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Buffalo Sabres Sign Jacob Bryson

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The Buffalo Sabres have signed defenseman Jacob Bryson to a three-year entry-level contract. The deal will begin for the 2019-20 season, but Bryson has signed an amateur tryout to join the Rochester Americans for the rest of this year. The 21-year old recently completed his junior season at Providence College, but will not be returning to the NCAA.

Bryson may not be a household name, but he certainly shouldn’t be overlooked as an NHL prospect. The 5’9″ 178-lbs defenseman was selected 99th overall in 2017 and has developed into one of the better college players in the country. Recording 28 points in 42 games this season for Providence he was named to the Hockey East Second All-Star team (he was a First All-Star last year) and won the conference Sportsmanship award for the second consecutive year. There are few players in all of college hockey that can skate as well as Bryson, who uses elite acceleration and edge work to make up for his lack of size in the defensive zone.

The Sabres have several young defensemen in the organization now, including NHL stalwarts Rasmus Dahlin, Rasmus Ristolainen and Brandon Montour. While Bryson has a long way to go to be considered part of that group, his addition only strengthens the positional depth for the Sabres and gives them another option to break camp with as early as next season. More likely the youngster will have to spend some more time and the AHL level, but as contracts for Zach Bogosian, Marco Scandella and Matt Hunwick start to expire—all three are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2020—Bryson will surely get a chance to show what he can do at the NHL level

Detroit Red Wings Agree To Terms With Filip Larsson

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The Detroit Red Wings have added some goaltending depth to their system, agreeing to terms with Filip Larsson on a three-year entry-level contract. The deal will kick in for the 2019-20 season, meaning Larsson will not be returning to the University of Denver for his sophomore year.

Larsson’s freshman season came to a disappointing end recently as the Denver Pioneers were ousted from the NCAA Frozen Four by UMass. Larsson had posted shutouts in the opening two rounds of the tournament, and had a .932 save percentage in 22 appearances during the season. The sixth-round pick from 2016 has developed quite nicely in his time in North America, dominating the USHL and NCAA ranks while also bringing home a silver medal at the World Juniors.

Pacific Notes: Vlasic, Eakin, Anderson

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With the series hitting Vegas and both teams deadlocked at one, the San Jose Sharks already have hit a road bump as The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reports that the head coach Peter DeBoer said the team will be inserting reserve defenseman Tim Heed into the lineup and Marc-Edouard Vlasic will miss Game 3 with an undisclosed injury.

Vlasic left Friday’s game during the second period after replays look like he blocked a shot from Shea Theodore with his arm, although Kurz wonders whether the shot may have gone off his head. DeBoer declined to reveal where the puck hit Vlasic. While the 32-year-old’s point totals have dropped this season, he still is the team’s third-best defenseman on the team behind Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson and averaged 21:07 of ATOI this season, which will be a big loss for a Sharks’ team that will want to win one of the next two games to regain home-ice advantage.

The loss of Vlasic will likely mean even more minutes for both Burns and Karlsson. Burns has averaged more than 28 minutes in the first two games of the series, while Karlsson broke 29 minutes in Game 2. Heed will likely be paired with Justin Braun. The team also has recalled defenseman Jacob Middleton from the San Jose Barracuda, according to CapFriendly.

  • Vegas Golden Knights third-line center Cody Eakin will be ready to go after suffering an injury to his face during Friday’s game on a hit from Timo Meier, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. Eakin was seen on the ice this morning with a jaw protector attached to his helmet. The 27-year-old Eakin finished the season with a career-high 22 goals this season.
  • ESPN’s Chris Peters reports that Los Angeles Kings defenseman Michael Anderson has likely played his last collegiate game after the University of Minnesota-Duluth blueliner won his second-straight NCAA championship Saturday. Expect the Kings to sign the 19-year-old sophomore to an entry-level contract soon. Anderson, the team’s fourth-round pick in 2017, is considered to be a solid shutdown defender with impressive leadership skills.

 

 

Colorado Avalanche Sign Cale Makar To Entry-Level Contract

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Despite some recent doubts, the Colorado Avalanche have indeed signed top prospect Cale Makar to an entry-level contract beginning this season, as had been expected all along. The team has announced a three-year contract with Makar, as well as indicating that he will join the team immediately in their first-round playoff series. Makar’s collegiate career came to an end last night when the University of Massachusetts failed to complete the storybook season with a loss to the University of Minnesota-Duluth in the National Championship Game. Makar wasted no time in moving to the next stage of his career though, turning pro about twelve hours later.

Makar, 20, was the fourth overall pick in 2017 and fans in Colorado have been excited for his arrival ever since. The dynamic defenseman is considered by many to be the best prospect in hockey, a title helped along by Makar being named the Hobey Baker Award winner on Friday night as the best player in college hockey. Makar finished second among all NCAA defensemen in both goals and assists and is third in scoring among all players this season. An elite play-maker with skating ability, vision, and awareness beyond his years, Makar is an offensive force. However, he is not afraid to play physical as well, as he showcased in the National Championship Game. Makar’s highlight-reel goals and assists may get the most attention, but he also breaks up plays with regularity and is a smart, instinctual defensive player. Makar led UMass with 49 points in 41 games this year, but also led the team with a +32 rating. While many Minutemen players had big seasons and were well coached by Greg Carvel, it is fair to say that Makar was the driving force behind the program’s best season ever.

UMass fans will certainly be sad to see Makar go, especially after just two years in Amherst, but it was inevitable for a player who is ready to make an impact in the NHL right away. In the Avalanche’s release, GM Joe Sakic called Makar “a game-changing type of player” and applauded his success at the college level. Colorado is so eager to get Makar into the lineup, that they will let him burn the first year of his contract for possibly just a few games and will also have to protect him in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Yet, after defeating the Calgary Flames in Game Two to tie the series, the Avs may see Makar’s addition as a way to further strengthen their team as they look to pull off the 1-8 upset in the Western Conference. It is not clear if Makar will be in the lineup immediately on Monday night, but it would not be a surprise, as Colorado is eager to debut their new star.

Central Notes: Makar, Seabrook, Boyle

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While the Colorado Avalanche face off against the Calgary Flames tonight, management may be looking in another direction for a short while as the team’s top prospect, University of Massachussetts defenseman Cale Makar, will finish his college season tonight after the NCAA National Championship concludes.

In that manner, Mike Chambers of the Denver Post writes that the Avalanche intend to sign Makar to a entry-level contract the moment the game ends with the idea of burning his first year this season. However, whether that will make him available for Game 3 of the Avalanche’s playoff series on Monday is another question. Head coach Jared Bednar shared that he too is still in the dark:

“Right now I’m worried about the guys in the room and the game tonight. Yeah, I’m sure it’s a possibility (Makar joins the team Sunday). I don’t know. But that’s a better question for (general manager) Joe (Sakic).”

Another possibility is the team signs him, but opts against playing Makar to preserve the first year of that entry-level contract as the team is already quite deep on defense and there are questions of how quickly Makar can adjust to the team’s system in just one or two days. Although much of that speculation will come after Makar has practiced with the team, maybe as early as Sunday.

  • The Daily Herald’s John Dietz writes that one interesting comment that came from general manager Stan Bowman a few days ago was his belief that veteran defenseman Brent Seabrook needs to make some changes to his off-season conditioning program. Seabrook who saw his playing time dramatically drop towards the end of the season, might want to make changes much like Jonathan Toews did last offseason that sparked his impressive season this year, according to Bowman. Seabrook, however, didn’t seem interested in making major changes this summer. “I’m not going to shake anything up, no,” Seabrook said. “I lost my trainer … so last year was my first summer with (the Blackhawks’) Paul Goodman and I thought it went real good, and (I) felt good coming into this season. Continue doing that.”
  • The Nashville Predators are without forward Brian Boyle in Saturday’s Game 2 against the Dallas Stars due to illness, according to the Tennsessean’s Erik Bacharach. Boyle is day-to-day, but will be missed as he is known for his hits, including a big hit against Stars’ forward Jason Dickinson early in Game 1. The Predators replaced him in the lineup with Rocco Grimaldi.

NCAA All-American Selections Announced

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The college hockey season is wrapping up, beginning with Thursday night’s Frozen Four semifinal games, tonight’s end of the year awards banquet, and finally tomorrow’s National Championship game. Many awards were handed out tonight, including the Hobey Baker Award, but the NCAA also announced this year’s All-American rosters, as voted on by the American Hockey Coaches Association. The teams are as follows:

First-Team All-Americans – East

G Cayden Primeau, Northeastern University (MTL)
D Adam Fox, Harvard University (CAR)
D Cale Makar, University of Massachusetts (COL)
F Mitchell Chaffee, University of Massachusetts
F Ryan Kuffner, Princeton University (DET)
F Nico Sturm, Clarkson University (MIN)

First-Team All-Americans – West

G Hunter Shepard, University of Minnesota – Duluth
D Quinn Hughes, University of Michigan (VAN)
D Jimmy Schuldt, St. Cloud State University (VGK)
F Taro Hirose, Michigan State University (DET)
F Patrick Newell, St. Cloud State University (NYR)
F Rem Pitlick, University of Minnesota (NSH)

Second-Team All-Americans – East

G Andrew Shortridge, Quinnipiac University (SJS)
D Jeremy Davies, Northeastern University (NJD)
D Joseph Duszak, Mercyhurst University (TOR)
F Blake Christensen, American International College
F David Cotton, Boston College (CAR)
F Josh Wilkins, Providence College

Second-Team All-Americans – West

G Joey Daccord, Arizona State University (OTT)
D Jack Ahcan, St. Cloud State University
D Bobby Nardella, University of Notre Dame (WAS)
D Scott Perunovich, University of Minnesota – Duluth (STL)
F Mason Jobst, Ohio State University (NYI)
F Blake Lizotte, St. Cloud State University (LAK)
F Troy Loggins, Northern Michigan University

The St. Cloud Huskies led the way with four All-American selections, which is little surprise from a team that was ranked No. 1 in the country for much of the year. Yet, St. Cloud won’t be playing in the National Championship game this year. Instead, it will be the UMass Minutemen and UMD Bulldogs. UMass, the only other team with two first-team selections, features the Hobey Baker winner Makar, while Duluth includes two All-Americans as well. Northeastern goalie Primeau was also named the Mike Richter Award winner as the best goalie in the country and was one of two selections from the Huskies. While not included among the All-Americans, Boston University forward Joel Farabee (PHI) was named the Tim Taylor Award recipient as rookie of the year.

Cale Makar Named 2019 Hobey Baker Award Winner

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On Friday night, the top player in all of college hockey was announced as University of Massachusetts sophomore defenseman Cale Makar. Makar was named this year’s recipient of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, the highest honor in NCAA Men’s Hockey, at a special event held in Buffalo, New York, the site of this year’s Frozen Four Championship. However, Makar is in Buffalo for more than just an awards banquet, as he and UMass defeated the University of Denver in overtime on Thursday and will play for the National Championship tomorrow night. Makar, the fourth overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, is then expected to join the Colorado Avalanche in their first-round postseason series as early as Monday. Talk about a wild week.

Makar edged out two other talented defensemen for the Hobey Baker this year; his fellow “Hat Trick Finalists” were Harvard University’s Adam Fox and St. Cloud State University’s Jimmy Schuldt. This was the first time that all three finalists were defensemen, as voting has begun to favor defensemen more in recent years than it had in the past. University of Denver defenseman Will Butcher won the award in 2017, but prior to that it had not gone to a blue liner since Boston University’s Matt Gilroy in 2009. Like Butcher, now with the New Jersey Devils, Makar, Fox, and Schuldt are all expected to step into immediate NHL roles once turning pro. Schuldt, an undrafted senior, has already signed with the Vegas Golden Knights, while Makar will soon do the same with the Avalanche. Fox, a junior, has been the subject of controversy with not one, but two different NHL teams already, as he has been reluctant to sign with the team that drafted him, the Calgary Flames, and his current rights holder, the Carolina Hurricanes. As a result, the speculation is that Fox will return to Harvard for his senior season and could be a Hobey Baker candidate again next season.

As for the man of the hour, it’s hard to argue that Makar was not deserving of this recognition. Considered by many to be the top prospect in hockey, Makar is a generational talent in terms of his skating and ability to move the puck. Makar is an elite play-maker with vision and creativity, but is far from just an offensive specialist. He is not afraid to play physical, breaks up plays with consistency, and is a smart positional player. Makar holds a team-high 49 points in 40 games this year, but also leads UMass with a +33 rating. Nationally, Makar is second among all defensemen in both goals and assists and is third in scoring among all players, but still has one game remaining with the National Championship still to come.

The next step for Makar will be to sign his standard three-year entry-level contract, but the 20-year-old is likely to burn his first year immediately by suiting up for Colorado as soon as possible. He will then challenge for and likely succeed in landing a starting role for the Avalanche next season and should wind up as a top-four if not top-pair defensemen for the team by the end of the 2019-20 season. The dynamic defender will undoubtedly be one of the favorites to win the Calder Trophy next season as the best rookie in the NHL. Despite the unbelievable streak that Makar is on right now, the best is yet to come for the promising prospect.

Prospect Notes: Ginning, Luukkonen, Michaud

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The Philadelphia Flyers have had a near-annual influx of talented young defensemen join the team over the last few years, but they’ll have to wait a little bit longer for one of their next promising blue liners to make the jump. Adam Ginning, the Flyers’ 2018 second-round pick, has re-signed with his Swedish Hockey League club for another year. Linkoping HC announced today that Ginning had inked a one-year contract extension to stay with the organization that has groomed him since he was 13 years old. Now 19, Ginning just finished his first full season in the SHL and did not look out of place playing against older and more experienced competition. At 6’4″ and 205 lbs., Ginning plays a physical and technically sound defensive game and projects to be a shutdown defender in the NHL one day. Some more time in the SHL certainly won’t hurt his development, but Philadelphia is definitely hopeful that he will join the system sooner rather than later to begin working with their coaches and adjusting to the North American style of play.

  • The Buffalo Sabres will get a closer look at one of their top prospects ahead of schedule, as goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has joined the AHL’s Rochester Americans on an amateur tryout basis, the team announced. Luukkonen is likely to make his North American pro debut in the near future to cap off what has been a big season for the talented netminder. Luukkonen, a second-round pick of the Sabres in 2017, made the jump overseas this year to play for the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves and made an immediate impact. The 6’5″ keeper was a brick wall in net, leading the league in wins and shutouts and finishing in the top three in save percentage and goals against average. Luukkonen was arguably the best goalie in the OHL this year, but that wasn’t even the highlight of the campaign. Luukkonen also led Finland to a gold medal finish at the World Junior Championships earlier this year, posting a .932 save percentage and 1.80 GAA along the way. The Sabres hope that the next stop on Luukkonen’s path of dominance is the AHL and soon after the NHL.
  • One name that won’t be playing in the pros, in North America or Europe, for at least another year is NCAA forward Westin Michaud. Michaud, 23, just wrapped up his senior season at Colorado College, in which he finished second on the team with 30 points in 41 games. Competing in the ultra-competitive National Collegiate Hockey Conference against several elite programs, Michaud still managed to take major steps forward in each of the past three seasons and at least one rival school took notice. With a year of NCAA eligibility remaining after sitting as a freshman, Michaud has decided to spurn pro offers for now and leave Colorado College behind him to transfer to the University of North Dakota for a graduate year with the national powerhouse. The experienced center will likely slot into a top-six position with North Dakota and could be in for yet another jump in production. Joining an already-strong roster that also has an impressive recruiting class incoming, Michaud makes the Fighting Hawks a dangerous contender next season.

 

Morning Notes: Denver, McDavid, KHL

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The Denver Pioneers were eliminated from the NCAA Frozen Four tournament last night by an overtime goal from Marc Del Gazio of the UMass Minutemen. That means their players are free to sign entry-level contracts with NHL clubs, including top prospect Ian Mitchell. The Chicago Blackhawks draft pick told Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription required) earlier in the year that he wanted to play with them “as soon as [he] can” though nothing had been decided yet on his future. The 20-year old was the 57th overall pick in 2017 and recorded 27 points in 39 games for DU this season.

What the win also means is that Cale Makar is moving on to the NCAA final and can’t join the Colorado Avalanche until at least after tomorrow’s championship game. The young defenseman is expected to join Colorado right away and could potentially jump into their series against the Calgary Flames. That’s still on the back of his mind though, as the Minutemen prepare for Minnesota-Duluth.

  • The Edmonton Oilers sent Connor McDavid for second and third opinions on his leg injury this week according to Sportsnet, though they do not have any information on what exactly is wrong with the superstar forward. McDavid injured the leg when he slid into the post during the team’s last game of the season, and will not be suiting up for Canada at the upcoming IIHF World Championship.
  • Igor Eronko of Sport-Express tweeted some KHL notes this morning, reporting that Los Angeles Kings forward Nikita Scherbak could be heading to the KHL next season. The 23-year old forward is scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer after his current deal expires, and could potentially bolt for Russia. Scherbak, originally a first-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens, was claimed on waivers this season by the Kings but failed to make much of an impact at the NHL level. The winger has just eight points in 37 NHL games across his career.
  • Eronko also notes that Rushan Rafikov, a seventh-round pick of the Calgary Flames back in 2013, has signed a two-year extension with Lokomotiv. The 23-year old defenseman set a career high with 14 points in 48 games last season, and doesn’t appear interested in the NHL at this point. The Flames will maintain his exclusive draft rights indefinitely.

Snapshots: Worlds, McLellan, Hawkey

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Team Canada got turned down by Carey Price for the upcoming IIHF World Championship, but still could have some pretty excellent goaltending for the tournament. Not only will young phenom Carter Hart be part of the team, but Craig Morgan of The Athletic has heard that Darcy Kuemper is also on the team’s radar. There could be several other candidates considered, especially since teams exiting the first round of the playoffs would make their players available.

If it is Hart and Kuemper, it would certainly not be tandem that was expected at the beginning of the season. The Philadelphia Flyers goaltender won’t turn 21 until August, but put together quite an NHL debut this season. In 31 games Hart put up a .917 save percentage and kept Philadelphia in the playoff hunt longer than many expected early in the year. The same could be said about Kuemper, who went from unheralded backup to potential Vezina candidate after posting a .925 in 55 appearances. The tournament begins on May 10th.

  • Now that the draft lottery is over all eyes in Los Angeles will be waiting for the result of the Kings’ coaching search, which appears to still have some work to do. Curtis Zupke of the Los Angeles Times tweets that as of earlier today nothing was imminent for the Kings, though they are still in the “sweepstakes” for Todd McLellan. McLellan has also been meeting with the Buffalo Sabres this week as he also takes in the NCAA Frozen Four, and reports have seemingly come from both sides that they were close to signing the coach. Wherever McLellan does end up, it seems as though the other team will quickly have to move on to their next candidate—unless another team moves on him first.
  • Speaking of the Frozen Four, Minnesota-Duluth won their semi-final game earlier today and eliminated the Providence Friars. That marks the end of several NCAA careers for Providence including goaltender Hayden Hawkey, who will now have to make a decision on whether to sign right away or wait for unrestricted free agency this summer. The Montreal Canadiens traded Hawkey’s rights last summer in exchange for a fifth-round pick, likely to avoid this situation since they already have a full depth chart of goaltenders. The 24-year old posted a .920 save percentage for Providence this season, his third as the team’s starter. He’ll become a free agent in August if the Oilers don’t get him under contract.

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