Six More ECHL Teams Opting Out Of 2020-21 Season
1:15 pm: The league has made it official. The six teams from the North Division will suspend play for the 2020-21 season, though the release does confirm that all are expected to return in 2021-22. ECHL Commissioner Ryan Crelin released a statement explaining the decision:
As we continue to navigate the continually changing regulations across North America, we recognize the difficult nature of this decision. While some of our teams’ host cities have allowed upcoming plans to include fans inside arenas, we unfortunately do not see the same path for these highly-affected areas in the Northeast.
As part of the decision, every player under contract with the affected teams is now a free agent. This does not include those under NHL contracts that had been playing for the affiliate.
11:45 am: The ECHL will not have a North Division this season as all six teams have decided to opt-out of the 2020-21 campaign. Jeff Marek of Sportsnet was the first to report the news, which has since been confirmed by Greg Wyshynski of ESPN and is expected to be officially announced later this afternoon. The six teams that will be ceasing operations for the upcoming season are the Adirondack Thunder, an affiliate of the New Jersey Devils, the Brampton Beast (Ottawa Senators), Maine Mariners (New York Rangers), Newfoundland Growlers (Toronto Maple Leafs), Reading Royals (Philadelphia Flyers) and Worcester Railers (New York Islanders). These six teams join the Atlanta Gladiators (Boston Bruins) and Norfolk Admirals (independent) who had already opted out.
This is a tough blow for the ECHL’s desire to hold a 2020-21 season and will send players from each of the affected teams scrambling to find new jobs. It also means that the NHL teams who are partnered with these minor league affiliates will find it much more difficult to find playing time for some of their young players. The ECHL is routinely used as a development league, most notably for an organization’s goaltending prospects that need to get on the ice as much as possible.
The league has 18 teams left to play this year, with 13 of those expected to start next month. The schedule will kick off on December 11 and consist of 72 games for the 13 teams, with the other five set to start in January and play a reduced schedule. Still, even those plans seem temporary following today’s news.
Nashville Predators Loan Frederic Allard To Villacher SV
The Nashville Predators have found some playing time for one of their prospects, loaning Frederic Allard to Villacher SV of the ICEHL, Austria’s professional league. Allard will remain overseas only until the start of Nashville’s training camp.
Selected 78th overall in 2016, Allard has found and filled a key role with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL the last three seasons, racking up 74 points in 181 games. The 22-year-old still has NHL upside, but for years it has been difficult for prospects to crack through in Nashville. The team already has Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, and Mattias Ekholm taking up the majority of playing time and this offseason brought in Mark Borowiecki and Matt Benning to round out the depth chart.
For Allard, getting on the ice and into competitive games is the only way he’s going to keep his development path pointed in the right direction. This is the final year of his entry-level contract, meaning he’ll be a restricted free agent next summer looking for either a new deal with the Predators or a fresh start somewhere else. This minor league season is important, and getting an early start overseas should only help him when things begin back home.
Moritz Seider Not Released For WJC
The German roster for the upcoming World Junior Championship has been announced, and it includes top prospect Tim Stuetzle. The Ottawa Senators pick is still recovering from hand surgery but is hopeful to recover in time to take part in the tournament. Notably, however, Stuetzle won’t be joined by countryman and Detroit Red Wings prospect Moritz Seider. Selected sixth overall in 2019, Seider would have arguably been the team’s most important player after captaining the German squad a year ago. The Red Wings have decided to not release him to the German team, however, instead keeping him in Sweden playing for Rogle and available to return to Detroit for NHL training camp.
Seider, 19, is one of the top defense prospects in the entire world. Even at the age of 18, he found success in the AHL, scoring 22 points in 49 games for the Grand Rapids Griffins. He now has seven points in eight games in the SHL and could potentially make the Red Wings roster as soon as this season. The 6’4″ right-handed shot defenseman can do a little bit of everything and is one of several high-end prospects that will be arriving to help Detroit in the next few years.
Without him, it will certainly be difficult for the Germans. The team does however still have Stuetzle, Lukas Reichel, and John Peterka, all high picks in this year’s draft, meaning they’ll at least have some interesting offensive firepower to watch. One player who will likely benefit from the absence of Seider is Luca Munzenberger, the 17-year-old defenseman that was named to the squad. Munzenberger doesn’t turn 18 until later this month and is eligible for selection in the 2021 draft.
Minor Transactions: 11/17/20
It’s the dog days of…November? The NHL offseason is moving like molasses these days, with no one-way UFA contracts handed out for the last two weeks. While things may be ramping up again at the end of the month, minor leagues and those in Europe have still continued to finesse their rosters recently. We’ll keep track of the notable moves right here:
- Brandon DeFazio, who played two games for the Vancouver Canucks in 2014-15 and was a standout at the AHL level, has signed with HC Kometa Brno of the Czech professional league. DeFazio has been travelling the world playing hockey in recent years, suiting up in the KHL and Liiga. His numbers dropped off a cliff with Kunlun Red Star last season, but he’ll try his luck again overseas in a new league.
- Cameron Hebig, who was not extended a qualifying offer by the Edmonton Oilers and became an unrestricted free agent, has signed an ECHL contract with the Florida Everblades for 2020-21. Hebig, 23, scored 29 points in his rookie season in the AHL a few years ago but ended up spending half of 2019-20 in the ECHL anyway. The undrafted forward will have to take a big developmental step if he has any hope of making an NHL roster.
- Mads Sogaard, the 37th overall pick in the 2019 draft, has been loaned to Esbjerg Energy in Denmark for the upcoming season. The 19-year-old goaltender had played the last two seasons with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL. Joining him is defenseman Mathew Hill of the OHL’s Barrie Colts, a sixth-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2019.
- Former Dallas Stars prospect Cole Ully has signed a one-year deal with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays, the team announced. Ully returns to the Charleston-based club after playing the whole season with the Stingrays this past year while on an AHL contract with the Hershey Bears. Ully previously played parts of four seasons in the minors for the Stars after being selected in the fifth round in 2013.
- The rumors have been confirmed and top 2021 NHL Draft prospect Brandt Clarke is officially headed to Sweden. Vasby IK of the Allsvenskan announced that Clarke has joined the team, though they do not state definitively whether it is on a loan basis from the OHL’s Barrie Colts or if he has signed on for the full season. Either way, the club did not pull any punches in describing their excitement for Clarke’s arrival (translated):
Sometimes it is easy to use superlatives when describing new acquisitions. But this time, the title super talent is simply the only correct description one can make of the Canadian acquisition… Clarke will probably be the greatest talent in the entire history of Väsby Hockey.
Pavel Gogolev Signs In Sweden
In 2019-20, the OHL had six players that recorded at least 40 goals and 85 total points. Nick Robertson, the Toronto Maple Leafs top forward prospect, led the way with 55 goals in just 46 games. Jack Quinn, who was selected eighth overall this fall by the Buffalo Sabres came in second in the goal-scoring race, tallying 52. Connor McMichael, the Washington Capitals wunderkind, hit the twine 47 times, Arthur Kaliyev, a Los Angeles Kings second-round steal notched 44 and Nashville Predators prospect Philip Tomasino recorded exactly 40 goals in his 100-point breakout season.
The sixth and final member of the 40/85 club was Pavel Gogolev, who shares little else with the rest of the list. Gogolev, who turned 20 earlier this year, went undrafted in his first two years of draft eligibility, despite being the 79th-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting in 2018. This is a player who, after coming to Canada as a young teenager, went eighth overall in the 2016 OHL Priority Selection. After experiencing some ups and downs throughout the first few years of his junior career, Gogolev was a force with the Guelph Storm this season, scoring 45 goals and 96 points in just 63 games, his powerful shot finding the back of the net from all over the offensive zone.
By the end of September, as pundits were finishing their draft boards for the upcoming event, Gogolev’s name surfaced again. It was his third year of draft eligibility, and this time it looked certain that someone would take a chance. Corey Pronman of The Athletic even ranked him 50th on his final list, though as it turns out, that was quite a bit too high.
In fact, Gogolev would go undrafted for the third time. It appeared as though he may return to the Storm for an overage year, but the 20-year-old forward has now signed in Sweden, according to Guelph Today. Gogolev will join Vasby IK in the second tier of Swedish professional hockey (Allsvenskan) and try to continue his development there. According to his Storm GM George Burnett, the young forward will continue to search for a pro contract in North America, but has signed for the rest of the Allsvenskan season.
Fringe prospects like Gogolev need to take every opportunity they can to get on the ice and put film together for scouts around the world. With the uncertainty still surrounding the OHL season, it makes sense for him to take a deal somewhere else. Though he’s off the North American radar for now, his name is still one to remember down the road.
Snapshots: 2021 Schedule, USNTDP, Podell
The NHL and NHLPA continue to work through plans for the upcoming season but as Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets today, if January 1 is still the target, things will have to be finalized before the end of November. Training camps will need to open partway through December—remember, the seven teams not included in this summer’s playoff format are expected to get an extra week of camp—meaning players will have to soon start returning from around the world to serve out any potential mandated quarantines.
LeBrun also reports that the focus is on a schedule that includes at least 60 regular season games, but would see the Stanley Cup awarded by July 15 at the latest. That would give the league enough time to reset the clock for 2021-22 when the Seattle Kraken are scheduled to come into play, hopefully under a regular NHL schedule. Obviously, there are huge hurdles still to work through, including the idea of pro-rating player salaries given the reduced schedule.
- The challenging year for NHL scouts continues as Corey Pronman of The Athletic reports that teams will not be allowed to scout U.S. National Team Development Program home games in person for “some time.” That comes after news that a similar restriction has been placed on University of Michigan games through the end of the calendar year. While video scouting has come a long way, teams obviously still would rather have a person in the building seeing these prospects up close throughout the season.
- The St. Louis Blues have hired Ryan Podell as their new Director of Performance, working on the strength and conditioning of the team’s players. Podell has a long and varied resume including time with the Philadelphia Flyers, Indianapolis Colts, and Portland Trail Blazers. He’ll have to navigate a very different world just like everyone else, working with the Blues athletes while still abiding by the league’s COVID-19 protocols.
Florida Panthers Hire Brett Peterson
The Florida Panthers have a new assistant general manager, hiring Brett Peterson away from his role as Vice President, Hockey for Wasserman Media Group, which acquired Acme World Sports earlier this summer. As the press release indicates, Peterson is believed to be the first Black assistant general manager in the NHL. Panthers GM Bill Zito, who founded Acme before he moved into hockey operations for the Columbus Blue Jackets, released this statement on the hire:
His substantive hockey experience as a player, significant developmental and evaluation skills, and business acumen as a negotiator combine to form an elite skill set that is very difficult to find in our sport. There are many who can excel in one of those disciplines, but few who excel in all three.
Peterson, 39, does not come only with experience on the agency side. A four-year defenseman for Boston College where he won a National Championship in 2001, he then played several years in the ECHL and AHL. A playing career ended in 2009, at which point he jumped to the other side of the table and became a certified player agent.
He’ll get his first chance in an NHL front office under Zito, but will continue his work to help make hockey more inclusive. The release indicates that Peterson will take an active role in the Panthers’ community-based programs. He joins Paul Krepelka who was hired as an AGM earlier this month and a front office that includes other experienced names like Paul Fenton and Tom Bark.
Philip Tomasino Loaned To Team Canada
Philip Tomasino feels he is ready to play in the NHL. But for now, he’ll be suiting up against 46 other top prospects at the Team Canada World Junior Championship selection camp. Tomasino has been loaned to Team Canada today, a move that will happen for many more prospects over the coming hours and days as the young players get ready for a month-long camp that will determine the tournament roster.
Tomasino, 19, was the 24th overall pick in 2019 and is coming off an incredible 100-point season in the OHL. Earlier this summer and before the 2020 draft, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic ranked Tomasino as the 20th-best drafted prospect in the entire league. Wheeler explained that the “result is likely a top of the lineup player and dynamic powerplay option who is equal parts scorer and playmaker.” Not bad for a late-first, but exactly what the Predators need as they look to find a real star to build their forward group around.
That said, even with his excellent season and strong development, Tomasino is not a lock to make the Canadian roster. The forward group that has been invited to camp is incredible, with names like Kirby Dach, Dylan Cozens, Quinton Byfield, and Connor McMichael all expected to take huge roles on the team. This will be Tomasino’s final chance to make the team and a great place for him to show he’s ready for the next step, but he’ll have to battle with some very talented prospects for the limited available spots.
Snapshots: Reverse Retro, Holtby, Tomasino
The NHL may have lost a lot of revenue when they were forced to hold the playoffs in empty buildings, but they’re about to make a heck of a lot in merchandise sales. The league and Adidas revealed their designs for the Reverse Retro jerseys today to plenty of excitement (and disgust) from fans all over the world. Early favorites online seem to be the Colorado Avalanche’s Nordiques-based throwback, a return to green for the New Jersey Devils, and an homage to the North Stars by the Minnesota Wild.
Feelings seem a bit more mixed on the return of Wildwing for the Anaheim Ducks and for many of the other throwback uniforms. A healthy debate is surely what the league was hoping for with the new threads as they try to recoup some financial losses.
- Who will be in net for the Vancouver Canucks when they first slip on their new alternate jersey? Speculation on who will be Vancouver’s starter this season continues after the team signed Braden Holtby in the offseason. Satiar Shah of Sportsnet believes that it will be Holtby over Thatcher Demko to start the year at least, given the team invested $8.6MM over two seasons in the veteran netminder. It is important to remember though that the Canucks back-loaded Holtby’s contract heavily, meaning he’ll make only $2.9MM in 2020-21. With the Seattle Kraken looming and their expansion draft scheduled for next summer, Holtby could end up only playing a single year in Vancouver. Whether he’s the starter on opening day remains to be seen, but Demko will certainly be battling for the spot after posting an .985 save percentage in four playoff appearances.
- Philip Tomasino doesn’t want to just play for Team Canada at the upcoming World Juniors and then return to junior, he wants to play for the Nashville Predators this season. The 19-year-old forward spoke with Adam Vingan of The Athletic recently and stated quite clearly that he feels he is ready to take that next step to play professionally at the highest level. Tomasino, the 24th-overall pick in 2019, scored 100 points in just 62 games this season in the OHL and is off to the WJC selection camp for the next month where he’ll battle a loaded forward group for a final roster spot.
Poll: Who Are The Best Centers In The NHL?
Earlier this month the NHL Network began its reveal of the top players at every position, starting with the best defensemen in the league. In their estimation, Victor Hedman was the top name this year, something our readership predicted in 2019 when they disagreed with the network’s choice. The network then moved on to wingers, listing Artemi Panarin as the very best after his third-place Hart Trophy finish.
Just like defensemen, we asked our readers to select the best wingers in the NHL and you came up with a slightly different order. Panarin is safely near the top, but he hasn’t quite managed to leapfrog a recent Stanley Cup winner. Our PHR community-voted Top 20 Wingers list currently looks like this:
- Nikita Kucherov (693 votes)
- Alex Ovechkin (641 votes)
- David Pastrnak (573 votes)
- Artemi Panarin (561 votes)
- Patrick Kane (542 votes)
- Brad Marchand (473 votes)
- Mikko Rantanen (347 votes)
- Mitch Marner (337 votes)
- Taylor Hall (325 votes)
- Patrik Laine (312 votes)
- Mark Stone (304 votes)
- Matthew Tkachuk (298 votes)
- Gabriel Landeskog (295 votes)
- Vladimir Tarasenko (287 votes)
- Andrei Svechnikov (255 votes)
- Blake Wheeler (229 votes)
- Jonathan Huberdeau (225 votes)
- Johnny Gaudreau (223 votes)
- Claude Giroux (205 votes)
- Filip Forsberg (167 votes)
Over the weekend, the network released its ranking of the best centers in the league, which also happens to usually include the debate of who is the best overall player. Centers can impact the game much more than those who line up on the wing and have been the faces of the NHL for decades (rightly or wrongly).
This year is no different, with Connor McDavid leading the way once again. Though he failed to reach the 100-point mark for the first time since his rookie season and watched a teammate take home the Art Ross, Ted Lindsay and Hart, McDavid is still overwhelmingly considered the most dangerous offensive player in the NHL. His blinding speed and brilliant puck skills are something to behold and have turned Edmonton Oilers games into must-watch events since he debuted in 2015-16.
But, perhaps, McDavid has a rival. No, not his teammate Leon Draisaitl who received all of the hardware this season, but Nathan MacKinnon, who seems to be coming up more and more in discussions of who the best player in the NHL is. MacKinnon comes in second on the network’s list, edging out Draisaitl and Sidney Crosby, who is still relevant as ever after recording his 15th straight point-per-game season.
The rest of the list is like reading the All-Star rosters, but perhaps some special attention should be paid to Brayden Point, who continues his climb every year. Point now sits at ninth, but don’t be surprised if he climbs even further up the list in years to come. He’ll have to settle for the bigger trophy his playoff-leading 14 goals helped earn the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Just like the other polls, we want the PHR community to let us know who the best centers in the world are. Unlike the last poll, however, we’ll ask you to select 10 names because of the smaller pool of talent. Make sure to leave a comment below on who you think deserves to be recognized or your thoughts on how the winger poll ended. We’ve included many names that could be considered, but if you think we’ve missed someone important (which we undoubtedly have) make sure to leave his name below.
[Mobile users click here to vote]
There will always be some crossover with wingers and centers, but we’ve done our best to match what the NHL Network seems to have used. For instance, Leon Draisaitl, though appearing in the winger list last year, is now be listed in the center vote.