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Boston Bruins Sign Anders Bjork To Three-Year Deal

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The Boston Bruins continue to convince their top NCAA prospects to leave school early, this time signing Anders Bjork to a three-year entry-level deal. Already the team has signed Charlie McAvoy and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson away from school this spring, and now have added one of the top players in the country before he turns 21. Bjork had previously been undecided on whether to return to Notre Dame for his senior season, in which he would have been an early favorite for the Hobey Baker award.

Bjork, just a fifth-round pick of the Bruins in 2014, has turned into an incredible scoring threat for the Fighting Irish, posting 52 points in 39 games. That number put him in the top-10 in the country in scoring and had him as a finalist for the Hobey Baker—the trophy would eventually go to Will Butcher. One of the more impressive things about Bjork’s run was his age, as he is several years younger than many of his contemporaries after entering college just after turning 18.

Though there is no guarantee he can step right into the NHL, Bjork did just complete a tour with Team USA at the World Championships where he was surrounded by other professional players (including McAvoy) and got into five games with the squad. Held pointless and without much ice-time to show for it, Bjork was invited in a similar fashion to Jordan Greenway and Cal Petersen to get experience for future tournaments. Make no mistake, Bjork has the skill set to be very successful in the NHL one day should he stay as committed to his craft as he was for Notre Dame. Getting him to leave school early is a big move for the Bruins in what has been a successful spring.

NHL Scouting Combine Preview

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While members of the hockey media flock to Pittsburgh for Stanley Cup Final media day today, NHL executives and scouts from all 31 teams are instead headed to Buffalo for the NHL Scouting Combine. The event kicks off tomorrow and runs all week long. A relatively new exercise for the NHL dating back to the early 2000’s, the combine has been hosted by the Sabres since 2015 and is scheduled to take place in Buffalo through 2019, the combine allows NHL teams their first chance both at one-on-one interviews with prospects and to discover specific medical and physical issues that may arise. The combine is hugely informative and executives around the league have raved about the impact it has made on the draft process.

The 2017 NHL Scouting Combine will feature 104 of the top prospects for the NHL Draft later in June, comprised of 84 North American prospects and 20 international prospects. Altogether, there will be 58 forwards, 36 defensemen and 10 goaltenders in attendance. This array of prospects should largely cover the entirety of the first three rounds of the draft, meaning every team has a reason to be in attendance and will have an eye on gaining insight beyond just the players likely to be there at their first round slot.

Much more extensive than other professional scouting combines, the NHL combine includes testing for joint movement, lung capacity (VO2 Max), balance, and grip strength. This is in addition to typical combine procedures like height and weight measurements and workouts such as the bench press, pull-ups, standing long jump, vertical leap, and the hockey equivalent to the 40-yard dash.

Some noteworthy top-ten prospects whose combine performance may be more important than others include Casey Mittelstadt, Cale Makar, and, of course, Nolan Patrick. The debate rages on ahead of June 23rd over who the better prospect and likely first-overall pick will be: Patrick or Nico Hischier. Hiscier supporters have increased in number, but the majority are still on the side of Patrick, even after a season spent mostly sidelined due to injury. Patrick can help his case for #1 in a major way with a clean bill of health and strong results in musculoskeletal workouts this week. If instead he still shows signs of wear and potentially risks of long-term issues, the New Jersey Devils could easily take Hischier instead. For Mittelstadt and Makar, as well as a few others in first-round consideration, their lack of experience playing against elite competition makes their measurables that much more important. Mittelstadt spent half of his season dominating high school kids in Minnesota and the other half in the USHL, while Makar played in the Junior A Alberta Junior Hockey League. While both are headed to the NCAA in 2017-18, where they can be better evaluated, that comes too late for the teams interested in selecting them this year. Neither faced the same level of consistent competition as their peers in the major junior CHL leagues or against men in European pro leagues, but can make up for it and add to their draft resumes with comparable workout results to fellow top prospects.

The Scouting Combine has become very important to all prospects and evaluators alike and has no doubt impact the draft order in each of the past two years. 2017 should be no different; stay tuned for any news coming out of Buffalo this week.

Rookie Colin White Draws In For Senators In Game Six

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In a decisive Game 6 match-up of the Eastern Conference Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Ottawa Senators have decided to go outside the box. Following an embarrassing 7-0 loss in Game 5, head coach Guy Boucher has made the call that the team needs a different look tonight, and that means rookie center Colin White will get the call. This is the third NHL game for white and, obviously, the first playoff game of his young career. Will he be a game-changer for the Senators?

White may be making his NHL postseason debut, but he’s actually played postseason hockey already this season. White signed his entry-level contract with Ottawa on April 2nd, after his NCAA season with Boston College came to an end. White, the 21st overall pick in 2015, was nearly a point-per-game player for BC this season, with 16 goals and 17 assists in 35 games, and helped to lead the Eagles to finals of the Hockey East conference tournament. However, White’s squad fell to the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, and without the automatic bid, did not have the resume to qualify for the NCAA tournament.

Since then, White has played in just five games – two scoreless outings with Ottawa and three games (with three points) for the AHL Binghamton Senators, who missed the playoffs – and he is now being called on to enter the Eastern Conference Final cold and provide a spark on offense. White’s inclusion is not so much the result of injury, although Alexandre Burrows remains sidelined, but instead a decision of pace and positioning. Ottawa dressed seven defenseman for Game 5, which was undoubtedly their worst performance of the 2017 postseason, and Bocher decided not to continue that practice. He also declined to dress slower physical veteran forwards like Chris Kelly or Chris Neil in favor or the young White, hoping that his youthful energy would help to keep pace with the speedy Penguins. White is a well-rounded prospect with high-end possession ability and good visions and hockey intelligence. However, he’s being thrown into the fire in this situation, as the Senators are desperate for all the help they can get to stay alive tonight.

Cale Makar And The University of Massachusetts

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In just over a month, Calgary-native Cale Makar will hear his name called in the first round of the NHL Entry Draft. Barely on the radar for first-round consideration at this time last year, the puck-moving defenseman for the Brooks Bandits of the “Junior A” Alberta Junior Hockey League is now forecast to be selected in the top ten on June 23rd. If he’s drafted anywhere higher than 16th overall, he’ll pass Joe Colborne as the highest selection in AJHL history. Makar even stands a chance to be the first defenseman taken off the board in the draft this year.

So where did this kid come from? Makar has shown tremendous growth in his skating, passing, and overall understanding of the game in recent years. He made his Bandits debut at the age of 16 in 2014-15, scoring five points in the final three regular season games of the season and adding seven more over Brooks’ 20-game playoff run to the league championship series. However, this did little to put Makar on the map. In 2015-16, he began to turn some heads with a point-per-game campaign featuring ten goals and 45 assists in only 54 regular season games and continued pace in a postseason in which his 14 points in 13 games helped to lead the Bandits to an AJHL title. Yet, Makar’s name was still one largely unknown to those outside of the AJHL or the NCAA scouting community. Only after he proved that his previous season’s production was no fluke did NHL scouts begin to take major notice. This season, Makar lead Brooks to a second straight title and did so behind 75 points – 24 goals and 51 assists –  in 54 games and another torrid playoff pace of 16 points in 13 games. Makar took home just about every AJHL award possible for 2016-17: MVP, Playoff MVP, Most Outstanding Defenseman, Highest Scoring Defenseman, All-Star, and the championship trophy to boot. The next accolade he hopes to add to the list is of course a top ten spot in the NHL Draft to cap off a dominant season.

The only knock on Makar is that at 5’11”,  179 lbs. and playing in an inferior league, he still has some physical and mental development to do before he is NHL-ready, regardless of his natural skill. His speed and puck-handling were unparalleled in the AJHL, but that may not be true against a similar level of talent. Unless the team who drafts him falls in love, Makar is likely to be a project player in need of a year or two minimum before he can make the jump. Where he’ll be playing in that time is almost as surprising as his own meteoric rise. It’s no longer strange for Canadian players to play American college hockey, even top draft picks. However, Makar is not headed to a powerhouse program like Boston College or Boston University, but instead a Hockey East Conference rival with much less history: the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Hockey East may be the premiere conference in the NCAA, but UMass has been an exception in recent years. The team was 5-29-2 this past season, finishing last in the conference by a significant margin. Though their records were marginally better than 2016-17, UMass has finished in the bottom three in Hockey East every year since 2010-11, never with a record above .500. The program has only qualified for the NCAA Tournament once, riding star goalie Jonathan Quick to the postseason in 2006-07. Over the last decade, the program has managed to develop a few solid NHLers, none more so than Quick, such as the San Jose Sharks’ Justin Braun, the nearby Boston Bruins’ Frank Vatrano and three players still alive this NHL postseason: the Nashville Predators’ Matt Irwin, Anaheim Ducks’ Brandon Montour, and Pittsburgh Penguins’ Conor Sheary. Yet, they’ve never been able to put together a deep enough roster to compete on the national level.

Athletic Director Ryan Bamford and head coach Greg Carvel hope that Makar could be the beginning of a new chapter in Amherst. Bamford, himself in just his second year, hired Carvel last year from St. Lawrence University, where he had played himself in college, in what many felt was a lateral move. However, Carvel seemingly liked the idea of moving back to UMass, where he had received his Master’s degree in Sport Management. While the first season under Carvel was not much of an improvement on the ice, the hire has already begun to pay off in recruitment, specifically with Makar enrolling in the fall. With Edmonton Oilers’ prospect William Lagesson signing his entry-level deal, Makar will likely only be joined by Buffalo Sabres’ 2015 seventh-round pick Ivan Chukarov as drafted players on the team, unless other members of the incoming class are also selected this June. Regardless, Makar alone has the potential to boost interest in both potential future players and a passionate fan base that has been waiting a long time to see another successful Minutemen squad.

Makar may not just be a well-regarded recruit, he may end up being one of the all-time best players to ever put on a UMass jersey. As far as hockey alumni go, he faces only Quick in regards to fanfare, but Makar could prove to be a better prospect than former New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz or former NBA All-Star Marcus Camby. If Bamford, Carvel, and the supporters of UMass are lucky, Makar could prove to be the hockey equivalent of the legendary Dr. J, Julius Erving. Only time will tell, but it all starts with Makar’s selection in the upcoming NHL Draft and his first season of NCAA competition next fall.

Dallas Stars Sign Sheldon Dries, Shane Hanna To AHL Contracts

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According to Sean Shapiro of NHL.com, the Dallas Stars have signed NCAA free agents Sheldon Dries and Shane Hanna to AHL contracts. Both contracts will start next year, though no other details have been released. The pair will join the Texas Stars, who this season finished second last in the Pacific division and missed the playoffs.

Dries, 23, had been playing for Western Michigan where he has captained the Broncos for the past three seasons. The undersized center put together a solid career, ending with 30 points in 36 games in his senior year. Though he doesn’t possess elite skill or offensive ability, he’s gotten by with an extremely high work ethic and drive to compete physically with players bigger than him. As former NHL bench boss and current WMU head coach Andy Murray told David Drew of MLive back in 2014, “you can’t tell Sheldon he’s not 6’3″. He goes up against the biggest guys all the time and normally has tough assignments in terms of matchups.”

Hanna, also 23, is an offensive defenseman out of Michigan Tech, who put up 27 points in 45 games this season. Also a bit undersized, Hanna is a good example of a transition defender who makes up for his lack of size with footspeed and elusiveness. While he may not ever be strong enough to handle an NHL power forward below the goal line, his offensive instincts are strong enough to quarterback a professional powerplay and perhaps play a big role on an AHL team.

Neither player is expected to make an impact at the NHL level, but both have intriguing aspects to their game. If everything breaks right and they hit another level in their development they could see a cup of coffee before long. Otherwise, Texas will be happy to have their experience added to the AHL roster for next season.

Blade Jenkins De-Commits From U. Of Michigan, Signs With OHL’s Saginaw Spirit

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A few different organizations in the world of hockey development were shaken up today as aptly-named 2018 NHL Draft prospect Blade Jenkins announced that he had signed with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League. Jenkins had been selected fourth overall in the 2016 OHL Draft by Saginaw, but played this past season with the United States National Development Program U-17 Team.

For Saginaw, this is a major transaction. The team took a big risk last year in drafting Jenkins, who they had no guarantee would ever play for them. A Jackson, Michigan native, Jenkins had committed first to the U.S. National Team and second to the flagship school of his state, the University of Michigan. It is not often that American players who have committed to play college hockey instead choose to play Canadian juniors, but Jenkins is an exception. It may have helped that Saginaw is in fact an American-based team in Saginaw, Michigan, less than two hours from his home in Jackson and less than an hour further than Ann Arbor, where he would have gone to college.

Saginaw’s gain is the Michigan Wolverines’ loss, as NCAA bylaws prohibit Canadian major junior players from ever later playing college hockey. In an effort to preserve “amateurism”, a choice must be made and Jenkins decided he wanted to play at a higher level of hockey sooner rather than later, opting to join the Spirit for 2017-18 rather than join the Wolverines in 2018-19. This also means that the U.S. U-18 team will also have to adjust, as they planned on having Jenkins around next season.

Jenkins, who is still just 16 years old and already 6’0″ and 172 lbs., is developing into a big, two-way center. Jenkins earned his OHL draft slot and U-17 roster spot after scoring 36 points in 22 games at the midget level in 2015-16 and adding some noteworthy tournament performance along the way. Yet, in his first season playing against high-end competition, the offense disappeared as he had just eight points in 56 games. Jenkins is still very raw and has quite a bit of developing to do, but has the physical tools to become an elite player down the road. Saginaw hopes that he can begin to develop into that future star in 2017-18 after inking an unlikely contract today.

Snapshots: KHL, Surgeries, Bjork

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Several pieces of news out of the KHL today, including the signing of a three-year contract for Nikita Tryamkin with Yekaterinburg. The news that Tryamkin had left the Vancouver Canucks has been out for a while, but now we know how long the team will have to wait until they get a chance to bring him back to the NHL. The Canucks will hold his rights until 2021-22 season since they plan to qualify him this offseason, meaning that perhaps a reunion is possible after this three-year deal expires in 2020.

Viktor Antipin has officially terminated his deal, meaning he’s allowed to sign with the Buffalo Sabres (or anyone else) as soon as he wishes. Antipin’s teammate and former NHLer Alexander Semin will not be offered a new contract by Magnitogorsk, despite scoring 30 points this season. Semin could potentially return to the NHL should someone want to take a chance on the former 40-goal man, though at 33 his most effective years are likely behind him.

  • SKA St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow were involved in a trade, swapping the rights to Nail Yakupov and Nikita Kucherov for those of Marcus Johansson and David Musil. While Kucherov and Johansson are both under contract and thus unable to be wooed by the KHL, both Yakupov and Musil are restricted free agents this summer. They could theoretically leave for greener pastures, as neither have been able to make much of an impact at the NHL level recently (or ever, in Musil’s case).
  • The Minnesota Wild have announced that both Marco Scandella and Christian Folin have undergone surgery to repair hip and shoulder injuries respectively. Both are expected to be ready for training camp, though it obviously sets some of their offseason work back.
  • Joe Haggerty of CSNNE reports that NCAA prospect Anders Bjork has told the Bruins he’ll make a decision on turning pro after the World Championships. Bjork is currently playing with Team USA at the tournament, which starts on May 5th. The 20-year old fifth-round pick blew up at Notre Dame this year, and Boston has made it clear that they want him to turn pro this summer instead of returning for his senior season. If he were to return, he’d be just a few months away from free agency when he graduated with most of the league ready to put his name on a contract.

New York Rangers Sign NCAA Defenseman Neal Pionk

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After many teams tried to court University of Minnesota-Duluth defenseman Neal Pionk this spring, the young free agent has decided on the New York Rangers. The team did not reveal any details on the contract, but it will be a three-year entry-level deal and likely start next season. As recently as February up to twenty teams were after Pionk, including the Washington Capitals who even had him attend their development camp in 2015. The small-but-fiesty defenseman has a cannon of a shot and could legitimately make the jump to the NHL as soon as next season.

Unlike many college free agents, Pionk is only 21-years old and still has a lot of time to develop his game in the right system. New York seems a perfect fit for him, as they’ve had trouble on the right side for several years, and could use a powerplay option outside of Ryan McDonagh and Brady Skjei (both left-handed). In 42 games for UMD this season, Pionk scored 34 points and helped the Bulldogs reach the championship game against the University of Denver.

While the Rangers continue to play for the Stanley Cup, the team has already added Alexei Bereglazov from the KHL and signed Steven Kampfer to a contract extension, while adding Vinni Lettieri and now Pionk from the NCAA ranks. It’s been a busy spring for Jeff Gorton and Chris Drury, as they look to prepare their team for the future while battling for the present. Pionk and Bereglazov are of special interest, as their arrival in New York seems to give the team too many options on the blueline. Should they decide to move on from one or two of their veteran defenders, they would have a tough time moving the big contracts. Both Marc Staal and Dan Girardi have no-movement clauses and are still signed long-term, though interestingly Girardi’s clause drops to a 15-team no-trade list on July 1st.

In all, Pionk has entered a situation where he will not be relied upon as the savior or a building-block, but a complementary piece on a team that already has its sights set on the playoffs every year. Should he show the ability to transition well to the NHL game, he’ll be rewarded handsomely in the future with one of the richest teams in the league. The Rangers have been doing a great job in recruiting young players from the college and European ranks, making up for their lack of draft picks in recent years.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report that Pionk had come to terms with the Rangers.

Spencer Foo Expected To Make Decision Soon

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After telling teams he wanted to take a little time off and think about his decision fully, NCAA free agent Spencer Foo has now met with five different teams. Ken Campbell of The Hockey News reports that he could make his decision as soon as this weekend, and that interested teams still include Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Edmonton among others.

Foo was a Hobey Baker finalist in this his junior season with Union College, and was named to the All-American first team after scoring 62 points in 38 games. His teammate Mike Vecchione already signed with Philadelphia, and Foo could follow him there soon to join fellow Union alum Shayne Gostisbehere. He’s also been linked to Calgary in the past, attending development camp with the Flames last summer. In 2015, the San Jose Sharks hosted him at their own development camp, though there has been no recent link between the two sides.

The Edmonton-born forward—who grew up an Oilers fan—was an offensive force during his junior season, and at 22 will progress rapidly through whichever system eventually signs him. Like Vecchione, there has been some debate over whether he could handle the center ice position in professional hockey, with his most likely landing spot on the right wing. With speed to burn and a nose for the net he’ll try to follow the example set by fellow undrafted college player Conor Sheary and find success early in his pro career.

Snapshots: Sabres, Montgomery, Gillies, Henderson

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When the Buffalo Sabres fired both head coach Dan Bylsma and GM Tim Murray this morning, they effectively cleaned house and set themselves up to start all over again from the top down. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet now reports that it wasn’t just those two that were shown the door, but also Director of Pro Scouting Rob Murphy and Director of Amateur Scouting Greg Royce. It’s very surprising that these two would be let go so close to both the entry and expansion drafts, as whoever comes in will have to rely entirely on the scouts themselves to work through the process.

Perhaps Buffalo has a plan in place already, as both Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News and Chuck Gormley each have heard the name Norm MacIver in consideration for the position. Don’t count the Blackhawks’ assistant GM as hired yet, but he has long been thought of as a future GM in the league and would be a solid hire for the Sabres. For now, Sabres’ owner Terry Pegula will address the media tomorrow to explain all of the decisions, and likely give some insight as to where the team goes from here.

  • Jim Montgomery will interview for the vacant Florida Panthers position according to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post. The college coach who led the University of Denver to victory over UMD in the NCAA Championship game, will meet with the Panthers in the next 7-10 days to see if there is a fit. Chambers says that Montgomery leaving could prompt several players to leave the school early and turn pro, as they committed to working with him and not whoever would follow in the position. Earlier this month it was reported that Henrik Borgstrom will return for his sophomore season, but he could easily follow Montgomery to Florida should he choose. The 19-year old was a first round pick of the Panthers last summer.
  • The Calgary Flames have sent Jon Gillies back to the Stockton Heat for their playoff series after he watched the Anaheim Ducks defeat his NHL club. Gillies was serving as the emergency goaltender in Calgary and will now return to Stockton where he played the majority of the year. The Heat also signed Tyler Parsons to an amateur tryout today, meaning the goaltending situation in Stockton is quite full. Gillies will likely get the lion’s share of the starts in the postseason.
  • In a story that just won’t go away, Don Henderson—the linesman injured by a blindside Dennis Wideman hit last season—has filed a $10.25MM lawsuit against Wideman and the Flames organization, according to Rick Westhead of TSN. Henderson has never returned to the league, and according to Westhead is now claiming he “has suffered a limitation of activities and loss of enjoyment of life” and a long list of medical symptoms from this incident.

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