Snapshots: Top-93, Healy, Vegas Deals
TSN has released their final ranking for the 2017 Entry Draft, and Nico Hischier has finally overtaken Nolan Patrick at the very top. Bob McKenzie who compiles the list based on a survey of 10 working scouts, writes that Patrick now only received four votes for the top spot, with Cale Makar even getting a single #1 vote.
That’s a much different ranking than earlier in the season when Patrick was the unanimous selection, and shows the volatility this year’s draft board. Even at #1 there is no consensus, and there are dozens of players who could go in the top-10. With such different boards around the league, there may be quite a bit of movement in the first round as teams target who they want.
- Former NHL goaltender Glenn Healy has been named Executive Director of the NHL Alumni Association. Healy has worked with the NHLPA in the past and had been working as the interim Director for the NHLAA. He’ll lose the interim tag now and got a ringing endorsement from Wayne Gretzky himself, saying that Healy “is the right guy to lead us into the future.”
- Scott Cullen of TSN believes there is at least seven side deals completed with Vegas in order to protect extra players or have a particular player selected. That would explain some of the interesting choices in yesterday’s protection list reveal, such as Minnesota and Anaheim leaving top flight defenders available. The Islanders, Penguins, Blackhawks, and Blue Jackets are also expected to have deals already in place, though nothing will be official until the expansion selections come out on Wednesday night.
Pacific Notes: Foo, Tanev, Treliving
The Union College standout Spencer Foo looks to be closing in on a decision as to where he will sign in the NHL. The right-winger netted an impressed 62 points in 38 games as a junior. An Edmonton native, he appears to be closing in on signing with the Edmonton Oilers, per Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal. He has also been linked to the Flyers, where he would almost certainly see a more favorable landscape when it concerns openings in the top-12 forward group. Foo, leading scorer of the Dutchmen, was announced as one of the 10 semi-finalists for the Hobey Baker award. The forward plays a gritty, greasy game and already appears to have embraced the physicality of an adult game. He has enough offensive upside to easily grow into a top-9 role.
- Dallas is still on the hunt for a defenseman to aid newly acquired Ben Bishop, and according to Matheson have interest in Vancouver’s Chris Tanev. He only played 53 games last season, and struggled a bit alongside the rest of his Canuck teammates. Matheson ponders whether Dallas would be willing to move the #3 pick if more pieces were added, but this is difficult to imagine unless the addition is a far bigger get, probably including the Canucks’ own #5 selection. Second pairing defenseman are generally worth 2nd or 3rd rounders, whereas Dallas will have the opportunity to draft a real difference maker at their current position, conceivably standout defensive prospect Cale Makar. Dallas wants to compete now but the decision ultimately lies in Vancouver’s court.
- Calgary has a large decision ahead of them, and it seems as though they could be the icebreaker on the goalie front. GM Brad Treliving has tough work ahead – the Flames seem intent on letting Brian Elliott go after his post-season struggles, and he’s arguably the best free agent goalie available. The team has been linked (with varying degrees of certainty) in trade talks to New York’s Antti Raanta and Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury, and Arizona’s Mike Smith is a name that has been widely mentioned as available. Treliving will likely want to sort the situation out before July 1st when the pickings will get far slimmer. Peter Budaj and Mike Condon are options, but there will be other teams lobbying for their services.
Top Performers At The NHL Combine
While the combine results for top NHL prospects are taken with only a grain of salt relative to their NFL counterparts, combine weekend does allow for teams to pick up some key information about a player’s physical ability that may make a difference as to when their name is called on June 23rd. While there is always a player whose lackluster performance gets the attention of the media – the victim this year was Casey Mittelstadt and his inability to do a pull-up – other players can instead gain the attention of scouts by showcasing their athleticism.
This year, two players stood out above all the rest: Joshua Norris and Morgan Geekie. Norris put on a clinic at the combine, finishing first in the vertical jump (26.19 inches), long jump (118 inches), and shuttle (4.19 seconds), as well as placing near the top of pull-ups and fitness exercises. A 6’1″, 192-lb. center out of the U.S. National Development Program, Norris was ranked 34th among North American skaters in the NHL’s final prospect rankings and has been projected as a second-round pick, but given the athleticism he put on display this weekend, he could be pushing for a late first-round selection. Geekie, also a center and standing at 6’2″, 178-lbs., may not slide into the first, but has surely moved up some draft boards, up from his #45 ranking towards the top of the second round after his performance. Geekie finished third in the long jump (114.5 inches) and also placed near the top of many other workouts including the vertical jump, shuttle, pull-ups, and grip strength measurements. The Tri-City pivot showed a wide range of physical ability.
Others who excelled at combine workouts included several first-round candidates. Kailer Yamamoto was measured as having the top VO2 max of the class, a metric of oxygen consumption and thus stamina, and also finished second in the shuttle (4.2 seconds, 4.38 seconds) and in the top ten of pull-ups and fitness testing. At just 5’8″ and 153-lbs., many have been critical of the Spokane Chiefs right wing, but this showing of strength and athleticism may help to quell some of those concerns over his size. Another smaller player, potential top-ten defenseman Cale Makar, was similarly successful. The 5’11”, 180-lb. UMass-bound blue liner finished third in the shuttle (4.39 seconds) and near the top of both the vertical jump and long jump, displaying the explosiveness in his legs that helps him fly around the ice. On the other side of the size scale, 6’6″, 200-lb. Isaac Ratcliffe was not only measured as having the longest wingspan of the group (81.29 inches), but also finished third in VO2 max and near the top in the shuttle and long jump. A big man with a reach, strong legs, and stamina? The Guelph left winger seems like a lock to be taken in the first round now. Other standout skaters included Sault Ste. Marie center Morgan Frost, who could be hearing his name called on Day One after ranking first in fitness and third in the vertical jump (24.63 inches), Scott Reedy, who was all over the map with the top mark in grip strength (170 lbs. lefty), second-best VO2 max, and a high mark in the shuttle, and Owen Sound lefty Jonah Gadjovich, who had the second best grip with his primary hand (164 lbs.) and also excelled at the bench press and pull-ups. Look out for American prep school defensive prospect Jack Rathbone, who finished at the top of the pull-up charts with 13 and excelled on the bench press as well, and USHL defenseman Mario Ferraro, who had a well-rounded workout finishing among the best in the bench press, pull-ups, grip strength, and shuttles. Though late-round prospects, guys like Rathbone and Ferraro can use the combine to differentiate themselves from other lesser-known names.
A couple of goalies looked to stand out in a deep keeper draft as well, as both Dayton Rasmussen and Ian Scott shown bright at the combine. Rasmussen had the most bench reps of any player in attendance (17) and the second-best vertical jump as well (25.56 inches). Rasmussen, who played in the USHL last year, could use the extra attention. He also placed well in the long jump, but Scott stole his thunder in that exercise. Scott, of the Prince Albert Raiders, is a more well-known prospect, but still one of many good goalies in this class. His size and strength could help to give him an edge though, as displayed by his 117.5-inch long jump, second-best of the weekend, and strong vertical jump, as well as his 78.5-inch wingspan.
What of the draft’s top two prospects, Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier? Hischier had the highest ranking in any one event, tying Rathbone atop the pull-up charts with 13, but the bigger news was his all-around domination over Patrick. The Swiss center edged out his rival in pull-ups, the long jump, the shuttle, and fitness and VO2 testing and only narrowly lost out in the vertical jump. The only workout where Patrick had a clear advantage was the bench press, where he repped 70% of his 198-lb. frame 12 times while Hischier could only manage seven reps of 70% of his 176 lbs.
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.
Dallas Stars Have Had Discussions On Moving Third-Overall Pick
According to Sean Shapiro of NHL.com, Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill was speaking on NHL Network radio this morning about the possibility of moving the third-overall pick. Nill admitted to having discussions about it, mostly because of the wide variety of players who could be of interest to teams at #3. While Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier are widely expected to go 1-2 in some order, there are “about 10 players” who could be selected next.
Gabe Vilardi, Miro Heiskanen, Cale Makar, Cody Glass, Casey Mittelstadt and several others have been rumored to possibly go in that spot, not even counting Timothy Liljegren who has fallen far from his one time #2 ranking in the draft. Teams may need to move up to make sure they get the player they want, and #3 might be the chance to do it.
Dallas could use more NHL talent immediately, and without a consensus could still add a player they really like further down the draft. Should someone offer a player who can help them right away, plus a pick somewhere still in the top-10 they may be swayed to move down.
Nill also spoke about the expansion draft and how the Stars will need to expose a few players they’d rather not. He’s had talks with other teams about those players, hoping to get something for them instead of watching them walk over to the Vegas dressing room. As we discussed yesterday, the Stars have a huge number of young bodies on defense for next season, and won’t be able to protect all of them.
Even if the fan base wouldn’t be heartbroken by a selected Jamie Oleksiak, losing a former first round pick for nothing doesn’t make any sense for the team. With potentially only three protection slots—should the team go with the 7-3-1 method—the Stars won’t be able to keep all of their 25-and-under defensemen. Perhaps making a deal with Vegas, as Nill suggests, is the best way to make sure they pick the one you’d have the easiest time replacing.
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.
Red Wings Notes: Draft Targets, Svechnikov
Since the Red Wings will be picking in the top ten for the first time since taking Martin Lapointe in 1991, there are a number of theories as to who they might take. MLive’s Brendan Savage pencils in Russian Klim Kostin via a Bleacher Report article conducting mock drafts. Kostin is an 18-year-old winger who was limited this season due to a shoulder injury, but spent time with the KHL’s Dynamo Moscow. NHL Central Scouting has Kostin as its #1 skater while last July, the Hockey News’ Ryan Kennedy had a write up on Kostin, who opted to stay in Russia instead of playing in North America after being taken in the CHL Import Draft. Kennedy pegged Kostin as a top pick in this year’s draft, and though injury has kept Kostin down this season, the Red Wings seem to be line for a player who scouts peg as a strong scorer down the road.
- Fan Rag’s Franklin Steele penned a draft target piece about the Red Wings as well, listing defensemen Cale Makar, Jusso Valimaki, and forward Elias Pettersson as possible choices. Makar and Valimaki both fill a major need for Detroit which is a top defenseman, one they can grow into a desperately needed one or two d-man. Makar brings elite skating and skill. Valimaki scored at a point-per-game pace with the Tri-City Americans in the WHL, revealing another skill defenseman the Wings desperately crave. Should defensemen not be there, Steele believes Pettersson makes the most sense, should Owen Tippett or Gabe Vilardi not be available. A two way forward, Pettersson has what Steele calls the “fastest hands” of the prospects, but some red flags, including struggling during international play, could be a liability.
- Evgeny Svechnikov leads AHL affiliate Grand Rapids into its second round matchup against the Chicago Wolves in the Calder Cup playoffs writes the Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James. The Griffins made quick work of Milwaukee, sweeping them en route to its tilt with the Wolves. Svechnikov, who many believe could crack the Red Wings roster out of training camp next season, is tied with four points in just three games. Fellow prospect Tyler Bertuzzi, also has four points. This builds on Svechnikov’s torrid second half, where he notched 34 points in 36 games, scoring 10 goals and adding 24 assists. St. James reports that head coach Todd Nelson calls Svechnikov a “great success story,” adding that the youngster spent a lot of time watching video to cut down on turnovers. The result, Nelson says, is a more complete game.
Latest On Timothy Liljegren’s Draft Status
It’s been an interesting season for eligible prospects for the 2017 Entry Draft. Nolan Patrick has suffered through injury, Nico Hischier has shot up boards, and the entire defense group has been mixed up. This time last year, Timothy Liljegren was the easy pick for #2 in the draft behind Patrick, but now, as Corey Pronman of ESPN points out, Liljegren may not even be in the top-2 defenseman, let alone the whole draft. Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News has heard the same thing, while Grant McCagg of Recrutes has had him outside the top-10 for a while now.
Liljegren has battled through a bout with mononucleosis, and struggled to get playing time at the top level with Rogle, his Swedish club. He’s now dropping down draft boards, including even the NHL’s Central Scouting rankings, which had him sixth in their final rankings among European skaters. He now has a chance to go below both Cale Makar and Miro Heiskanen among defenders, and fall somewhere into the middle of round one. That does not by any means make him a poor prospect, in fact the very opposite—whichever team that drafts him will still be getting a top talent, but at a reduced price.
Back in November of 2015, TSN’s Director of Scouting Craig Button compared Liljegren to Drew Doughty, saying that he also had a bit of “Erik Karlsson offensive flair sprinkled in.” While draft comparables tend to be a bit hyperbolic in nature—he’ll almost assuredly not reach the heights of either Doughty or Karlsson—the Swedish defender does still possess the excellent skating ability and vision on the ice that made him so projectable prior to this season.
Heiskanen and Makar however have just been much more consistent with their development this season, and could both go in the top-5 come June. Makar—who has also drawn comparison’s to the Ottawa captain—has already committed to UMass Amherst, where he’ll be developed by a former Karlsson coach in Greg Carvel. Heiskanen meanwhile will likely continue to play in the Finnish professional league, where he found success this season. The 17-year old left-handed shot is currently dominating the U18 Worlds, scoring eight points in four tournament games thus far, including a dominating effort against Canada yesterday.
Should a team miss out on those two, Liljegren is one of the best consolation prizes you can ask for. In a draft that has no real consensus from picks 5-15, there should be some action on the floor between GMs looking to get their top target. Perhaps we’ll see more trading than the last few years, especially if players like Liljegren continue to fall.