Latest On Vitali Kravtsov
This season hasn’t gone according to plan for New York Rangers prospect Vitali Kravtsov. Coming into training camp it seemed as though the 19-year old was destined for a roster spot in the NHL and a chance to show exactly what he can do after scoring 21 points in the KHL last season. Unfortunately that didn’t work out as planned and Kravtsov was sent to the minor leagues to start the year, and then subsequently made a healthy scratch by the Hartford Wolf Pack. With one assist in three games for Hartford to date, rumblings are now beginning over where Kravtsov will spend the rest of the year.
His entry-level contract does include a European Assignment Clause, which he could exercise at some point to return to the KHL, should he be kept in the minor leagues. That’s exactly what he’s considering according to Igor Eronko of Sport-Express, though it is important to note that Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that as of Tuesday afternoon, there had been no discussion on that topic between the Kravtsov camp and the Rangers.
Whether there has been any talk or not, the fact is that Kravtsov hasn’t found his footing in North America yet and still does hold that clause. Heading back overseas is not necessarily a bad thing depending on how the team feels his development is going, but obviously they will hope to be involved in the decision.
Selected ninth overall in 2018, the 6’3″ Russian winger has one of the highest offensive ceilings of any draft prospect, but still needs work putting it all together at the professional level. Should he exercise the clause at any point, it does not void his NHL contract and he could still be recalled by the Rangers.
Hynes, Boudreau Not In “Imminent” Danger
Both the Minnesota Wild and New Jersey Devils have started slowly this season, leading to much speculation regarding their head coaching situations. In Minnesota, Bruce Boudreau was inherited, not hired, by new GM Bill Guerin and has his team off to a 1-4 record to start the year. John Hynes and the New Jersey Devils are off to an even worse 0-4-2 record even with all of the hype surrounding the team after big offseason changes. Despite the struggles, Pierre LeBrun and Bob McKenzie report that neither is in imminent danger of being fired on the latest edition of Insider Trading for TSN.
In fact, LeBrun notes that Guerin will be patient with the entire Wild organization, taking full stock of what he has before making any major changes. Minnesota made Kevin Fiala a healthy scratch tonight in Toronto, sending a message to the young forward that no job is secure at the moment.
The Wild made sweeping changes to their core under former GM Paul Fenton, trading away Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund and Charlie Coyle while adding Mats Zuccarello to a lengthy free agent deal. None of those moves have really panned out as of yet, meaning Guerin still has lots of work to do in Minnesota.
The Devils are in a much different situation. The team has made the playoffs just once in the last seven years, missing it three times under Hynes since he was hired in 2015. An 0-4-2 start may have been acceptable in some of those other years as they worked through a rebuild, but after adding Jack Hughes, P.K. Subban, Wayne Simmonds and Nikita Gusev in one summer the team had big expectations.
Even if GM Ray Shero isn’t ready to make a change behind the bench right now, it’s hard to imagine that it wouldn’t happen at some point if the Devils continue to struggle. Hynes has just a 141-150-43 record as head coach of the team.
Denis Gurianov Recalled From AHL
The Dallas Stars are off to a 1-5-1 record early on, and struggling to create much offense. They’ve scored just 13 goals through those seven games, but will get a boost soon with the return of Corey Perry. Today they also brought back young forward Denis Gurianov, who will get another chance to prove he can stick at the NHL level.
Gurianov, 22, played three games with the Stars earlier this season but found himself back in the minor leagues last week. It didn’t take long for him to earn a recall however, recording a hat trick on Friday night against the Iowa Wild. Gurianov scored 20 goals and 48 points in 57 games with the Texas Stars last year, really finding his game after early career struggles.
Selected 12th overall in 2015, there were questions surrounding Gurianov’s work ethic in his first few professional seasons. In the Stars’ 2018 Calder Cup run, the 6’3″ forward was even made a healthy scratch despite being one of the team’s best goal scoring threats in the regular season. In 2018-19 though things changed, with a more invested player dominating the AHL competition on a routine basis.
With Dallas struggling, perhaps they’ll give Gurianov a longer opportunity to see what he can do at the NHL level.
Detroit Red Wings Activate Frans Nielsen, Trevor Daley
The Detroit Red Wings are getting some of their veterans back today, as they have activated both Frans Nielsen and Trevor Daley from injured reserve. To make room, the team sent Evgeny Svechnikov to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.
Detroit is actually off to a nice 3-2 start so far this season on the backs of their young forward core, but will get some much needed help as they continue to try and surprise the Atlantic Division and earn a playoff spot. Even now at 35 years old, Nielsen can still lengthen out the forward group and add some secondary scoring for the group.
Daley too is nearing the end of his career, but will be an interesting player to keep an eye on at the trade deadline if he can stay healthy. He has just a 15-team no-trade clause and is making just $2.2MM in actual salary this season ($3.166MM cap hit). His playoff experience, which includes two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins, will be considered valuable if he can still log a few minutes on the back end.
Scratch Notes: Dermott, McCann, Fiala
The Toronto Maple Leafs surprised many by sending Rasmus Sandin back to the minor leagues recently, but the decision might not have been only because of the youngster’s development as they said. Travis Dermott, who is working his way back from offseason shoulder surgery, shed his no-contact sweater at practice and is getting closer to a return.
Dermott, 22, was a big part of the Maple Leafs’ defense last season before his shoulder injury, logging more than 17 minutes a night and posting excellent possession numbers. The second-round pick plays an extremely aggressive style that can quickly disrupt rushes but also leaves him out of position at times. If he can learn to pick his spots a little more selectively, there’s a good chance the Maple Leafs have a future top-four option on their hands.
- Another day, another injury up front for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jared McCann missed practice today and has been listed as day-to-day, leaving the team without another one of their key forwards for the time being. Amazingly, the Penguins have scored 14 goals over their last two games even with their banged up forward group, but have the high-flying Colorado Avalanche coming into town tomorrow.
- It’s not an injury keeping Kevin Fiala out of the lineup, but he’ll be out all the same when the Minnesota Wild take on Toronto tonight. The team will make Fiala a healthy scratch just a few months after acquiring him from the Nashville Predators and touting him as a core member of their team going forward. The Wild have now scratched Fiala, Ryan Donato and Victor Rask this season, the three main acquisitions last season by former GM Paul Fenton.
Minor Transactions: 10/15/19
The Colorado Avalanche stayed perfect last night by tearing apart the Washington Capitals’ defense in a 6-3 win, and now have a two-point lead in the Central Division. The Minnesota Wild, who are at the other end of that spectrum will try to build off their first win when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight. That’s just one of seven games on the schedule, including a potential Western Conference playoff matchup between the Nashville Predators and Vegas Golden Knights. As teams prepare, we’ll be keeping track of all the minor moves as always.
- Former NHL forward Alexandre Grenier has signed with Iserlohn of the German DEL for the rest of the season. Grenier played last season for the Laval Rocket, scoring 27 points and serving as an alternate captain. The 28-year old has nine NHL games under his belt, all with the Vancouver Canucks, but never did register a point at that level.
- Igor Eronko of Sport-Express reports that Ryan Sproul has signed a one-year deal with Kunlun Red Star in the KHL. Sproul played for three different AHL teams last season, but spent the most time with the Hershey Bears where he scored 23 points in 52 games.
- The Dallas Stars have sent Joel L’Esperance and Nicholas Caamano back to the minor leagues, after the team suffered their fifth loss of the season yesterday. The Stars are in panic mode already in the young season, but should be getting some help back soon in the form of Corey Perry.
- With Oscar Fantenberg dealing with injury, the Vancouver Canucks have recalled Ashton Sautner from the minor leagues. Sautner played 17 games for Vancouver last season, recording a single point.
- After activating Sam Steel off of injured reserve yesterday, the Anaheim Ducks have sent Isac Lundestrom to the minor leagues. Lundestrom played three games for the Ducks this season but was held pointless, and can now continue his development in the AHL.
Philadelphia Flyers Sign Chris Stewart
After spending last season playing in the EIHL, Chris Stewart has made it back to the best league in the world. The Philadelphia Flyers have signed Stewart to a one-year, one-way contract and are expected to have him in the lineup tonight when they take on the Calgary Flames. Stewart’s deal carries an average annual value of $750K though the actual year-long cap hit will be slightly higher given he signed it in-season.
Stewart, 31, played most of last season for the Nottingham Panthers of the Elite Ice Hockey League in the United Kingdom, scoring 13 points in 23 games. It may be hard to remember after his last few NHL seasons that were spent bouncing around the league, but Stewart was once one of the most feared power forwards in the game. Scoring 28 goals in consecutive seasons during the early part of his career, he was an absolute force in front of the net and could protect the puck extremely well with his huge frame. His touch around the net has never really left—Stewart still carries a career 82-game average of more than 20 goals—but it’s hard to expect much of anything else at this point in his career.
For the Flyers, squeezing some bottom-six time and perhaps a few goals out of Stewart is all they will need for such a small investment. Bringing him in on a professional tryout and now signing him to a near-minimum deal means that anything he contributes is a bonus.
The team is currently 2-0-1 on the year and has young players brimming with potential waiting for their chance, but will use a veteran like Stewart to first give them some more depth in the NHL and keep those youngsters ripe in the minor leagues.
2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Twenty-Fifth Overall Pick
Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.
We’re looking back at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?
Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:
1st Overall: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks (1)
2nd Overall: Jamie Benn, Philadelphia Flyers (129)
3rd Overall: P.K. Subban, Phoenix Coyotes (43)
4th Overall: Logan Couture, Los Angeles Kings (9)
5th Overall: Max Pacioretty, Washington Capitals (22)
6th Overall: Jakub Voracek, Edmonton Oilers (7)
7th Overall: Ryan McDonagh, Columbus Blue Jackets (12)
8th Overall: James van Riemsdyk, Boston Bruins (2)
9th Overall: Wayne Simmonds, San Jose Sharks (61)
10th Overall: Kevin Shattenkirk, Florida Panthers (14)
11th Overall: Jake Muzzin, Carolina Hurricanes (141)
12th Overall: Kyle Turris, Montreal Canadiens (3)
13th Overall: David Perron, St. Louis Blues (26)
14th Overall: Mikael Backlund, Colorado Avalanche (24)
15th Overall: Evgenii Dadonov, Edmonton Oilers (71)
16th Overall: Alec Martinez, Minnesota Wild (95)
17th Overall: Carl Hagelin, New York Rangers (168)
18th Overall: Lars Eller, St. Louis Blues (13)
19th Overall: Alex Killorn, Anaheim Ducks (77)
20th Overall: Nick Bonino, Pittsburgh Penguins (173)
21st Overall: Pat Maroon, Edmonton Oilers (161)
22nd Overall: Paul Byron, Montreal Canadiens (179)
23rd Overall: Sam Gagner, Nashville Predators (6)
24th Overall: Justin Braun, Calgary Flames (201)
We finally have our first seventh-round selection jumping up the board, as Braun was nearly left undrafted completely back in 2007. Picked just ten spots before the end of the draft, he was one of five players in that round to ever suit up in the NHL—surprisingly though, not the only one to break the 500-game mark.
The thing was, it wouldn’t have been the first time that Braun went unselected by an NHL team if he had fallen out of the 2007 draft. He had already gone undrafted in his first two years of eligibility and had already completed his freshman year at UMass (Amherst). Despite being more than two years older than many of the prospects available, Braun still slipped onto the NHL Central Scouting list as the 209th-best North American skater (210 were ranked).
Though he wasn’t a star in college, the Sharks must have seen something they liked in the right-handed defenseman as not only did they pick him, but decided to offer him an NHL contract after his college career finished. Stepping almost directly into the NHL, he would play 28 games with San Jose during his first professional season and recorded 11 points doing it. Rather quickly, Braun would become a dependable option for the team and ended up playing more than 600 games for the Sharks before ending up with the Philadelphia Flyers this offseason.
While his 155 career points don’t pop off the page, that’s actually the sixth-highest total by any defenseman drafted in 2007. Braun has also played in 18th-most games by any player from that class, justifying his place here in the first round of our redraft. Not bad for a seventh-round pick in his final year of eligibility.
Vancouver, who picked next back in 2007, surely would have liked to know that Braun would turn out so well. When they strode up to the podium they had a different name in mind, one that would never play a single game in the NHL.
Patrick White was an American center who was actually ranked 23rd by NHL Central Scouting among North American skaters, and was supposed to give the Canucks another weapon down the middle. Unfortunately, the offense that was supposed to develop in college never did, and White finished his four-year career at the University of Minnesota with just 53 points in 147 games.
When it became apparent to Vancouver that it wasn’t coming together, White was included in what was basically a salary dump with the San Jose Sharks, taking on Christian Ehrhoff a year into his three-year, $9.3MM deal. Ehrhoff ended up playing extremely well for the Canucks, while White was never even tendered a contract by the Sharks and ended up playing in half a dozen different European leagues.
If they had another chance, the Canucks certainly would have decided to go in a different direction with their pick. But in our redraft, the talent pool is getting shallow. With the twenty-fifth pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Vancouver Canucks select? Cast your vote below!
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*Tragically, 17th overall pick Alexei Cherepanov died at the age of 19 and would never get a chance to suit up in the NHL. He has not been included in this vote.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Sandin, Defense Market
The NHL has released their Three Stars for the second week of the season, led by Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid. The 22-year old superstar recorded seven points in three games to help the Oilers get off to a fast start and has an early lead in the league scoring race with 12 points in his first five games.
While Sidney Crosby isn’t much of a surprise in the third star spot, many may have not been expecting such a strong start for Patrik Laine who came in second. The Winnipeg Jets sniper had eight points in four games last week and is showing the entire league that last year’s disappointing totals were an aberration.
- It may have come as a surprise when the Toronto Maple Leafs sent top prospect Rasmus Sandin back to the minor leagues today, but as Chris Johnston of Sportsnet explains, the team wants him to log bigger minutes to continue his current development path. Sandin was sent to the Toronto Marlies after six games with the NHL club, most recently one on Saturday night that included a high hit from Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader. The Maple Leafs have high hopes for Sandin as a future NHL star, and will try to protect their young asset while developing his full potential. For now, it doesn’t appear as though a return to the NHL is coming anytime soon–meaning Sandin’s entry-level contract may slide once again.
- In Pierre LeBrun’s most recent column for The Athletic (subscription required) the hockey insider examines the trade market for defensemen around the league. Most notably perhaps is that the Dallas Stars are still “actively taking calls” on Julius Honka, who signed a contract in Europe with an NHL out clause. LeBrun suggests that Honka situation isn’t helping the Pittsburgh Penguins who continue to try and unload one of their own defensemen.
Liam Foudy Sent Back To OHL
Now that he is healthy enough to return to action, Liam Foudy has been assigned to the London Knights of the OHL. The Columbus Blue Jackets’ prospect was recently named co-captain for the Knights, so this assignment should come as no surprise to fans.
Still, Foudy getting healthy is an important step for the young forward as he continues his development. Selected 18th overall in 2018, he was a project player that was picked because of his athletic profile more than his actual game results up to that point. Foudy had only recorded 57 points in 140 OHL games when he was picked, but exceeded that total in 2018-19 by tallying 42 goals and 80 points in 73 games for the Knights.
After getting into eight AHL playoff games with the Cleveland Monsters, the Blue Jackets have high hopes for Foudy’s eventual ceiling as a top-six forward in the NHL. Elite skating ability and off-the-charts athleticism makes him an extremely difficult player to defend against, something that could make him one of the top players in the OHL this season.