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Dominik Kubalik Signs With Chicago Blackhawks

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As expected, the Chicago Blackhawks have signed Czech forward Dominik Kubalik to a one-year entry-level contract. Kubalik most recently suited up for the Czech Republic at the IIHF World Championship where he recorded 12 points in 10 games.

Kubalik, 23, was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Kings back in 2013 but saw his rights traded to the Blackhawks in January. Perhaps the Kings knew they wouldn’t be able to sign him, but it is still surprising that they would give up on a player performing as well as he was overseas. Kubalik destroyed the competition in Switzerland this season, recording 57 points in 50 games for Ambri-Piotta to lead the NLA in scoring and was named both the league’s best forward and most valuable player.

It’s not the first time that Kubalik had found success in a European league, as he had previously dominated in the Czech Republic recording seasons of 25 and 29 goals despite playing only 48 and 51 games in those respective seasons. His performance at the World Championship shouldn’t shock anyone, as he performed well there and at the Olympics last year as well.

The 6’2″ winger will immediately compete for a spot on the Blackhawks next season, but it won’t be the first time he’s suiting up in North America. Kubalik played parts of two seasons in the OHL after being selected 27th overall in the 2012 CHL Import Draft, but didn’t find enough success to really cement himself as a potential NHL prospect.

Kubalik will be a restricted free agent at the end of the 2019-20 season.

Chicago, Colorado, And Philadelphia Have Interest In Kevin Hayes

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Kevin Hayes will be one of the top centers available in free agency in July.  With that in mind, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in his latest 31 Thoughts column that several teams have already started doing their due diligence on the 27-year-old, including the Blackhawks, Avalanche, and Flyers.

Hayes is coming off of a career year offensively with 55 points in 71 games between the Rangers and Jets, who acquired him at the trade deadline.  However, he didn’t have the type of impact in the postseason that Winnipeg was hoping for as he was dropped to the fourth line in their first-round loss to St. Louis.

Despite that, he slots in as arguably the second-best option down the middle behind Matt Duchene so he will undoubtedly have plenty of suitors.

Seeing Chicago among that group is certainly interesting.  They actually drafted him in the first round (24th overall) back in 2010 but he opted to play out his college eligibility and become an unrestricted free agent where he joined the Rangers in 2014.  To further add to their frustration, the player they drafted with the compensation pick for not signing him (Graham Knott) has only been a depth player in the AHL for the past two seasons.  The Blackhawks are in good shape down the middle with Jonathan Toews and Dylan Strome both coming off career years and adding Hayes to that group would really make that position an organizational strength.

Colorado GM Joe Sakic indicated earlier this month that the team would be more aggressive in its pursuit of free agents this summer.  While Nathan MacKinnon is entrenched as their top pivot, they have several young players behind him (along with veteran Carl Soderberg) that aren’t quite ready to take on the number two role on a full-time basis.  At the very least, Hayes would serve as a reasonable bridge player until one of Tyson Jost, Alexander Kerfoot, or J.T. Compher jumps into that spot while giving them some extra depth down the middle.

Philadelphia is in a similar situation.  Sean Couturier is their top center and Nolan Patrick, the number two pick in 2017, isn’t quite ready to play on the second line just yet.  Claude Giroux, a natural center, has fared quite well on the wing so moving him back down the middle probably isn’t their preference for next season.  Hayes would fit in well on the second line and could flip spots with Patrick a couple of years from now.

Last summer, Hayes signed a one-year, $5.175MM deal with New York to avoid salary arbitration.  Given the year he had and the dearth of top-six centers available on the open market, it’s quite likely that he will earn considerably more than that on the open market in July.  Teams will be eligible to speak to Hayes once the UFA interview period opens up on June 23rd.

Chicago Blackhawks Hire Tomas Mitell

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The Chicago Blackhawks aren’t afraid to go overseas to find talent, and that isn’t just limited to players any more. The team has hired Tomas Mitell as an assistant coach to serve under head coach Jeremy Colliton for next season. Mitell is coming off a season as the head coach of AIK Hockey in Sweden’s Allsvenskan (second league), setting franchise records with 109 points and 35 wins.

This isn’t the first time that Mitell will be working with Colliton however, as he previously served under him when the Blackhawks bench boss was working in Sweden. Colliton took a rather unusual path to the NHL, which included transitioning from player to head coach for Mora IK in Sweden after dealing with concussion issues. It is there where he hired Mitell first, working together for the 2016-17 season and earning the team a promotion to the SHL.

Mitell will join Sheldon Brookbank on Colliton’s staff after the former NHL defenseman was promoted earlier this year from the AHL. It’s not clear how the duties will be broken up, but it certainly will be one of the youngest coaching staffs in the league. Colliton, 34, will be flanked by two 38-year old assistants as he tries to right the ship in Chicago and take the Blackhawks back to the playoffs.

Anton Wedin Signs With Chicago Blackhawks

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May 23rd: It may have taken more than a week, but the Blackhawks have finally confirmed their signing of Wedin. The import forward has signed a one-year entry-level contract worth the maximum $925K. Wedin is believed to have chosen Chicago over the Arizona Coyotes and Toronto Maple Leafs.

 

May 12th: The Chicago Blackhawks will be adding some extra forward depth for next season after the team was informed that Swedish free agent Anton Wedin has chosen Chicago over two other teams and will sign a one-year entry-level contract, according to The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required). Wedin’s agent, Michael Deutsch, commented on the signing:

Anton was faced with a very difficult decision. He had multiple offers, all of which were excellent opportunities. Ultimately, he felt that the Blackhawks were a good fit for his style of play and felt comfortable knowing that the coach already knew him from his time in Sweden.”

The 26-year-old left-shot winger had a breakout year in his first year in the Swedish Hockey League after spending most of his career in the Allsvenskan, posting 14 goals and 27 points for Timra IK. However, with his team heading back to the second-tier Allsvenskan next season, Wedin was ready to jump to North America. He chose the Blackhawks over the Toronto Maple Leafs and Arizona Coyotes, although he was received significant interest from across the league. One potential reason could be his familiarity with Blackhawks’ head coach Jeremy Colliton, who previously coached for a rival team in the Allsvenskan, Mora IK.

While the Blackhawks have improved their top-six, the team continues to add to their depth to put together the best team possible. General manager Stan Bowman has shown interest in adding talent from overseas, as the team has signed Artemi Panarin, Erik Gustafsson, David Kampf and Michal Kempny in recent years. The team had success a year ago as well when they signed German forward Dominik Kahun to a two-year entry-level contact, who proved to be a key depth piece after putting up 13 goals and 37 points. In Wedin, a 5-foot-11, 194-pound forward is known for his speed and all-around game, but he’ll have to fight for a roster space and may start the season in the AHL.

Overseas Notes: Coyotes, Hoff, Klingberg

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The Arizona Coyotes are hoping to add scoring help this off-season, but have limited room to work with. The ’Yotes currently have $74.4MM committed to 20 players for next season, leaving them with an estimated $8.6MM in cap space. That number will increase once Marian Hossa can be placed on long-term injured reserve, but most of their  space will be used to re-sign RFA’s Nick Cousins, Lawson Crouse, and Josh Archibald and possibly UFA Richard Panik. So how can they bring in some additional scoring help on the cheap? TSN reports that GM John Chayka is very interested in the European free agent market right now. Chayka has been in Slovakia scouting the World Championships and appears to have his eye on a few of the participants. One player he did miss out on is Anton Wedin, who instead chose to sign with the Chicago Blackhawks last week. Yet, Chayka claims there are still options out there. If the Coyotes can secure a talented import forward with an entry-level contract, that may be the best way to add affordable scoring help this summer.

  • A promising player leaving North America for Europe is collegiate forward Ludvig Hoff. With one year of NCAA eligibility still remaining, the University of North Dakota winger has nevertheless decided to turn pro. Hoff is headed home to Norway, as the Stavanger Oilers announced a two-year contract with the 22-year-old. Stavenger is already a perennial contender in the Get Ligaen, the top league in Norway, but were still very excited to be adding Hoff. The team’s GM, Pal Higson, called Hoff “undoubtedly one of the most exciting younger players in Norwegian hockey” in the team’s release. Hoff recorded 36 points over three seasons at North Dakota as a bottom-six forward but has the potential to be more effective in an increased role with the Oilers.
  • A player staying in Europe is former Atlanta Thrasher and Winnipeg Jet Carl Klingberg. A second-round pick in 2009 who starred for Sweden at two World Junior Championships, Klingberg entered the NHL with big expectations. However, in five seasons with the Thrashers/Jets, he failed to truly crack the lineup, playing in just 12 NHL games total and recording one lone point. Klingberg returned to Europe in 2015 and has been playing for EV Zug of the Swiss NLA since 2016. This season, though limited by injury, was the best per-game production of Klingberg’s career, fueling some speculation that the 28-year-old forward might take another whack at the NHL. Instead, Zug announced a new two-year deal to retain Klingberg, which likely implies that he has little intention of making a return to North America.

 

West Notes: Kubalik, Heat, Predators

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If you’ve been watching the IIHF World Championship closely, you may have noticed a young winger lighting the lamp for the Czech Republic whose name has never been uttered in an NHL game. 23-year old Dominik Kubalik has nine points in six games for the Czechs, and is tied for the team lead in shots with 19. The young forward’s NHL rights were traded in January to the Chicago Blackhawks, who according to Igor Eronko of Sport-Express have now agreed to terms with Kubalik.

Kubalik played with Blackhawks forward Dominik Kahun in the OHL several years ago, but returned home after two seasons in junior. Selected in the seventh round by the Los Angeles Kings, the talented winger put up 57 points in 50 games in the Swiss NLA last season and could be a potential NHL option as soon as 2019-20 for the Blackhawks. The will of course need to get him under contract, but perhaps they are close to doing just that after his excellent tournament.

  • The Stockton Heat have signed Mason Morelli to an AHL contract for 2019-20, getting another impressive young player to agree to a minor league deal. Morelli recorded 34 points in 36 games as a senior with the University of Nebraska-Omaha, and then jumped right into the AHL with three goals and four points in nine games down the stretch. The 23-year old was undrafted but will try to take the next step in his development for the Heat and earn himself an NHL contract down the road.
  • The Nashville Predators are dealing with a disappointing exit from the playoffs this season and know they have work to do in order to get themselves back to legitimate Stanley Cup contenders. GM David Poile spoke with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) about his priorities this offseason, and secondary scoring came up as a big need. Outside of the top line of Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson, the Predators didn’t have a single forward crack the 40-point threshold this season while deadline additions like Wayne Simmonds (3 points in 17 games) and Mikael Granlund (5 points in 16 games) never seemed to find their footing. Kyle Turris, who was extended immediately upon his arrival in Nashville during the 2017-18 season, also experienced one of his worst seasons as a professional, recording just 23 points in 55 games. Nashville will be a team to watch in the free agent and trade market over the next few months as they try to find an answer to those secondary scoring woes.

Western Notes: Dunn, Kampf, Stralman, Brown

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The St. Louis Blues will be without defenseman Vince Dunn on Sunday for the ever-important Game 5 as Blues head coach Craig Berube said the 22-year-old won’t travel with the team to San Jose after taking a puck to the face during Game 3 on Wednesday, according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Tom Timmermann.

Berube added that Dunn will be day-to-day with an upper-body injury and he is believed to be dealing with concussion issues. He was well enough to attend Friday’s Game 4’s 2-1 victory, however.

“It’s great,” Berube said after the game. “Dunner’s back here and he’s around his teammates. … It’s awesome to see him. It’s a day-to-day thing right now. I’m not sure exactly when he’s gonna be available to play. So we’ll have to see how that goes, but it’s good to see him around for sure.”

The team did have some good news as winger Sammy Blais is expected to play in Game 5 despite having to leave Game 4 Friday after taking a Brent Burns’ shot off his foot.

  • The Athletic’s Scott Powers (subscription required) writes that the Chicago Blackhawks have begun negotiating with restricted free agent center David Kampf. The 24-year-old was signed to a two-year entry-level contract out of the Czech Republic League and has been a success in Chicago, but after making $925K the past two years, he’s in line for a slight raise. While Kampf’s eight goals and 30 points in 109 NHL games isn’t impressive, the forward has been one of Chicago’s best defensive forwards and is expected to be the team’s third or fourth-line center next season. He is eligible for arbitration if the two sides can’t agree to terms.
  • The Province’s Patrick Johnson writes that although Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman will be one of the more interesting defensemen on the free agency market this summer, he doubts that the 33-year-old defenseman would be a good fit for the Vancouver Canucks. Even with a full season of star prospect Quinn Hughes, the team desperately needs to upgrade its defense. However, Johnson writes with the team trying to re-sign Alexander Edler and trying to get one more year out of veteran Chris Tanev, the team likely won’t want to add another veteran defenseman to their lineup.
  • The Athletic’s Allan Mitchell (subscription required) writes that the Edmonton Oilers should consider helping the Toronto Maple Leafs with their salary cap issues by taking forward Connor Brown off their hands. The scribe believes that the 25-year-old Brown, who has seen his offensive numbers drop in each of the last years, might be the perfect addition for a team that is loaded at the center position, but could use plenty of talent at the wing position. Brown was a former junior teammate of Connor McDavid, suggesting he might make the perfect winger for the star center. Brown scored 20 goals in his first full season with the Maple Leafs back in the 2016-17 season, with many believing he could be a consistent 20-goal scorer. However, that number dropped by six in each of the next two years, to 14 in 2017-18 and then to just eight goals this season. Brown will make $2.1MM next season before becoming a restricted free agent, but the scribe believes that if teamed with McDavid, Brown could easily go back to his 20-goal scoring ways and give the Oilers another offensive weapon that they desperately need. Of course, everything depends on what Toronto would be asking for Brown.

Draft Notes: Blackhawks, Avalanche, Golden Knights

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While the first two picks of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft are considered simple enough for the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers who have to claim the top two players in the draft in Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko, the real draft gets started at No. 3 where the Chicago Blackhawks must wade through a bevy of prospects and decide who is the best of the rest.

Many scouts have suggested the next obvious player to be taken could be defenseman Bowen Byram, who Chicago head scout Mark Kelley compared to Paul Coffey. However, would the Blackhawks take a defenseman in the first round after selecting Adam Boqvist and Nicolas Beaudin in the first round last year and Henri Jokiharju in the first round in 2017 (plus taking Ian Mitchell in the second round that year as well).

Even if Chicago is willing to take the plunge to draft another defenseman in the first round, The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus (subscription required) writes that the team is banking on success as quickly as possible while Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are on top of their game, leaving little time to sit around and develop their first-rounders. Lazerus writes that the team needs the most NHL-ready player to take over and defenseman rarely fit that bill as forwards develop much quicker and produce more quickly than defensemen.

  • Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Colorado Avalanche will find themselves watching what the Blackhawks will do at the draft. The Avalanche, who own the No. 4 pick in the draft, also would be interested in drafting Byram, but could have more pressing needs as well. The team has a number of top defensemen in Tyson Barrie, Cale Makar, Samuel Girard and Connor Timmins, which would make Byram a luxury, especially considering they could have a bigger need on offense. While the team has a number of young NHL players in Tyson Jost, J.T. Compher and Alexander Kerfoot that could fill the team’s second line, none of them have taken that next step in their development. All have done well, but none look like top-six players yet. That could still happen, but the team also has interest in Alex Turcotte, who could help the team out quickly as well.
  • With a need to bring in a future franchise goaltender and the top goaltending prospect, Spencer Knight, likely to be available when the Vegas Golden Knights pick at No. 17, it would look to be a great fit. Even his last name fits perfectly in Vegas. However, Sinbin.vegas’ Ken Boehlke writes that while Marc-Andre Fleury was a major success when he was drafted in the first round back in 2003, there have been 18 goaltenders selected in the first round and few of those have been successful as only five of them have made more than 10 starts in the NHL with only two of them having become franchise goalies for the teams that drafted them in Carey Price and Andrei Vasilevskiy, suggesting the team would be better off going after a skater than taking a major risk with their first-round pick.

Offseason Keys: Chicago Blackhawks

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While the playoffs are well underway, many teams have already started their offseason planning.  What storylines lie ahead around the league in what is shaping up to be a likely busy NHL offseason?  Next up in our Offseason Keys series is a look at the Chicago Blackhawks.

There were certainly some positives in Chicago in 2018-19.  Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews had career years, Dylan Strome made an immediate impact after being acquired midseason, and Alex DeBrincat has quickly emerged as one of the top young scorers in the league.  Despite all that, they still missed the postseason while only besting their 2017-18 performance by eight points.  GM Stan Bowman has started to change the roster around over the past year but more work is in store.  Here’s what that work will entail.

Decide On The Third Pick

Regardless of which order they go in, Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko are going to be the first two picks in the draft.  As a result, the intrigue of the draft truly starts with Chicago after they won in the Draft Lottery to move up from tenth overall to third.

One player that has been frequently projected to go at number three is defenseman Bowen Byram.  However, the last three first-round picks for the Blackhawks have all been defenders and while the current back end needs some work, help will soon be on the way from that group of prospects.  While teams always claim they’ll draft the best player available, organizational depth can potentially skew who a team believes the best player is.

There are also some intriguing forwards on the board that they could lean towards given their defensive depth in the pipeline.  Alex Turcotte, Kirby Dach, Dylan Cozens, and Vasili Podkolzin have all been ranked in the number three slot by various publications throughout the year.

Basically, no one has really separated themselves from the pack just yet.  Finding the best of the bunch would go a long way towards getting Chicago back on the right path after missing the playoffs for two straight years.

Extension Talks

Alex DeBrincat’s rookie season in 2017-18 was quite impressive before even considering the fact that he was a second-round pick.  28 goals and 52 points aren’t too shabby for a rookie.  Not only did he beat those numbers this past season, he obliterated them, putting up 41 goals and 76 points.

Having completed the first two years of his entry-level deal, DeBrincat is now a year away from restricted free agency.  He has given himself plenty of negotiating leverage through the first two seasons of his career and it’s fair to say that he will be looking for similar money as some of the other top players that are entering restricted free agency this summer.

If talks haven’t started already (he can’t sign until July 1st but they can always talk before then), they should soon.  However, this is a case where both sides may opt to wait to see how things play out with the other RFAs first to see what the precedent winds up being.  If it’s too rich for Chicago’s liking, they could opt to sit back and wait until next summer.  However, if DeBrincat has another season like this one, that price tag is only going to go up.  Plus, it may be beneficial to know what the cost is going to be to help them plan accordingly for free agency this summer.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see them inquire about what goalie Corey Crawford’s plans are beyond next season.  He’s a year away from unrestricted free agency and the team doesn’t have a future starter in the system.  Of course, his lengthy injury history is a red flag but at the very least, expect the team to get an idea of what it may cost to keep him around or how much they need to hold off on spending this summer to ensure they have enough to replace him next season.

Make Their Big Splash

Mentioning Chicago and cap space in the same sentence is something that hasn’t been seen in a while unless there was a qualifier about how they had very little of it.  That’s no longer the case.  GM Stan Bowman was able to shed the rest of Marian Hossa’s contract and didn’t add any long-term deals over the course of the season.  Between that and an expected uptick in the Upper Limit, the Blackhawks can now take a run at the higher end of the free agent market if they so desire.

They’ve been speculatively linked to Artemi Panarin given his prior ties to the franchise and if they decide to put all of their eggs in one basket so to speak, they could very well be able to afford him.  They have an opportunity to add an impact piece and really add another dimension either to their attack or back end.  Given their desire to take another run with their existing core, expect them to try to make a big splash, even if it does carry some risk knowing that DeBrincat’s expensive new contract is only a year away.  In particular, with Kane and Toews having resurgent seasons, there’s a good chance they’ll look to add another forward to hedge against possible regression and give them two strong scoring lines.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

2019 Memorial Cup Preview

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The biggest event in junior hockey begins tonight, as the year-end Memorial Cup Tournament opens in Halifax, Nova Scotia. For a refresher, the champions of the three Canadian Hockey League member leagues – the Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, and Western Hockey League – and a rotating host team square off in a round-robin tournament each year to determine Canadian junior hockey’s premier team. Each of the four contenders play one another once, after which the standings allow for a semi-final and final round. The action begins tonight and continues through the week, with the playoff rounds scheduled for May 24th and 26th. As for the competitors, the Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) play host to the Guelph Storm (OHL), Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (QMJHL), and Prince Albert Raiders (WHL). Below is a summary of each team’s season and top players for those interested in following the action over the next ten days:

Halifax Mooseheads (49-15-4)

This year’s host team was nearly a league champion themselves. The Moosheads fell to the Huskies in six games in the QMJHL Final, but will have a second chance against the team at least once in the Memorial tournament. Halifax is led by 20-year-old undrafted center Samuel Asselin, whose 86 points led the team and were a top-ten finish in the league, but all eyes will instead be on his young, draft-eligible line mate. Raphael Lavoie, who has had an up-and-down season, picked a good time to be on the up. With the NHL Draft a month away, Lavoie caught fire in the QMJHL playoffs. The 6’4″ right wing recorded 32 points in 23 postseason games, almost half of his 73 regular season points, which was far-and-away the most on the Mooseheads and second-best in the league. Most draft rankings and mock drafts have Lavoie falling somewhere in the middle ten picks of the upcoming first round and the Memorial Cup is his final chance to prove he should go earlier instead of later. The big winger plays a physically dominant game that often looks effortless, but he can also flip a switch and show off stellar skill. Also up front for Halifax are are a pair of recent Anaheim Ducks second-round selections, Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Antoine Morand, and New York Islanders’ sixth-round sleeper pick Arnaud Durandeau. Leading the defense is the daunting pair of top Detroit Red Wings blue line prospect Jared McIsaac and promising 2020-eligible rearguard Justin Barron, a likely first-round pick next year. The Mooseheads are as strong in the top-six and on the top pair as any team in this tournament, but it is in their depth that they could fall short. However, there is always the chance that goaltender Alexis Gravel, the Chicago Blackhawks’ 2018 sixth-rounder, could steal a game if the skaters fall short. Gravel finished in the top five in both save percentage and goals against average among QMJHL starters this season.

Guelph Storm (40-18-10)

No one expected Guelph to be here. The Storm, who entered the playoffs with the eighth-best record in the OHL, were down 3-0 in their second-round series against the division rival London Knights and managed to mount a four-win comeback to advance. They then fell behind by two games against both the Saginaw Spirit in the third round and Ottawa 67’s in the OHL Final to win it all. This team is nothing if not resilient and will be a tough out in this tournament. While Arizona Coyotes’ forward prospect Nate Schnarr enjoyed an excellent season, leading Guelph with 102 points and finishing in the OHL’s top-ten in points and assists, there is little argument that he is still the best forward for the Storm. Acquired in January, Montreal Canadiens top prospect Nick Suzuki has been superhuman since arriving in Guelph. The talented forward recorded 49 points in 29 games to close out the regular season and then another 42 points in 24 playoff games en route to a championship. Suzuki might be the most dangerous player in the Memorial Cup tournament, which is a major boost for the Storm. He’s not alone though; Suzuki and Schnarr lead a forward corps that includes NHL-bound power forwards Isaac Ratcliffe of the Philadelphia Flyers, MacKenzie Entwistle of the Chicago Blackhawks, and Liam Hawel of the Dallas Stars. The defense is also stout behind mainstays Dmitri Samorukov of the Edmonton Oilers and draft-eligible Owen Lalonde and trade additions Markus Phillips and Sean Durzi the Los Angeles Kings. Guelph would be the favorites to win the Memorial Cup if it wasn’t for their goaltending issues. If Anthony Popovich can find his game and that weakness goes away, the Storm are in good shape. The OHL is traditionally the strongest of the three CHL leagues, which is evidenced by the depth of talent that Guelph, the eighth-best OHL squad in the regular season, has versus the best teams of the QMJHL and WHL.

Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (59-8-1)

Rouyn-Noranda’s regular season mirrored that of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The team was dominant from beginning to end and won the QMJHL regular season title by a whopping 12 points and finished with a goal differential of +182. Fortunately for them, the similarities ended in the postseason. The Huskies continued to roll all the way to the league championship. Leading the way, regular season and postseason, has been league scoring title-winner Peter Abbandonato. Abbandonato, 21, recorded 111 points this season and tacked on another 27 in the postseason. An undrafted prospect, Abbandonato has not let the lack of NHL commitment slow him down as he has been near-impossible to stop all season. He also has a deep supporting cast, including talented first-time draft-eligible prospect Alex Beaucage, and over-agers Raphael Harvey-Pinard and Felix Bibeau, as well as Boston Bruins draft pick Jakub Lauko and Montreal Canadiens signee Joel Teasdale. Trade acquisition Noah Dobson, the twelfth overall pick last year by the New York Islanders, has also had a massive impact for the team both defensively and offensively. Dobson is arguably the best player in the tournament and could be the x-factor for the Huskies. The story of Rouyn-Noranda’s season to this point though has been the stellar goalie tandem of Samuel Harvey and San Jose Sharks pick Zachary Emond, both of whom posted a save percentage of better than .925 and a goals against average below 2.10 in the regular season. Harvey, who started 20 of 21 playoff games, put up even better numbers when it mattered most. If the 21-year-old net minder keeps up that level of play, the Huskies will be hard to beat.

Prince Albert Raiders (54-10-4)

The Raiders were just as, if not more dominant in the WHL as the Huskies were in the QMJHL, winning the regular season title by 11 points and recording a goal differential of +151, more than 50% better than the next-best team. Yet, Prince Albert accomplished such a campaign without much game-breaking talent, perhaps why they came within an overtime goal away from losing in the WHL Final to the Vancouver Giants. The Raiders have good players, but on paper they pale in comparison to the other three competing teams. That doesn’t erase what they have already accomplished this season, but it could put them at a disadvantage in inter-league play. Leading the Raiders is a player whose name hockey fans will know before the NHL Draft, if they don’t already. 20-year-old forward Brett Leason is a once-in-a-generation late bloomer who was passed over in two drafts already before breaking out this season. His play has caught seemingly everyone’s eye, as he earned a spot on Team Canada’s World Junior team earlier this year and is considered by some to be a first-round pick possibility in June. Leason’s numbers back up the hype; not only is he 6’4″ and over 200 lbs., but the power forward scored 36 goals and totaled 89 points in just 55 games this year. He then added 25 more points in 22 postseason games. Leason is a force in the offensive end – shooting, passing, possessing, and forechecking – and will be one of the tougher players to match up with in the tournament. Right beside Leason all season long has been San Jose Sharks selection Noah Gregor, who finished just one point behind Leason but still within the WHL’s top ten scorers. Cole Fonstad, property of the Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators free agent addition Parker Kelly, and another intriguing draft prospect, Alexei Protas, also play key roles up front for Prince Albert. Outside of WHL plus/minus leader Brayden Pachal, the Raiders are pretty thin on the blue line, but star goalie Ian Scott hasn’t let it affect him. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ keeper of the future has been phenomenal this season, posting a sub-2.00 goals against average and .932 save percentage in the regular season and replicating those numbers in the postseason. Gravel and Harvey may be able to steal a game in the Memorial Cup, but a hot Scott could steal the whole tournament.

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