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Brady Tkachuk

Draft Notes: Tkachuk, Blackhawks, Flyers

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One of the most well-known players in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft will be Brady Tkachuk, brother of Matthew Tkachuk, both who are sons of Keith Tkachuk. And while many know his name on sight, the 18-year-old physical and fast-skating wing is one of the most debated players in the draft with some having him go as high as the No. 3 pick with others having him slip out of the top-10.

While there is little doubt that he will succeed in the NHL, according to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre, but how he will compare to his brother. At 6-foot-3, the powerful Tkachuk posted eight goals and 31 points in his inaugural season at Boston University. Matthew, meanwhile, who went sixth-overall in the 2016 draft, scored 30 goals in his lone junior season with the OHL London Knights before getting drafted. But, there is a split between which sibling is better with many thinking that Brady might be the better player.

“He has a little more finesse to his game,” NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr said. “Matthew and their dad could go right through the door at you, but Brady may be a little more deceptive with his skill set. But he still has the same drive and tenacity that drives him to the net — except he can also get there with an end-to-end rush.”

  • Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required) breaks down the draft, team by team, to judge how willing each team is to trade their first-round pick. The most interesting observation is Custance notes that the Chicago Blackhawks are the most likely team to trade their first-round pick at No. 8. He notes that general manager Stan Bowman intends to make a major move this offseason, which could come in the form of center John Tavares or winger James van Riemsdyk, but the Hawks might consider trying to acquire a major player for their first-round pick instead as they want to make one last run with their core group of players.
  • Sam Carchidi of Philly.com writes that considering the draft success over the last four years by Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall and the fact that the team has nine draft picks, including the No. 14 and No. 19 picks in the first round, don’t be surprised to see some wheeling and dealing during the draft next weekend. While Carchidi said he trusts Hextall to draft two quality players with those two first picks, he wouldn’t be surprised if Hextall considers moving up in the draft, using both picks to move into the top 10. With many scouts suggesting that the No. 3 through No. 12 picks are interchangeable, the Flyers may be interested in moving into that range. The scribe adds that one legitimate possibility is trying to acquire Vancouver’s No. 7 pick, which the team is dangling.

42 Players Invited To Team USA Summer Showcase

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The World Junior Summer Showcase is a tournament designed to help prospects demonstrate their skills and vie for a spot on their respective World Junior Championship squads. Today, USA Hockey released the list of 42 names that have been invited to the showcase, including several returning players. Highlighted by potential top-5 pick Quinn Hughes and his brother Jack Hughes—who is an early favorite for first-overall in 2019—the USA should have a good chance of bringing home gold at the 2019 tournament. The full list is below:

G Kyle Keyser (BOS, free agent)
G Spencer Knight (2019 draft eligible)
G Keith Petruzzelli (DET, 88th overall, 2017)
G Cayden Primeau (MTL, 199th overall, 2017)

D Matt Anderson (2018 draft eligible)
D Mikey Anderson (LAK, 103rd overall, 2017)
D Josh Ess (CHI, 215th overall, 2017)
D David Farrance (NSH, 92nd overall, 2017)
D Quinn Hughes (2018 draft eligible)
D Joe Keane (2018 draft eligible)
D Phil Kemp (EDM, 208th overall, 2017)
D Ben Mirageas (NYI, 77th overall, 2017)
D K’Andre Miller (2018 draft eligible)
D Tommy Miller (2018 draft eligible)
D Alec Regula (2018 draft eligible)
D Dylan Samberg (WPG, 43rd overall, 2017)
D Mattias Samuelsson (2018 draft eligible)
D Reilly Walsh (NJD, 81st overall, 2017)

F Evan Barratt (CHI, 90th overall, 2017)
F Noah Cates (PHI, 137th overall, 2017)
F Sasha Chmelevski (SJS, 185th overall, 2017)
F Logan Cockerill (NYI, 201st overall, 2017)
F Cole Coskey (2018 draft eligible)
F Paul Cotter (2018 draft eligible)
F Sean Dhooghe (2018 draft eligible)
F Jack Drury (2018 draft eligible)
F Joel Farabee (2018 draft eligible)
F Jon Gruden (2018 draft eligible)
F Curtis Hall (2018 draft eligible)
F Jack Hughes (2019 draft eligible)
F Logan Hutsko (2018 draft eligible)
F Brandon Kruse (2018 draft eligible)
F Ivan Lodnia (MIN, 85th overall, 2017)
F Jacob McGrew (SJS, 159th overall, 2017)
F Grant Mismash (NSH, 61st overall, 2017)
F Josh Norris (SJS, 19th overall, 2017)
F Jay O’Brien (2018 draft eligible)
F Ryan Poehling (MTL, 25th overall, 2017)
F Jason Robertson (DAL, 39th overall, 2017)
F Brady Tkachuk (2018 draft eligible)
F Oliver Wahlstrom (2018 draft eligible)
F Jake Wise (2018 draft eligible)

Negotiation Notes: No. 2 Pick, Nelson, Simon

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The Carolina Hurricanes and newly promoted GM Don Waddell are listening to offers on the second overall pick in the NHL Draft, but don’t expect them to make a move. Waddell spoke with the media at the NHL Draft Combine with week and said that if teams “want to present something to us, we’ll look at it” but, quickly added that “it’s going to be hard for us to move that pick.” After moving up nine spots in the draft lottery to #2, the Hurricanes are looking to make the most of their good luck. Although Carolina’s biggest need is a star center – something that isn’t available in this draft – they can still land a generational talent up front. Waddell stated that forwards Andrei Svechnikov, Filip Zadina, and Brady Tkachuk are the most likely candidates, but there could also be a possibility that Jesperi Kotkaniemi could slide into the spot, as the Finnish center has reportedly been flying up draft boards. Waddell did say that he was impressed with several of the top defensemen in this class, but feels the Hurricanes are well-stocked on the blue line. That is an understatement for what is one of the deepest and most talented groups in the league with promising prospects still on the way. Forward is the big need and the ’Canes seemed prime to make the pick, but Waddell will listen if another team is ready to blow him away with an offer or present him with an intriguing reason to move back in the first round.

  • Entering a crucial off-season, New York Islanders forward Brock Nelson has decided to move on from his current representation, according to The Athletic’s Arthur Staple. Nelson has hired Ben Hankinson of Octagon Sports to handle his negotiations this summer as he enters restricted free agency. As Staple points out, Nelson’s last foray as an RFA did not go smoothly. Former agent Ron Salcer struggled in his dealings with the Islanders and talks grew contentious over the 2015 off-season. Nelson ended up finally re-signing with the Isles on the eve of training camp. Although Nelson has the benefit of arbitration rights this time around, he would still prefer a more civil negotiation with New York and new addition Lou Lamoriello in his new pursuit of an extension.
  • Contrary to an erroneous report, the agent for young Pittsburgh Penguins forward Dominik Simon says that his client has no immediate interest in leaving North America. Agent Allan Walsh dismissed rumors that Simon could join Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL if the Penguins did not offer the part-time winger a one-way contract extension, reports Jonathan Bombulie of the Tribune-Review. Walsh states that Simon is focused only on playing in Pittsburgh in the future and that any talk with foreign teams would be originating from the teams themselves and not the player side. Simon is an RFA this summer and at 23 scored twelve points in 33 games as a rookie and impressed at the AHL level as well. It would be no surprise to see him land a one-way contract, but Walsh makes it sound as if that won’t make a difference in where he plays next season.

NHL Draft Combine Results

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The NHL held its annual Draft Combine over the past week, with players able to speak with their potential teams and participate in fitness testing. The physical part of the week was held on Saturday (with a select few tests occurring the day before), with upwards of 100 prospects trying their best to show off their strengths in the gym. Here are the results of the tests, thanks to NHL Central Scouting:

Aerobic Fitness: Test Duration

  1. Xavier Bouchard – 16:45
  2. Curtis Douglas – 16:35
  3. Mattias Samuelsson – 16:30
  4. Kevin Bahl – 16:10
  5. Oskar Back – 16:08

Aerobic Fitness: VO2max (ml/kg/min)

  1. Cameron Hillis – 65.0
  2. Aidan Dudas – 63.0
  3. Xavier Bouchard – 62.0
  4. Jack Drury – 61.0
  5. Ty Dellandrea – 60.0

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Prospect Notes: Tkachuk, Ollas-Mattsson, Lundestrom, McGrew

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While there has been plenty of speculation that Brady Tkachuk was leaning towards staying at Boston University for next season, he told Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic (subscription required) that a decision won’t be made until after the draft.  He wants to sit down with whichever team drafts him to get a sense of what they would like him to do.  It’s likely that whoever the school hires as their next head coach (as David Quinn has gone to the Rangers) will also play a role.  Tkachuk is expected to go in the top five later this month.

Other prospect news and notes from around the hockey world:

  • Although the Flames opted not to sign 2014 sixth-rounder Adam Ollas-Mattsson by Friday’s deadline, they may still offer him an AHL deal down the road, reports Postmedia’s Eric Francis. The 21-year-old has actually spent a bit of time with their minor league affiliate already, having played in 23 games over the last two seasons.
  • Speaking with reporters at the combine, including The Hockey Writers’ Mark Scheig (Twitter link), forward Isac Lundestrom stated that he is likely staying in Sweden for next season. While he is under contract with Lulea of the SHL already, a team selecting him in the first round has the option to supersede that deal.  Lundestrom is presently expected to go near the middle of the first round in the draft later this month.
  • While the Sharks let 2016 draft pick Mark Shoemaker go yesterday, they did extend a bona fide offer to 2017 sixth-rounder Jake McGrew, notes Curtis Pashelka of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). Teams must give their selections a bona fide offer within one year of their being picked or they lose their rights.  Typically, the process is a formality but there have been players who struggled enough in their post-draft year to be let go.  McGrew had a pretty quiet post-draft season and seemed like a candidate to be released a year early but evidently, San Jose thinks he could rebound in 2018-19.

2018 NHL Scouting Combine Player List

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The 2018 NHL Entry Draft is fast approaching on June 22nd, and the league has released the list of 104 players invited to this year’s scouting combine. The group includes top prospects like Rasmus Dahlin, Andrei Svechnikov and Filip Zadina, along with many others who are just hoping to hear their name called at some point in a few weeks.

Starting today, teams are able to meet this week with potential draft picks for 1-on-1 interviews to better determine the kind of person they are. Though obviously these discussions likely won’t change the first-overall selection, they could bring a player further onto a team’s radar for later in the draft. It’s a chance to impress with your dedication and drive, before getting the opportunity to show them your physical attributes next weekend. The fitness testing will commence on Saturday, with potential top pick Rasmus Dahlin getting involved early (currently scheduled for 8:30am CT).

Below is a full list of the attending players, but for more detailed information check out Scott Wheeler of the Athletic’s Twitter image.

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Rasmus Dahlin And Other Top Picks Will Attend Scouting Combine

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Though it doesn’t seem like he has much to prove, Rasmus Dahlin will be in Buffalo next week for the NHL Scouting Combine, John Vogl of The Buffalo News reports. The Swedish defenseman is expected to go first-overall in the draft to the Buffalo Sabres, after finding himself at the top of almost every scouting list this season. Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers confirms that Andrei Svechnikov, Filip Zadina, Brady Tkachuk, Noah Dobson and Evan Bouchard will all also be present at the event, which combines fitness testing with media availability and team meetings over a week-long period.

While fans enjoy seeing the fitness testing results, they rarely make drastic changes to rankings just before the draft. What may be more important are the meetings teams have with the players to start to understand their personalities and history. Those meetings can also be revealing on how the player plans on pursuing a professional career, whether they’re headed to college or back to Europe in the following seasons.

For Buffalo, it will give them the chance to bring in Dahlin and show him around the facilities that he will likely call home in a few months. The young defenseman is expected to step right into the NHL in 2018-19, and play big minutes for the Sabres as they try to rebound from several disappointing seasons. The other top picks will all meet with teams from all around the league, especially in a draft year that features very little consensus after the top few picks.

Snapshots: KHL, Oilers, Tkachuk

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Recently, Sport.Buisness-gazeta out of Russia published a list of players that were expected to leave the NHL this summer and return to the KHL. The list was made up of Nikolai Kulemin, Victor Antipin, Nikita Soshnikov, Rinat Valiev, Sergey Tolchinsky, Radel Fazleev, Andrey Pedan, Yaroslav Dyblenko, Sergei Boykov, Yakov Trenin and Anton Slepyshev. With the news this morning of Dyblenko’s pending contract termination, another one of the players have been confirmed to be returning. When added to the already confirmed exits of Tolchinsky, Valiev and others, it lends credibility to the entire list, meaning several others will likely be announced in the coming days.

Players like Soshnikov and Antipin were expected to be contributors to their NHL squads in 2018-19, but are both pending restricted free agents meaning they can easily go home if they so choose. For the NHL club, extending a qualifying offer will retain the exclusive negotiating rights with the player going forward, rights that won’t expire because of the lack of a transfer agreement between the two leagues.

  • The Edmonton Oilers are set to select 10th in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, but as Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal writes, GM Peter Chiarelli has made it clear they will explore trading the pick. Connor McDavid is already one of the best players in the league, and the Oilers need to take advantage of these prime years while they have them. Their defense corps just wasn’t good enough this season, and whoever they would take this season likely wouldn’t be ready to contribute until 2019-20 at the earliest. The Oilers have plenty of other tough decisions to make this summer, as they face contract negotiations with Darnell Nurse and Ryan Strome, and the daunting task of providing some support for McDavid up front. The team has already brought in some competition for Cam Talbot in the form of Mikko Koskinen, who cost the team a one-year $2.5MM contract.
  • Speaking of draft picks who won’t make an impact next season, Mike McMahon of College Hockey News is reporting that the plan right now is for Brady Tkachuk to return to Boston University for his sophomore season. Tkachuk is expected to be a top-5 pick in the upcoming entry draft, and could still obviously be convinced by an NHL team to leave school early. That may change the draft board for some of the top teams who want to compete in 2018-19 and are hoping for a player who can step right into the league in October.

Draft Notes: Mock Draft, Rangers, Canadiens, Sabres

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Now that the lottery portion of the 2018 NHL draft has clarified, TSN’s Craig Button has already released his first mock draft. No surprise, the Buffalo Sabres are projected to take defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. The Carolina Hurricanes are projected to take winger Andrei Svechnikov at No. 2, who Button compares to Marian Hossa and who could walk in and join Carolina immediately next season, aiding their struggling offense.

Wingers Filip Zadina and Brady Tkachuk are targeted to be taken at No. 3 and No. 4 by the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators, respectively, while the Arizona Coyotes are projected to select defenseman Quinn Hughes with the fifth pick, rounding out the top five.

  • While there is no shot at getting Dahlin, the New York Rangers have made it clear they want to move up in this year’s draft. With the eighth-worst record in the NHL this past season, the team moved back a spot in Saturday’s draft lottery. The Rangers have the ninth-overall pick in the 2018 NHL draft, but have after tearing down their team at the trade deadline, the team has quite a few assets to offer a team willing to trade down. The New York Post’s Larry Brooks writes the team is focusing on two teams, including the Ottawa Senators and Arizona Coyotes, two former trade partners, as potential landing spots at No. 4 and No. 5. While it’s considered to be a deep draft and the Rangers would get a quality player at No. 9, there is said to be a drop off around No. 4 or No. 5. The Rangers not only have the ninth-overall pick, but also have two other first-round picks, including the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins’ first-rounders, which could fall anywhere between 24 and 31. They also have two second and two third-round picks.
  • The Montreal Canadiens might also be a trade possibility for teams looking to move up. While the team had a couple of extra hours to imagine winning the lottery when they were among the top three first announced Saturday, the team ended up at No. 3. While there are plenty of high-quality wingers that would be available to the team, it doesn’t really help with the team’s top need, which is a big center, writes Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette. One interesting option would be if the Canadiens trade down or just reach for center Joe Veleno from the Drummondville Voltiguers of the QMJHL and was coached by Dominique Ducharme, who was just hired by Canadiens as an assistant coach. Cowan compares this situation to the 2016 draft when the Columbus Blue Jackets shocked everyone when they took Pierre-Luc Dubois with the third-overall pick, although no one is complaining now.
  • An interesting note from the Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington, the Buffalo Sabres won the lottery twice Saturday. They initially won the No. 1 pick and then again won the No. 3 pick. The No. 3 pick was then was redrawn, which allowed the Montreal Canadiens to move up.

Ottawa Senators Will Keep Their 2018 First-Round Pick

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Another day, another loss for the Ottawa Senators. With a 13.5 percent chance to nab the No. 1 overall pick Saturday night and elite defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, the team didn’t get him. Nor did they win the No. 2 spot or even the No. 3. Instead, the Senators dropped two spots and will pick with the No. 4 pick.

Regardless, Ottawa general manager Pierre Dorion, who has the option of sending either their 2018 or their 2019 first-rounder to the Colorado Avalanche as part of the Matt Duchene trade, said last night that the team will keep their pick this year and the team will trade their 2019 unprotected first-rounder to the Avalanche, according to Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch. There had been talk several months ago that Ottawa was considering moving this pick if it was outside the top-three in case the team struggled again next year and with an unprotected pick in 2019, the team could lose the potential first-overall pick. However, with the chance to draft this year in the top five, the first time the team has had that chance since 2001, they don’t want to pass it up.

“We’re going to keep the pick,” Dorion said. “There’s no denying that we think that player we’re going to take at No. 4 is someone that’s going to be able to help us maybe as soon as next year … I think it will make us a better hockey team and we’re going to worry about 2019.”

The Senators are hoping to return to the success the team had in the 2016-17 season when the team got into the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Garrioch writes the team will have multiple options at No. 4, including getting one of the three coveted wingers in the draft including Barrie Colts’ Andrei Svechnikov, Halifax Moosehead’s Filip Zadina, and Boston University’s Brady Tkachuk.

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