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Snapshots: Blackhawks, Matthews, Bean

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The Chicago Blackhawks have announced a three-year extension with their ECHL affiliate the Indy Fuel. The agreement will take them through the 2021-22 season and means the Fuel will remain affiliated with the only NHL team they’ve ever known. The Indianapolis franchise came into the ECHL in 2014, though haven’t yet found a ton of success. In their five-year run, the Fuel have only qualified for the Kelly Cup playoffs once and were swept out of the first round that season by the Toledo Walleye.

More and more around the league the ECHL is used as a development team crucial in the early years of raw or unexpected prospects. Notably it is a place where young goaltenders can sharpen their skills while playing a lot, something that Blackhawks netminder Collin Delia did as recently as 2017-18. Delia played ten games for the Fuel during that season and now looks like a potential starting option for the Blackhawks going forward. Justin Holl of the Toronto Maple Leafs is also an alumni of the Indy program, having started his professional career there by playing 66 games for the team in 2014-15.

  • Speaking of the Maple Leafs, the team announced today that Auston Matthews has undergone a procedure to remove hardware from a 2014 surgery. Matthews broke his femur while playing in the USNTDP several years ago, and according to Pierre LeBrun of TSN the screws leftover from that procedure may have been causing back pain for the young star. This explains why Matthews will not be playing in the upcoming IIHF World Championship, though it is not expected to affect his offseason training schedule.
  • The Carolina Hurricanes have recalled Jake Bean from the AHL once again, though with the Charlotte Checkers starting their second round playoff series tomorrow evening he may not be on the roster very long. Bean has been up and down in the playoffs to give the Hurricanes some additional defensive depth as they deal with injuries to Calvin de Haan and Trevor van Riemsdyk, but he has yet to suit up. The 20-year old was named to the AHL All-Rookie team this season and made his NHL debut by suiting up twice for the Hurricanes earlier in the year.

2019 Hart Trophy Finalists Announced

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The finalists for the Hart Trophy, given to the player most valuable to his team, have been announced. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the three finalists are Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov and Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid.

Kucherov is considered to be a favorite for the award after putting up a tremendous year. The 25-year-old took his game to another level as he has already captured this year’s Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in total points. He finished the year with 41 goals and 128 points, the most in the league since the 1995-96 season. His totals are also the most-ever by a Russian-born NHL player. Kucherov has also been nominated for the Ted Lindsay Award, awarded to the most outstanding player and voted on by the players. Kucherov led his team to the Presidents’ Trophy, given to the team with the best regular-season record.

Crosby had an impressive season as well. Often forgotten when talking about the league’s best players, Crosby helped lead the Penguins to the playoffs this year and did it by breaking the 100-point mark for the first time in five years. On top of that, he was 18-points better than any other players on his team, making his season quite valuable for a Pittsburgh franchise that struggled to get into the playoffs this season.

McDavid’s name is not surprising either, other than the fact that the Edmonton Oilers didn’t have a very impressive season and while they weren’t mathematically eliminated from the playoffs until late in the season, they were never truly considered to be a playoff threat this season. In fact, McDavid is just the sixth player in NHL history to be a Hart finalist from a non-playoff team. McDavid, however, who won the Hart Trophy in the 2016-17 season when he tallied 30 goals and 100 points, continues to improve on each season as he tallied 41 goals and 116 points to reach new career highs.

Several interesting players were left off the finalist list as well, including Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin and Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane.

 

Big Changes Unlikely On Chicago's Back End

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Although the Blackhawks finished 30th in the league in goals allowed this season, Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times cautions that there may not be big changes coming to their back end this summer.  He notes that GM Stan Bowman has confidence in his existing group and hopes that head coach Jeremy Colliton will be able to establish some more significant changes to their current strategies, something he wasn’t completely able to do after taking over for Joel Quenneville early in the season.  Veterans Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are signed for at least the next four seasons with no-move clauses so there isn’t a lot of flexibility to work with; they will have to rely on both of them to pick up their level of play for next season.

Snapshots: Bouchard, King, Canucks

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Evan Bouchard has been named OHL Defenseman of the Year, receiving the Max Kaminsky Trophy for 2018-19. Bouchard put up 53 points in 45 games for the London Knights, captaining the squad after returning from a brief stint in the NHL. Selected tenth overall last June, Bouchard played seven games for the Edmonton Oilers at the beginning of the season and recorded his first NHL goal in the process. The 19-year old then returned to the OHL where he routinely logged close to 30 minutes in ice time for the Knights and was a dominant player in the playoffs, recording another 21 points in just 11 games. He is now

Finished his junior career now, it seems likely that Bouchard will spend the 2019-20 season with the Oilers as a full-time member of their defense. The Oakville, Ontario native is an elite puck mover and has excellent offensive instincts. Jumping into rushes or getting pucks through traffic, Bouchard is one of the most dynamic goal-scoring threats in among junior defenseman and will try to carry over that production to the NHL level. Any doubt that he’ll be able to might have been pushed aside when he recorded three points in his AHL debut earlier this week.

  • The Rockford IceHogs have removed the interim tag from Derek King’s job title, making him the head coach moving forward. King took over when Jeremy Colliton was promoted to the NHL and finished with a 29-28-7 record behind the bench. The team has also given assistant coach Anders Sorensen a multi-year extension, providing some stability for the AHL organization.
  • Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet provides updates on several Vancouver Canucks prospects, tweeting that Linus Karlsson, Kristoffer Gunnarsson, Artyom Manukyan and Toni Utunen are all expected to stay overseas for next season. As Dhaliwal subsequently points out, Gunnarsson’s exclusive draft rights expire on June 1st of this season meaning he will become an unrestricted free agent if the Canucks don’t get him under contract. The 22-year old defenseman was a fifth round pick in 2017, but has just two points in his 124-game SHL career.

NHLPA Announces Ted Lindsay Award Finalists

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The National Hockey League Players’ Association has named the three players up for their most prestigious honor. The Ted Lindsay Award is presented each year to the “most outstanding player in the NHL”. Unlike the Hart Trophy though, the Ted Lindsay is voted on by the candidates’ peers themselves, the NHLPA’s member players. This year, the three named as finalists are the Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov, and the Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid.

McDavid is no stranger to the Ted Lindsay; the Oilers’ superstar has won the award in each of the past two seasons. Generally, the players put less stock into team success than do voters for the Hart, making McDavid an easy choice despite Edmonton’s struggles. The last player to win the award before McDavid was none other than Kane, who took home the honor in 2015-16. Not only has Kucherov never won the award, he is a first-time finalist.

Yet, Kucherov would seem to be the favorite to receive the title this year. Tampa’s top scorer led the league in scoring with 128 points, 12 more than McDavid and 18 more than Kane. He also finished first in assists and power play points by a wide margin, as well as among the league’s best in goals, plus/minus, and shots. Also, if team performance does come into play in voting, Kucherov’s Lightning had a record-setting regular season, winning the President’s Trophy with 128 points, 21 more than the next-best team. Kucherov seems to have on overwhelmingly strong case for the Ted Lindsay (and Hart), but the final result won’t be revealed until the NHL Awards on June 19th.

Snapshots: Messier, Granato, Blake

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Ahead of Game Seven between the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals, this year’s finalists for the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award were announced by NBC Sports, including ’Canes captain and “Mr. Game Seven” himself, Justin Williams. Williams joins Calgary Flames defenseman Mark Giordano and Nashville Predators forward and former Philadelphia Flyers fan favorite Wayne Simmonds as the three players being considered for the honor. An award unlike any other in sports, these finalists are determined by input from fans, team officials, and league executive alike, but the winner is ultimately determined by Mark Messier himself. Messier, considered one of the best leaders in league history, chooses the candidate “who best exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice”. The list of past winners of the award, dating back to its origins in 2007, include some of the most recognizable leaders in the game, many of whom remain active, such as Sidney Crosby, Zdeno Chara, Jonathan Toews, and Shea Weber. Williams, Giordano, and Simmonds are all great candidates to join their ranks.

  • The Chicago Blackhawks and assistant coach Don Granato have “mutually agreed” to part ways. Granato was hired by Joel Quenneville in 2017, but does not appear to have been a fit for Jeremy Colliton’s staff. The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus writes that Granato specifically worked with younger players as a go-between for Quenneville, but that role was redundant under the younger Colliton. Granato has been coaching since the early 90’s and should be able to find a new gig in no time. In fact, he very likely has an open invitation to return to the University of Wisconsin to coach under brother Tony Granato with a Badgers squad that has their eye on a National Championship next season.
  • Speaking of the college ranks, the University of North Dakota received an intriguing commitment today in the form of a legacy player. 15-year-old Jackson Blake, son of long-time NHLer and former Fighting Sioux standout Jason Blake, announced that he would be following in his father’s footsteps by joining the program – in 2022. Blake currently plays for powerhouse Shattuck St. Mary’s and finished the season in second on the U-15 team in per-game scoring with 24 points in 27 games. As one would imagine about a young teenager, Blake is still small at 5’5″; however if he reaches or exceed’s his dad’s 5’10” frame, Blake should be more than capable of making an impact at the college level down the road.

Ilya Mikheyev Expected To Make Decision Soon

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We heard a few days ago that KHL forward Ilya Mikheyev was being pursued by the Vegas Golden Knights, but they’re not the only team trying to get him under contract. Today, Igor Eronko of Sport-Express has heard that the Toronto Maple Leafs are among the final few teams, while Darren Dreger of TSN includes Vegas and the Chicago Blackhawks as well. Dreger notes that a majority of the league has shown interest, and that a decision is expected this weekend.

Mikheyev, 24, is a versatile forward that has played several seasons in the KHL with Avangard Omsk. This year he finished with 23 goals and 45 points, before putting up another 11 in his 13 playoff appearances. The 6’2″ winger is a great skater and plays his off-wing, allowing him to use his speed to drive the net and get shots away in tight. Whether that offense would translate to the NHL is still unclear, but teams are more than willing to take a chance.

He will be limited to a one-year entry-level contract whenever he does sign, likely with some sort of agreement to get a chance at the NHL in 2019-20. Teams courting him may well include a European Assignment Clause, allowing him to return to the KHL if they try to send him to the minor leagues. That is of course unless Mikheyev is committed to the long haul in North America and is willing to work with a development team to maximize his NHL potential.

Evan Barratt To Stay At Penn State, Ivan Nalimov Unlikely To Sign

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  • Blackhawks prospect Evan Barrett has decided to remain at Penn State for his junior year, reports Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required). The center, a 2017 third-round pick, had a strong sophomore season with 43 points in 32 games and gave serious consideration to turning pro.  He recently underwent surgery for an undisclosed injury and will miss two-to-three months.
  • Meanwhile, from the same report, Powers notes that goalie prospect Ivan Nalimov is unlikely to sign with the Blackhawks. His KHL contract with Avangard Omsk is set to come to an end next week but with several others already ahead of him on the depth chart, he could be looking at spending time in the ECHL next season.  If another team has interest in him, he could be a trade candidate but the odds of that will decrease if he signs an extension in Russia.

Jacob Nilsson Signs One-Year Extension

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The Chicago Blackhawks have signed defenseman Jacob Nilsson to a one-year contract extension. Nilsson current deal was scheduled to expire in July and make him a restricted free agent, something that will now be delayed until 2020. The forward will earn $700K next season on the one-way contract.

Nilsson, 25, signed with the Blackhawks last spring after a successful rookie season in the SHL, but ended up playing in the minor leagues for most of the year. In 61 games with the Rockford IceHogs he recorded 32 points and apparently did enough to earn another contract. The versatile forward was undrafted and spent several years playing in Sweden’s second league, now looking like the classic late-bloomer.

In his two games with Chicago he failed to register a point. Next season he will be waiver eligible, meaning if the team wants him to spend time in the minor leagues again they’ll have to make him available for the rest of the league. That will likely be at the end of training camp when rosters are fullest, as they try to sneak him through. That is of course unless the team believes he can be a full-time contributor at the NHL level in 2019-20.

Ian Mitchell Will Return To College For Junior Season

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The Chicago Blackhawks won’t get to sign one of their top prospects just yet, as Ian Mitchell has informed the University of Denver that he will be back for his junior season. Mitchell explained his decision:

In the past few days since our season ended, I have had the chance to reflect on the year and the season our team had. It became clear to me during that time that I did not feel ready mentally or physically to leave Denver. I believe this is the best place for me to become a better hockey player and as a team we have an opportunity to do something very special next year. I would like to thank the Chicago Blackhawks organization for being so supportive and respectful of my decision to remain in school and continue my development. I am looking forward to next season.

Chicago will get another chance to sign Mitchell next spring, and he is not scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent until the summer of 2021. Though his decision today may worry Blackhawks fans that he will go that route and try to hit the open market after four years in college, he told Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required) that the plan is still to sign with Chicago down the road:

I really want to stress that I want to play for the Blackhawks, and by no way is this is my intention to go through that free agency loophole. They put a lot of faith in me and developed me a ton, the Blackhawks have. I want to honor that, and it’s a fantastic organization and I want to play for them for a long time.

While reassuring, it still means the team will not be able to directly control his development next season or have him at their disposal. The Blackhawks turned things around somewhat in the second half of the season and showed that they might be able to contend for a playoff spot in 2019-20, but will need some of their young defensemen to take big steps forward and contribute even more than they have. Mitchell may or may not have not been able to do that in the NHL right away, but he certainly won’t now—at least during the regular season.

The 20-year old defenseman will instead try to dominate the college ranks and take Denver back to another Frozen Four appearance. In 39 games this season he recorded 27 points, but could improve on that next year and even potentially contend for the Hobey Baker. He was a nominee this season but failed to make the final ten names, as the award eventually went to Cale Makar.

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