Snapshots: Hughes, Stepan, AHL Deals
The news is positive for Quinn Hughes, as his recent testing came back negative for a broken bone in his foot. The top prospect is expected to start skating soon and still make his debut before the end of the regular season. Hughes, who injured his foot blocking a shot at the very end of his collegiate season, cannot burn a year of his entry-level deal or become eligible for the 2021 expansion draft now that the Canucks have just eight games remaining in the regular season.
The dynamic defenseman finished with 33 points in 32 games for the University of Michigan and is a finalist for the Hobey Baker award. The seventh-overall pick from 2018 is expected to be a game-changing talent for the Canucks on the back end, and will give their defense corps a completely new look next season.
- Who needs recovery timelines anyway? Derek Stepan, a notoriously quick healer, is once again about to return before originally expected. Craig Morgan of The Athletic reports that the Arizona Coyotes forward is a game-time decision for tomorrow night’s game against the New Jersey Devils, just over three weeks after he was given a four to six week timetable for his lower-body injury. Stepan had been carrying a huge amount of responsibility for the Coyotes when he went down, and his return will only help them on their quest for the playoffs. Arizona currently sits tied with the Colorado Avalanche for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference with eight games to go.
- The Toronto Marlies have signed Colton Conrad to a two-year AHL contract which will start next season. Conrad will join the Marlies on an amateur tryout for the rest of this year. The 21-year old forward played four years at Western Michigan University and scored 38 points this season. Not to be outdone, the Iowa Wild have signed University of Minnesota captain Tyler Sheehy to an amateur tryout, bringing the homegrown talent into the organization after his college career came to an end. Sheehy is from Burnsville and had an outstanding career at Minnesota, recording 149 points in 149 games over four years.
Vancouver Canucks Ink Jett Woo To Entry-Level Contract
The Vancouver Canucks announced they have signed defensive prospect Jett Woo to a three-year entry-level contract. The team’s second-round pick in the 2018 draft (37th overall), Woo has had a breakout season and should provide the Canucks with another top-level blueline prospect after the team has inked several of them in the last few days, including Quinn Hughes and Josh Teves. The signing puts the Canucks at 49 contracts with just one more remaining.
“We’re very excited at the strides Jett has made this season with Moose Jaw,” said Vancouver general manager Jim Benning. “He plays the game with good intensity and attention to detail at both ends of the ice. Jett is an important part of our future and we look forward to his continued development.”
Terms haven’t been released, but the team brings in an impressive young defenseman into the fold as Woo is having a breakout season offensively as he is averaging more than a point-per-game with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors as he has 12 goals and 62 points in 61 games this season. He also has accumulated 63 penalty minutes.
Woo is considered to be a throwback player, who plays with a physical style of game, which includes a lot of hits, making him a popular player on the ice. At 6-foot, 200-pounds, he is coached by NHL enforcer Tim Hunter, who emphasizes physicality with puck possession and offensive skill.
Antoine Roussel Suffers Season-Ending Knee Injury
The news out of Vancouver last night was not good following a rough game against the New York Rangers. Canucks head coach Travis Green confirmed that Antoine Roussel suffered a season-ending knee injury when he collided with Brendan Lemieux, while young prospect Quinn Hughes will spend a week in a walking boot after being diagnosed with a “pretty good bone bruise” from blocking a shot at the end of his college season.
Lemieux ended up with a march penalty for a hit to the head, but Roussel’s injury occurred because his leg got trapped underneath him as he crumpled to the ice. Teammates needed to help the Canucks forward off the ice, and his season will come to an abrupt end. Roussel was actually having quite the year with a career-high of 31 points in 65 games, putting him fourth on Vancouver in scoring. He also easily leads the team in penalty minutes with 118, coming in only behind Evander Kane for the league lead.
Elias Pettersson was also involved in a dangerous play when Chris Kreider‘s elbow swung around and hit the young Vancouver forward in the face. Kreider was given a game misconduct and Pettersson was taken for concussion testing, but did return to the game. The Rangers forward was also given a $5,000 fine for the incident, but did not receive a suspension.
While the Roussel news is obviously terrible for the Canucks, more fans will be focused on the Hughes news given the excitement around the young defenseman. Signed just a few days ago after his college season came to an end, the 19-year old was expected to get a chance to show what he can do down the stretch. Obviously there is still some time to get him into game action, but the Canucks will have to take things carefully and avoid any additional injury.
Vancouver Canucks Sign Quinn Hughes To Entry-Level Contract
The Vancouver Canucks announced they have signed 2018 first-round pick Quinn Hughes to a three-year entry-level contract. The team’s seventh-overall pick, who just completed his sophomore season at the University of Michigan, is expected to take his physical in Vancouver on Tuesday with a slim possibility that he could play Wednesday against the New York Rangers, according to Sportsnet’s John Shannon.
“Quinn is an exceptional skater, strong on the puck and plays with creativity and vision,” said Vancouver general manager Jim Benning. “He was a leader on his team at the University of Michigan and has had success at the international level. We’re excited for Quinn to join our team and continue to grow his game as a member of the Vancouver Canucks.”
Hughes is considered to be one of the top elite prospects in the NHL as the smooth-skating defenseman is considered to be a solid two-way player, who could walk in and immediately quarterback the team’s top power-play unit. Hughes scored five goals and 33 points in 32 games for Michigan this year, a slight improvement from the five goals and 29 points he tallied as a freshman last year in 37 games.
Before a determination is made regarding how quickly Hughes can join the Canucks defense, Shannon reports the team will scan Hughes’ foot which he injured Friday in the first game of the Big 10 playoffs. While he played in Saturday’s game, many felt that it impaired his play. The team may opt to wait for his debut until he’s fully healthy. The team also might want to avoid playing him more than 10 games this season as that would force Vancouver to protect him in the upcoming 2021 expansion draft for the Seattle franchise.
CapFriendly points out that although Hughes is only 19, he’s classified as signing his entry-level deal at 20. As a result, he will burn the first year of his entry-level deal this season regardless of how many games he gets into down the stretch.
While Vancouver is out of the playoff race, this stretch of games will still allow Hughes to get acclimated to playing at the NHL level which should come in handy as he makes a run at a full-time roster spot next season.
With Michigan’s Exit, Quinn Hughes Is Free To Sign With Vancouver
With the University of Michigan getting eliminated from the first round of the Big 10 Tournament Saturday in a best-of-three series with the University of Minnesota, the Vancouver Canucks are suddenly hoping to see the next phase of the future arrive as their 2018 first-round pick Quinn Hughes, the seventh-overall pick, is now free to sign with the team.
Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal reports that Hughes will talk things over with his parents and coaches before deciding on whether he will turn pro with tomorrow likely having more clarity on his future. Canucks’ general manager Jim Benning said the team will do everything they can to bring him aboard.
“We’ll get right on it,” Benning said (via Postmedia’s Ben Kuzma). “We wanted him to concentrate on the weekend and his team, and we’ll contact the adviser and family and see what their intentions are and go from there.”
While there is no guarantee that Hughes will sign with Vancouver, many reports over the past few months suggest that the 19-year-old blueliner is ready to come to the NHL and with Vancouver’s issues on defense, it’s possible that if he signs quickly, he could be playing for the Canucks as early as Wednesday.
Of course a debut will also depend on Hughes health as well. The defenseman blocked a shot late in Friday’s playoff opener and played injured in Saturday’s game. While there is no word on the severity of the injury, he received x-rays and still played, but finished the game with a minus-2 rating. The injury could prevent him from making a quick debut, assuming he signs, as the team would probably prefer to debut him when he is fully healthy considering that Vancouver has fallen far behind for a potential playoff spot and likely has little to play for. Regardless, Hughes is considered to be one of the top prospects in the NHL, who led Team USA to a silver medal in the World Junior Championships and five goals and 33 points in 32 games with Michigan. A top skater, Hughes should provide Vancouver with a top-notch all-around defender, who should finally give the Canucks a quarterback to their power play and an defenseman that can generate some offense. Currently, the team’s top offensive threat is Alexander Edler, who has seven goals and 22 points.
Coincidentally, Vancouver has the potential to add a second player with Michigan’s loss as the team could get Hughes’ teammate William Lockwood, the team’s third-round pick from 2016. Lockwood, a junior, had a breakout season as he posted 16 goals this year with the Wolverines. He tallied eight goals as a freshman and just four in an injury-marred sophomore year. One other significant name that could also be signed away is Josh Norris, the key prospect that the Ottawa Senators acquired in the Erik Karlsson trade this summer. Norris, the 19th overall pick in the 2017 draft, scored 10 goals and 19 points in his sophomore season.
Pacific Notes: Edler, Burns, Grabner, Veronneau, Hathaway
A week ago, longtime Vancouver Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler refused to waive his no-trade clause and accommodate a team that was considering moving their veteran defenseman. Edler, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, has made it clear that he wants to remain in Vancouver for the rest of his career. The 32-year-old will be tested as the team will likely expect Edler to take less money after signing a six-year, $30MM contract ($5MM AAV) in 2013, according to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre.
“I’ve been fortunate to have very good contracts with money,” he said. “But there are other things, too. It’s different when you have a family. There are a lot of factors you have to take into consideration. Those things are important.”
With plenty of cap room and the need for a solid veteran defensemen who could continue aiding the play of young future defenseman like Quinn Hughes and Olli Juolevi, the Canucks might want to bring him back too, but with an upcoming expansion draft, the team doesn’t want to be placed in a situation where they will have to protect Edler and lose a more talented young player, which likely could be the key to negotiations.
- Despite rumors that he might miss a game, the Mercury News’ Paul Gackle reports that San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns will play Sunday against Chicago. Burns was rumored to be questionable as he had been suffering from the flu and missed a practice. That means that he won’t jeopardize his iron man status of 454 straight games played.
- The Athletic’s Craig Morgan (subscription required) writes that the Arizona Coyotes may get another player back soon as winger Michael Grabner could be back within the week. Grabner hasn’t played in a game since suffering a serious eye injury on Dec. 1. He has been fitted with a new contact lens, which is helping him eliminate his remaining vision issues, although the scribe adds that his return date could still be altered.
- Mark Divver of the Providence Journal writes that the Los Angeles Kings are considered the frontrunners to sign Princeton University forward Max Veronneau, who will be an unrestricted free agent once his college team is done playing next weekend. Veronneau, a four-year player, has 13 goals and 36 points this season and has tallied 52 goals in his four-year career. Los Angeles has a history of dipping into the college free agent market, grabbing defenseman Daniel Brickley and forward Sheldon Rempal last year, while signing goaltender Calvin Petersen two seasons ago.
- The Athletic’s Michael Russ reports that Calgary Flames forward Garnet Hathaway will not receive any supplementary discipline from the Department of Player Safety for driving Minnesota Wild’s Luke Kunin into the boards Saturday in the second period. Hathaway was given a match penalty and a game misconduct, but the league obviously didn’t feel the hit was intentional.
Western Notes: Canucks Defense, Fabbri, Benn, Parise
With the playoffs being a longshot for the Vancouver Canucks, the team needs to start focusing on next year, especially with their defense. General manager Jim Benning recently said that the blueline needs work and the team could find themselves being active participants in free agency this summer.
“We’re going to look this summer to try and change things up in the back end. There’s work to be done on defence,” he told reporters.
The Vancouver Sun’s Patrick Johnston writes that the team will likely make a play for San Jose’s Erik Karlsson, Toronto’s Jake Gardiner and Winnipeg’s Tyler Myers or even try and deal for Jacob Trouba. All are possibilities, although many of them are likely to be longshots. In fact, there may not be many big-name defensive free agents that Vancouver can add.
However, while the team feels good about bringing Quinn Hughes on board later this year, possibly in the next few weeks, and have him take over a spot on the team’s top-four immediately, the Canucks have quite a few decisions of their own roster to make, including the status of defenseman Alexander Edler, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, but has indicated a willingness to return to the team even though a they haven’t managed to work out an extension yet. The team will also have to give a significant pay raise to defenseman Ben Hutton who has had a solid season in Vancouver this year.
The Canucks are expected to give a long look to blueliner Ashton Sautner, and still have high expectations for Olli Juolevi, who is out for the season with a knee injury. Regardless, the team will need to do something to improve the teams defense next season.
- It hasn’t exactly been the year that St. Louis Blues forward Robby Fabbri would have hoped for, but the oft-injured winger feels that his play is starting to turn the corner for the Blues, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Fabbri has appeared in just 29 games this season with just five points, but with injuries to Brayden Schenn and David Perron, Fabbri has been receiving those extra minutes as well as some time on the power play, showing some signs that interim head coach Craig Berube is starting to show some confidence in the 23-year-old forward, who has lost almost two seasons to serious knee injuries. “I’ve been feeling good, and I’ve been feeling good for a while,” Fabbri said. “But there’s nothing like playing games. There’s a lot of things during the game that you can only practice in-game. It’s nice that I’m getting that opportunity right now.” Coincidentally, Fabbri has been made a healthy scratch for Saturday’s game, replaced by Sammy Blais, according to NHL.com’s Lou Korac.
- The Dallas Stars get a big boost on their offensive end as veteran forward Jamie Benn is expected back to their lineup Saturday against St. Louis, according to NHL.com’s Mark Stepneski. Benn was forced to leave their Feb. 24th game against the Chicago Blackhawks after suffering an upper-body injury early in the game and subsequently missed the next two games. “I’m good. Ready to go,” Benn said. “100 percent.” The team could use an offensive boost even though Benn hasn’t had his usual type of season with just 21 goals and just 20 assists in 61 games this season.
- The Minnesota Wild will be without veteran forward Zach Parise, who will miss Saturday’s game in Calgary and is questionable for Sunday’s game against Nashville with a foot injury, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo. The 34-year-old Parise is having a impressive season with 24 goals and 54 points and has been hot lately with a goal and four assists in his last five games.
Canucks’ Olli Juolevi Out For Season Following Knee Surgery
Olli Juolevi continues to defy expectations, but not in a good way. The Vancouver Canucks’ first-round pick in 2016, No. 5 overall, was unable to win a roster spot with the team last season and was loaned back to his native Finland. So far this year, Juolevi had played exclusively with their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets. Last month, the young defenseman suffered a knee injury, but was only expected to miss a couple of weeks. Juolevi even returned to practice with the Comets last week. Yet, the Canucks announced this evening that Juolevi underwent surgery on his knee today and will miss the remainder of the season.
Whether Juolevi’s knee injury was more severe than originally indicated or whether the team was simply playing it safe, the fact of the matter is that the recent top-five pick will go yet another season without making his NHL debut and could wait even longer. Vancouver does expect that he will make a full recovery by training camp, but in no way is he guaranteed a roster spot and will most likely have to prove that he is game-ready by beginning another season in the minors. The team press release stated that the Canucks’ medical staff felt that “surgery was… the best option for Juolevi’s long-term health and career”, but the decision also must have weighed whether or not the team felt they would need him this season or early next season, with the answer apparently being no.
If there was any question as to whether University of Michigan defenseman Quinn Hughes had bypassed Juolevi as Vancouver’s top defensive prospect, that debate is now over. Hughes, the seventh overall pick in June, is expected to step into a starting role with Canucks next season, if not sooner. Meanwhile, Juolevi’s future is a question mark, with his development now marred by injury in addition to underwhelming performance.
USA Hockey Releases Preliminary World Junior Roster
With just a few weeks left before the World Junior Championship gets underway in Vancouver, preliminary and selection camp rosters have been released for almost every participating country. One of the last to join the party is USA Hockey, who waited to reveal their group on the NHL Network.
The American group is one of the gold medal contenders again this year, and should be one of the most interesting groups to watch in the tournament. Littered with already drafted NHL prospects, they also will have potential first-overall pick Jack Hughes on the roster. The full group can be found below:
G Kyle Keyser (BOS)
G Spencer Knight (2019 eligible)
G Cayden Primeau (MTL)
D Mikey Anderson (LAK)
D Michael Callahan (ARI)
D Ty Emberson (ARI)
D Quinn Hughes (VAN)
D Joey Keane (NYR)
D Philip Kemp (EDM)
D K’Andre Miller (NYR)
D Dylan Samberg (WPG)
D Mattias Samuelsson (BUF)
D Jack St. Ivany (PHI)
F Evan Barratt (CHI)
F Noah Cates (PHI)
F Alexander Chmelevski (SJS)
F Logan Cockerill (NYI)
F Cole Coskey (undrafted)
F Sean Dhooghe (undrafted)
F Jack Drury (CAR)
F Joel Farabee (PHI)
F Jack Hughes (2019 eligible)
F Tyler Madden (VAN)
F Josh Norris (OTT)
F Jay O’Brien (PHI)
F Ryan Poehling (MTL)
F Jason Robertson (DAL)
F Oliver Wahlstrom (NYI)
F Sammy Walker (TBL)
Pacific Notes: Juolevi, Kase, Smith, Klefbom
While asking the question of when will Vancouver Canucks prospect Olli Juolevi play his first NHL game, Ben Kuzma of The Province writes that his chances of making this year’s squad has already been hampered when he suffered a lower-back injury during offseason training. The 20-year–old fifth-overall pick in 2016 had a minimally invasive disk procedure to relieve pressure on his spinal nerve column, which was expected to sideline him for eight to 10 weeks.
Kuzma writes that defenseman Alexander Edler suffered a similar injury back in the 2010-11 season and needed a full 10 weeks to recover. Juolevi likely won’t begin full-intensive training until the end of August, therefore, and will only get about three weeks to get in shape for training camp. With his chances of making the team already a question mark before 2018 first-rounder Quinn Hughes announced he would return to the University of Michigan, what are his chances now?
“He’s on schedule,” said Canucks’ general manager Jim Benning. “He has been working out and will be ready for training camp. We expect him to come to put his best foot forward. We’ll see where he is at and go from there.”
- Eric Stephens of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that with the signing of Ondrej Kase to three-year, $7.8MM deal, the Anaheim Ducks may have quite the logjam at the forward position this year as the team likely will have to find a more prominent role for Kase, which could be challenging. The team has a logjam at the right wing position as many believe that veteran Patrick Eaves could likely join Ryan Getzlaf on the team’s top line next year. The second line will be either manned by Jakob Silfverberg or Corey Perry, which could force Kase to move to the fourth line. That’s not likely to happen. So what can they do for Kase? Move him to the left side? Stephens writes that might work for temporary situations such as injuries that come up, but is hardly a permanent solution for the 22-year-old who is just starting to enter his prime. Stephens adds that a more likely possibility, especially if Ryan Kesler is not ready for the regular season, would be to move Silfverberg off the right side to accommodate Kase.
- Kent Wilson of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that the Calgary Flames may have redesigned their team, but they are taking a big gamble in the net with 36-year-old Mike Smith. The veteran had an amazing first-half of the season before suffering an injury and never looked the same. While the hope is that Smith is fully recovered and should return to form for this season, Wilson writes that he’s entering the “danger age” for goaltenders who have historically fallen off a cliff at 36. If the team can’t get a big year from Smith, the team only has David Rittich and Jon Gillies as insurance, which could crush the team’s hopes for a playoff berth in a very deep Pacific Division.
- Jamie Umbach of NHL.com takes a look at the Edmonton Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom, who regressed last season after a breakout season in the 2016-17 season in which he tallied 12 goals and 38 points. However, a shoulder injury sustained in the Western Conference Finals hovered over him all of last year to the point that he five goals and 21 points in 66 games before he opted to have season-ending surgery to repair his shoulder. Klefbom has been given a clean bill of health this offseason is ready to return for a big season next year. “It feels good going home knowing the shoulder is 100 percent so I don’t have to go through this again with medications and injections,” Klefbom said.