Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen Named OHL Most Outstanding Player
The Buffalo Sabres may not have had the best season, but one of their prospects certainly did. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has won the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL’s Most Outstanding Player, just the sixth goaltender to do so in the history of the league. Toronto Marlies forward Justin Brazeau and Dallas Stars prospect Jason Robertson came in second and third respectively.
Luukkonen, 20, also has the honor of being the first European import to ever win the award, which has been given out since 1945 (then by the OHA). The trophy is a prestigious honor, with plenty of past recipients going on to long prosperous NHL careers. Jordan Kyrou, Alex DeBrincat, Mitch Marner, Connor McDavid, Connor Brown and Vincent Trocheck are the past six winners, with other names like Ryan Ellis, John Tavares, Eric Lindros and Doug Gilmour all having taken a turn.
The Finnish goaltender was selected 54th overall by the Sabres in 2017, and was fantastic for the Sudbury Wolves this season. With a 38-11-2 record and .920 save percentage, he carried the Wolves all season. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough for them to advance deep into the OHL playoffs, but Luukkonen did manage to get into one game with the Rochester Americans—in which he stopped 32 out of 34 shots for the win—before having hip surgery in late April.
Unfortunately, that surgery is expected to keep Luukkonen out for up to six months and could put the start of his first professional season in jeopardy. The young goaltender is set to join the Americans in the AHL, but will obviously have to prove his health before getting back on the ice.
Vancouver Canucks Not Expected To Qualify Brendan Gaunce
Though he doesn’t quite qualify for Group VI status, it looks like Brendan Gaunce will get to unrestricted free agency a bit earlier anyway. Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet reports that the Vancouver Canucks are unlikely to issue Gaunce a qualifying offer this offseason, meaning he will join Derrick Pouliot in looking for a new home.
Gaunce, 25, is another first-round pick that hasn’t worked out for the Canucks. Selected 26th overall in 2012, his offensive game stagnated in junior and he never quite grew into the top-end power forward they had hoped for. In 117 games at the NHL level, Gaunce has recorded just six goals and 15 points playing in a mostly fourth line role. While the results in the AHL have been considerably better—111 points in 189 games—he hasn’t shown enough for the Canucks to risk getting locked into a contract through arbitration.
If he does not receive a qualifying offer, Gaunce will be free to sign a contract with any team in the NHL and hope a fresh start will get his career back on track. An analytically-minded front office might believe there is some potential still there given his solid possession metrics in the NHL, but given his limited production it seems unlikely he will be able to land a one-way contract.
Morning Notes: Draft Order, Tavares, AHL Playoffs
Now that the Conference Finals are set, the draft order is set up to pick 27. The Tampa Bay Lightning will select in that slot, while the four remaining teams—or whoever owns their first-round pick—will fit into 28-31. Notably, the Ottawa Senators, New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings now know exactly where their newly acquired first rounders will land. The Senators will use the Columbus Blue Jackets’ selection at No. 19, the Rangers will follow with the Winnipeg Jets’ pick at 20, and the Kings get the chance to add another top prospect at No. 22 where the Toronto Maple Leafs finished.
Even though the Colorado Avalanche were crushed last night when they lost a game seven against the San Jose Sharks, there is plenty to look forward to next month. The Avalanche will get to select 4th and 16th even after getting to the second round, thanks to the way the playoffs have shaken out overall. Adding two more players of that caliber could help the Avalanche become an even more realistic contender for the Stanley Cup. The full order can be found here, thanks to CapFriendly.
- John Tavares was set to lead Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship that opens tomorrow, but now won’t get the chance. The Maple Leafs’ center has suffered an oblique injury and will return to Toronto for further evaluation. The Canadian roster was already lacking a bit of goal scoring punch, but will have to find a way to create some offense without the 47-goal man.
- The AHL Eastern Conference Final is also set, after the Charlotte Checkers finished their sweep of the Hershey Bears last night. The Checkers will take on the defending Calder Cup champion Toronto Marlies, who are undefeated so far in these playoffs. Game one is scheduled for May 17th in Charlotte, giving the Western teams time to finish off their respective series.
Victor Ejdsell Returning To Sweden
Sometimes it the grass isn’t greener on the other side. After being pursued heavily by several NHL teams in the spring of 2017, Victor Ejdsell has decided to return to Sweden after just a single full season in North America. The Chicago Blackhawks prospect has signed a two-year deal in the SHL.
Signed by the Nashville Predators in 2017, Ejdsell would stay in Sweden for most of the 2017-18 season to continue developing. While he was there the Blackhawks would acquire him as part of the return for Ryan Hartman, meaning his North American debut would come for the Rockford IceHogs. It didn’t take long for him to make the jump to the NHL, playing in six games for Chicago and recording one point. This season, he spent the entire year with the IceHogs but managed to tally just 29 points in 61 games.
A return to Sweden doesn’t come as much of a surprise, given the fact that Ejdsell’s NHL future wasn’t clear. It was obvious he couldn’t step right into a full-time role next season, but the Blackhawks have also added several other prospects of late that will challenge his playing time at the AHL level. Instead, he can now try to secure big minutes in the SHL where he played quite well in that 2017-18 season. By giving him a qualifying offer the Blackhawks will retain his rights, though it’s not clear if there is a future for him in the organization.
NHL Announces Conference Final Schedules
After Joe Pavelski returned to the San Jose Sharks lineup they were not to be defeated, and have advanced through to the Western Conference Final. They’ll meet the St. Louis Blues after an impressive series victory of their own, meaning at least one of them will get a chance to compete for the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. On the other side the Carolina Hurricanes should be well rested after quickly dispatching their second round opponent, but will have to find a way to break through the stingy Boston Bruins defense and goaltending. Here is the full schedule for the third round (all times central):
Eastern Conference Final
Boston Bruins (A2) vs Carolina Hurricanes (W1)
Thursday, May 9th @ 7pm
Sunday, May 12th @ 2pm
Tuesday, May 14th @ 7pm
Thursday, May 16th @ 7pm
Saturday, May 18th @ 6:15pm (if necessary)
Monday, May 20th @ 7pm (if necessary)
Wednesday, May 22nd @ 7pm (if necessary)
Western Conference Final
San Jose Sharks (P2) vs St. Louis Blues (C3)
Saturday, May 11th @ 7pm
Monday, May 13th @ 8pm
Wednesday, May 15th @ 7pm
Friday, May 17th @ 7pm
Sunday, May 19th @ 2pm (if necessary)
Tuesday, May 21st @ 7pm (if necessary)
Thursday, May 23rd @ 8pm (if necessary)
Rikard Gronborg Hired By ZSC Lions
The idea of having Swedish coach Rikard Gronborg take over an NHL bench will have to wait, as the ZSC Lions of the Swiss NLA announced his hiring today. Gronborg has signed a two-year contract with the team. With Gronborg rumored to be linked to the Buffalo Sabres vacancy, John Vogl of the Buffalo News reached out today and was told that the team had not actually interviewed him at all. The Sabres prefer a coach with NHL experience, something that Gronborg has apparently heard from more than just Buffalo. He explained in a text to Vogl:
The main reason that I signed with ZSC, besides being the top job in Europe, is that no NHL team wanted a coach with no prior NHL head coaching experience. … My goal is to coach in the NHL sometime in the future. Just need to get a chance.
Gronborg, 50, has been a coach of Sweden internationally at various levels for nearly a decade. He’s totaled seven World Championship medals (three gold), six World Junior medals (one gold) and even an Olympic silver medal in 2014. While there is obviously a difference between coaching the best Swedish players in the world and taking over an NHL franchise, many have believed he would eventually find work somewhere in North America. That will have to wait, but as Gronborg says himself the Zurich job could be considered one of the best in Europe.
For Buffalo now, one has to wonder where they are leaning for their next head coach. Dave Tippett has already interviewed, and the team was linked to Jacques Martin previously. Toronto Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe, who some have speculated could be of interest to the Sabres, also does not have any NHL experience and thus would seem out of the running.
Detroit Red Wings Re-Sign Dylan McIlrath
The Detroit Red Wings have secured some minor league depth, signing Dylan McIlrath to a two-year two-way contract extension. According to CapFriendly, McIlrath will earn $700K at the NHL level and avoid unrestricted free agency until the summer of 2021.
McIlrath, 27, was infamously drafted 10th overall by the New York Rangers in 2010, the team hoping that his uber-physical style would translate to the NHL in a shutdown role. He was taken ahead of other NHL stars like Cam Fowler (12th overall), Jaden Schwartz (14th) and Vladimir Tarasenko (16th), but wouldn’t experience the kind of NHL success that his contemporaries had. Instead, McIlrath has struggled to get into a lineup at the highest level for any length of time, suiting up for just 50 NHL games over his career.
Most recently that included seven with the Red Wings, after he found himself joining the organization during the 2016-17 campaign. The 6’5″ 236-lbs defenseman has been a regular in the Grand Rapids Griffins lineup ever since, racking up 259 penalty minutes in 149 games. There’s little chance he will make a big impact at the NHL level at this point, but his presence in the minor leagues will add some experience to the blue line. McIlrath will have to clear waivers after training camp in order to be sent down.
Poll: Who Will Win The Eastern Conference Final?
The full schedule is not yet released, but we now know that the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes will kick off the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday evening at TD Garden. The two teams haven’t faced in a playoff series in a decade, and just the five times overall including two series when the Hurricanes were still known as the Hartford Whalers. In that 2009 series between the two, Carolina defeated Boston in seven games on an overtime winner by Scott Walker. In that deciding seventh contest, Rod Brind’Amour scored Carolina’s first goal, and will now try to defeat them again from behind the Hurricanes’ bench.
Even after walking through the New York Islanders in four games, the Hurricanes have a lot on their plate if they want to reach the Stanley Cup Final. Boston has already dispatched two strong teams in the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Columbus Blue Jackets, and have a goaltender playing some of the best hockey of his career. Tuukka Rask has posted a .938 save percentage through the first 13 games of the postseason, and looks as good as when he led the Bruins within two games of the Stanley Cup in 2013. While Zdeno Chara may be a few years out of his prime, the Boston defense has been excellent overall with huge contributions from Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Torey Krug. Unfortunately McAvoy will be out tomorrow night as he serves his suspension, giving the Hurricanes a slight advantage to start the series.
If the Hurricanes able to overcome the Bruins, it will likely be on the back of one of the game’s best clutch performers. Carolina captain Justin Williams has long been known as “Mr. Game Seven” around the league for his heroics in do-or-die moments, and lived up to his name by setting up Brock McGinn in double overtime to dispatch the defending champion Washington Capitals in the first round.
Boston though have their own experienced performers, including Patrice Bergeron who continued to play excellent two-way hockey to lead the Bruins through the first two rounds. The four-time Selke winner has just eight points in 13 games, but can never be counted out with a trip to the Stanley Cup Final on the line. Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Krejci—three holdovers from the Bruins’ 2011 championship—have 19 playoff game-winning goals between them, including six in overtime.
In a year where seeds haven’t mattered and any playoff team can upset any other, it’s hard to name a clear favorite in the series. Boston will enjoy home ice, but the Hurricanes will try to storm in and take that advantage back right away. Cast your vote below on who you think will win, and comment down below how many games the series will go.
Who will win the Eastern Conference Finals?
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Boston Bruins 63% (709)
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Carolina Hurricanes 37% (408)
Total votes: 1,117
[Mobile users click here to vote]
Snapshots: Draft Rankings, Kovalchuk, NWHL
The 2019 NHL Entry Draft is just over a month away, but the next few weeks could still determine the top few selections. Kaapo Kakko and Jack Hughes are set to battle head to head at the upcoming IIHF World Championship while playing with other NHL stars and their individual performances could determine the final outcome of June’s draft. It’s unsurprising then that Hughes and Kakko continue to lead Sam Cosentino of Sportsnet’s draft rankings, but it’s not like they’re the only ones still playing important hockey.
Bowen Byram, ranked third on Cosentino’s list, is currently leading the WHL playoffs with 23 points in 18 games and has a chance to even the championship series against Prince Albert tonight. Byram recorded 71 points in 67 games this season, and is the top defenseman available in this year’s draft. His placement at third is an interesting one though, as the Chicago Blackhawks who own the selection have drafted defensemen with their first two picks in each of the past two years—Adam Boqvist and Nicolas Beaudin in 2018, and Henri Jokiharju and Ian Mitchell in 2017. If the Blackhawks decide not to pick another blue liner they’ll have a few names to choose from, as prospects 4-10 on the list all skate up front.
- Speaking with reporters including Igor Eronko of Sport-Express while working with the Russian national team, Ilya Kovalchuk explained that he is still motivated to play for the Los Angeles Kings and has reached out to some former players who spent time under head coach Todd McLellan. Kovalchuk clearly did not find the good graces of Willie Desjardins last season and ended the year with just 34 points while seeing fewer than 16 minutes of ice time in nearly half of his 64 games. The 36-year old winger has two years remaining on his $18.75MM deal signed last summer.
- The NWHL is desperately trying to stay afloat after more than 200 of the best women hockey players in the world announced a boycott last week, but they’ll have to do it without the help of Kim Pegula, co-owner of the Buffalo Sabres. The Buffalo Beauts were the only team in the NWHL that shared ownership with an NHL franchise, but will now be operated by the league after Pegula announced that the relationship will be severed. As Hailey Salvian and Katie Strang of The Athletic (subscription required) write, the Beauts were the “gold standard” of the NWHL, mostly because of their relationship with the Sabres and access to resources other teams did not have.
Sharks-Avalanche Outcome Of Interest To Senators, Red Wings
The Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators seem to be inextricably linked this season. While GM Joe Sakic and the Avalanche were cheering on every Ottawa loss as a step closer to a top draft pick, Senators GM Pierre Dorion now gets his own chance to hope for a Colorado defeat. The Senators are one of two non-playoff teams hoping the San Jose Sharks can overcome the Avalanche tonight and advance another round. That’s because of the conditions on the Erik Karlsson trade from last season, which state that if the star defenseman re-signs in San Jose another second-round pick will change hands. That pick will upgrade to a first-round selection in 2021 if Karlsson re-signs and the Sharks reach the Stanley Cup final this season.
While obviously the Sharks want to win the Stanley Cup, just reaching it would certainly make any extension talks with Karlsson more interesting. The team has already traded away their first pick in this year and next year’s draft, meaning they could end up without one until 2022. There hasn’t been any indication which way Karlsson leans so far, as he is instead focused on the playoff run ahead of him. Sharks GM Doug Wilson though has always tried to retain his rental acquisitions, as evidenced most recently by the seven-year extension for Evander Kane.
The Senators aren’t the only team watching the outcome though, as the Detroit Red Wings also have some skin in the game. The Red Wings will see their 2020 third-round pick acquired for Gustav Nyquist upgrade to a second if the Sharks reach the Stanley Cup final this season or if he re-signs with them. Again, Nyquist has fit in quite nicely with the Sharks and could be a candidate for an extension, but the condition makes it more difficult from a San Jose perspective.
Obviously the Sharks would need to win another series against the rolling St. Louis Blues in order to get to the final, but they’ll have to get past the Avalanche tonight. As they try to slow down Nathan MacKinnon and company, they’ll have some cheerleaders from the Eastern Conference.