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Cole Perfetti

Cole Perfetti Assigned To AHL

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Usually, when a 19-year-old CHL prospect is knocked out of the NHL lineup, his team is forced to send back to junior for the whole year or just hold him as an extra. Both are sometimes detrimental for his development, so for years, teams have wished for an AHL exemption when it comes to elite prospects. This year, that exemption exists for a handful of players who spent at least 20 games at the AHL level last season.

Today, the Winnipeg Jets and Cole Perfetti will take advantage of it, as the young forward has been assigned to the Manitoba Moose. Perfetti played in 32 games with Manitoba last season when the OHL campaign was canceled and actually did quite well. Despite being younger than almost every one of his opponents, the 2020 first-round pick racked up 26 points in 32 games for the Moose. Now he’ll get the chance to build on that performance and continue his professional career, instead of returning to the OHL where he had already proved his dominance.

Perfetti made the Jets out of camp but was a healthy scratch on Tuesday night as the Jets decided to go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the Minnesota Wild. One thing to remember when it comes to this decision is that while Perfetti has an exemption and can play in the AHL, his contract status is no different than any other 19-year-old prospect. That is, if he plays in eight more games this season he would burn the first year of his entry-level deal. If not–even if he’s playing in the AHL–that deal will slide forward a year and not expire until 2025.

Another added bonus of sending him to the AHL instead of the OHL? Perfetti can be recalled at any point should he show enough to earn a full-time NHL spot, or if the team has injuries that need to be covered. With the team potentially bracing for more positive COVID-19 results, he could even be up within a few days. The Moose are on the road in Laval tonight, but will return home to Manitoba for a four-game homestand that starts on Friday night. If Perfetti’s to continue developing into the player the Jets projected at 10th overall, he needs to play.

AHL Exception Coming Into Play For CHL Talent

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Back in July, Darren Dreger of TSN reported that the finishing touches were being put on an agreement between the AHL and CHL that would allow some ineligible players to spend the 2021-22 season in the professional ranks. Normally, players drafted out of the CHL are not eligible to play in the AHL until they are 20 years old. This one-time exception would only come into effect for those players who took part in at least 20 AHL contests during 2020-21 when their respective CHL teams were not operating.

While there has been no official announcement of the rule, the last few days have seen several transactions that suggest it is now in effect.

This week, the Anaheim Ducks and Colorado Avalanche assigned Jacob Perreault and Jean-Luc Foudy respectively to their AHL affiliates. Neither player would normally be able to report, given their OHL seasons are about to start. In fact, Perreault’s Sarnia Sting and Foudy’s Windsor Spitfires are set to play each other tomorrow evening on the league’s opening night. The junior league won’t have the talented forwards as both played more than 25 games in the AHL last season and will head back there to continue their development.

Today, the Philadelphia Flyers have completed a similar move, sending 19-year-old forward Tyson Foerster to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Foerster played 24 games or the AHL last season, while his Barrie Colts were stuck in limbo like the rest of the OHL. The Flyers will be able to do the same thing with Zayde Wisdom who played 28 games for Lehigh Valley last season, though he is still out following his recent shoulder surgery and has not been reassigned yet.

These are all huge losses for the CHL, but pretty substantial gains for the AHL. Each young player has found success early on at the professional level, once again suggesting that there should be an exemption of some sort for those deemed exceptional moving forward. There’s obviously a reason why the Flyers, Ducks, and Avalanche feel the best thing for their development is playing at the AHL level, as they still did have the option to send them back to junior. One thing to point out is that those players loaned back to their junior clubs are ineligible for recall to the NHL all season except under emergency conditions, but one can assume that these expected players would be eligible for a call-up if necessary as they play in the AHL.

There are several other names that could find themselves in the AHL ahead of time, including Cole Perfetti of the Winnipeg Jets, Quinton Byfield of the Los Angeles Kings, and Donovan Sebrango of the Detroit Red Wings. Jan Mysak, who was also eligible for the AHL according to this exemption, was loaned back to the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL earlier this month while Ryan O’Rourke was sent back to the Soo Greyhounds early in Minnesota Wild camp.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

AHL Exemption Coming For Some CHL Prospects

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In the 2020-21 season, with the OHL not playing at all and the other two CHL leagues playing shortened schedules, many prospects that would not normally be eligible for the AHL played in the minor leagues. According to the CHL-NHL agreement, many of those players would be forced back to junior for 2021-22, if they had not yet reached the age of 20. For a player like Cole Perfetti, it meant he would either have to make the Winnipeg Jets or return to the Saginaw Spirit, despite scoring 26 points in 32 games for the Manitoba Moose, clearly proving he can compete at the AHL level.

Special circumstances need special rules though, and Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the finishing touches are being put on an agreement that will allow junior eligible players who played 20 or more AHL games this season to return to the AHL in 2021-22. Perfetti, to stay with the same example, would not be required to go back to the OHL even though he is still just 19 years old.

The move would be a huge boost for the AHL, as the minor league could now have more young star power competing next season, but it is also a huge loss for the junior leagues, the OHL in particular. Players like Seth Jarvis or Connor Zary from the WHL didn’t have time to reach that 20-game threshold before their junior season started up again, even though they did play well in the short minor league stint.

One interesting case is Jamie Drysdale of the Anaheim Ducks. The 19-year-old defenseman played just 14 games at the AHL level, but that’s not because he went back to junior. Drysdale instead joined the NHL club for 24 games. Though he is likely to stay with the Ducks for next season, it is interesting to note that under the proposed rule, he would appear not to be eligible for AHL action if he struggles at all to start the year. Dreger does tweet that the eventual agreement will be a little more complicated, so perhaps there will be exceptions for players like Drysdale.

Hockey Canada Announces 2021 World Championship Roster

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The IIHF World Championship roster is always a little different. Because the tournament takes place during the NHL playoffs, many players are unable to attend. Many others choose not to participate because of injuries they sustained during the season, meaning there are often some interesting choices that compete for their country.

Like the U.S. roster that was officially released just a few days ago, the Canadian contingent looks even more odd than normal. Not only does the management team have injuries and the postseason to deal with, but many players haven’t seen their families for months and just want to spend some quality time at home.

Though the initial paperwork had been reported on recently, the full official roster is as follows:

G Adin Hill
G Darcy Kuemper
G Michael Dipietro

D Braden Schneider
D Colin Miller
D Owen Power
D Sean Walker
D Mario Ferraro
D Troy Stecher
D Nicolas Beaudin
D Jacob Bernard-Docker*

F Liam Foudy
F Dillon Dube
F Jaret Anderson-Dolan
F Gabriel Vilardi
F Adam Henrique
F Justin Danforth
F Nick Paul
F Brandon Hagel
F Michael Bunting
F Connor Brown
F Max Comtois
F Brandon Pirri
F Andrew Mangiapane
F Cole Perfetti

Like the U.S. squad, which includes draft-eligible Matthew Beniers, the Canadians have decided to take along his University of Michigan teammate Power. The 18-year-old Power is expected to challenge for the first overall selection this season and will get a chance to showcase his talents on the international stage, after being denied his opportunity to compete at the World Juniors.

*added after the initial roster was announced

Hockey Canada Announces Final World Junior Roster

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After a month-long selection camp that included a two-week quarantine period, Hockey Canada has finally made their final cuts and announced the roster that will be competing at the upcoming World Junior Championship. The event starts in two weeks in Edmonton, Alberta and will host teams from all over the world. The best junior-aged players will compete for gold in a year unlike any other.

Because the NHL has not started yet, players like Kirby Dach and Quinton Byfield will get the chance to compete for Canada at the end of 2020. Dach missed the tournament a year ago thanks to his commitments with the Chicago Blackhawks but should be a leader this year at the tournament. Byfield meanwhile will get a chance to convince the world that his struggles at the event last year were not indicative of his talent, while trying to add a second gold to his trophy cabinet.

Canada’s roster is loaded up front, with incredible offensive talent all the way to the final forward spot. But perhaps their defense too will be a force with names like Bowen Byram and Jamie Drysdale leading the way. In net, somewhat unheralded prospects will get the chance to prove they are winners, with Taylor Gauthier the only undrafted player on the final roster.

The full roster is as follows:

F Kirby Dach (CHI)
F Connor Zary (CGY)
F Dylan Holloway (EDM)
F Cole Perfetti (WPG)
F Jakob Pelletier (CGY)
F Alex Newhook (COL)
F Ryan Suzuki (CAR)
F Connor McMichael (WSH)
F Peyton Krebs (VGK)
F Quinton Byfield (LAK)
F Dawson Mercer (NJD)
F Dylan Cozens (BUF)
F Philip Tomasino (NSH)
F Jack Quinn (BUF)

D Braden Schneider (NYR)
D Kaedan Korczak (VGK)
D Bowen Byram (COL)
D Thomas Harley (DAL)
D Jamie Drysdale (ANA)
D Jordan Spence (LAK)
D Kaiden Guhle (MTL)
D Justin Barron (COL)

G Devon Levi (FLA)
G Taylor Gauthier (undrafted, eligible for 2021)
G Dylan Garand (NYR)

This means that Mavrik Bourque, Samuel Poulin, Donovan Sebrango, Ryan O’Rourke, Jamieson Rees, Seth Jarvis, Graeme Clarke, Gage Goncalves, and Lukas Cormier were the team’s final cuts.

Cole Perfetti Signs Entry-Level Contract

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The Winnipeg Jets have signed their top draft choice, inking Cole Perfetti to a three-year entry-level contract. Selected tenth overall in last month’s draft, the release indicates Perfetti will carry an average annual value of $1,658,333, though that includes the potential performance bonuses that have been included in his entry-level deal. CapFriendly provides the full breakdown, reporting that the contract includes up to $500K in performance bonuses in year one and up to $850K in each of the other two years.

Perfetti should be one of the first few players to make an impact out of this year’s draft class. After a rookie season in the OHL that saw him score 37 goals and 74 points, leading all first-year players in both categories, he returned to the Saginaw Spirit in 2019-20 with even higher expectations. He followed through, scoring 111 points in 61 games to finish second in league scoring and took home the CHL Scholastic Player of the Year award for his combination of athletic and academic achievements.

There’s not much that Perfetti struggles with at the offensive end of the rink. An elite playmaker, he can easily weave through traffic to set up his teammates, but also possesses one of the most lethal scoring touches in the CHL. Given that he will turn 19 on January 1, he’s quite a bit older than many of his draft contemporaries and should quickly work his way up the Winnipeg depth chart.

Teams will have to carefully decide what is best for top end OHL prospects, given the debate over body checking that is still ongoing in Ontario, and Perfetti is no different. For now, he’ll be attending Hockey Canada’s World Junior selection camp which starts in just a few days. The month-long camp gives players a chance to compete with and against some of the best from their country and Perfetti should have a good chance of making the final squad.

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