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Checking In On The 2014 Draft Class

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This season has been one of the most successful rookie seasons in recent history, with almost a dozen players enjoying seasons that would normally be considered for Calder trophy nomination. That, mixed with the continued success of second year players like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin has given the reins of the NHL to the youth of the game.

2014 was another solid draft class, headlined by the NHL-ready Aaron Ekblad at first overall. While many of the players in the first round have taken slower routes than those from the 2015 and 2016 groups, they found their footings this season all around the league. Some of the success stories from this year include Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton (3rd overall), William Nylander in Toronto (8th overall), Nikolaj Ehlers in Winnipeg (9th overall) and David Pastrnak in Boston (25th overall).

These are just a few of the very successful young players, but what about those that haven’t made it just yet? Should they be considered busts, just a few short years after their draft? Here are updates on the four players from the 2014 first round who have yet to make their NHL debut.

Conner Bleackley, 23rd overall, Colorado Avalanche

In perhaps the most interesting story of the four, Bleackley never did sign with the Avalanche and was traded to the Arizona Coyotes last February. With his rights in tow, the Coyotes decided to take the supplemental second-round pick that would be compensation for him re-entering the draft. When Bleackley did put his name into the draft again, he fell all the way to the fifth round where the St. Louis Blues selected him 144th overall. Injuries decimated much of Bleackley’s junior career, and he split this season between the Chicago Wolves of the AHL and the Missouri Mavericks of the ECHL. He’s still a long way from an NHL game.

Travis Sanheim, 17th overall, Philadelphia Flyers

Sanheim returned to the Calgary Hitmen for two additional seasons after being selected in the first round and exploded offensively, recording 65 and 68 points from the blue line. His playmaking ability allowed him to dominate the junior league, and has transferred quite well to the AHL this season. With 37 points in 76 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Sanheim is set for his first taste of playoff hockey at the professional ranks. Though he’s not a perfect prospect, he’ll easily get a chance sooner than later in Philadelphia,

Haydn Fleury, 7th overall, Carolina Hurricanes

While Fleury has continued to progress as a solid two-way defender in the Hurricanes’ system, you can be sure they regret not taking Nylander or Ehlers after seeing them debut so strongly. With Carolina now apparently dangling some of their young defenders to try and acquire more scoring, they could have saved themselves the trouble in the draft. That’s not to take anything away from Fleury though, who put up a solid rookie season in the AHL with 26 points in 69 games. If Carolina does in fact move one of their NHL pieces, Fleury will be sure to get a look in the next year or so. He’s still just 20, and is starting to fill out nicely into his 6’3″ frame.

Michael Dal Colle, 5th overall, New York Islanders

Everything looked good in the first year after the Islanders picked Dal Colle, as he put up 93 points in 56 games for the Oshawa Generals and dominated the playoffs with 31 more points. The next season though saw a step backwards, with only 25 points in 30 games before being traded to the Kingston Frontenacs mid-season. Rebounding with his new team, Dal Colle has still given Islanders’ fans slight worry that he’ll never become the elite goal-scoring winger he was projected as.

In his first season with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL Dal Colle put up a solid 41 points in 75 games, but was overshadowed by Josh Ho-Sang, the Islanders other first-round pick from 2014. The Sound Tigers didn’t make the playoffs despite a 44-28-4 record, and now we’ll have to wait to see what adjustments the former fifth-overall pick makes in the summer. He’ll be 21 next season, and will push hard in camp to make the Islanders and prove that they didn’t waste a top pick on him. His skill should shine through eventually, making him a natural compliment to some of the good young forwards in New York.

Ryan Strome Out Indefinitely With Broken Wrist

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According to Arthur Staple of Newsday, the Islanders have received some bad news after their game last night. Ryan Strome has suffered a broken wrist and will be out for the rest of the season, if not the whole playoffs. Head coach Doug Weight had said last night that he would be out “this weekend and probably longer.” "<strong

Strome injured the wrist on a hit from Brady Skjei in the second period, on a play that didn’t look all that dangerous. The much maligned forward had been playing better of late, though was still in the midst of another disappointing season. His 13 goals and 30 points will be the season totals, still not realizing the full potential he showed in his sophomore season. That year, he had 50 points while playing as one of the Islanders’ best defensive forwards but has taken a step back in his development.

The Islanders would have to go on quite a deep playoff run to see him back in uniform this year, which seems like a long-shot given their current situation. Sitting two points back of the Boston Bruins for the final spot, the second wildcard team will have to go through whoever comes out on top of the Metropolitan Division in the first round before playing the winner of the other two. It’s a tough route for any team, let alone one losing a young forward like Strome.

In his place, Staple assumes that Shane Prince or Alan Quine will be inserted. While both are established enough to not miss a beat, it would be interesting to see the Islanders reach down to the minors and recall Michael Dal Colle from Bridgeport at some point. The former fifth-overall pick has yet to make his NHL debut, but has had a successful (if unspectacular) rookie season in professional hockey with 35 points in 63 games. He would definitely give the lineup another shot of youth alongside Josh Ho-Sang and Anthony Beauvillier, something they might thrive off of this late in the year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

New York Hockey Notes: Tortorella, Davidson, Isles, Buchnevich

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The Columbus Blue Jackets, fresh off their 16-game winning streak, are in the unusual position of being considered among the best teams in the NHL. They currently own the league’s best record at 27-6-4 and currently rank among the top teams in several statistical categories. With the Jackets taking an early lead at home against the New York Rangers tonight, it’s perhaps interesting to note how much of an impact two former Blue Shirts have had on the fortunes of Columbus this season, argues Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post.

Former Ranger net minder and television analyst John Davidson took over as President of the Blue Jackets back in 2012 and has overseen the acquisition of much of the current roster. One of his first moves was to bring in the team’s GM, Jarmo Kekalainen, with whom Davidson worked while both were in the Blues organization. Kekalainen and his staff are responsible for drafting Alexander Wennberg and Zach Werenski, among others, and have orchestrated trades for Brandon Saad and Seth Jones.

Perhaps the biggest move Davidson and the Jackets have made was hiring head coach John Tortorella, who spent parts of five seasons behind the bench in New York and who led the Rangers to the playoffs four times and a berth in the 2012 Eastern Conference Final. Tortorella has rebuilt his reputation as one of the league’s top coaches and according to Davidson, Torts has pushed the players and adds “the players are also allowed to not only play the game hard, play the game in the way it should be played, but also have fun doing it. And Torts has done all that stuff.”

It remains to be seen just how far the Jackets will go this season. They certainly look like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender at this point and as the second youngest team in the league, they should remain one of the league’s best for the foreseeable future. Much of the credit for their success is owed to two men who used to be members of one of their Metro division rivals.

Elsewhere in New York hockey:

  • Unlike Columbus, the New York Islanders have underachieved and unless they get things turned around, they’ll be in danger of missing the playoffs. Their struggles this season may also have a negative affect on star center John Tavares’ desire to remain with the Islanders beyond the term of his current contract. Tavares has one more season left on his deal and it would be a crushing blow if he were to leave the team after the 2017-18 campaign. However, while things appear bleak today, the team does have hope for the future as Arthur Staple of Newsday writes. Even though they aren’t quite NHL-ready, Josh Ho-Sang and Michael Dal Colle are getting a thorough education playing for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in the AHL and will soon be ready to contribute for the big club. The talented youngsters are learning what it takes to be pros from former NHL defenseman and Sound Tigers head coach Brent Thompson and while there is still work to be done their skill is undeniable.
  • Pavel Buchnevich, who was assigned to Hartford on the AHL yesterday, appeared in the Wolf Pack’s game last night and tallied a power play goal in his first game action in nearly eight weeks. More importantly for Buchnevich and the Rangers, Buchnevich reported no pain after the game, according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post. While the Wolf Pack return to the ice tonight but Buchnevich will not be joining them. Brooks reports that he won’t participate in back-to-back games but is expected to be in the lineup again for the third game of the weekend set, barring any complications of course.

 

Notable Major Junior Trades From Recent History

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We reported yesterday that Pierre-Luc Dubois, the 2016 third-overall pick, is about to be traded from the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles to Blainville-Boisbriand Armada when the QMJHL trading period opens on December 18.

While the Screaming Eagles’ return on Dubois won’t be known until that date when the trade goes through, let’s take a look at the most recent top-five picks to be traded in junior:

John Tavares – Tavares was the first player to be granted exceptional status by the OHL; in fact, the rule was colloquially known as the John Tavares Rule for years afterward. Tavares is a little different from the rest of the players on this list, in that he was traded during his draft year, as opposed to after. On January 8, 2009, the Oshawa Generals (who will appear a few more times in this list) traded Tavares, future NHL defenseman Michael Del Zotto, and goaltender Daryl Borden to the London Knights for winger Christian Thomas, defenseman Scott Valentine, goaltender Michael Zador, and six draft picks. Tavares and Del Zotto were rentals who went on to play in the NHL the following seasons, while Borden played three games with the Knights before ending up in senior hockey. Thomas scored 246 points in 212 games with the Generals before turning pro. He’s appeared in 27 NHL games with three points to his name, and 241 AHL games with 125 points. He’s currently a member of the Hershey Bears. Valentine played out his uneventful CHL career in Oshawa and then bounced around North American pro leagues before heading to Europe. Zador is now retired.

Brayden Schenn – The younger Schenn brother was traded while he was playing for Canada at the 2011 World Juniors. The Los Angeles Kings 2009 fifth-overall pick was traded from the Brandon Wheat Kings to the Saskatoon Blades, who were gearing up for a playoff run. Schenn had played just two games that season prior to the WJC due to injury. Schenn was fantastic for the Blades, scoring 53 points in 27 games and another 11 points in 10 playoff games. The Wheat Kings received four draft picks (two first round picks) and two 15-year-old prospects, Tim McGauley and Ayrton Nikkel. Nikkel is now playing Canadian University hockey, while McGauley was actually a member of the Wheat Kings until last year; he’s now on the AHL Hershey Bears roster.

Leon Draisaitl – The Oilers selected Draisaitl third overall in 2014 with high expectations for “The German Gretzky.” Draisaitl had earned that nickname while playing German junior where he scored a ridiculous 192 points in 29 games. He then came to the WHL, where he scored 163 points 128 games before being drafted. With only two actual NHL centers (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Boyd Gordon) on the roster, Draisaitl made the Oilers out of training camp despite not showing he was ready. He played 37 games with the Oilers, scoring just 2 goals and 9 points before Oilers GM Craig MacTavish orchestrated a trade of Draisaitl’s rights in the WHL. The Memorial Cup-bound Kelowna Rockets acquired Draisaitl from the Prince Albert Raiders for forward Kris Schmidli, defenceman Dalton Yorke and three draft picks. Neither player did much for the Raiders, while Draisaitl scored 53 points in 32 games for the Rockets and was named the MVP of the Memorial Cup, which the Rockets lost to the aforementioned Oshawa Generals in overtime.

Michael Dal Colle – The Islanders’ fifth-overall pick in 2014, Dal Colle had three productive seasons in Oshawa before struggling in his second season, post-draft. Dal Colle was not picked by Canada for the World Juniors and fought with injuries. He had 25 points in 30 games before the Generals traded him on New Years’ Day 2016. The Kingston Frontenacs traded Robbie Burt, a first round pick, two seconds, and two thirds for the Generals captain Dal Colle. The ’99 born Burt has just 12 points in 56 games, and is not ranked by Central Scouting for the upcoming draft. Dal Colle turned it on in Kingston, scoring 55 points in 30 games and is now playing in the AHL, where he has 11 points in 24 games.

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