Looking Back At The First Round Of The 2005 NHL Entry Draft
On this date 17 years ago, the first round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa. It was the league’s first major event since the lockout that cost them the entire 2004-05 season ended just over a week prior, and considering the draft’s top prize, there was added intrigue.
With the lack of regular-season standings to determine the draft order, the league implemented a snake draft system to make things more equitable for teams in later rounds that didn’t fare so well in the draft lottery. One team that did fare well that night, though, was the Pittsburgh Penguins, who cemented a 15-plus year run of success by drafting future captain Sidney Crosby with the first overall pick.
Five players selected that night went on to appear in at least 1,000 NHL games, including Crosby. One was 2022 Stanley Cup Champion Jack Johnson, taken third overall by the Carolina Hurricanes. Johnson never played a single game for Carolina, though, as he was traded the following offseason to the Los Angeles Kings along with defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky in exchange for defenseman Tim Gleason and center Eric Belanger.
Johnson wasn’t the only player from the first round to play meaningful games for the Kings, though. The team selected two-time Stanley Cup champion and future captain Anze Kopitar with the 11th overall selection. Another thousand-gamer was selected directly after him when the New York Rangers picked defenseman Marc Staal 12th overall, while Johnson’s teammate on the 2022 Avalanche, forward Andrew Cogliano, was selected 25th by the Edmonton Oilers.
One name from that night who could still join the 1,000-game club was St. Louis Blues selection and current Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie. Taken 24th overall, he only needs 100 more appearances to hit the mark.
Future Stanley Cup-winning skaters weren’t the only future legends drafted that night, though. Two of the greatest goalies in recent memory were drafted that night, with the Montreal Canadiens selecting Carey Price with the fifth overall pick and the Toronto Maple Leafs selecting Tuukka Rask with the 21st overall pick, of course prior to trading him to the Boston Bruins the following season.
Just three players selected that night, all taken within four picks of each other, would never make an NHL appearance. Slovak forward Marek Zagrapan, drafted 13th overall by the Buffalo Sabres, played just three years in the organization with two different AHL affiliates, scoring 20 goals there just once. At 35 years old, Zagrapan is still active, playing the 2022-23 season in the French Ligue Magnus.
Directly after him, the Washington Capitals took Canadian defenseman Sasha Pokulok with the 14th overall pick. The first overage player taken in the draft, he’s arguably the biggest bust of the night. He never spent a full season in the AHL, bouncing up and down between there and the ECHL for four seasons after turning pro in 2006. He failed to make a notable impact in Europe, too, only lasting one season in the DEL (2010-11) before floating around various lower-level leagues in Eastern Europe and Quebec.
Lastly, there’s Canadian winger Alex Bourret, taken by the Atlanta Thrashers at 16th overall. A short but strong power winger, Bourret had a very successful junior career in the QMJHL that just didn’t translate. His North American career fizzled out quickly after a strong start in the AHL, but after being traded twice (first to the Rangers, then to the Coyotes), he had just 14 points in 48 AHL games during his final season there in 2008-09.
Carolina Hurricanes Re-Sign Ethan Bear
July 28: The Hurricanes have officially announced the contract for Bear, confirming the details reported yesterday. General manager Don Waddell released a statement on the deal, though it will raise even more eyebrows:
Adjusting to a new team and system can be challenging for a young defenseman. We are confident Ethan will be able to take another step in his development this season.
July 27: PuckPedia reports that the Carolina Hurricanes re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Ethan Bear to a one-year, $2.2MM deal. The contract will make Bear a restricted free agent again next offseason with one more season remaining on his RFA eligibility.
Carolina acquired Bear last season in a one-for-one swap with the Edmonton Oilers for forward Warren Foegele. Bear’s first season in Carolina wasn’t too kind to him, though, as his defensive play took a serious step back while seeing a reduction in his role. His 16:05 per-game average is a far cry from his 21:58 mark in 2019-20 with the Oilers. On the scoresheet, he tied his career-high in goals with five and added nine assists for 14 points in 58 games.
If Bear is able to rebound back to his form from his first two full seasons in Edmonton, though, it’s a great deal for the ‘Canes. Bear will still be battling for ice time on the team’s third pairing along with new acquisition Dylan Coghlan and a healthy Jake Gardiner — if Carolina doesn’t opt to trade him. $2.2MM might be too steep a price to pay for someone the organization views as a seventh defenseman, but it’s a gamble to trade him away and watch him bounce back elsewhere.
After the signing, the Hurricanes are left with under $2MM in cap space.
Carolina Hurricanes Sign Ryan Dzingel
The Carolina Hurricanes have added to their depth with an experienced NHL veteran, signing forward Ryan Dzingel to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2022-23 season, the team announced. The deal will pay Dzingel $750K at the NHL level and $150K in the minors, guaranteeing $200K. This will mark the veteran’s second stint with the Hurricanes, spending parts of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons in Carolina. Hurricanes GM Don Waddell had this to say on the signing:
“We are obviously familiar with Ryan from his previous time in Carolina. He is a skilled player who can provide an offensive boost to our forward group, and we are excited to have him back in the organization.”
When Dzingel is on, he can absolutely provide an offensive boost, one that is not just depth but true secondary scoring, having tallied as many as 26 goals in a season as a member of the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets. Since his trade out of Ottawa however, Dzingel has been unable to replicate his success, failing to score more than eight goals in a season since. The forward was eventually traded back to Ottawa in February of 2021 and signed with the Arizona Coyotes last summer. Looking to add to their scoring depth, the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Dzingel this season, but lost him on waivers to the San Jose Sharks, where Dzingel would finish this season.
With the signing, Carolina figures to have a low-risk, but certainly high-reward option that they can swing between the NHL and AHL and slot up and down the lineup when he does play. The Hurricanes had recently been rumored to be looking at additional pieces and had even been connected to Nino Niederreiter, who had hit the market after parts of four seasons with the Hurricanes. Though Dzingel does not provide the same caliber of offensive Niederreiter does, if he can return to the player he was for Ottawa from 2016 to 2019, he could pose a similar threat. Either way, Dzingel’s two-way contract is far more cost-controlled than the two-year, $4MM AAV contract Niederreiter signed with the Nashville Predators.
Carolina Hurricanes Re-Sign Stelio Mattheos
Two-time Calder Cup champion Stelio Mattheos has re-signed with the Carolina Hurricanes, inking a new one-year, two-way contract. The deal carries an NHL salary of $750K, an AHL salary of $70K and includes a minor league guarantee of $85K. Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell released a short statement:
Stelio has played key roles on championship teams throughout his junior and professional career. He is incredibly resilient and hard-working both on and off the ice, and we are thrilled to keep him in our organization.
Mattheos, 23, was selected 73rd overall in 2017, and has had an interesting experience so far at the professional level. While he is kept almost completely off the board during the regular season, his postseason performances have been excellent so far.
With just 21 points in 92 AHL regular season games it might be easy to write him off as a player who isn’t able to translate his junior production to the pros. But then his energy, forechecking, and tenacity have given the Charlotte Checkers and now the Chicago Wolves a valuable piece as they chased the Calder Cup.
As a restricted free agent this summer with no arbitration rights, there was basically no leverage for Mattheos. But with this new contract in hand, he’ll get another chance to show that he can be a capable, reliable piece, and potentially put his name in the mix for bottom-six action in the NHL.
Carolina Hurricanes Sign William Lagesson
The Carolina Hurricanes have agreed to terms with William Lagesson, who had hit the open market as a Group VI unrestricted free agent. The deal will be a one-year, two-way contract worth $750K in the NHL, $225K in the AHL, and includes a $275K minor league guarantee. General manager Don Waddell released a short statement on the deal:
Lagesson provides a strong, physical presence on the blue line. He has plenty of NHL and AHL games under his belt and adds to the experience of our defensive unit.
Now 26, Lagesson was a fourth-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers back in 2014 and took a very interesting path to the NHL. After being picked out of the Swedish junior leagues, he played a year in the USHL and two in the NCAA before returning to the SHL in 2017-18. Two more seasons starting in the AHL and he was finally ready to make his debut with the Oilers, nearly six years after being picked.
Since then, he has played in 60 games at the NHL level, including three with the Montreal Canadiens after being part of the return for Brett Kulak earlier this year.
Now in Carolina, he’ll serve as useful depth and could even battle for a final roster spot depending on what happens with Ethan Bear, who has been in trade rumors for the past several weeks. While he likely won’t play in every game, Lagesson will probably get a chance to hit the ice at least a handful of times with the Hurricanes and show that he can handle himself at the highest level.
Andrej Sekera Retires From NHL
After 16 seasons, one of the best Slovak defensemen to ever lace them up is calling it a career. Andrej Sekera told a Slovak-language newspaper today that he’s stepping back from the NHL.
A 2004 third-round pick of the Buffalo Sabres, Sekera carved out a quite long, underrated NHL career with the Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, and Dallas Stars, where he spent the last three years and 135 games of his career.
His peak season, interestingly enough, came during his only full season with Carolina, notching 11 goals and 44 points in 74 games while averaging a career-high 23:41 per game.
Sekera was one of the more overlooked pieces that helped the Edmonton Oilers return to relevancy with Connor McDavid at the helm. He was the team’s most important defensive player in the 2016-17 season that saw them make the playoffs for the first time in 11 years, but a torn ACL during the second round in 2017 really hurt his career. He never played more than 57 games in a season after that and never averaged higher than 18 minutes per game after consistently averaging 20 or more for a number of seasons prior.
Sekera retired third all-time in games played amongst Slovak defensemen, trailing the obvious (Zdeno Chara) and Lubomir Visnovsky.
Ethan Bear, Maxime Lajoie File For Salary Arbitration
The National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) announced that 24 players have filed for player-elected salary arbitration, the deadline for which came this afternoon. This list is not necessarily the final and complete list of players headed for arbitration, with clubs now eligible to elect salary arbitration until tomorrow, July 18th at 5:00 pm ET.
Mason Appleton (WPG)
Ethan Bear (CAR)
Jesper Bratt (NJD)
Lawson Crouse (ARI)
Morgan Geekie (SEA)
Mathieu Joseph (OTT)
Kaapo Kahkonen (SJS)
Kasperi Kapanen (PIT)
Keegan Kolesar (VGK)
Oliver Kylington (CGY)
Maxime Lajoie (CAR)
Steven Lorentz (SJS)
Isac Lundestrom (ANA)
Zack MacEwen (PHI)
Niko Mikkola (STL)
Andrew Mangiapane (CGY)
Matthew Phillips (CGY)
Jesse Puljujarvi (EDM)
Tyce Thompson (NJD)
Yakov Trenin (NSH)
Vitek Vanecek (NJD)
Jake Walman (DET)
Kailer Yamamoto (EDM)
Pavel Zacha (BOS)
Notably out of this list, Mikkola had previously filed for arbitration, but the two sides were able to settle on a one-year, $1.9MM contract that will leave the defenseman an UFA after next season.
A key distinction to add is that any player who has filed for arbitration is no longer eligible to sign an offer sheet, effectively taking the players on this list off the market. Three notable names that did not file for arbitration are Winnipeg Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois, Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk and Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine. Though contract talks have been quiet on Dubois and Tkachuck, word of amicable discussions between Laine’s camp and Columbus has been made known. Once tomorrow’s club-elected salary arbitration deadline passes, teams and players will have time to prepare their cases before hearings begin, running from July 27th through August 11th.
Waddell: Scott Morrow Likely To Turn Pro After Next Season
- Hurricanes GM Don Waddell told Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer that he expects prospect defenseman Scott Morrow to turn pro after next season. The 19-year-old was a second-round selection (40th overall) back in 2021 but played quite well at UMass in his freshman year, notching 13 goals and 20 assists in just 38 games. If he’s able to build on that performance in 2022-23, Waddell feels that Morrow would be reaching a point where there will be nothing left to work on in college even though he’d still have two years of eligibility left at that point.
Carolina Hurricanes Sign Mackenzie MacEachern
The Carolina Hurricanes have made another free agent signing this evening, inking experienced forward Mackenzie MacEachern to a one-year, two-way contract, per a team announcement. The deal carries a $750k cap hit, $225,000 AHL salary, and $275,000 total guarantee. Hurricanes GM Don Waddell had the following to say about his newest addition:
Mackenzie is a big power forward who is willing to go to the dirty areas of the ice to score, he’s got NHL experience and is capable of contributing at this level.
MacEachern spent most of 2021-22 with the St. Louis Blues’ AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds. In Springfield, MacEachern had 12 goals and 25 points, helping lead the Thunderbirds to the Calder Cup Final. MacEachern also got into 14 NHL games with the Blues, recording two assists. The 28-year-old MacEachern has 115 NHL games to his name and 11 career NHL goals.
As Waddell mentioned, MacEachern is a big power forward who can make an impact on both ends of the ice. He was a penalty killer for the Thunderbirds and should be a capable middle-six forward at the AHL level. This deal will allow MacEachern to compete for a spot on the Hurricanes’ roster during training camp before in all likelihood being sent to their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.
If MacEachern doesn’t make the Hurricanes’ roster and is sent to Chicago, it will actually be his second tour of duty with the Wolves. MacEachern made his professional debut there in 2016-17, signing with the Wolves after a successful career with the Michigan State Spartans in the NCAA.
MacEachern is useful depth for the Hurricanes and should help the Wolves in their attempt to defend their Calder Cup title.
Carolina Hurricanes Sign Malte Stromwall
The Carolina Hurricanes have added an intriguing KHL player, signing Swedish forward Malte Stromwall to a one-year, two-way contract with a $750K cap hit and a $175K total guarantee. Hurricanes GM Don Waddell had the following to say about his newest free agent addition:
“This is a player we’ve been tracking for a while, Malte is a tremendous skater with high-end skill coming off a very productive season in the KHL.”
Waddell is certainly right about Stromwall, as he enjoyed a breakout 2021-22 campaign in the KHL. Stromwall, coming off of a disappointing 21-game run with SKA St. Petersburg to end 2020-21, came to Dynamo Minsk and made an immediate impact. He finished second on the team in scoring with 19 goals and 32 points in just 38 games, doing so on a flawed Minsk team that finished second-to-last in the KHL’s Tarasov Division. Stromwall saw significant time on Minsk’s power play as their most reliable goal-scoring option.
Stromwall doesn’t have extensive experience in North America, and his last stint on this side of the pond was several years ago, when he played in the New York Rangers organization. Stromwall looked out of place on North American ice and had only six points in 44 AHL games. The Hurricanes are adding Stromwall with the hope that he can be more productive this time around.
He’ll head to their training camp with an outside chance to make their team if he plays extremely well. In all likelihood, though, Stromwall will head to the defending Calder Cup Champion Chicago Wolves and look to prove that he can be an offensive difference maker on smaller North American ice surfaces.