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Early Look At Some 2017-18 Impact Rookies

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Last season we saw one of the greatest rookie crops come through the league in quite some time. Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, Zach Werenski, Matt Murray, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Travis Konecny, Ivan Provorov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sebastian Aho, Brayden Point the list could go on and on with the players who made an impact right away in their first full season. The league continues to skew younger and younger, and we got a taste last year of some of the names we’ll see fighting for the Calder trophy next season as well.

No longer is there an age restriction on the NHL, since teenagers have taken the league by storm with their blend of speed and skill. Even before they’ve grown into their bodies they’re putting up 40-goal seasons, or winning back-to-back Stanley Cups. So who will be the next wave of players to change their team’s fortunes and make an impact from the second they step on the ice? While there may not be another crop like last year, there are plenty of interesting names to keep an eye on.

Without dipping into the 2017 draft class, of which Nico Hischier, Nolan Patrick and others both may jump right into the top league, we’ll examine some early favorites who have both the talent and opportunity to find immediate success.

Clayton Keller – Arizona Coyotes Clayton Keller

Keller made his NHL debut last spring after exiting Boston University and immediately made his presence felt. In three games he registered a pair of assists, and showed off his incredible offensive skill. As a freshman at BU he scored 45 points in 31 games, won gold at the World Juniors and put up seven points in eight games with Team USA at the World Championships playing against other NHL stars. Like Marner last year there are questions about his size and durability, but Keller has excelled at every level so far and if given the chance could be a difference maker on the Coyotes.

Dylan Strome – Arizona Coyotes

In any discussion of young Coyotes you also have to mention Strome, the third-overall pick from 2015 who started the season with the team last year before heading back to junior for another year. Upon his return Strome dominated as part of one of the most talented lines in the OHL, but some still question his NHL ability in 2017-18. There is potential for a franchise centerman here, but there is also a substantial amount of risk that Strome’s skating will hold him back from being the elite offensive player he is at the lower levels.

Tyson Jost – Colorado Avalanche

Another NCAA-turned-NHL player this spring, Jost finished his year with six games for the Avalanche and even scored his first goal. It’s all about speed with Jost, who is rarely caught standing still and always seems to have the puck follow him around the ice. His year was spent in North Dakota where he scored 35 points in 33 games, and given the poor results of Colorado last year could be given an opportunity to impress right away. If put on a line with other young offensive talents in Colorado, Jost could end up with a healthy number of points even if some of his fundamentals at the center ice position still need work.

Brock BoeserBrock Boeser – Vancouver Canucks

Boeser was Jost’s teammate (and often linemate) at North Dakota, and jumped straight to the NHL after losing out in the NCAA tournament only to immediately make an impact for the Canucks. Boeser scored what would end up being the game-winning goal in his first NHL game, in a fashion that will foreshadow how he’ll be effective at the next level. Speed, playmaking and a never-ending drive for the net will be the hallmarks of Boeser’s career, and he’ll be given a chance right away with some of Vancouver’s top forwards. In nine games at the end of the year he registered five points, including two powerplay tallies set up by Henrik Sedin.

Charlie McAvoy – Boston Bruins

On defense, the Bruins’ top prospect leads the list after debuting in the Stanley Cup playoffs this past season. McAvoy looked every bit as confident and smooth as expected, even when being chased by NHL forwards and paired with the legendary Zdeno Chara. While Boston won’t want to put too much on the 19-year old’s shoulders right away, he’s always floated to the top of any team he’s played on and didn’t log less than 24 minutes in a single one of his six playoff matches. The Bruins will have several rookies in the lineup next season, but it’s not just top pairing potential for McAvoy, it might already be performance.

Julius Honka – Dallas Stars Julius Honka

A player that likely could have been included at the top of this article had he been given the chance, Honka comes into this season ready to take the next step and be a full-time player on the Dallas blueline. After three development years in the AHL where he’s shown off his high-end offensive talent on a nightly basis, he may just end up as one of the top up-and-coming defensemen in the league at year’s end. His two-way skill is reminiscent of teammate John Klingberg, and showed it off by being arguably Finland’s top defender at the recent World Championships. With 16 games under his belt and turning 22 this season, he’s ready to help the Stars get back to the playoffs right away.

*Note: There are many other rookies that have impact potential that will be profiled throughout the summer as we approach the season. These are in no particular order or ranking.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Arizona Coyotes Hires John MacLean, Scott Allen As Assistant Coaches

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Wednesday: The team has officially hired both coaches, along with naming Mike Van Ryn the new head coach of the Tucson Roadrunners. Van Ryn spent last season with the Coyotes as a development coach after taking the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL to the second round in 2015-16. A former defenseman, the 38-year old Van Ryn played 353 games in the NHL and should be able to help young players navigate high expectations and the minor leagues. A first-round pick in 1998, it took him several years to make an impact at the highest level.

Tuesday: It’s been two weeks now since the Arizona Coyotes made the hiring of Rick Tocchet as their next head coach official, and now reports have surfaced on who may be joining him behind the bench. John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 radio reported this morning that John MacLean and Scott Allen would likely be joining the staff, something that Craig Morgan of AZ Sports confirms but points out that nothing is finalized as of yet.

If the pair does join Tocchet, it will be a return to coaching for MacLean, the former head coach of the New Jersey Devils who has been out of the NHL since 2014. MacLean and Tocchet have followed each other around for many years, born relatively close in Ontario and both playing in junior against each other. They were both draft picks in 1983 (though MacLean would go five rounds earlier at #6 overall) and would enter the league at about the same time playing for Philadelphia and New Jersey. They’d spend many years playing against each other in the rival cities, and now could be reunited on the bench in Arizona. MacLean was a fantastic offensive player in his day, who scored over 400 goals and 800 points during his long NHL career.

Allen on the other hand is an extremely experienced professional coach, who most recently worked behind the bench with Gerard Gallant and Tom Rowe in Florida last season. With the new coaching staff brought in for the Panthers, Allen was let go along with Dave Barr. Allen is known for an extremely up-tempo penalty kill, which he’ll now have to implement in Arizona with the young group that includes Jordan Martinook and Tobias Rieder. In all, this would make quite the formidable group to try and turn around the Coyotes franchise.

Top 2018 Draft Picks That Have Already Been Traded

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About 11 months from now, 31 NHL general managers will come together in a room with thousands of people watching and select the next group of young players destined to make it to the professional ranks. The 2018 NHL Entry Draft will be a huge event, mostly because of the elite talent that will be available at the top.

Without a clear consensus on the top pick so far, the next year will be extremely interesting to watch for prospect hounds. Andrei Svechnikov, Rasmus Dahlin, Joe Veleno, Quinn Hughes and others all have incredible talent, and could push for the top spot with a big year (and perhaps a growth spurt or two). Like this year, we could also see a relative outsider like Nico Hischier fly up the ranks to take over the top spot by draft day. One thing is for sure though, that there is plenty of talent to find in the first round and beyond at next year’s draft.

It has already been clear that teams don’t want to give up their 2018 draft picks, as we saw with the collection of selections acquired by the Vegas Golden Knights. They have multiple second-round picks in 2019 and 2020, but couldn’t secure an extra top pick in 2018. That said, there have already been many transactions that have moved picks around. Here are the teams that have acquired extra picks in the first three rounds of the 2018 draft (key player traded in parentheses).

Arizona Coyotes:

Acquired 2018 2nd-round pick from Minnesota Wild (Hanzal)

Detroit Red Wings:

Acquired 2018 2nd-round pick (OTT) from New York Rangers (Smith)

Florida Panthers:

Acquired 2018 2nd-round pick from Arizona Coyotes (Crouse)

Minnesota Wild:

Acquired 2018 3rd-round pick from Buffalo Sabres (Scandella)
Acquired 2018 3rd-round pick from Vegas Golden Knights (Tuch)

Montreal Canadiens:

Acquired 2018 2nd-round pick from Chicago Blackhawks (Weise)

New York Islanders:

Acquired 2018 1st-round pick from Calgary Flames (Hamonic)
Acquired 2018 2nd-round pick from Calgary Flames (Hamonic)

Philadelphia Flyers:

Acquired conditional 2018 1st-round from St. Louis Blues (Schenn)

Tampa Bay Lightning:

Acquired conditional 2018 2nd-round pick (WSH) from Montreal Canadiens (Drouin)

Toronto Maple Leafs:

Acquired 2018 2nd-round pick from San Jose Sharks (Polak)
Acquired 2018 3rd-round pick from San Jose Sharks (Reimer)

Washington Capitals:

Acquired 2018 2nd-round pick (FLA) from New Jersey Devils (Johansson)
Acquired 2018 3rd-round pick (TOR) from New Jersey Devils (Johansson)

Dead Space: Bought-Out, Buried, And Retained Salaries For Every Team

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It’s something that often goes unnoticed, but with the cap showing minimal growth the last few years, teams are starting to feel the crunch more than ever. Buyouts have become more common, especially with players with under three remaining years on their contracts. And it’s not just the big name busts that have seen the ax lately – we’ve seen lesser names at lesser money take the fall for their respective teams, then needing to scramble for work elsewhere in the league. Additionally, salary retention in trades has become a more utilized tactic as of late. Teams with “unmovable” contracts have offered to retain part of a poor contract in order to entice a team into giving them some relief.

All this said, some teams have been better with foresight than others. Some teams have shown a track record of being entirely unable of handing out poor contracts over the past five or so seasons. Considering many teams showed some progress in being more frugal this off-season, it seems a wise time to review the dead space every team has accumulated, either due to poor management decisions or poor luck.

Colorado Avalanche – $4.83 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after current year – Francois Beauchemin buyout; Cody McLeod retained

Arizona Coyotes – $4.61 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2020-21 – Mike Smith retained; Mike Ribeiro, Antoine Vermette buyouts

Columbus Blue Jackets – $4.025 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2020-21 – Fedor Tyutin, Jared Boll, Scott Hartnell buyouts

Carolina Hurricanes – $3.71 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2020-21 – Eddie Lack retained; Alexander Semin, James Wisniewski buyouts

Toronto Maple Leafs – $3.28 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2021-22 – Tim Gleason, Jared Cowen buyouts; Phil Kessel retained

Nashville Predators – $2.83 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2018-19 – Viktor Stalberg, Eric Nystrom, Barret Jackman buyouts

Boston Bruins – $2.73 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved 2019-20 – Dennis Seidenberg, Jimmy Hayes buyouts

New York Rangers – $2.61 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2022-23 – Dan Girardi buyout

Minnesota Wild – $2.5 MM in 2017-17, issues resolved after current year – Thomas Vanek buyout

Los Angeles Kings – $2.4 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2023-24 – Matt Greene buyout; Mike Richards termination/recapture

Edmonton Oilers – $2.33 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2020-21 – Lauri Korpikoski, Benoit Pouliot buyouts

Anaheim Ducks – $2.21 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2023-24 – Mark Fistric, Simon Despres buyouts; Patrick Maroon retained

Vancouver Canucks – $2.13 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2021-22 – Roberto Luongo, Jannik Hansen retained; Chris Higgins buyout

New Jersey Devils – $2.09 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2023-24 – Mike Cammalleri, Devante Smith-Pelly buyouts; Ilya Kovalchuk recapture

Tampa Bay Lightning – $1.83 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2019-20 – Matt Carle buyout

Calgary Flames – $1.82 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2018-19 – Mason Raymond, Lance Bouma, Ryan Murphy buyouts

Detroit Red Wings – $1.67 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2020-21 – Stephen Weiss buyout

Dallas Stars – $1.5 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2018-19- Antti Niemi buyout

Philadelphia Flyers – $1.5 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after current year – R.J. Umberger buyout

Winnipeg Jets – $1.46 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2018-19 – Mark Stuart buyout

Florida Panthers – $1.33 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after 2018-19 – Jussi Jokinen buyout

Las Vegas Golden Knights – $1.1 MM in 2017-18, issues resolved after current year – Alexei Emelin retained

Ottawa Senators – $350,000 in 2017-18, issues resolved after current year – Andrew Hammond buried

Buffalo Sabres – Minimal in 2017-18, increased issues ($791,00) resolved after 2022-23 – Cody Hodgson buyout

 

 

Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders, San Jose Sharks,  Montreal Canadiens – No dead cap space

After compiling the list, it became clear that utilizing these options isn’t a complete hindrance to competing in the NHL. In fact, most clubs have between $1 MM and $3 MM in dead space. That said, of the teams that have not needed to utilize the buyout or retention options, there has been a great deal of success. And among the five worst offenders, the Leafs, Hurricanes, Blue Jackets, Avalanche, and Coyotes, none has moved past the first-round in multiple years. It’s hard to draw massive conclusions without taking the context of each individual situation into account, but there is something to be said for making every dollar of cap space count. Perhaps this is merely a byproduct of past success rather than an indicator of future success, but considering how amenable many managers have become to the option, it bears consideration.

(All totals courtesy of the fantastic CapFriendly.com)

Arizona Coyotes Sign Marek Langhamer

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  • The Arizona Coyotes have signed Marek Langhamer to a one-year two-way contract according to Craig Morgan of AZ Sports. Langhamer made his NHL debut last season in relief of Mike Smith after the Arizona starter had to come out of the game following the league’s new concussion protocol. He made seven of eight saves at the end of the game but is still a long way away from making an NHL impact. The Coyotes, with Antti Raanta set to take over as the lead goaltender and Louis Domingue coming back in a secondary role, will see what they have with that duo before making a decision long-term on where their future in net lies. With Langhamer signed, only Anthony Duclair remains as a restricted free agent for the Coyotes.

Coyotes Close To Re-Signing Marek Langhamer

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  • After inking winger Jordan Martinook to a two-year, $3.6MM contract and officially re-signing Tyler Gaudet to a one-year pact earlier today, the Coyotes have two remaining restricted free agents in winger Anthony Duclair and goalie Marek Langhamer. While there’s still some work to be done in getting Duclair’s deal (expected to be a short-term bridge contract) done, Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic reports (Twitter link) that the team is close to inking Langhamer.  The 23-year-old spent most of the season at the minor league level, getting into 32 games between Arizona’s AHL and ECHL affiliates but made one NHL appearance this past season.

Coyotes Still Looking To Make One More Move; Close To Hiring An Assistant Coach

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The Coyotes have already been quite busy this offseason, bringing in a new starting goalie (Antti Raanta), a top four defenseman (Niklas Hjalmarsson), and a top center (Derek Stepan).  They also parted ways with long-time captain Shane Doan while losing Radim Vrbata to Florida as well.  Despite those changes, GM John Chayka told Arizona Sports’ Craig Morgan that he is still trying to work on one more move, although he declined to get into specifics about what they’re targeting.  He did acknowledge, however, that their heavy lifting is done which suggests this final move (if they’re able to make it) is likely a smaller one.

  • Also from Morgan’s column, Chayka was in Toronto recently to meet with some assistant coaching candidates. Morgan reports that long-time Coyote Teppo Numminen, who last worked behind the bench with Finland at the World Cup, is not among the candidates being considered.  The team is expecting to announce at least one hire next week.  The Coyotes are on the hunt for two assistants after Jim Playfair resigned following former head coach Dave Tippett’s departure while Newell Brown was let go back in April.

Coyotes Re-Sign Tyler Gaudet

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Saturday: The Coyotes have officially announced the deal.

Friday: The Coyotes inked forward Tyler Gaudet to a one-year, $650K deal on a two-way contract. TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reported the deal via Twitter.

Gaudet has played in a handful of games with Arizona, appearing with the club in the past three seasons and seeing the most time during the 2015-16 campaign. He played in 14 games, potting a goal and three points. Last season, he played in just four games with the Coyotes, notching an assist. With AHL affiliate Tuscon, Gaudet played in 62 games, scoring six goals and adding 16 assists.

Competing with a crowded roster, this certainly a depth move for the Coyotes, who have added some critical pieces this offseason, acquiring Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta from the New York Rangers and Niklas Hjalmarsson from Chicago.

 

Jordan Martinook Re-Signs With Arizona

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The Arizona Coyotes and two-way forward Jordan Martinook have avoided arbitration, coming to terms on a new deal today. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Martinook has signed a two-year, $3.6MM deal to remain in the desert. The two sides have reportedly been close on contract terms for a while, but there was also speculation that Martinook would wait for his arbitration hearing this Wednesday, July 26th, before making a decision. Instead, the big forward has signed on for two more years with the promising young Coyotes, where he could soon take on a larger role for the team.

Martinook, in just his second full NHL season, has already shown that he is a model of consistency and effort. Capable of playing both center and left wing, Martinook is the perfect versatile bottom-six forward. He plays a smart two-way game, including leading the Coyotes’ penalty kill unit, and brings a physical edge and swift defensive style. He can also put up some offense, with 24 and 25 points respectively in his first two full seasons, including 11 goals in 2016-17.

The 24-year-old Martinook is just beginning to show his NHL upside, and should take on a much larger role for Arizona going forward. Amazingly, with Shane Doan and Radim Vrbata now gone, Martinook is second only to Tobias Rieder in games played with Arizona among forwards on the team with just 166 contests. The absence of those veterans will naturally allow for more ice time and scoring opportunity for Martinook, but as full-effort player and one of the longest-tenured forwards on a young term, Martinook could also be in line for a leadership position in the locker room. At just $1.8MM per year for a well-rounded player about to take the next step in his development, GM John Chayka and the Coyotes may have a bargain on their hands with Martinook’s new contract.

Latest On Arizona's Arena Search; Martinook Heading For Arbitration?

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As the Coyotes continue to look for a new arena, one option that appears to now be off the table is a joint venture with the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, reports Scott Bordow of the Arizona Republic.  Suns owner Robert Sarver said that he is focused on upgrading their current arena instead of pursuing a new facility.

This marks the second time in recent months that a potential partnership is off the table for the Coyotes, who saw their proposed plans with Arizona State University fall through back in February.   The team is locked in at their current facility for just the 2017-18 season although the expectation is that they will agree to another short-term lease as they continue to pursue sites for a new arena within the area.

  • Still with the Coyotes, Jeff Helperl, agent for RFA winger Jordan Martinook, told Arizona Sports’ Craig Morgan (Twitter link) that the two sides are close on a new deal but that he thinks the team may still prefer to go to arbitration. The hearing is scheduled for July 26th.  Martinook is coming off a career year in Arizona, recording 11 goals and 14 assists in 77 games while averaging 15:41 per night in ice time.

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