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2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Seventeenth Overall Pick

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Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.”  Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended.  For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’re looking back at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now.  Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?

Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks (1)
2nd Overall: Jamie Benn, Philadelphia Flyers (129)
3rd Overall: P.K. Subban, Phoenix Coyotes (43)
4th Overall: Logan Couture, Los Angeles Kings (9)
5th Overall: Max Pacioretty, Washington Capitals (22)
6th Overall: Jakub Voracek, Edmonton Oilers (7)
7th Overall: Ryan McDonagh, Columbus Blue Jackets (12)
8th Overall: James van Riemsdyk, Boston Bruins (2)
9th Overall: Wayne Simmonds, San Jose Sharks (61)
10th Overall: Kevin Shattenkirk, Florida Panthers (14)
11th Overall: Jake Muzzin, Carolina Hurricanes (141)
12th Overall: Kyle Turris, Montreal Canadiens (3)
13th Overall: David Perron, St. Louis Blues (26)
14th Overall: Mikael Backlund, Colorado Avalanche (24)
15th Overall: Evgenii Dadonov, Edmonton Oilers (71)
16th Overall: Alec Martinez, Minnesota Wild (95)

As the back half of the first round gets underway, the Wild snatch up a solid and perhaps underrated defenseman in Martinez. That’s a huge raise for a player who wasn’t even selected in his first two years of eligibility or ranked at all by NHL Central Scouting. Martinez, who was set to turn 20 the month following the draft, had already played two seasons at Miami University (Ohio) and showed he could be a reliable two-way presence. Though there is obviously risk in drafting a player already deep into his college years—the Kings could have lost him to unrestricted free agency just two summers later—they ended up convincing him to sign in 2008 and he quickly became a rising star in the organization.

Making his debut during the 2009-10 season, it would be just a couple of years before he was a huge part of the team’s 2012 Stanley Cup championship. A few years after that he would scoring the Cup-winning goal in the Kings’ second title—in double overtime to boot—cementing him in franchise lore. Jumping up into the rush wasn’t something Martinez made a habit of, but it is well within his capabilities. Through a decade with the Kings he has played 556 regular season games, scoring 61 goals and 190 points. That puts him fifth among all defensemen selected in the 2007 draft, despite almost slipping out of the top-100 picks.

The New York Rangers, who selected 17th in 2007, will never know if they made the right choice. Only one player to that point—Lars Eller at 13th—had been selected from outside of North America, so the Rangers decided to test their luck with the supremely skilled Russian forward Alexei Cherepanov. The young winger had just recorded 36 points in 57 games at the highest level of Russian hockey, won gold at the U18 and silver at the U20 World Juniors while being named the tournament’s best forward. Cherepanov was the highest ranked international skater by NHL Central Scouting, and looked like a lock to be a top-line player in the NHL if the Rangers could convince him to come over.

Tragically however, just 16 months later in the first official KHL season, Cherepanov would collapse on the bench. He was pronounced dead at hospital later that day while he was still just 19 years old. Playing on a team with Jaromir Jagr, Cherepanov was off to a blazing start with eight goals and 13 points in 15 games. His potential seemed boundless, but the Rangers never got to find out what he could do at the highest level of hockey. The KHL has since named their Rookie of the Year trophy after Cherepanov, while Avangard retired his jersey number.

If you gave the Rangers front office the pick over again, you can bet they would select Cherepanov again. We have chosen to exclude him from this exercise, meaning someone else will have to take his place on the list.

With the seventeenth pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the New York Rangers select?  Cast your vote below!

2007 Redraft: Seventeenth Overall
Carl Hagelin 17.99% (127 votes)
Lars Eller 16.29% (115 votes)
Alex Killorn 13.74% (97 votes)
Patrick Maroon 9.07% (64 votes)
Sam Gagner 8.22% (58 votes)
Nick Bonino 8.22% (58 votes)
Justin Braun 4.53% (32 votes)
Brandon Sutter 3.82% (27 votes)
Karl Alzner 3.54% (25 votes)
Ian Cole 3.54% (25 votes)
Paul Byron 2.69% (19 votes)
Carl Gunnarsson 1.98% (14 votes)
Thomas Hickey 1.84% (13 votes)
Robert Bortuzzo 1.70% (12 votes)
Riley Nash 1.56% (11 votes)
Brendan Smith 0.71% (5 votes)
Colton Sceviour 0.57% (4 votes)
Total Votes: 706

[Mobile users click here to vote]

Several Teams Interested In Ben Hutton

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While several players are simply struggling to find a team that’s interested in them, that doesn’t appear to be the case for defenseman Ben Hutton.  TSN’s Frank Seravalli reports that the blueliner is weighing his options at the moment and mentions the Kings, Wild, Rangers, and Red Wings among the teams to have shown interest.

Hutton is coming off an improved season relative to his 2017-18 performance.  After struggling to merely stay in the lineup that year, he wound up logging a career-high in ice time at 22:31 per night, a mark that ranked second on the Canucks.  Despite that and an uptick in his point production from six to 20 points, Vancouver opted to non-tender him over qualifying him at $2.8MM this summer.

That made him one of the better options available on the UFA market but that one has been particularly slow to develop; even Jake Gardiner had to wait until earlier this month to get a new deal.  Nonetheless, Hutton should be able to find a landing spot soon if this many teams are still interested.

The Kings have been linked back to him going back to July.  Their back end isn’t the strongest and he’s young enough that he could be part of the picture for a few years if things went well.  However, GM Rob Blake tried to downplay the idea of them signing him late last month saying they took a look but it didn’t go further than that.

Meanwhile, Minnesota’s back end hasn’t undergone any changes this summer but head coach Bruce Boudreau was hesitant to give big minutes to players like Brad Hunt and Nick Seeler.  Accordingly, someone that can log a heavier workload would certainly be appealing to the Wild.

The Rangers are a bit of a surprise on this list.  While they could certainly use Hutton on their back end, they’re unlikely to be able to afford RFA Anthony DeAngelo without having to use some creativity when it comes to the cap and adding Hutton would only compound that.

As for the Red Wings, they lost Niklas Kronwall to retirement earlier this month which would seemingly open up a spot.  However, they added Patrik Nemeth early in free agency this summer and still have veterans Danny DeKeyser and Jonathan Ericsson on the team so there may not be a full-time spot for Hutton to work with.

Nevertheless, although training camps are underway, it appears that Hutton won’t be without a team for much longer.  However, at this stage, it’s hard to envision him getting the $2.8MM that he received last season despite his improved performance.

Snapshots: Mangiapane, DeAngelo, Sharks

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The Calgary Flames are still working towards a deal with Matthew Tkachuk, but he’s not the only unsigned restricted free agent they have. Andrew Mangiapane is now missing time at training camp as well, but Eric Francis of Sportsnet reports that’s not what he wants. Francis tweeted today that Mangiapane has made a $200K concession in negotiations, bringing his ask down to $850K in order to get into camp and prove himself. Unfortunately, that’s still more than his $715K qualifying offer that the team can wait for him to accept.

The Flames don’t have any excess cap space to be handing out, even though there is now such a small gap between the two sides. Tkachuk is going to get a huge raise and could very well become the highest paid player on the team—eclipsing Johnny Gaudreau and Mark Giordano at $6.75MM—meaning the team needs to save every penny in negotiations. Already with just 21 players on the roster, CapFriendly projects the Flames to have just barely over $7MM in cap space.

  • Anthony DeAngelo, another restricted free agent that isn’t getting many headlines, also remains without a contract with the New York Rangers. Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that there is still a “wide gulf” between the two sides, and notes that the Rangers don’t want to go higher than the $925K they recently signed Brendan Lemieux for. DeAngelo broke out last season for the Rangers with 30 points in 61 games and was one of the team’s better defensemen by year’s end. The 23-year old doesn’t have a lot of leverage without arbitration eligibility however and will have to make a decision soon if he wants to take part in any of training camp.
  • The San Jose Sharks have already made some training camp cuts, sending six players back to junior. Mitchell Brewer, Zach Emond, Zach Gallant, Jake Gricius, Jake Lee and Hudson Wilson have all been returned, leaving 57 players for the NHL training camp.

Minor Transactions: 09/12/19

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Training camp is upon us and physicals are underway for all players under contract. Yet, many NHL clubs still have work to do, with prominent restricted and unrestricted free agents still without deals for the 2019-20 season. Minor league affiliates, European teams, and college programs are also still making moves to finalize their plans for the coming season. Keep track of those minor transactions right here:

  • Colin Campbell will be in Colorado Avalanche training camp on a professional tryout after spending the first several seasons of his career with the Grand Rapids Griffins. The 28-year old forward was part of the 2017 Calder Cup squad and scored 19 points in 63 games last season.
  • Daniel Audette won’t be back with the Laval Rocket this season, instead signing an AHL contract with the Springfield Thunderbirds according to Stephane Leroux of RDS. A former first-overall QMJHL pick, the undersized Audette has never been able to turn his immense offensive skill into an NHL opportunity. He recorded 39 points in 71 games with the Rocket last season.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs will have Brandon Halverson in training camp on a professional tryout, the second goaltender to take a PTO with the team along with Michal Neuvirth. Halverson has spent the last three seasons bouncing between the AHL and ECHL in the New York Rangers system, but went unqualified this summer and became an unrestricted free agent.

New York Rangers Re-Sign Brendan Lemieux

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Just in time for training camp, the New York Rangers have re-signed forward Brendan Lemieux to a one-year contract extension, the team announced. TVA’s Renaud Lavoie adds that it is a $925K AAV for Lemieux, only a slight raise from his recently-expired entry-level deal.  Lemieux will be a restricted free agent again next summer, but this time with arbitration rights.

Lemieux, 23, is betting on himself after finally carving out a regular role in the NHL last season. Lemieux spent the majority of his first two pro seasons in the AHL, only playing in nine games with the Winnipeg Jets in 2017-18. However, after a very productive campaign with the Manitoba Moose, the Jets handed Lemieux a fourth-line spot last season and he made the most of the opportunity. The big winger notched nine goals and was a dominant physical presence on the ice through the first half of the season. However, Winnipeg traded him to the Rangers at the trade deadline as part of the package that landed Kevin Hayes. Lemieux saw significantly more ice time down the stretch in New York and continued to add points and even more so penalty minutes. He finished the year with 12 goals and 17 points in 63 total games, as well as 108 penalty minutes, which ranked fifth in the league.

While some may find it strange that a checking forward like Lemieux would settle for a short-term deal when offense can often be hard to come by with limited minutes and opportunity, Lemieux has an incredible opportunity to prove his value this coming season to a Rangers team than needs someone to neutralize threats to new star forwards Artemi Panarin and Kaapo Kakko, among others. Lemieux’s production may not change at all, but he could nevertheless prove himself to be an invaluable member of the team by coming to the defense of his teammates. On the other hand, Lemieux also scored 12 goals last season while spending most of the year in Winnipeg, playing about seven minutes per night on a team with great forward depth. He may find that in New York he has the opportunity to push for a 20-goal season if afforded consistent ice time over 82 games. Such a feat would certainly make his decision to take a one-year deal look like a smart move.

With Lemieux signed, the Rangers are left with just over $1MM in projected cap space. It’s a better situation than expected given Lemieux’s surprisingly affordable price tag after all this time, but New York will still need to get creative with their roster. RFA defenseman Anthony DeAngelo remains unsigned and we recently hypothesized that it would cost upwards of $3.75MM to re-sign him. Even if DeAngelo opts for a one-year deal like Lemieux, he would still be asking for at least $3MM. The team will likely have to make a move to free up the space to sign yet another young player coming off a breakout season who shows signs of only just beginning to reach his full potential.

NHL Tryout Tracker: 09/11/19

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With several NHL teams announcing their full training camp rosters today, there have been a number of previously unreported training camp invites, amateur tryouts and professional tryouts alike, revealed. Below is a list of players not under contract with an NHL team or their AHL affiliate, but will be attending NHL camp:

Buffalo Sabres (link)

F Kyle Olson, Tri-City Americans (WHL)

Calgary Flames (link)

D Eric Gryba, New Jersey Devils (AHL)

Columbus Blue Jackets (link)

F Egor Sokolov, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)

Los Angeles Kings (link)

D Billy Constantinou, Kingston Frontenacs (OHL)
F Jonathan Yantsis, Kitchener Rangers (OHL)

Montreal Canadiens (link)

F Liam Hawel, Guelph Storm (OHL)

New York Rangers (link)

F Connor Brickley, New York Rangers (NHL)

Ottawa Senators (link)

F Tristan Scherwey, SC Bern (NLA)
F Scott Sabourin, Stockton Heat (AHL)

Toronto Maple Leafs (link)

D Marc-Antoine Pepin, Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)

Vegas Golden Knights (link)

D Brayden Pachal, Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)

Washington Capitals (link)

F Casey Bailey, HC Slovan Bratislava (KHL)
G Beck Warm, Tri-City Americans (WHL)

 

 

Joe Morrow To Attend New York Rangers Camp

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The New York Rangers have brought along another veteran for training camp, announcing today that Joe Morrow will attend on a professional tryout. Morrow spent last season with the Winnipeg Jets, but was not issued a qualifying offer and became an unrestricted free agent.

Morrow, 26, was a first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins back in 2011 but has bounced around the NHL since then. Making his debut with the Boston Bruins in 2014-15, he’s played 162 games since then including 41 last season with the Jets. Once a feared offensive threat in the WHL, Morrow hasn’t brought much of that to the NHL level where he has just 32 points over the years. Still, he will provide some extra depth in Rangers camp and get to show teams around the league that he’s still worthy of an NHL deal.

The Jets payed Morrow $1MM last season, but you have to think he won’t get much more than league minimum at this point if he was unable to find a deal through the summer. That could be a savvy pickup for a team like New York that could potentially flip him at the deadline to a defense-needy team for an asset, however small.

Rangers To Assign Matt Beleskey To The Minors

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Training camp hasn’t even officially started yet and the Rangers have already made their first cut.  Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports (Twitter link) that New York plans to sent winger Matt Beleskey directly to training camp with AHL Hartford and will not have him at camp with the big club when it opens up later this week.

While uncommon, this type of move isn’t entirely unprecedented as Buffalo did the same with winger Matt Moulson last season.  However, the Rangers will officially have to wait for the waiver period to open up before they can make the move official.  That will occur when it gets to twelve days before the start of the season which is September 20th.

Beleskey spent the majority of last season with the Wolf Pack so the fact they intend to send him there should come as little surprise.  In 53 games at that level, he had just five goals along with 17 assists while he picked up a goal in four games with New York.  As a result, it’s quite likely that he’ll pass through unclaimed once again.

The eventual move will free up some extra cap room for the Rangers.  Teams can bury someone making up to $1.075MM in the minors without any cap penalty; any amount after that will still count on their cap.  Beleskey’s cap hit with New York is $1.9MM (Boston is also on the hook for that amount) so he will only count on their books for $825K.  With winger Brendan Lemieux and defenseman Anthony DeAngelo still sitting as restricted free agents, that extra space will go a long way towards helping to get those players under contract in the coming days and weeks.

RFA Profile: Anthony DeAngelo

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If asked to rank the remaining unsigned restricted free agent defensemen by offensive efficiency, most would easily be able to tab Zach Werenski and Charlie McAvoy as the top two. However, few would name Anthony DeAngelo third ahead of the likes of Ivan Provorov and Marcus Pettersson. In fact, last season DeAngelo finished just behind Werenski and McAvoy in points per game, with 0.49 compared to their 0.54 and 0.52 respectively. He also did so with three minutes less of ice time on average. DeAngelo has quietly developed into a potent offensive contributor on the blue line and working out an extension will be no small task for the cap-strapped New York Rangers. Here is a closer look at his situation.

DeAngelo, 23, is already on his third NHL team, a fact that may contribute to his perceived lesser value compared to his RFA peers. The 19th overall pick in 2014 by the Tampa Bay Lightning, he never played a game for the Bolts and was surprisingly dealt to the Arizona Coyotes for a 2016 second-round pick following a productive first pro season in the AHL. The ‘Yotes did not hesitate to bring DeAngelo up, and he recorded a respectable 14 points in 39 NHL games in 2016-17. Yet, he was moved again that off-season in the deal that sent Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta from New York to Arizona. DeAngelo’s first season with the Rangers was nothing special; he again split the season between the NHL and AHL and failed to scorer a goal in 32 games with New York. Through three pro seasons, DeAngelo was beginning to look like a bust as a first-round pick.

However, the team handed DeAngelo a regular role last season and he ran with it. The talented puck-mover registered 30 points in 61 games to lead all Blueshirt defensemen in scoring despite missing more than 20 games. DeAngelo also led the entire team with a +6 rating and was second in even strength time on ice. There is no hiding the fact that DeAngelo was one of the best players for New York last season. Despite their considerable additions this off-season, especially on the blue line in Jacob Trouba and prospect Adam Fox, the Rangers will still need to sign DeAngelo to a deal that accurately reflects that value, even if they don’t necessarily have the cap flexibility to do so. After that showing last season, DeAngelo is no longer a mystery or an enigma and if the Rangers won’t pay him, another team will.

Statistics

2018-19: 61 GP, 4-26-30, +6 rating, 77 PIMS, 111 shots, 19:20 ATOI
Career: 132 GP, 9-43-52, -25 rating, 125 PIMS, 239 shots, 18:00 ATOI

Comparables

Neal Pionk, Winnipeg Jets

Platform Year Stats: 73 GP, 6-20-26, -16 rating, 25 PIMS, 132 shots, 21:10 ATOI
Career Stats: 101 GP, 7-33-40, -17, 47 PIMS, 186 shots, 21:30 ATOI

Contract: Two years, $6MM
Year Signed: 2019

There’s isn’t a much better comparable than a player who played on the same team. Last season, Pionk was given more ice time and played in more games than DeAngelo for the Rangers and still was outscored and outplayed. When it came to trading away a young defender in the Trouba deal, it was Pionk that New York was willing to part with and not DeAngelo. With similar platform and career stats, especially on a per-game scoring basis, DeAngelo can point to Pionk as a comparable but also prove his slight edge as well as argue that his younger age and greater experience help his case. Pionk’s deal is the floor for a DeAngelo extension.

Travis Sanheim, Philadelphia Flyers

Platform Year Stats: 82 GP, 9-26-35, -4 rating, 22 PIMS, 121 shots, 19:34 ATOI
Career Stats: 131 GP, 11-34-45, -10 rating, 42 PIMS, 193 shots, 18:04 ATOI

Contract: Two years, $6.5MM
Year Signed: 2019

DeAngelo took a big step forward this season, but Sanheim took a leap. A fellow 2014 first-round pick facing criticism, Sanheim finally showed he was a starting-caliber NHL defenseman with a nine-goal, 35-point campaign. However, those numbers did come in a full 82-game season. Sanheim’s career numbers also trail DeAngelo’s in almost the exact same games played and total ice time. Both young defensemen are part of busy blue lines with a fair amount of talent but have carved out a role for themselves. DeAngelo maintains a slight edge based just on per-game production, but these two players are very similar.

Will Butcher, New Jersey Devils

Platform Year Stats: 78 GP, 4-26-30, -17 rating, 18 PIMS, 108 shots, 19:16 ATOI
Career Stats: 159 GP, 9-65-74, -16, 26 PIMS, 196 shots, 17:38 ATOI

Contract: Three years, $11.2MM
Year Signed: 2019

Like Werenski and McAvoy, few would think to associate DeAngelo with Butcher, the prize college free agent of a few years ago. In reality, DeAngelo and Butcher had the same stat line last season, with the Devils standout playing in 17 more games. In his career, Butcher does have the slightly superior per-game scoring numbers, but it is hard to look at their platform seasons and DeAngelo’s more balanced game at a younger age and not feel they are at least close to equal.

Projected Contract

There are several fair comparisons to DeAngelo, all of whom have signed extensions within the last few months. It paints a pretty clear picture of what a defenseman of DeAngelo’s age, experience, and production should be seeking: a short-term deal worth $3-4MM.

The Rangers are tight against the salary cap and have several long-term contracts on the blue line already, as well as a handful of prospect defenders who could push for a role sooner rather than later. For that reason, the team will likely push for a shorter, more affordable bridge deal, taking the risk that DeAngelo could continue to improve and boost his price tag, but landing a contract that they can accommodate more easily in the short term. If DeAngelo is slightly better than Sanheim, who makes $3.25MM on a two-year deal, and slightly worse than Butcher, who makes $3.73MM on a three-year deal, a two-year deal with a $3.5MM AAV is likely just right for the young Rangers defensemen.

Now, even at a very fair two years and $7MM, a DeAngelo resolution is still too much for the Rangers to carry at current time, with RFA forward Brendan Lemieux still to sign as well. The team has a number of young players they can freely demote as well as multiple veterans that are candidates to be buried in the AHL, but nevertheless the team may still need to make a space-saving trade before the season begins.

Micheal Haley Joins New York Rangers On PTO

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33-year-old Micheal Haley may only have 31 career points in parts of nine NHL seasons, including just six points last year, but the veteran forward still has value around the league. The Athletic’s Rick Carpiniello writes that Haley is expected to join the New York Rangers in training camp on a professional tryout offer, returning to the team he played in nine games for in 2012-13.

Haley is one of the last of his breed. A 5’11, 205-lb. forward, Haley plays a rugged, high-intensity style that makes him an effective fourth liner and often a match-up nightmare. Haley may not play many minutes – a career 8:07 ATOI – put he makes his presence felt regardless. In fact, the gritty pivot led the NHL in penalty minutes in 2017-18; in a career-high 75 games, he spent 212 minutes in the box and just 584 minutes on the ice. A physical force in a small package, Haley’s value is not in his offense, but in his checking ability and willingness to stand up for his teammates. That value was on display again last season, as the San Jose Sharks couldn’t help but claim Haley on waivers from the Florida Panthers, bringing him back to the team he had spent the most of his career with.

However, the Sharks are committed giving more ice time to young players this season and are even turning franchise great Patrick Marleau away, so San Jose wasn’t going to be an option this time. Instead, Haley will fight for a spot on the young, up-and-coming New York Rangers. He may actually stand a good chance of landing a contract too. The Rangers are right up against the salary cap ceiling with just over $1MM in space and still have to sign RFA’s Anthony DeAngelo and Brendan Lemieux. However, the team’s youth gives them some added flexibility with more than a few waiver-exempt players who can move freely between the NHL and AHL. The team could also look to bury the likes of Matt Beleskey and Brendan Smith in the minors, clearing both cap space and roster space. If there is room to sign an additional player when all is said and done, the Rangers would be smart to invest in some muscle. New York has spent considerable money and trade and draft capital to build a talented young core and now need to protect it, especially newcomers Artemi Panarin and Kaapo Kakko. Haley is an ideal player to play the retribution role; it doesn’t take him much time to teach the opposition not to mess with his teammates.

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