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Draft Notes: Perfetti, Sanderson, Rossi

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Several of the top-rated prospects for the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, coming up on October 6-7, spoke to the media today and there was no shortage of interesting quotes, courtesy of OHL insider Mark Scheig. Saginaw forward Cole Perfetti was certainly confident and didn’t mince his words when discussing his ideal NHL landing spot. “If I was under a head coach where I had to dump the puck in every time I go out over the red line and get on the forecheck, it would be frustrating and I wouldn’t be able to express how I really am as a player,” Perfetti stated. While many NHL teams have abandoned the dump-and-chase offense, it might not have been the best idea for the young forward to state so emphatically that he could have issues in a system different from the one he is used to. NHL GM’s probably would have preferred to hear him say that he is willing to work at fitting in to any offensive structure and that his ability can adapt to new systems. Although Perfetti’s talent will be the final determinant of his draft slot, he may have rubbed some interested executives the wrong way with his bold statement. We will find out for sure come draft day if the potential top-five pick falls down the draft board.

  • Defenseman Jake Sanderson has flown up draft boards since the start of this season to the point that he is now considered a consensus top-10 or at least top-15 pick. That of course means that the U.S. National Team Development Program product has slipped past the realm of possibility for the Columbus Blue Jackets at No. 21 overall. Jake’s father, Geoff Sanderson, was an inaugural member of the Blue Jackets and played four seasons with the team, during which time Jake was born. Sanderson told the media today that he has indeed met with  Columbus and there is a lot of familiarity still with the organization and the city. To make this pairing a reality, the Blue Jackets would absolutely need to trade up in the first round. However, they will likely wait until the draft has begun to see if such a move is even worth it. Sanderson revealed that he has also met with the New Jersey Devils twice and the cost for Columbus to move ahead of them at No. 7 is likely too high. If he does slip by the Devils, the race could be on for Columbus to move up the draft board.
  • Have the Detroit Red Wings tipped their hand as to their selection at No. 4 overall? With Alexis Lafreniere locked in as the No. 1 pick to the New York Rangers and Quinton Byfield and Tim Stutzle going in some order at No. 2 and No. 3, the first real draft order question comes with Detroit’s pick. However, it seems like the mystery may have already been solved. Amidst existing rumors that the Red Wings had keyed in on OHL forward Marco Rossi as their selection, the Red Wings loaned one of their top prospects, Michael Rasmussen, to the Graz 99ers, the same team that Rossi is currently training with. Then today, Rossi reported that he has talked with the Red Wings not once or twice but three times. And while other prospects have noted that Detroit GM Steve Yzerman has merely been listening in on video calls with his computer screen off, Rossi stated that he has had several “good” chats directly with Yzerman. This is far from an absolute confirmation that the Red Wings will go Rossi at fourth overall, there is certainly enough evidence to make a strong case.

Red Wings Loan Michael Rasmussen To Austria

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hael rasmussenDetroit Red Wings prospect forward Michael Rasmussen will join the numerous other NHL players and prospects getting an early start to the 2020-21 season. The Red Wings announced that the young center has been loaned to the Graz 99ers, an Austrian club in the recently re-named IceHL. No further details about the loan have been disclosed, but it is expected to come to an end when NHL training camps open up later this year.

Rasmussen, 21, needs the seasoning more than most. Drafted ninth overall in 2017, Rasmussen’s greatest assets were his pro size and strength. At 6’6″ and 220 lbs., the Red Wings didn’t hesitate to put Rasmussen directly into NHL competition in his rookie season in 2018-19. However, he struggled to adjust to the speed and skill of the top level. Rasmussen still managed to record 18 points in 62 games with Detroit, but the team was not content with his development and sent him to the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins to begin this past season. Due to an injury that cost him more than two months, Rasmussen was never recalled from the minors, logging just 35 AHL games for the year.

As he awaits the start of the 2020-21 NHL campaign, Rasmussen knows that he has work to do to prove that he is worthy of winning back a regular role for the Red Wings. Both team and player hope that this assignment to Graz will help him get off to a much-needed hot start. Rasmussen should undoubtedly be the best player in the 99ers’ lineup and should be able to focus on working on the shortcomings of his game while still contributing to club’s games. A strong stint in Austria could not only help with Rasmussen’s skill and hockey sense, but could provide a confidence boost that follows him into traiing camp

Jared McIsaac Loaned To HPK

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The Detroit Red Wings have found a landing spot for another prospect, this time loaning Jared McIsaac to HPK in Finland. McIsaac is coming off his final season of junior and will be experiencing professional hockey for the first time. The press release from his new team explains that the initial plan is to have the young defenseman play the entire season overseas, though the Red Wings are allowed to recall him should the AHL season get underway and they feel it would be a better spot for his development.

McIsaac, 20, was the 36th overall pick in 2018 and was a star this year at the World Junior Championship. An elite puck-moving defenseman in the CHL, he tallied 180 points over 241 games. That kind of ability will help him succeed at the next level, but there’s still plenty of development left for the young defender.

It will be interesting to see if other prospects decide to spend the entire season overseas, given the uncertainty around the 2020-21 AHL season. While it would burn the first year of his entry-level contract (McIsaac’s deal has already slid forward twice, and he is now ineligible for it to happen again), Liiga is obviously a perfectly fine development league for many players and shouldn’t prove too intimidating for the youngster. Of course, if camps don’t start until the new year, perhaps the Red Wings will have seen enough by that point to believe that McIsaac could even compete for a roster spot on the NHL squad.

Snapshots: Boeser, Miller, Caufield, Langlois

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With plenty of trade speculation that has surrounded Vancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser over the last few months, there are quite a few people who have connected the dots of the Canucks sending their promising 23-year-old forward to Minnesota, Boeser’s hometown, to beef up their defense. With a new contract in the hands of Jonas Brodin, general manager Bill Guerin needs to trade Matt Dumba and a swap of the two players make sense, according to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre.

However, Canucks general manager Jim Benning said recently that he isn’t trying to trade Boeser, who has scored 71 goals in the past three seasons.

“Lots of GMs call us about our players,” Benning said. “I listen and sometimes we have a conversation. That’s my job as a GM. If I’m not listening to other GMs, then I’m not doing my job. But we’re not trying to trade Brock Boeser. I have not had a conversation with Minnesota about him.”

Another reason for the trade speculation is that Vancouver has three key unrestricted free agents it would like to re-sign and don’t have the cap space at the moment to do it. Boeser has a $5.88MM contract for two more years and while not an albatross of a contract, the team could save some cap space if they were willing to move one of their forwards to bring in defensive help. Dumba makes $6MM, so the contracts would even out, but then could allow the team to try to focus on re-signing Tyler Toffoli to replace Boeser in the lineup if the Canucks could make that swap.

  • The Athletic’s Eric Stephens writes (subscription required) that the Anaheim Ducks still are waiting for backup goaltender Ryan Miller to make up his mind on coming back for a 18th season. Miller told Stephens that he has been on the ice approximately seven times now and is just trying to see if his body can adjust to sitting for as long as he has. Regardless, the 40-year-old has yet to make a decision, but the long layoff (he last played on March 10) has definitely made him think twice about returning. “You have things that you’re used to doing and when they stop, it’s shocking to the system,” said Miller. “I tried to install a little bit of normalcy so I can kind of get my sense of direction … I just thought that it was best not making any decisions either way if you’re sitting on the couch.”
  • After a report from SportExpressen Saturday that Edmonton Oilers prospect Raphael Lavoie was cut from Rogle of the SHL after the Oilers loaned him to the top SHL team, a new report this morning suggests that they have set their sights on Lavoie’s replacement. HockeyNews.se reports that Rogle is now in negotiations to recruiting Montreal Canadiens star prospect Cole Caufield to join the team. ESPN’s Chris Peters reports that Caufield has been looking for a place to play with his college season at the University of Wisconsin delayed, although the rumor last week was that he was headed to Switzerland. Rogle has declined comment on the situation. Caufield, the Canadiens top pick in 2019, scored 19 goals in his freshman year at Wisconsin.
  • The Montreal Canadiens announced the passing of three-time Stanley Cup winning defenseman Albert “Junior” Langlois, who died at age 85 on Saturday. He helped the Canadiens win Stanley Cups in 1958, 1959 and 1960, the last three of their historic five-straight Cup titles. He also played for the New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings and the Boston Bruins. The stay-at-home defenseman played 497 games in his NHL career with 21 goals and 112 points. PHR offers our condolences to his family.

East Notes: Stamkos, Zadina, Islanders, Lundqvist

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The Tampa Bay Lightning are now down 1-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals and, of course, the question of Steven Stamkos’ availability came up in the most recent press conference. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said he doubted that Stamkos would be ready for Game 2, but did speculate further on the possibility that Stamkos could make an appearance for the Lightning at some point in the series, according to The Athletic’s Joe Smith.

Cooper said that Stamkos is “inching closer” to a return and it’s “killing him” not to play, but the coach also said he refuses to put him in if he’s not ready. Cooper said the team needs to make sure his conditioning is up and both he and the medical staff are both comfortable with Stamkos on the ice.

  • The Detroit Red Wings sent 2018 first-round pick Filip Zadina to the Czech Republic to continue playing until the 2020-21 begins, but already have felt the danger of loaning out one of their players. HC Ocelari Trinec announced that Zadina will miss the next few weeks with a upper-body injury that he sustained during a game Sunday. While there is no word on how serious the injury is, the diagnosis that he will be out a few weeks likely means it won’t threaten his availability when the NHL begins their 2020-21 season, which likely now won’t be until at least January 2021. Zadina took over a top-six spot late in the season, scoring eight goals and 15 points in 28 games and is a key component to the team’s 2020-21 season.
  • With four pending unrestricted free agents coming up in the offseason, the New York Islanders have quite a few decisions to make about who they intend to keep. While general manager Lou Lamoriello was able to re-sign most of his UFA’s last season, that’s not likely to be the case. Newsday’s Andrew Gross reports that the team may only keep one of them this time around, suggesting that forward Matt Martin could be the only one to retain. The team isn’t likely to bring back goaltender Thomas Greiss now that Ilya Sorokin is on board, although Gross does add that Lamoriello does have a long-standing relationship with Andy Greene, so the team could potentially bring him back as well.
  • USA Today’s Vince Mercogliano looks at the Rangers goaltending situation, suggesting the Rangers may have no choice but to buyout long-time Rangers icon Henrik Lundqvist when the buyout window opens on Sept. 25. General manager Jeff Gorton said he doesn’t plan to keep three goaltenders on the roster and word is the Rangers have not liked any offers they’ve received for Alexandar Georgiev, suggesting the team could save significant cap space in the future if they let go of Lundqvist, including $3MM next season and quite a bit more in 2021-22. With a trade unlikely for Lundqvist even if the Rangers retain half of his $8.5MM salary, the team could announce a buyout as soon as Friday, although at this point, anything is still possible.

 

Jimmy Howard Expects To Play Elsewhere, But Not Ready To Retire

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While admitting that his time with the Detroit Red Wings is at an end, goaltender Jimmy Howard said that he isn’t ready to retire, suggesting that “someone is going to have to tell me I can’t play anymore,” according to a report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

An unrestricted free agent on Oct. 9, the 36-year-old Howard admitted that he was “probably not” going to return to Detroit after a disastrous season in which Howard had career lows with a 4.20 GAA and a .882 save percentage in 27 appearances. Some of those struggles could be attributed to playing for one of the worst teams in NHL history which finished with a 17-49-5 record last season. Howard has played with the organization his entire 14-year career since he was taken in the second round of the 2003 NHL draft where he has averaged a solid .912 save percentage over those years.

However, Howard told Friedman that he doesn’t want to end his career the way it did and wants another chance to prove his value. The veteran has been training for two months and has discussed moving away from his family for a year if he can’t get a job close to home.

It’s been clear for several months that Detroit is ready to move on from their long-time goaltender and intends to put more responsibility on Jonathan Bernier and bring in another goaltender without throwing a significant amount of money at one of the top free agents.

As for Howard, the veteran will have to hope that he can get a team to give him a chance to win the backup role with their franchise, which becomes even more challenging as many teams are starting to put more faith on goaltending tandems.

Detroit Red Wings Loan Filip Larsson To Almtuna

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Filip Larsson is the latest Detroit Red Wings prospect to head overseas, loaned today to Almtuna of the Swedish second league. He follows names like Mathias Brome, Moritz Seider, Gustav Lindstrom, Filip Hronek, and Filip Zadina as they prepare for the 2020-21 season with a few months in Europe.

Larsson, 22, has had quite an interesting path so far in his hockey career. Born and raised in Sweden, he decided to come to North America for the 2017-18 season and play in the USHL with the Tri-City Storm. A league-leading .941 save percentage and 1.65 goals-against average landed him Goaltender of the Year honors with the Storm, while also helping Sweden’s World Junior team take home a silver medal at the World Juniors. Following that outstanding North American debut, Larsson took his talents to the NCAA and played for the University of Denver. A .932 save percentage for the Pioneers earned him All-Rookie honors in the NCHC and obviously opened Detroit’s eyes even more.

The Red Wings signed Larsson soon after his freshman season came to an end and put him into the minor league system. Unfortunately, things didn’t go quite as well in professional hockey. Larsson struggled with injury and inconsistency, leading to just an .843 save percentage at the AHL level. That was in just seven games however as he played more often in the ECHL.

Even though 2019-20 didn’t go according to plan, Larsson remains a top goaltending prospect for the Red Wings and one to watch closely as the year progresses. He’ll need playing time and it’s not clear when the AHL season will actually get underway. For now, he’ll have to try and secure the crease in Sweden before getting a chance back in North America.

Filip Hronek Loaned To Mountfield HK

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The Detroit Red Wings continue to send their young players overseas to begin the season, this time loaning Filip Hronek to Mountfield HK in the Czech Republic. Hronek still has one year remaining on his entry-level contract and will almost certainly be back for the start of NHL training camp (though the release does not specifically state that).

Selected 53rd overall in 2016, Hronek has been one of the bright spots for the Red Wings in the last few seasons. His development from a second-round afterthought to full-time NHL puck-mover has been almost seamless, with plenty of success along the way. Now 22, he’s coming off his first full season in the NHL and a career-high 31 points in 65 games. While he came with a close to league-leading -38, that has a lot more to do with logging 24 minutes a night for a historically bad team than it does about Hronek’s ability at this level.

Moving forward there is no doubt that Hronek figures strongly into the Red Wings plans as a pillar on the back end, but given his offensive ability, the team would be wise to bring in other names that could take some of the defensive pressure off the youngster.

For now, he’ll be getting some time overseas to continue his development while he waits for hockey to resume on North American ice.

Detroit Red Wings Sign Robby Fabbri

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The Detroit Red Wings have signed Robby Fabbri to a two-year contract extension, avoiding restricted free agency with the young forward. The announcement did not include financial details, but Craig Custance of The Athletic reports it will carry a $2.95MM average annual value. Fabbri is coming off a one-year $900K contract he signed with the St. Louis Blues before getting dealt to Detroit in November.

The 24-year old forward has had quite the rollercoaster career so far. Selected 21st overall in 2014, it only took the former Guelph Storm center a year before he was a full-time player in the NHL. Fabbri looked like a star early, scoring 18 goals and 37 points in his first season with the Blues, before leading the team in scoring during a long playoff run. Still just a teenager, he was on a path to becoming a household name and a core piece for St. Louis.

Unfortunately, in February 2017 everything changed. Fabbri tore his ACL and would miss the second half of his sophomore season, starting a brutal stretch that seemed at one point like it would end his career. He re-injured the knee that summer and ended up missing the entire 2017-18 season, meaning there was a 20-month stretch between games for the young forward. After returning to the Blues in 2018 he was a shadow of the player they once knew, and in another season dealing with injuries he managed to score just six points in 32 games.

By the time the 2019-20 season rolled around, the Blues had basically moved on with several other young players taking up full-time roles on the roster. After nine games he was sent to Detroit, where things have turned completely around.

In his first game with the Red Wings, Fabbri scored two powerplay goals after finally finding himself back in the top-six of an NHL lineup. He’d put up eight points in his first seven games with Detroit and finished with 31 in just 52 games following the trade. The fact that the Red Wings got him in exchange for Jacob de La Rose, who has just 37 points in 229 career NHL games, is an impressive feat for GM Steve Yzerman and the Detroit front office. After showing he is still capable of the production he showed early in his career, a nice two-year contract will afford Fabbri some stability financially while he continues to build himself back up.

Dmytro Timashov Linked To SHL

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As prospects from all over the league are loaned out to European leagues to get in some game action, restricted free agents may choose to do something similar. Today, Dmytro Timashov of the Detroit Red Wings was linked to Djurgardens IF of the SHL with a report indicating that he is negotiating a contract that would only last until NHL camps open again.

The Red Wings landed Timashov by selecting him off waivers in late-February, placed there after the Toronto Maple Leafs made some additions to their forward group. He ended up playing in just five games for the Red Wings before the season was put on pause, but as a restricted free agent is still under their control.

Timashov could potentially leave and play in Europe full-time next season, but after finally cracking the NHL in 2019-20 it’s not hard to see why he would want to return. In 44 games split between the Maple Leafs and Red Wings the depth forward scored four goals and nine points.

The question is now where does he fit into Detroit’s depth chart? Timashov will turn 24 before the Stanley Cup is handed out this fall and is coming off his entry-level contract. He is not eligible for arbitration but would require waivers to play in the minor leagues next season. As the Red Wings rebuild, they have more than half of their roster currently on expiring deals and set to become either restricted or unrestricted free agents. That means there will be opportunity, but it also means they may have to be picky about which players to give NHL contracts to.

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