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Joe Veleno

WHL Designates Connor Bedard With First Ever Exceptional Player Status

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Exceptional player status in the CHL is only declared for those elite 15-year-olds deemed worthy of joining the major junior ranks a year early. Exceptional player status has been granted five times in the OHL – John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, Connor McDavid, Sean Day, and Shane Wright – and just once in the QMJHL – Joe Veleno – but never before in the WHL. That is, until today. Just one day after the WHL was forced to make the disappointing announcement that the remainder of their season had been canceled, tonight they made the exciting revelation that for the first time exceptional player status has been awarded.

The lucky 15-year-old-to-be is Connor Bedard of North Vancouver, British Columbia. Bedard played this season with the U-18 team of West Vancouver Academy in the Canadian Sports School Hockey League. In 36 games, Bedard recorded a whopping 43 goals and 84 points. He led the league in both categories by a significant margin and contributed on nearly 50% of his teams total goals on the year. While Bedard is still undersized at 5’8” and 165 lbs., he is still four years away from his draft year and will spend all of that time in the WHL growing his already-impressive skills in addition to growing physically.

The WHL Bantam Draft is set for April 22, 2020 and Bedard is now expected to be the prize at No. 1 overall. The 2020 WHL Bantam Draft Lottery is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday March 25 and will determine the order of the first six selections of the draft. In the running for the top spot are the the Swift Current Broncos, Moose Jaw Warriors, Tri-City Americans, Prince George Cougars, Regina Pats, and Red Deer Rebels. Just one will end up fortunate enough to land the first ever “exceptional” player in league history.

Atlantic Notes: Red Wings, Bruins, McCabe

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With the Red Wings sitting in last place, there’s no question about what direction they’ll be going at the trade deadline.  However, with a lot of their veterans underachieving, their respective trade values have taken a hit.  Despite that, GM Steve Yzerman stated in an interview on the team’s website (video link) that he’s not looking to be passive and is hoping to bring in picks or young players that can contribute sooner than later.  The last bit is somewhat noteworthy as there have been teams in recent years that have preferred players to picks when they’re selling and it appears as if Detroit is at least open to going in that direction.  As for their recent picks, Yzerman acknowledged that they could give players like Moritz Seider or Joe Veleno a look down the stretch but they likely wouldn’t go as far as playing them ten games to burn the first year of their entry-level deals.

More from the Atlantic:

  • The Bruins have had interest in Kings winger Tyler Toffoli for a while now and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested in the latest 31 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that they could do a deal for him at any time and that “they know they’ve got that in their hip pocket”. If that is indeed the case, it would seem that GM Don Sweeney is likely focusing on trying land a more impactful rental or this year’s version of Charlie Coyle, a secondary scoring addition that brings an extra year of control.  With their cap situation, however, Boston would need the Kings to retain some of Toffoli’s $4.6MM AAV to have a chance at getting a deal done.
  • Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe is expected to return this afternoon after missing Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury, notes Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. Buffalo doesn’t need to make any roster moves as McCabe remained on the active roster.  The 26-year-old has had a quiet season offensively with only seven points in 41 games but is logging more than 19 minutes a night in a top-four role on their back end.

Evening Notes: NHL Laceration Task Force, Andersson, Veleno

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After a scary incident on Friday in which Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ilya Mikheyev had his wrist sliced open as New Jersey Devils forward Jesper Bratt skated over him, the NHL laceration task force will meet during the 2020 NHL All-Star Game, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston on Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada. It was the second incident in 10 days after the New York Islanders’ Cal Clutterbuck had his hand cut open by the skate of Boston’s Patrice Bergeron.

“They monitor any of these incidents that happened,” said Johnston. “And they will be meeting at the All-Star Game in St. Louis, I think to discuss in part, is there maybe some more mandatory changes that might be coming down the pike at some point, because obviously everyone recognizes that these are very serious and potentially catastrophic situations.”

  • New York Post’s Larry Brooks writes that, little surprise, there hasn’t been much interest in New York Rangers forward Lias Andersson, who left the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack and was suspended on Dec. 20 after requesting a trade. Andersson has struggled at the NHL level over the past few years, having tallied just nine points in 66 NHL games. Even in Hartford, he has just three points in his last 10 games, suggesting that he’s struggling even in the minors. Brooks writes that Andersson spent the holiday with his family in New York and it’s unclear if the Rangers’ organization would accept him back if he asks if he can return. Regardless, there seems to be no indication that a trade is likely to happen any time soon.
  • With Team Canada already without Alexis Lafreniere on Monday against Germany at the 2020 World Junior Championships, the team lost another forward as well as the IIHF announced that their disciplinary panel has announced that Joe Veleno, a Detroit Red Wings prospect, has been suspended one game for head butting Russian defenseman Danil Misyul, a New Jersey Devils’ prospect. The incident happened in the middle of the second period of Saturday’s game in which the two got into a confrontation. Veleno head butted Misyul twice, the second time more aggressively. The 19-year-old Veleno has one assist so far in two games for Canada.

Joe Veleno To Play For Team Canada

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The Detroit Red Wings have decided that minor league forward Joe Veleno will be allowed to play for Team Canada at the upcoming World Junior tournament. Hockey Canada announced that Veleno will join the team in the Czech Republic for the preparation camp later this month. The rest of the roster will be determined at a selection camp that opens today in Oakville, Ontario.

Veleno’s addition should make a real difference on a Canadian team that might not be considered the favorites this time around. Though there is obviously a ton of talent on the squad, including speculative 2020 first-overall pick and reigning CHL Player of the Year Alexis Lafreniere, questions remain about the group’s depth on defense and in net.

The Red Wings prospect obviously can’t help those positions directly, but his excellent two-way play and experience should raise the Canadians to another level. Not only did Veleno play on last year’s edition of the squad, he now has 25 games of AHL experience despite being just 19.

Being the first QMJHL player granted exceptional status, Veleno already had four full years of CHL experience under his belt when this season started and thus was eligible to play in the AHL before his 20th birthday. While he only has nine points in those 25 games, there is no doubt he is developing at a quicker rate than if he had returned to junior hockey.

Detroit Red Wings Sign Valtteri Filppula

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The Detroit Red Wings have brought back a familiar face, signing Valtteri Filppula to a two-year contract. New GM Steve Yzerman also has a history with the veteran forward from their days with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Filppula played in Detroit for the first eight years of his career. MLive’s Ansar Khan reports the deal is for $3MM per season.

Filppula may be 35, but he continues to put up solid numbers as a bottom-six defenseman and played a major part of the New York Islanders turnaround last season. For a Barry Trotz team that focused more on defense this year, Filppula posted impressive numbers, scoring 17 goals, his most since the 2013-14 season and finished with 31 points.

With Detroit, Filppula gets a slight raise as he made $2.75MM last season. He will try and find a role somewhere on the third or fourth line and adds to a group of veterans that now have slipped to the bottom-six, including Frans Nielsen, Justin Abdelkader and Luke Glendening. He also could have been brought in to prevent too many young players being vaulted into roles they aren’t ready for as the team now has a number of prospects who are close to being NHL ready, including Filip Zadina and Joe Veleno.

Hockey Canada Announces Invitees For 2019 Junior Development Camp

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Hockey Canada has announced their 43-man roster for the 2019 National Junior Team Development Camp, the first step towards participating at the next World Junior tournament. GM Mark Hunter and head coach Dale Hunter will be evaluating all 43 players over a four-game stretch in Plymouth, Michigan between July 27-August 4 where they will take on a team from the United States as well as Finland and Sweden. Team Canada will be broken into two teams for the short showcase.

The list of players includes many already drafted names, but also some that are available this weekend or even next June in the 2020 Entry Draft. The full group is listed below:

G Colten Ellis (2019 draft eligible)
G Zachary Emond (SJS)
G Alexis Gravel (CHI, unsigned)
G Hunter Jones (2019 draft eligible)
G Olivier Rodrigue (EDM)

D Calen Addison (PIT)
D Kevin Bahl (ARI)
D Justin Barron (2020 draft eligible)
D Jacob Bernard-Docker (OTT, unsigned)
D Bowen Byram (2019 draft eligible)
D Peter Diliberatore (VGK, unsigned)
D Noah Dobson (NYI)
D Thomas Harley (2019 draft eligible)
D Braden Schneider (2020 draft eligible)
D Ty Smith (NJD)
D Jonny Tychonick (OTT, unsigned)
D Jett Woo (VAN)

F Luka Burzan (2019 draft eligible)
F Dylan Cozens (2019 draft eligible)
F Kirby Dach (2019 draft eligible)
F Riley Damiani (DAL)
F Ty Dellandrea (DAL)
F Aidan Dudas (LAK, unsigned)
F Carson Focht (2019 draft eligible)
F Cole Fonstad (MTL, unsigned)
F Nolan Foote (2019 draft eligible)
F Gabriel Fortier (TBL)
F Liam Foudy (CBJ)
F Benoit-Olivier Groulx (ANA, unsigned)
F Barrett Hayton (ARI)
F Mathias Laferriere (STL, unsigned)
F Alexis Lafreniere (2020 draft eligible)
F Raphael Lavoie (2019 draft eligible)
F Jack McBain (MIN, unsigned)
F Allan McShane (MTL, unsigned)
F Alex Newhook (2019 draft eligible)
F Serron Noel (FLA)
F Ryan Suzuki (2019 draft eligible)
F Akil Thomas (LAK)
F Philip Tomasino (2019 draft eligible)
F Joe Veleno (DET)

Joe Veleno Signs Entry-Level Contract

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The Detroit Red Wings have signed one of their top prospects, inking Joe Veleno to a three-year entry-level contract. Veleno’s Drummondville Voltigeurs were recently knocked out of the QMJHL playoffs.

Heading into the 2017-18 season some believed that Veleno was a potential top-five pick in the 2018 draft, given his standing as the first player in QMJHL history to be granted exceptional status, allowing him to join the league a year early like John Tavares, Connor McDavid, Aaron Ekblad and Sean Day did in the OHL. Still, there was some concern given the fact that he hadn’t yet dominated the league. Those fears were anything but allayed when Veleno got off to a rather pedestrian start with the Saint John Sea Dogs, scoring just six goals and 31 points in his first 31 games of the season. The star center looked disinterested at times, but seemed to really pick up his game after a midseason trade to Drummondville. Veleno finished his draft season with 79 points in 64 games, still a disappointing output for a player who was vying for a top draft slot.

So, when the draft rolled around in June there was plenty of mystery surrounding Veleno. It wasn’t clear where he would end up, and as the first round went on his name continued to fall. It wouldn’t be until the 30th selection and the Red Wings’ second pick—acquired as part of the Tomas Tatar trade—that Veleno would hear his name called.

This season though, in a year where he had the chance to prove his doubters wrong, Veleno has excelled. The two-way center recorded 42 goals and 104 points in 59 games, good enough for fourth in the QMJHL, and finished with a +63 rating. He showed exactly the kind of progression that the Red Wings had hoped for, and will head into training camp this summer trying to earn a job with the NHL team.

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