Snapshots: Foo, Gavrikov, Panthers
Spencer Foo joined Bob Stauffer on 630 CHED today and the college free agent confirmed that he has whittled down the interest from “over 20” to “under five” teams on where to sign his first NHL contract. The Oilers remain in that group, the childhood team of Foo growing up in Edmonton. Foo also revealed that he would have been named captain of the Union College team, and his younger brother would be have been joining him this season had he stayed.
The Hobey Baker finalist scored 62 points in 38 games during his junior team before deciding to turn pro this summer, and was one of the most dynamic players in the country. He has delayed his decision so far to finish his school year, instead of signing and playing this season like other NCAA players. At 23, he should compete for a spot in the NHL right away wherever he signs.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have been trying to convince Vladislav Gavrikov to come over to the NHL for some time, and according to Igor Eronko of Sport-Express the young defenseman is trying to get a visa in order to come over for a medical. According to Eronko Columbus has offered him a deal with an AHL “out clause” meaning that he would be allowed to return to the KHL should they try to send him down. The report also indicates that the contract would include “full bonuses”, though it’s unclear if that means signing, performance or both. Gavrikov played quite well this season for Yaroslavl, suiting up for 54 games. He also played for Team Russia at the World Championships, logging time against top competition.
- The Florida Panthers have signed six players to AHL contracts, inking Francois Beauchemin (not the one who plays for Colorado), Matt Buckles, Ryan Horvat, Anthony Greco, Matt MacKenzie and Evan Cowley. All six will report to the Springfield Thunderbirds next season. The biggest name may be Cowley, who finished his NCAA career with an incredible .955 save percentage as the backup at DU. The former fourth-round pick is an interesting goaltending prospect for the Panthers down the line, perhaps capable of developing into at least an NHL backup.
Jim Montgomery Staying At University Of Denver
After being courted by the Florida Panthers recently, Jim Montgomery has decided to stay in the NCAA coaching ranks according to Mike Chambers of the Denver Post. The former NHL forward has coached at the University of Denver for the past four seasons, winning a National Championship last season by beating the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs 3-2 in the final game of the Frozen Four. As referenced in our live chat yesterday, Florida had moved on to other candidates and will continue to wait on Phil Housley to finish his Stanley Cup run with the Nashville Predators.
Montgomery is considered one of the top coaching prospects outside of professional hockey, and according to Chambers received two interviews with Florida and was also in contact with the Los Angeles Kings before they decided to go with John Stevens. Fans of the DU program will now be able to rest easy, expecting players like Henrik Borgstrom—Florida’s first-overall pick in 2016—to honor their commitments to the school and return for the 2017-18 season.
Florida meanwhile will move on to other candidates including Housley. They’ve also been linked in the past to Bob Boughner, Michel Therrien and Todd Reirden, and could branch out the coaching search even further. For several of their candidates they’ll have to fight off the Buffalo Sabres who are also in the midst of a coaching search.
Bruins Notes: Draft Picks, Pastrnak, Bjork
Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney met with the media today and spoke about many upcoming topics in the NHL offseason, including where he stands on the NHL Entry Draft. According to Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald, Sweeney is open to trading his team’s first-round pick in the right deal. The Bruins currently hold the 18th pick, but after selecting five times in the past two first rounds could move it for help next season.
As Boston looks to get back to the playoffs, they’ll be looking for defensemen to help young Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo on the back end. Their top pick in combination with perhaps Ryan Spooner could make an attractive offer for someone looking to move a surplus defenseman. With both apparently available for the right deal, expect to hear more from Boston in the coming weeks.
- Boston fans can breathe again after Sweeney reported that talks are “moving in the right direction” with David Pastrnak on a long-term deal. The Bruins GM seems confident that the two sides will reach a deal before next season. Pastrnak broke out this year with 34 goals and 70 points and is a restricted free agent this summer. Just 21, Pastrnak has already completed three NHL seasons and would be giving up four free agent years if he were to sign the maximum eight-year deal.
- Sweeney also spoke about Anders Bjork, who they signed this week to his entry-level deal. Bjork had the option of going back to Notre Dame for another year, but instead chose to start his pro career early and join the Bruins organization. Sweeney claimed the “opportunity would be there” for Bjork, who will come to camp to compete for an NHL job right away. The 20-year old forward is coming off an outstanding year in the NCAA where he scored 52 points in 39 games but could need some seasoning in the AHL first.
- Also, Sweeney confirmed what was reported yesterday in regards to Linus Arnesson. He has left the Bruins to sign in Sweden, but the team will extend a qualifying offer in order to retain his rights should he want to return to the NHL after his multi-year contract expires.
Boston Bruins Sign Anders Bjork To Three-Year Deal
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.