing new to report.
It’s looking more and more like the league will not be headed to the Pyeong Chang games, though some players have expressed that they will go regardless of the league’s decision. It’s hard to imagine players like Alex Ovechkin leaving their team in the middle of the season, but it may come to that. For his part, Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has said he would support his superstar winger if he did decide to go against the NHL’s wishes.
- Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider reports that Michael Bournival and Gabriel Dumont have both cleared waivers today, though both are currently still with the NHL team. The two player transaction represents the latest in what will be a busy few weeks for GM Steve Yzerman. Starting on Thursday, what some believe may become a fire-sale kicked off with the dealing of Nikita Nesterov to the Montreal Canadiens. The team has a lot more work to do as it works to protect itself from the expansion draft.
- Tampa has also re-assigned Jake Dotchin back to the AHL according to Bryan Burns of NHL.com, oddly enough without any mention of Bournival or Dumont. Perhaps something is brewing with the recently waived forwards. Dotchin has played three games for the Lightning this year and was held scoreless.
- The Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos told Pierre LeBrun of ESPN that he’s now willing to sell the entire franchise, not just a part of it as previously reported. Karmanos has been looking for a buyer for a while now, but has previously been quoted as saying he would guarantee it stays in North Carolina. Obviously, if he were to sell the entire thing he wouldn’t be able to make that guarantee, though he could refuse to make a deal with anyone planning on a relocation. With the Canes floundering at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and still unable to draw a decent crowd each night, perhaps relocation does fall in their future. For now, we’ll keep an eye on any potential buyers the team may be in contact with.
Remembering The Early Trades From 2015-16
The month between the All-Star game and the NHL trade deadline is an interesting one. While most of the action happens right at the end, even sometimes extending past the official deadline due to trade calls, sometimes big moves happen early in February.
Last season, 33 trades happened in the last few days (from February 26-29) before the deadline, but there were also seven deals that happened in the weeks immediately after the All-Star break. Those deals were just as important to the futures of their teams as any made on the day itself. Let’s look back at the seven deals made between February 9th and 25th last season.
February 9th: Toronto trades Dion Phaneuf, Matt Frattin, Casey Bailey, Ryan Rupert and Cody Donaghey to Ottawa for Jared Cowen, Colin Greening, Milan Michalek, Tobias Lindberg and a 2017 2nd-round pick.
Starting with a whopper, the Maple Leafs continued their drastic tear-down by trading their current captain and highest paid player to a cross-province and divisional rival. The Senators had been looking for another big-minute defenseman and thought Phaneuf could become that player for them.
While it hasn’t worked out perfectly for the Senators, Phaneuf has logged over 23 minutes a night since coming over and is having a fine if unspectacular season offensively this year. While his massive looks like an albatross on their books – he’ll have a cap-hit of $7MM (more than Erik Karlsson) until 2020-21 – the actual salary is much lower. The team also rid themselves of dead money in Cowen, Greening and Michalek and only had to pay the price of a middling prospect in Lindberg and what looks like a fairly late second-round pick.
Lou Lamoriello and the Maple Leafs worked some accounting magic, and have effectively rid themselves of the cap-hits for all three players, burying Greening and Michalek in the AHL and buying out Cowen after a lengthy dispute. Moving Phaneuf was an integral part of the plan going forward, and both teams are fighting for playoff spots a year later.
Minor Transactions: 1/27/2017
As is customary over the NHL’s All-Star weekend, many teams have begun the day with sending waivers-exempt players down to the minors for some salary cap savings over the next few days. No team has been as enthusiastic to move some bodies as the New Jersey Devils, who announced that nearly half of their defensive corps will take a short trip to Albany to visit the AHL Devils. Joining the recently demoted Yohann Auvitu this weekend will be Steve Santini, Seth Helgeson, and Karl Stollery. Although the trio has only played in a combined 26 games in 2016-17, Santini and Stollery have formed the bottom pair for the Devils of late with Auvitu, Andy Greene, and John Moore sidelined with injuries. Helgeson has generally been the seventh defenseman this season, spending most games in the press box, but getting to see the ice in five contests. The 29-year-old journeyman Stollery has played in just eight games, but is already having the best season of his NHL career, recording his first big-league points and playing about 16 minutes per night.The rookie Santini has shown promise so far in the first half, skating in 13 games and scoring two goals and three assists while playing a sound defensive game as well. Expect Santini and at least one of Stollery and Helgeson to be back up in New Jersey after a brief break.
Elsewhere in minor moves:
- Another Metropolitan team has moved a majority of one position down to the AHL, but it should come as welcome news to the fans. The Carolina Hurricanes announced that, after a long hiatus dealing with concussion symptoms, goalie Eddie Lack has been activated from the injured reserve and has been assigned to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers for a rehab stint. With Cam Ward having played in 41 of 48 games for the ‘Canes, including 22 of the last 24, he, the organization, and the fans will be happy to have Lack back in the fold as soon as possible. Joining him in the minors will be his recent replacement, veteran Michael Leighton, whose demotion could be more of the permanent variety this time around. However, Leighton, who is the AHL’s all-time leading goalie in games played, will at least get to participate in the AHL All-Star Game upon his return.
- The Washington Capitals have reassigned forward Chandler Stephenson to the Hershey Bears of the AHL for the time being. Unlike his last call-up to the Caps, Stephenson got to see some game action during this last trip. Though the young center was held scoreless and is still looking for his first NHL point through 11 games, Stephenson played confidently in the past two contests and has earned another promotion in the near future.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have again returned forward Markus Hannikainen to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. The big Finnish winger, playing in just his second season in North America, scored his first NHL goal in the Jackets’ 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes last Saturday, his only game action on this trip to Columbus.
- The Buffalo Sabres announced that defenseman Casey Nelson has been assigned to the Rochester Americans of the AHL. Nelson has done his best to help Buffalo out with their rash of blue line injuries this season, but has struggled to make much of a difference in nine scoreless games.
- After his recent NHL debut and first career goal, the Arizona Coyotes’ Christian Fischer gets to continue his highlight-reel week by heading to the AHL All-Star Game. The Coyotes announced his demotion, but more than anything the move allows the AHL to honor the league’s top rookie in the first half of the season before he likely heads back to the NHL for the second half.
- In addition to placing Michael Bournival and Gabriel Dumont on waivers, the Tampa Bay Lightning have demoted forward Erik Condra to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, which has become common this season. The bottom-six groupings are set to change drastically following the All-Star break.
- The Ottawa Senators have activated Andrew Hammond from the injured reserve, and in a corresponding move and have sent down Chris Driedger to the Binghampton Senators of the AHL. However, this only partially helps the Sens’ logjam in net. Mike Condon has taken over as the starter with Hammond out and Craig Anderson on leave since early December, but with both soon back in the fold, Ottawa will still be carrying three goalies. Expect another move sooner rather than later.
- The San Jose Sharks are using All-Star weekend to get a whole group of guys some play time. The team announced that Barclay Goodrow, Kevin Labanc, Timo Meier, and Tim Heed have all be reassigned to the AHL Barracuda and will join the team in Michigan tonight for a game against the Grand Rapids Griffins.
- After just recalling Ivan Barbashev to replace the injured Kyle Brodziak, the St. Louis Blues have returns the AHL All-Star to the Chicago Wolves for this weekend. Expect he, or fellow All-Star Kenny Agostino, or possibly both, to be right back with the Blue after the break.
- The Boston Bruins have recalled goalie Anton Khudobin from the Providence Bruins and reassigned rookie keeper Zane McIntyre to the AHL. While McIntyre’s demotion was expected, as he has been the best goalie in the AHL this year and a highlight of the AHL All-Star Game, the subsequent recall of Khudobin could signal that the Bruins are ready to return to the veteran as their backup to begin the second half of the season.
- The Winnipeg Jets returned Brian Strait to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL, one day after recalling the six-year veteran defenseman from the minors, the team announced via Twitter. Strait was a healthy scratch last night as the Jets took a 5-3 decision from Chicago. The 6-foot-1, 206-pound blue liner has yet to see action in the NHL this season but has appeared in 182 regular season contests over parts of six seasons with the Pittsburgh and New York Islanders organizations.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets continue to flip-flop backup goalies, sending Joonas Korpisalo to Cleveland of the AHL and recalling Anton Forsberg from the same affiliate. The team announced the corresponding transactions via Twitter. Forsberg has made just one appearance this season for Columbus, allowing four goals on 27 shots in a 5-3 loss to Carolina. Korpisalo has won two of his three starts and has appeared in four games overall.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have sent Carter Rowney back to the AHL after just a day with the big club. The forward came up last night with Evgeni Malkin out, but didn’t make it into the game against the Boston Bruins. Rowney will need to wait for his next shot with the big club.
- The Anaheim Ducks have signed some depth between the pipes, inking ECHL netminder Ryan Faragher to a one-year deal. The 26-year old Faragher has been in their system since 2014, but wasn’t under a pro-deal until now. He’ll earn $575K if he should ever make it to the NHL (which he most likely will not, unless something drastic happens in Anaheim) and $50K in the AHL.
What To Watch For: AHL All-Star Game, CHL Top Prospects Game
Once all the All-Star festivities in Los Angeles have died down on Sunday, hockey fans will be left facing the worst kind of Monday: one without NHL action. However, those with an eye on the future, interested in watching some future NHL All-Stars, will be happy to know that all is not lost. Both the American Hockey League (AHL) All-Star Game, featuring the best of the best of those on the cusp of being NHL regulars, and the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Top Prospects game, showcasing the top 40 2017 draft-eligible prospects across the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and Western Hockey League (WHL), are set to take place on Monday night. Here is a preview of what to watch for in these two talented contests:
The AHL All-Star Game, in the same mold as the NHL’s new model, includes a skills competition on Sunday night and a 3-0n-3 tournament between divisional squads on Monday night. Many current NHL stars got their start in the minor leagues and found All-Star-caliber success before taking advantage of their opportunities at the next level, and 2017 should be no different. So who are the future phenoms participating? Though he has yet to be demoted by the Pittsburgh Penguins, it is expected that Jake Guentzel will get to participate in the All-Star game and no player has had quite the impact that Guentzel has in 2016-17. Not only an All-Star, but also a first-year pro, Guentzel has made the transition from the NCAA to the AHL (and NHL) a seamless one. After scoring 46 points in 35 games for the University of Nebraska-Omaha a year ago, Guentzel has an almost identical 42 points in 33 games in the AHL this season. A player in a similar position is Guentzel’s Atlantic Division teammate Zane McIntyre of the Boston Bruins. McIntyre was promoted to the backup in Boston due to his amazing AHL success and has yet to be demoted, but is likely to get his chance to shine at the All-Star game. McIntyre is 10-0 in AHL play this season, with a league-best .951 save percentage and 1.41 goals against average in 12 appearances. The other Atlantic Division goalie, and Guenztel’s actual teammate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is Tristan Jarry, who has a .920 SV% and 2.22 GAA in 26 games. Yet another member of the stacked Atlantic team is the Philadelphia Flyers’ Jordan Weal, who has 42 points in 38 games. Outside of the Atlantic, St. Louis Blues prospect Kenny Agostino leads the AHL with 40 assists and 57 points for the Chicago Wolves. The 24-year-old is working hard for another shot at the NHL and will get the chance to further show what he can do at the All-Star game for the Central squad. Danny O’Regan of the San Jose Barracuda, who has gotten a chance to play in a few games this season for the team down the hall, trails only Guentzel in rookie scoring with 36 points in 32 games, while recent Arizona Coyotes call-up Christian Fischer sits in third with 32 points in 31 games and will join him on the Pacific Division team. Finally, keep an eye on defenseman Matt Taormina of the Syracuse Crunch, a Tampa Bay Lightning prospect who leads all AHL blue liners in points and will be dangerous for the North Division unit. The AHL All-Star game brings together the best players who are just an injury or slump away from making a difference in the NHL and it promises to provide a lot of skill and exciting action.
For those looking even further into the future, especially fans of teams with strong lottery chances in this year’s NHL Entry Draft, the CHL Top Prospects Game is for you. Featuring the best players in the CHL, the conglomerate of the three league’s that provide the majority of NHL talent, the All-Star game of sorts guarantees to provide an insight into at least 20 upcoming first-round picks. The game features Team Don Cherry and Team Bobby Orr, comprised of randomly selected players within NHL Central Scouting’s top 40 prospects. Captaining Team Cherry, and getting his first chance at real spotlight after missing much of the early season, is presumptive #1 overall pick Nolan Patrick. The big center has 17 points in 11 games for the Brandon Wheat Kings, but his limited action hasn’t stopped many from naming him the best available player. He’ll be joined by Owen Tippett of the OHL’s Mississigua Steelheads, the top-scoring draft-eligible player in the OHL, historically the best of the three leagues. Another OHL star and suspected top-ten pick, Gabriel Vilardi of the Windsor Spitfires, will skate with team, as will Maxime Comtois of the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres, ranked No. 15 by Central Scouting. Rounding out the squad is defenseman Callan Foote, son of former NHLer Adam Foote and one of the top defenseman available in 2017. Team Bobby Orr will be headed up by Swiss star Nico Hischier, who excelled at the World Juniors and has kept it going with the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads to the tune of 67 points in 39 games. Hischier’s alternate captains will be center Michael Rasmussen of the WHL’s Tri-City Americans, who has flown up the rankings to No. 6 overall, and another top blue line prospect, big Nicholas Hague, also of the OHL’s Steelheads. Other WHL superstars Cody Glass of the Portland Winterhawks and Nikita Popugaev of the Moose Jaw Warriors round out a deep forward group, while the OHL Spitfires’ goalie Michael DiPietro in net presents another potential first-rounder. There will be no shortage of action in this contest, the best option to see top draft prospects prior to their selection in June.