Colorado Notes: Butcher, Varlamov, Iginla
The Colorado Avalanche are still hoping to sign Hobey Baker winner Will Butcher, but the star defenseman doesn’t want a contract offer just yet. Butcher told Mike Chambers of the Denver Post that he would rather sit with Avalanche GM Joe Sakic and discuss the matter with his parents before any offer was made. That’s a reasonable ask, but it won’t assuage any fears in Colorado about him following in the footsteps of Jimmy Vesey and hitting the open market this August.
Butcher was drafted in the fifth-round back in 2013, but is now just a few months away from becoming a free agent should he decide to wait that long. He could still obviously sign with the Avalanche after seeing what else is out there, but with his continued development into an NHL-ready defender, they’d be up against several other teams in pursuit of him. The 22-year old had 37 points in 43 games this year as captain of the NCAA Championship winning University of Denver.
- Adrian Dater of BSN Denver has been told that the team plans on protecting Semyon Varlamov over Calvin Pickard in the upcoming expansion draft. The team must select just one of their goaltenders to expose, and it apparently will be the younger, cheaper Pickard. It seems like a very odd decision, given Varlamov’s injury status and expensive contract, both of which would likely be deterrents to the Golden Knights over some of the other available goaltenders. Pickard on the other hand would cost Vegas just $1MM next season and continue to be a controllable RFA after that. Perhaps this is just gamesmanship from the Colorado front office, but losing Pickard for nothing seems like a terrible mistake by a front office who should be looking at the future.
- Jarome Iginla hasn’t yet decided if he’ll play another season, but he wants to. In a conference call with reporters today including Eric Francis of Sportsnet, Iginla said he’ll have to wait and see what kind of offers he receives this summer but that his time with the Los Angeles Kings down the stretch has revitalized him somewhat. He seemed it, as the legendary winger scored six goals and nine points in 19 games for the Kings and showed that he is still a physical force. Amazingly, four of the six goals were game winners as he tried to drag the under-performing Kings into the playoffs. As we detailed prior to the deadline, Iginla might still have something left to give and shouldn’t be wholly judged on the disappointing first half he had with the Colorado Avalanche—just as other talented players from that team should be.
NHL Releases Official Draft Lottery Odds
The NHL has released the official odds for the upcoming draft lottery, which determines the order in which each team outside the playoffs will select in this year’s entry draft. The Colorado Avalanche lead the way with an 18% chance of winning, while the Vegas Golden Knights will be given the same odds as the third worst team this season, the Arizona Coyotes at 10.3%. The lottery will be held in Toronto on April 29th. The full odds are as follows:
Colorado Avalanche: 18%
Vancouver Canucks: 12.1%
Vegas Golden Knights: 10.3%
Arizona Coyotes: 10.3%
New Jersey Devils: 8.5%
Buffalo Sabres: 7.6%
Detroit Red Wings: 6.7%
Dallas Stars: 5.8%
Florida Panthers: 5.4%
Los Angeles Kings: 4.5%
Carolina Hurricanes: 3.2%
Winnipeg Jets: 2.7%
Philadelphia Flyers: 2.2%
Tampa Bay Lightning: 1.8%
New York Islanders: 0.9%
In the draft lottery, three teams actually “win”, and have the chance to move up from their finishing position. This means teams currently slotted 1-12 can only move a possible three spots down in the order, and only if teams behind them are selected. Last season, the Maple Leafs were selected first and retained their top spot, though the Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets hopped from fourth and sixth to third and second respectively. Vancouver, who had the third highest odds, dropped to fifth overall.
One will also remember the lottery that gave the Edmonton Oilers Connor McDavid, despite the Buffalo Sabres and Arizona Coyotes both having worse records. It wasn’t the first time Edmonton won a draft lottery, but it looks like it will be the last for at least the next few years, as they’re in the playoffs and will pick in the back half of the first round for the first time since 2005-06.
This year, the top prize is Nolan Patrick who retained his crown as the top rated skater in today’s final release of the NHL Central Scouting rankings. Though he’s not McDavid, every team on this list will be hoping to win the lottery and have the chance of drafting a future #1 center.
Chris Johnston of Sportsnet was the first to tweet out the full odds, though TSN and HockeyViz.com had correct unofficial numbers over a month ago.
NCAA All-American Teams Named
Prior to the reveal of University of Denver defenseman Will Butcher as the 2017 Hobey Baker Award-winner and ahead of the NCAA championship game tomorrow night, the American Hockey Coaches Association released the rosters of this year’s collegiate All-American Teams. The teams, first and second squads from either side of the country, are listed below with their NCAA teams as well as NHL-drafted or signed organization, if applicable:
East All-Americans
First Team:
RW Zach Aston-Reese, Northeastern (Pittsburgh Penguins)
RW Spencer Foo, Union
C Mike Vecchione, Union (Philadelphia Flyers)
D Adam Fox, Harvard (Calgary Flames)
D Charlie McAvoy, Boston University (Boston Bruins)
G Charles Williams, Canisius
Evening Snapshots: Sobotka, Roslovic, Karlsson, Team Canada
News and notes from around the NHL this evening:
- By now you’ve heard that Vladimir Sobotka has joined the St. Louis Blues and signed a three-year extension that kicks in next season. The Czech native will play this season under his arbitration-awarded $2.75MM contract. According to CapFriendly, Sobotka will earn $45K for playing in the Blues’ final two games this season. Not bad for a weekend of work.
- Winnipeg Jets forward prospect Jack Roslovic makes his NHL debut tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Making the debut extra special is that Roslovic is from Columbus, and, as Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch points out, becomes the first Columbus-born NHL player. Roslovic has toiled in the minors all year, posting 13G and 32A in 61 games for the AHL Manitoba Moose. The 2015 25th overall draft pick spent last season at Miami University (OH) where he put up 10G and16A in 36 games.
- According to the Boston Globe’s Fluto Shinzawa, Boston Bruins prospect Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson has finally secured his work visa and can join the team professionally. The Bruins signed Karlsson to a three-year ELC a few days ago, but the Swede has been unable to play in a game due to a work visa delay. He has, however, practiced with the team since leaving Boston University. He was successful at BU, posting 14G and 19A in 39 games this season.
- TSN’s Darren Dreger tweeted that Winnipeg Jets’ Mark Scheifele and Colorado Avalanche’s Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon have agreed to play for Team Canada at the 2017 World Championships this spring. As is tradition, players on teams out of the playoff picture will begin to join their respective countries in the World Championships. Teams usually struggle to attract all the big-name players available, however, because some players would rather recuperate than continue to play more hockey.
Evening Snapshots: Avalanche, Karlsson, Nylander
News and notes from around the NHL this evening:
- The Colorado Avalanche called up two players this afternoon: forward Rocco Grimaldi and defenseman Duncan Siemens. Grimaldi is having a great year in the AHL, scoring 29G and 22A in 51 games for the San Antonio Rampage. He’s on the final year of his ELC, and this opportunity should dictate the terms of his next contract. Defenseman Duncan Siemens—a former 2011 first round draft pick—will play just his second career NHL game. He has 2G and 4A in 68 games in the AHL this season. As AJ Haefele of BSN notes, the callups give the Avalanche a look at how its prospects fit in with the organization.
- The Ottawa Senators announced that defenseman Erik Karlsson will return tonight against the Detroit Red Wings. Karlsson suffered a foot injury after blocking a shot Tuesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers. He missed the Senators’ next two games, and was in danger of missing a third before his surprise return. The Senators need all the firepower they can muster as they jockey for position in the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spots.
- Buffalo Sabres forward Alexander Nylander makes his NHL debut tonight against his brother’s Toronto Maple Leafs, reports TSN’s Mark Masters. 2016’s 8th overall draft pick has played in the AHL all season, amassing 9G and 18A in 62 games for the Rochester Americans. In seven World Junior Championship games Nylander scored 5G and 7A. His much anticipated debut is heightened by the fact that it’s against his older brother William Nylander. The older Nylander has 22G and 37A this season, and the Sabres hope that their Nylander follows in his brother’s footsteps.
Friedman’s Latest: Kampf, Olympics, Tallon
The Avalanche, Blackhawks, and Golden Knights are among the teams that are believed to be interested in Czech free agent forward David Kampf, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). He notes his situation could be one to watch over the next 24 hours which suggests Kampf could be close to making a decision on where to sign.
The 22 year old center/right winger is coming off a career year with Pirati Chomutov of the Czech Extraliga. This season, he posted 15 goals and 16 assists in 52 regular season games while adding three goals and seven assists in 13 postseason contests so far.
Kampf will be limited to signing a two year entry level contract wherever he decides to sign. As he is still participating in the Czech playoffs plus the fact that he would have to clear entry waivers if he wanted to play in the NHL this season, it’s a certainty that the deal won’t begin until 2017-18.
Here are some other notes courtesy of Friedman via the weekly Saturday Headlines segment (video link):
- While the IIHF is asking for a final decision from the league with regards to Olympic participation by the end of April at the latest, Friedman expects a decision to be made much sooner than that, noting that it’s “very possible” that the announcement will come at some point this week. If it doesn’t, Friedman expects that a call will be made one way or the other by April 10th. With the playoffs fast approaching, the league would be wise to get this storyline over and done with before the puck drops on postseason play to avoid any potential distractions.
- Although there has been some suggestion that the Islanders might ask the Panthers for an opportunity to speak to Dale Tallon, Florida’s President of Hockey Operations, Friedman noted that New York hasn’t yet sought permission to do so. He also doesn’t believe that the Panthers would allow Tallon to speak with the Isles as they plan to bring him back next season. Florida’s front office situation could shuffle once again this offseason if interim head coach and GM Tom Rowe brings in a new bench boss as expected which could result in Tallon having a lesser role in hockey operations as he reportedly did at the start of this year.
Evening Snapshots: Julien, Compher, Thornton
Fresh off of a clinch of a playoff spot, the Montreal Gazette’s Stu Cowan explains why Canadiens fans should be toasting the new bench boss who guided the team to the postseason with a steady hand. Claude Julien was hired immediately following the Habs’ firing of Michel Therrien, and with Julien in charge, Montreal experienced a surge that carried them into the playoffs. Cowan writes that the Canadiens are 13-5-1 since Julien took over and following his first practice with the team, Julien said this:
“Guys had to go on the ice today feeling good about themselves. I made sure that happened. Guys want hope. Guys want excitement. Guys want positive messages. It’s easy for a new coach coming in to give those positive messages. I wanted them to know how good I think the team is. We’re in first place, OK? There’s no need to panic, but there’s a need to fix.”
With the team for at least five seasons, and for the job he’s already done in his first few months on the job with the Canadiens (again), Cowan believes the coach deserves to be the toast of Montreal.
In other NHL news:
- The Avalanche may have had a tough year, but there are still silver linings. One of those come in the form of center J.T. Compher, who Denver Post writer Terry Frei reports has been a welcome addition after general manager Joe Sakic called up the kids. Compher, a University of Michigan product, has three goals in 16 games and has centered a line with Gabriel Landeskog, and Matt Duchene. For Compher, it’s about learning “consistency” after being called up following the Avs’ trade of Jarome Iginla, and also finishing the season strong. With the Avalanche looking to win the draft lottery and build upon its young core, Compher figures to be an essential building block in what needs to be an efficient and swift rebuild after such a crushing season.
- The Sun-Sentinel’s Craig Davis writes that while Shawn Thornton is known for his tough guy persona on the ice, it’s his “nice guy” persona off the ice that earned him a Bill Masterson Trophy nomination for the Florida Panthers. Thornton’s self-named foundation works to raise research funds in the fight against Parkinson’s and cancer. In addition to doing community outreach, Thornton also holds an annual charity golf outing. Though he made headlines recently for his furious quotes regarding Alexei Emelin, Davis highlights the side of hockey where the compassionate side of hockey players take precedence.
Snapshots: China, Kitchener, Fazio
After it was announced earlier this month that the NHL would be holding two preseason games in China next season, many linked that to the upcoming Beijing Olympics in 2022. Growing the game prior to sending NHL players to one of the biggest sporting events in the world seemed prudent. In his latest column, John Shannon of Sportsnet walks us through why growing the game in China doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the Olympics and instead is more because of the “virgin market” the country presents.
What’s different and noteworthy about this venture in China is that the Chinese want the NHL there, and not just because the 2022 Olympics will be in Beijing. Chinese President Xi Jinping has apparently developed a passion for hockey and as a result, 3,000 hockey arenas are to be built in the country.
Shannon goes on to note that several teams in the league already have agreements with companies and leagues in China, including Toronto who apparently have 6000 kids playing Maple Leafs-branded hockey each week. Though it’s just preseason next year, perhaps China will be the next destination for the SAP NHL Global Series. In 2017, the NHL will be headed to Stockholm for two games between the Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators.
- The Kitchener Rangers of the OHL have a new boss, and it’s a name familiar to hockey fans across North America. Mike McKenzie will take over as GM of the junior franchise after Murray Hiebert has transitioned into the Director of Hockey Operations role. McKenzie is the son of TSN Insider Bob McKenzie, a long-time face of hockey in print and television in Canada and the United States. The Rangers are currently down 3-1 in their OHL playoff series against the Owen Sound Attack.
- The Charlotte Checkers (affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes) have signed Justin Fazio to an amateur tryout now that his Sarnia Sting have been eliminated from the OHL playoffs. The Sting were swept out of the first round by the powerhouse Erie Otters. The undrafted goaltender will turn 20 in just over a month, and will replace Tom McCollum on the roster as he deals with personal issues. The Checkers have been down their starter Alex Nedeljkovic while he backs up Cam Ward in Carolina after Eddie Lack‘s recent injury. Fazio had an .896 save percentage for the Sting this season.
Avalanche Sign Tyson Jost To Entry-Level Contract
The Avalanche have signed 2016 first-round pick Tyson Jost to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced this evening. Terry Frei of the Denver Post tweets that the 10th-overall pick could play with the squad as soon as Friday.
Reports from yesterday were a bit pessimistic that a deal would get done this season. Jost and his North Dakota teammates were knocked out of the NCAA playoffs, so it’d be natural for the talented prospect to go professional. However, considering his age, there were some whispers that the forward may return to college for a second season. The 19-year-old had a fantastic season with the Fighting Hawks, collecting 38 points in 35 games. Jost also had a standout performance playing for Team Canada at the World Juniors, tallying four points in seven games.
“We are excited to announce that Tyson has signed his entry-level contract and will be joining us for the rest of this season,” said Avalanche Executive Vice President/general manager Joe Sakic. “Tyson is an all-around player. He competes, plays the game hard and is reliable at both ends of the ice. He just finished a strong year at North Dakota and we’re looking forward to seeing him in an Avalanche sweater.”
Prior to his collegiate career, Jost was the 2015-16 MVP of the British Columbia Hockey League, compiling 42 goals and 62 assists. He also competed at the 2016 IIHF Under-18 World Championship, leading the tournament in points with six goals and nine assists.
College Notes: Jost, Foo, Vecchione
In the latest ’30 Thoughts’ column from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet there are several interesting tidbits about some college players that have been eliminated from the NCAA tournament in the past few days. One of the most notable is Tyson Jost, the Colorado Avalanche prospect and 10th-overall pick from last summer. Friedman says that it’s tough to read the situation on Jost after his freshman season at North Dakota, and mentions there is still the possibility of him returning for a second year.
Jost had an incredible year, scoring 38 points in 35 games for UND while also starring for Team Canada at the World Juniors. The former BCHL superstar turned 19 less than two weeks ago, and would benefit from another year in the NCAA and a run at the Hobey Baker trophy. There is no rush for Colorado, who won’t be competing next season but consider Jost one of their untouchables going forward.
- Friedman also touches on Mike Vecchione, the Union College star who is a free agent and can sign anywhere. Reports indicate that he’ll make a decision within the next 24 hours. On Monday it came out that Philadelphia was pushing hard for the 24-year old, though it’s not clear if they are still in the running today. The offensive dynamo tied for the leading point-scorer in the nation, and is a finalist for the Hobey Baker this season.
- Spencer Foo, a teammate of Vecchione at Union, has told teams he won’t play pro hockey this season. That doesn’t mean that he’s definitely going back to school though, and LA Kings Insider Dan Rosen has heard that basically the entire league is interested in him. As Rosen notes at the end of his piece, Foo was an Edmonton Oilers fan growing up and Friedman notes that there is a lot of interest from the Canadian NHL clubs. The winger scored 62 points in 38 games this season and is another Hobey Baker finalist.
- Rosen goes on to report that Steven Johnson, a Los Angeles Kings draft pick from 2014 will head back to school at the University of Minnesota for his senior year. The Kings will have just a few months to sign him after next season if they so choose, but he’ll have to take another step forward to earn an entry-level contract after graduation. Right now his entire game still needs polish and he’ll hopefully have the chance to step into a bigger role now that Jake Bischoff is off to the professional ranks.