Kraken Expected To Activate Kaapo Kakko
It has been a tough season on the injury front for Seattle with several key players missing time already and several players still on injured reserve. That number will be dropping by one, however, as Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic relays (subscription link) that winger Kaapo Kakko is expected to be activated off IR and suit up tonight against the Rangers, his former team. Officially, he’s listed as a game-time decision, per team radio host Mike Benton (Twitter link).
The 24-year-old suffered a broken hand late in training camp that was expected to keep him out for six weeks. Assuming he’s indeed activated for tonight’s game after being a full participant in practice Friday, he’ll come in slightly ahead of that target.
Last season was a mixed bag for Kakko. Re-signed to a one-year, $2.4MM contract before qualifying offers were tendered, it looked like it was shaping up to be his last chance in New York. That turned out to be the case. After putting up just four goals and 10 assists in his first 30 games, the Rangers decided to pull the trigger on a move, sending him to the Kraken for defenseman William Borgen, plus 2025 third and sixth-round picks.
After the swap, Kakko found himself with a more consistent opportunity in Seattle’s top six and he made the most of it. Over the final 49 games, he notched 10 goals and 20 assists while his ATOI jumped by nearly four minutes a night, showing some of the promise that made him the second overall selection back in 2019.
That showing was also good enough to give him enough leverage for a multi-year deal this summer. In his final season of RFA eligibility, Seattle tendered Kakko a qualifying offer and the two sides eventually avoided arbitration with a three-year, $13.575MM contract that gave Kakko the security he was seeking and the Kraken a couple of extra years of club control. Now, after missing the first month of the season, it looks like he’s set to try to get back to the same type of role he had down the stretch.
Metropolitan Notes: Panarin, Brazeau, Luchanko, Brown
At a time when several prominent pending unrestricted free agents have re-signed, one of the notable exceptions is Rangers winger Artemi Panarin. It doesn’t appear that will be changing anytime soon. In his latest column for The Athletic (subscription link), Pierre LeBrun reports that the sense is that New York isn’t in a particular hurry to engage in discussions, wanting to better assess how they’re faring under new head coach Mike Sullivan. Panarin just turned 34 so there’s a good chance this will be his final contract, meaning term will be important. If the Rangers aren’t willing to offer up a longer-term pact, Panarin could find himself the subject of plenty of trade speculation leading up to the trade deadline in March.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Penguins winger Justin Brazeau is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, relays team broadcaster Josh Getzoff (Twitter link). The 27-year-old has been one of Pittsburgh’s top offensive performers in the early going this season, collecting six goals and six assists in his first dozen games. That outcome was something few would have seen coming considering he entered the campaign with just 29 points in 95 career NHL games. He has provided plenty of value already in the first season of a two-year, $3MM contract but that will be on hold for now.
- The Flyers recently sent center Jett Luchanko back to junior but if the youngster has his way, he’ll be on the move again. Kevin Kurz of The Athletic mentions (subscription link) that the 19-year-old is hoping to be moved from his current OHL team in Guelph, with an eye on joining Brantford, an early-season contender. Luchanko, the 13th pick in 2024, has made Philadelphia’s roster out of training camp in each of the last two seasons but this time, he only got into four games before being sent back to the Storm where he had an assist in his first outing back with them.
- Devils winger Connor Brown will miss tonight’s game against Los Angeles with an undisclosed injury, notes team reporter Amanda Stein (Twitter link). However, it doesn’t appear he’ll be out too long as he’s listed as day-to-day. Brown is off to a strong start in his first season with New Jersey, picking up five goals and an assist through his first 11 games.
Capitals Recall Spencer Smallman
On the heels of Pierre-Luc Dubois suffering a lower-body injury in last night’s game against the Islanders, the Capitals have added some extra forward depth to their roster. The team announced that they’ve recalled winger Spencer Smallman from AHL Hershey. Washington had an open roster spot so no further moves were needed.
The 29-year-old is getting the first recall of his career in his second season with the Capitals. Smallman has been a consistent producer at the AHL level, notching between 21 and 34 points in each of the last four seasons with the latter number coming last year, helping to earn Smallman a two-year, two-way contract back in April.
This season, Smallman is producing at a similar clip, picking up two goals and an assist through six games with Hershey.
As for Dubois, he suffered his injury late in the first period (his second lower-body issue of the season) on Friday night in a collision with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and needed assistance to get off the ice. There was no immediate update postgame but given the difficulty he had putting weight on his leg following the injury, it’s reasonable to infer that he’s going to miss some time, necessitating Smallman’s promotion.
Central Notes: Zuccarello, Kantserov, Aamodt
The Wild could soon be getting a needed boost up front. On Friday, head coach John Hynes indicated (Twitter link) that winger Mats Zuccarello is within a week or so of returning to the lineup. The 38-year-old has yet to suit up this season due to a back injury that also caused him to miss training camp. While Zuccarello isn’t a major scoring threat, he’s one of Minnesota’s better playmakers and is coming off a solid showing in 2024-25 that saw him record 19 goals and 35 assists in 69 games. His eventual return would go a long way to giving them a second scoring line, an area that has been an issue in the early going this season.
Elsewhere in the Central:
- Blackhawks prospect Roman Kantserov is in the final year of his KHL contract, leading some to hope that he will come to North America for next season. Speaking with RG’s Sergey Demidov, the 21-year-old indicated that he’d like to test himself in the NHL but isn’t planning on making a decision on his future until next year when his deal expires. A second-round pick in 2023 (44th overall), Kantserov had 38 points in 47 games last season and is off to a better start in 2025-26, notching a league-high 13 goals and eight assists in 21 appearances so far.
- Wyatt Aamodt’s stint with the Avalanche was short-lived. Just two days after recalling the blueliner, the team announced (Twitter link) that they have sent him back to AHL Colorado. The 27-year-old didn’t play on this recall, keeping his career NHL appearance total at two and his point total at one, a tally in last season’s final game. Aamodt has a goal and five assists in nine games with the Eagles so far this season. The move leaves Colorado with just six healthy blueliners at the moment but Samuel Girard has been skating in recent days and is thought to be nearing a return.
Max Willman Signs In KHL
It took a while but veteran Max Willman has found a team for this season. The KHL announced that the winger has signed with Barys Astana for the rest of the 2025-26 campaign.
The 30-year-old was originally drafted by Buffalo back in 2014, going in the fifth round but he ultimately never signed with them. After playing out his college career, he signed with Philadelphia’s farm team, eventually playing his way into an NHL contract two years later for the 2021-22 campaign.
Willman wound up getting into 41 games with the Flyers that season, seeing more time with them than he did in the minors with AHL Lehigh Valley. However, his playing time at the top level was much more limited the following year as Willman got into just nine games with Philadelphia.
It took some time for Willman to get a guaranteed deal as he played through a training camp tryout in New Jersey before inking a two-way contract for the 2023-24 campaign. However, he performed well enough in the minors to earn an 18-game stint with the Devils plus a new contract well before free agency, giving him some extra security heading into last season. However, he didn’t see any NHL action last season, instead potting 10 goals and 20 assists in 69 games in Utica.
Over his three NHL stints, Willman has seven goals and three assists in 68 games while being considerably more productive in the minors, notching 54 goals and 65 helpers in 244 games over parts of six seasons. With his professional games played total likely to surpass 320 once he gets into some KHL contests, he’ll qualify as a veteran for AHL purposes beginning next season which could significantly affect his chances of returning to play in North America with AHL teams only being allotted five skater slots for veterans in their lineups.
West Notes: Hyman, Nyquist, Reaves, Blackhawks
When the Oilers placed winger Zach Hyman on LTIR to start the season as he continues to recover from wrist surgery, the hope was that he’d be able to return as soon as he was eligible, that being November 1st. However, that won’t be the case. Earlier this week, head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters including Gerry Moddejonge of the Edmonton Journal that the veteran’s return will be at least another week away. Knoblauch was quick to note that this isn’t an indication of a setback but rather that they’re being cautious to try to avoid any setbacks down the road. Whenever Hyman does return, his addition will be a welcome one as he has scored at least 27 goals in each of the last four seasons.
More from out West:
- After being injured on Thursday, Jets winger Gustav Nyquist isn’t expected to play tonight versus Pittsburgh, notes Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press. Instead, head coach Scott Arniel indicated that they expect a more detailed update on Nyquist’s situation after the weekend. The 36-year-old hasn’t scored in his first 11 games in a Winnipeg uniform but has collected five assists despite averaging a career-low 12:19 of ice time.
- Sharks winger Ryan Reaves is expected to receive further testing on his lower-body injury today, relays Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now (Twitter link). There is some concern that the injury, sustained on Thursday, is believed to be serious. Reaves is in his first season with San Jose after being acquired from Toronto in an offseason swap and has two goals and 37 hits in ten games this season but is averaging just 6:43 per game of playing time.
- The Blackhawks have deployed the unconventional 11-forward, seven-defensemen lineup in all but two of their 11 games this season. Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times examines the logic behind head coach Jeff Blashill’s logic, noting that the new bench boss is already thinking in terms of season-long load management, not wanting to overload his young blueliners. Five of their seven defenders are 24 or younger so their goal is to not overwork them by going with an extra rearguard most nights over a 12th forward, hoping that the strategy will pay off as the season goes on.
Wild Believed To Be Looking To Add A Middle-Six Forward
Heading into last offseason, there was an expectation that the Wild would be busy with much more salary cap space at their disposal. Instead, their spending was relatively tempered, headlined by the additions of winger Vladimir Tarasenko and center Nico Sturm. They also re-signed center Marco Rossi to a bridge deal after a prolonged period of trade speculation. The end result was them entering the season with much more cap space than they’ve been accustomed to.
At the moment, Minnesota has over $4.2MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. That amount is lowered a bit by the fact that they have 15 forwards counting against their cap thanks to injuries to Sturm and winger Mats Zuccarello, neither of whom have played this season.
It appears they’re looking to put that cap flexibility to use sooner than later. Anthony DiMarco of The Fourth Period reports that Minnesota is believed to be looking to add a middle-six forward. While they’ve been known to be coveting center help for several years now, they’re not limiting their search to just that position; they’re open to adding on the wing as well.
Entering play tonight, the Wild sit 21st in the NHL in goals scored despite having three forwards (Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, and Rossi) all averaging at least a point per game. While that line is producing, they’re not getting a ton of help elsewhere. Tarasenko has only scored once, Joel Eriksson Ek has just two goals, and Marcus Foligno is still looking for his first point of the season.
With that in mind, it makes sense that GM Bill Guerin appears to be looking at what might be out there on the trade front. On top of having some struggling veterans, top prospects Danila Yurov and Liam Ohgren have seen very limited playing time; it might be more beneficial for their development to play a bigger role with AHL Iowa over fourth-line ice time in Minnesota. Adding a middle-six forward could push one of them off the active roster, allowing for that extra playing time to happen while ideally giving their offense a bit of a boost as well.
Having said that, this is still a little early in the season for teams to start parting with proven talent. While there has been plenty of speculation around players like Nicholas Robertson (Toronto) or Yegor Chinakhov (Columbus), there’s no guarantee that adding one of them – or someone like that – would come in and give their attack the shot in the arm that they’re seeking. But if they’re looking for someone with more of a track record, they may have to wait a while yet before the market really starts to open up.
Avalanche Recall Taylor Makar
A pair of brothers could soon be getting a chance to play together in the NHL for the first time. The Avalanche announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled forward Taylor Makar from AHL Colorado. They had two open spots on their active roster, meaning no corresponding move needed to be made to bring him up.
It’s the first recall of Makar’s career. The 24-year-old, the younger brother of star defenseman Cale Makar, was selected by the Avs in the seventh round back in 2021, taking him 220th overall. Makar went on to spend four years in college, three with UMass before transferring to the University of Maine for his senior year, one that saw him record 18 goals and 12 assists. For context, he had a total of 22 points over his first three college campaigns.
That improvement was enough for Colorado to sign Makar to a one-year, entry-level deal for this season. He’s off to a decent start with the Eagles, picking up one goal and three assists in nine games so far this season.
Makar’s recall is likely tied to the fact that winger Gavin Brindley left today’s game against Vegas after taking a hit from Ivan Barbashev and didn’t return. With the Avs only carrying 12 forwards on their active roster before this move, it would appear that Makar would be in line to make his NHL debut if Brindley can’t suit up on Saturday against San Jose.
Devils Sign Jacob Markstrom To Two-Year Extension
After New Jersey re-signed Luke Hughes at the beginning of the month, their focus shifted toward keeping one of their pending UFAs in the fold in goaltender Jacob Markstrom. Those efforts have paid off as the Devils announced that they’ve signed goaltender Jacob Markstrom to a two-year, $12MM contract extension.
The 35-year-old is in his second season with New Jersey after being acquired from Calgary a little before the 2024 draft in exchange for a 2025 first-round pick (used on Cole Reschny) and defenseman Kevin Bahl. The hope was that acquiring him, coupled with the addition of Jake Allen a few months earlier, would help stabilize a goaltending position that had been in some flux for a while.
Mission accomplished on that front. After allowing 281 goals in 2023-24, the Devils cut that amount by 61 last season, allowing the fifth-fewest goals in the league in the process. Markstrom played a big role in that success, posting a 2.50 GAA and a .900 SV% in 49 regular season starts while also putting up a 2.78 GAA and a .911 SV% in their first-round playoff exit at the hands of Carolina. He’s not off to a great start this season, however, with a 5.13 GAA and a .830 SV% in four appearances but he’s also just coming back from a lower-body injury.
Over his 16-year career between Vancouver, Florida, Calgary, and New Jersey, Markstrom has a 243-214-63 record with a 2.72 GAA, a .908 SV%, and 24 shutouts. He has typically been one of the more consistent goalies in recent years, providing a strong return on his current six-year contract, one that expires next summer and also carries a cap hit of $6MM per season. However, the Devils will be responsible for that full amount, unlike now, where the Flames are picking up $1.875MM of Markstrom’s price tag as part of the swap.
A few months ago, New Jersey signed Allen to a five-year deal, a surprising term for someone just a few months younger than Markstrom. But the benefit in doing so was that the cap hit came in at $1.8MM, well below his market value when many expected he’d get more than twice that much per season. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Markstrom’s camp appeared to be looking for something similar, a fixed sum of money but they were open to spreading it out over a longer term like Allen. However, the Devils were firm on a shorter-term agreement, even though it means a higher AAV.
With this deal done, New Jersey now has their goalie tandem intact for the next couple of seasons at a combined $7.8MM price tag, just 7.5% of the projected $104MM Upper Limit for next season. That’s a solid price tag for a capable and experienced tandem, giving GM Tom Fitzgerald a bit of flexibility to work with. With this deal now done, the Devils have a little over $10MM in spending room for next season, per PuckPedia, with pending RFAs Simon Nemec, Arseny Gritsyuk, and Paul Cotter highlighting the list of players in need of new deals over the next ten or so months.
ESPN’s Emily Kaplan was the first to report the signing.
Photo courtesy of Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images.
PHR Mailbag: Wild, Sharks, Third Lines, Goaltending Moves, Draft
Topics in this edition of the PHR Mailbag include San Jose’s rebuild, speculating about teams that could make a goalie move, and more. If your question doesn’t appear here, check back in last weekend’s column.
Zakis: How does the Wild figure out 5-on-5 scoring?
A lot of it is just going to be patience. They’ve been hovering around a shooting percentage of five at full strength this season. That’s bound to improve on its own as even bad teams are closer to seven at the end of a year.
There are a couple of ways to improve scoring at five-on-five and neither of them are easy. The first is upgrading their playmaking, especially down the middle. GM Bill Guerin has been trying to do that for years without much success. (He’s hardly the only one who has struggled in this regard either.) That’s going to be tough to do in-season.
The other is play with more tempo and try to generate more odd-man rush chances. The problem is that Minnesota isn’t particularly young and a lot of their veterans aren’t known as high-end skaters. Beyond Kirill Kaprizov’s line, they’re built to play a little slower. That might work in the playoffs when the checking and whistles are tighter but in the regular season, it’s bit trickier. Ideally, prospects like Danila Yurov and Liam Ohgren playing their way into bigger roles would help but that, again, takes patience. But in terms of short-term fixes, I don’t see a viable way for them to significantly change their fortunes on that front and that’s why they’re going to be viewed as more of a bubble team than a contender.
PyramidHeadcrab: It’s looking like Sharks fans are going to have to strap in for another rough season.
We know the Sharks have been building top-shelf assets (Celebrini, Askarov, Misa, Graf, et al), but how long do complete rebuilds like this typically last?
In watching their first few games, I am seeing a team that is completely disorganized, with players being consistently out of position – Celebrini making a tremendous play with no one in position to receive a pass, for instance. There’s the cliche of “veterans mentioning The Youth™” but experienced players like Klingberg, Kurashev, and Goodrow are consistently playing poorly.
At what point do you know if the plan is working, and when do the stars typically align for a team like this to turn the corner on being successful?
And as a brief addendum – the lack of a net-crashing power forward to kite attention from the opposing D is glaring; is there anyone in the Sharks system that could fill this role eventually? Are there any top prospects for the ’26 draft that could fit this bill?
There aren’t a lot of examples of the ‘burn it to the ground and build back slowly’ rebuild to compare to here. These types of undertakings haven’t gained a lot of popularity until the last decade or so. Sure, there have been rebuilds with an eye on them taking a few years but few have been to quite this extent.
The best option I can think of is the one that’s still ongoing in Utah. I remember reading something a few years ago about how long he envisioned his rebuild being and it was something like eight or ten years for the full process to take place. He mentioned last year in an interview with KSL Sports (video link) that competing for a playoff spot in the fifth season was a realistic target.
So, where are the Sharks in this? While they’ve missed the postseason in six straight years, it was really only the 2023-24 season where they got serious about it. Erik Karlsson went that offseason, Tomas Hertl at the deadline, and some youngsters (William Eklund and Fabian Zetterlund) got big minutes. You could argue 2022-23 was the start when Timo Meier moved but that was done late in the year. Basically, they’re around the halfway mark before that ‘playoffs in five years’ goal. With the pieces they’re collecting, I think they’re on the right track and I could see them getting there at the back end of that timeframe.
As I’ve noted before, scouting is not my forte so I could be wrong on this but from what I have seen with some of their top prospects, I don’t really see someone who can be that type of player, at least consistently. Looking at the top of this year’s class, Ethan Belchetz might fit the bill but as is always the case with power forward prospects, there’s a difference between being that type of player in junior versus being that type of player in the NHL.
At this point of the rebuild, the focus is asset acquisition and getting as many pieces in place as possible. Once that first wave of prospects is established, then they could start to get a little pickier or use some later-round picks on more aggressive boom/bust selections to try to find a certain type of player that they lack in their system. I’d say they’re getting closer to that part and it wouldn’t shock me to see them try to address that.
PyramidHeadcrab: I’m legitimately confused at how Barclay Goodrow hasn’t been bought out yet. The only way that makes sense is a) it’s a verbal promise to be like, “sorry for screwing you over”, or b) they REALLY want to keep those retention slots open.
But in that case, why not bury him in the A and just eat the contract? Like it’s a real head-scratcher for me.
I don’t think it’s the first option. While San Jose is likely operating with some respect befitting a longer-term veteran, if they felt they had to get him off the roster, they’d probably do it. There might be a bit of validity to Option B. They only have one salary retention slot available to them. That’s not just for this season but 2026-27 as well with Karlsson signed until then. The other one doesn’t unlock until after the 2029-30 campaign. Adding Goodrow – who is also signed through 2026-27 – to the mix means they’re out of retention options until July 2027. That’s not ideal. I’d be saving that one for the trade deadline, potentially for Alexander Wennberg to maximize the return for him.
When the Sharks orchestrated the waiver claim situation to ensure they got him around 15 months ago, they knew (or reasonably ought to have known) that his best on-ice days were behind him. I don’t think they brought him in thinking that he’d give the bottom six a big boost (mind you, they were probably hoping he’d be at least a little better than this). I suspect he was viewed as more of a character addition. In essence, that cliched mentoring idea you mentioned in the initial question.
If they think they need a roster spot, he’s someone who would safely clear waivers if it came to that. He’d still probably come back after the trade deadline when there isn’t a roster maximum though. This could be something they look at in the summer though. They wouldn’t save a ton of money on a buyout since a decent chunk of his salary is in a signing bonus but if he’s done all he can do for them, I could see them buying him out to give him a chance to try to catch on elsewhere, likely for the league minimum. But for now, I expect he’ll stay up for the rest of the season.
frozenaquatic: Thanks again for putting these together! The last six Cup winners have had depth in common, running out four lines that grind down opponents. I know bottom sixes are deployed differently (and also are more easily shuffled–though the best bottom sixes have chemistry and identity), but they’re usually a combo of grit and timely tertiary scoring. In your view, who has the most effective 3rd line in the league to start 2025? What’s the worst 3rd line on a supposed contender? Would you say Taylor Hall’s 4th line is the best? Who has the weakest 4th line?
Speaking of how quickly lines can be shuffled, Hall now finds himself in the top six in Carolina so he’s technically out of the equation for now. And best is in the eye of the beholder. If you’re looking squarely at results, the answer could be one way. If you’re looking at overall effectiveness (or maybe trying to quantify it using Expected Goals), it’s going to be a different answer.
Colorado’s third line is a bit of an odd mishmash of players but it seems to be working. Ross Colton has been there for a while now while Jack Drury came in early last season. They both have some defensive skills but their linemate, Victor Olofsson, is more of an offense-only player, making the trio a bit of an odd combination. However, it has worked early on with a 64.5 Expected Goals Percentage, per MoneyPuck despite close to a 50/50 split in zone starts. They’re not scoring much but they’re not getting scored on either. That’s a quietly effective line. On the flip side, Nashville’s third line of Michael Bunting, Erik Haula, and Jonathan Marchessault looks quite good on paper but is struggling considerably defensively with the lowest xGF% of any line with at least 45 minutes of time together so far.
Fourth lines are a lot harder to quantify as they often change from one game to the next between injuries and line shuffling. As a result, there are very few who have played together enough to glean any sort of meaningful information from. For context, if I use that 45 minutes played as a cutoff, it looks like there are only three lines that would even qualify. That’s not enough to really be able to accurately answer that question this early in the season.
ljfranker: What are some goaltending changes you expect to see this season?
History suggests that we won’t see too many changes as goalies don’t move in-season anywhere near the extent that skaters do. I doubt this year will be much of an exception. But that’s not an exciting answer so I’ll give you a few things I could see happening, just that the odds of all of them happening are low.
Oilers: At some point, Connor Ingram works his way onto Edmonton’s roster, likely at the expense of Calvin Pickard. I thought his acquisition from Utah was a great move, especially for the low, low price of absolutely nothing (future considerations) despite there being salary retention. I think he can raise the floor of their goaltending and if all went well, push Stuart Skinner. With the Oilers not having a lot of wiggle room to try to improve their roster, this is one thing I expect them to do.
Sabres: Their claiming of Colten Ellis came as a surprise given the depth that they have and that Devon Levi is still viewed as part of their long-term plans. If they’re pleased with what Ellis is showing in practice, Alex Lyon could become expendable. At $1.5MM per season through 2026-27, he’d be an affordable dart throw for a team to take, especially one that gets hit with a longer-term injury.
Bargain Hunters: While it’s early, the gamble Ottawa made going with Leevi Merilainen isn’t exactly confidence-inspiring and Mads Sogaard may have plateaued. For a team with playoff aspirations, they can’t afford to stick that out if Merilainen keeps struggling while Linus Ullmark doesn’t typically carry a huge workload. I think they’ll be looking around at options soon. We’ve seen speculation of Calgary sniffing around the market and that they might not trust Devin Cooley to be a full-time NHL backup so they’ll probably keep doing that. I also wonder about Florida. If Daniil Tarasov winds up being more of a mediocre option, I could see them exploring what’s out there. With the injuries they have, getting a more proven piece to stabilize the backup games could be crucial.
Breakaway: The 2026 draft is supposed deeper and has more high-end talent. Schaefer and Misa were considered the consensus top picks in 2025. If they were coming out this year, would they be the 2nd and 3rd picks or would they fall farther down? After those two, there was a gap in talent, where would the rest of the top five fall if they were coming out in 2026?
One of the challenges with an exercise like this is that what teams hold those draft picks ultimately does a lot to dictate who goes where. What’s the player type they’re looking for? It’s not always a case of Best Player Available (or teams have had some very different opinions on BPAs from the consensus top of the class). But I’ll give it a shot.
Gavin McKenna goes first and there’s probably not much to explain there. I do think Matthew Schaefer would go second and I’d say that without factoring in his start with the Islanders. A young 18 for his draft class, he’s a high-ceiling all situations number one defender. That will always go high. Keaton Verhoeff could change that with a big year in college (especially as a righty) but failing that, Schaefer lands ahead of him.
For Michael Misa versus Ivar Stenberg, what’s the need? If it’s a pure shooter (or a team really wants a center), it’s Misa. If it’s a setup guy, it’s Stenberg. I’d lean toward Misa myself so he’d be fourth. I’d have Anton Frondell next at five, then Stenberg at six, assuming his development goes as planned this season.
Then we go back to centers with Caleb Desnoyers (fourth to Utah) and Ryan Roobroeck, draft-eligible this year. Today, I’d give the nod to Desnoyers but with this season barely underway, that could easily change.
Brady Martin is the ultimate wild card. Given his power forward style of play, it’s entirely plausible to me that a team could see this combined group and still pick him fifth. I could also see him fall out of the top ten and it wouldn’t surprise me. It all comes down to who has the picks and what their team needs are. Chances are that he’d still sneak into the back of the top ten with that playoff-profile skillset.
Photo courtesy of ……….