COVID Notes: Dahlin, Wild, Kuznetsov
The Buffalo Sabres will have another big name on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list when it comes out later today as they have already announced that Rasmus Dahlin has been added. The team now has nine players in the protocol, plus head coach Ralph Krueger.
Technically, Dahlin was actually added to the list last night. It originally had just Casey Mittelstadt joining the other seven players previously listed—Taylor Hall, Jake McCabe, Brandon Montour, Tobias Rieder, Rasmus Ristolainen, Dylan Cozens, and Curtis Lazar—but Dahlin was an update given later. Like with any other player, being on the list does not necessarily mean you have tested positive for COVID-19. The Sabres are currently scheduled to resume play on February 11.
- The Minnesota Wild will also likely have some names added today, or at least in the near future. GM Bill Guerin implied that to Michael Russo of The Athletic, who did a very interesting examination of the outbreak with the Wild and the related league protocols. The Wild are also off until February 11, though that game against the St. Louis Blues seems very much in jeopardy should the team add several names today. Minnesota currently has nine players on the CPRA list.
- Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilya Samsonov of the Washington Capitals spoke to reporters today following their own bouts with COVID-19 and provided a bit different experiences. When asked if he was scared at any point while experiencing symptoms, Kuznetsov told Samantha Pell of the Washington Post “no, I’m from Russia.” Samsonov meanwhile told Pell through an interpreter that there were a few days where he had trouble breathing and walking. Both players were on the ice today at practice.
PHR Panel: Revisiting The 2018 Draft
We’re now two months into an NHL postponement and there is still no clear timeline on when professional hockey will return. While fans of the sport have received small tidbits of news over that time, including college signings and contract extensions, the thirst for discussion has rarely been quenched.
With that in mind, we’re happy to continue our new feature: The PHR Panel. Our writing staff will give our individual takes on a question many hockey fans have been wondering about. If you’d ever like to submit a subject for us to discuss, be sure to put it in the comments.
To catch up on the previous edition, click here.
Today, with the 2020 draft still not set in stone, we take a look at how some top picks are performing a few years into their careers.
Q: Who will end up being the best player from the 2018 draft?
Brian La Rose:
Back in 2018, the answer was Rasmus Dahlin. Nearly two years later, I don’t think that answer has changed.
While the Sabres have continued to struggle even with Dahlin in the fold, it certainly hasn’t been because of him. He had a lot thrown at him during his rookie season, perhaps too much for an 18-year-old defenseman. Despite that, he still did quite well. He was even better this season and was on pace to set new career-highs in points in spite of a dip in playing time if it wasn’t for a concussion and a minor upper-body issue that cost him ten games combined.
Defensively, Dahlin is still a little shaky at times but that’s par for the course for a young blueliner. He has made considerable improvements over his first two years and that should continue as he plays more and gets stronger.
At the end of the day, I’m not sure he’ll be the top offensive defender from this class but Dahlin’s all-around game will be enough to put him ahead of Quinn Hughes in terms of value. There will be some quality scorers from the 2018 draft (there already are) but they won’t be able to impact the game like a franchise defender that should consistently log over 25 minutes a night in his prime. Buffalo picking Dahlin back in June of 2018 signaled that they felt he was the best player in his draft class. There’s little reason to think otherwise at this point.
Holger Stolzenberg:
There are quite a few players that I like from this draft, but I’m going to go with the belief that the Buffalo Sabres got it right. Yes, Dahlin may not be that flashy defenseman who immediately dominated the league like fellow young blueliners Cale Makar and Hughes. Yet Dahlin is exactly what the team needed and has filled a major role in the two years he’s been in the league.
While his numbers look rather pedestrian through two seasons with 84 combined points, considering his status as the first-overall pick in 2018, those are actually impressive numbers for a teenaged blueliner. While they hardly compare to the first two seasons that Phil Housley had with Buffalo (he had 143 points), the league was quite different back in the early 80s with more goal scoring. In fact, the Sabres average more than one fewer goal per game now than they did back then, suggesting that Dahlin is much more comparable.
Now 20 years old, Dahlin is getting close to hitting his prime and should eventually have that breakout year to prove that he’s the best player in this draft. The blueliner has proven to be solid defensively and has good offensive skills, both of which should only get better. He will be a great player for years to come. We just might have to wait a little longer to see that play out.
Zach Leach:
The 2018 draft class has yet to produce enough players with considerable NHL experience to truly make an educated guess on this question. Many, like college standouts Scott Perunovich (STL) and Tyler Madden (LAK), have yet to even debut, while some top picks like Oliver Wahlstrom (NYI) and Evan Bouchard (EDM) have only played in a handful of games. I like all four of these players to have good NHL careers, but I simply don’t have the sample size I need to say that any could be the best player of the class.
For now, I still consider the players that I personally felt were the top four players in the 2018 class to be the leading contenders to have the best NHL career: Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov, Buffalo’s Dahlin, Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk, and Vancouver’s Hughes (I had Wahlstrom at No. 5). Even in the midst of Dahlin mania back in June 2018, I felt Svechnikov was a special talent and a dynamic presence that was deserving of being the top overall pick. That’s why I listed him first and will stick with him as the player that I feel has the best chance to be the top player in his class. Dahlin, Tkachuk, and especially Hughes have certainly shown that they can be elite players and difference-makers for their respective franchises, but I feel that Svechnikov will outplay and outlast the field.
Svechnikov, who leads the 2018 class in goals, points, and games played, has already asserted himself as a franchise centerpiece for the Hurricanes. He has the natural offensive instincts as well as the willingness to play physically and win puck battles to be a scoring threat and key presence on offense for a long time still to come. I do not see Svechnikov’s offense drying up; in fact, his growth from year one to year two shows me that he is absolutely still on the rise and his near point-per-game pace this season is just the beginning of his offensive upside and I feel he will have staying power among the NHL’s elite once he arrives. I see Alex Ovechkin as the ceiling for Svechnikov, which would certainly give him a good chance at the title of best player in the 2018 class, both in ability and longevity.
Gavin Lee:
While I may not quite be on the same level as Zach when it comes to Svechnikov—what a comparable!—I too had him ranked as the best player in 2018 over Dahlin. There’s simply nothing that Svechnikov can’t do offensively. I was actually surprised he didn’t have a better rookie season, but the Hurricanes brought him along slowly with severely limited even-strength minutes and often only had him on the second powerplay unit. There’s nothing wrong with that, but when the team let him loose this season you started to see what Svechnikov is truly capable of.
No, it’s not all lacrosse goals and nifty dangles. The 6’2″ forward is a force when he gets to full speed, and can seemingly still make crisp passes with a defender hanging onto his back. He was on a 73-point pace this season while still averaging fewer than 14 minutes of even-strength ice time. When 16:44 (total) per game starts creeping close to 20:00, watch out for a player who one day may legitimately contend for both the Rocket Richard and Art Ross (remember, he only just turned 20).
There are some outstanding players in the field, but I’ll still put my money on the big Russian.
Erik Cernak Suspended Two Games
The Department of Player Safety has had a busy few days. Their latest discipline has been handed out to Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak, who has been suspended for two games. Cernak elbowed Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin in the head, resulting in a concussion for the young player. As the accompanying video explains:
It is important to note that while we acknowledge the Lightning argument that they believe Dahlin’s glove drove Cernak’s elbow upward and caused the head contact on this play, we disagree.
While Dahlin’s glove does make glancing contact with Cernak’s forearm, it is clear to us that Cernak’s elbow is already on a trajectory where head contact is inevitable.
The Lightning will be without Cernak for the next couple of games, but the concern now is how long Dahlin will be out after being placed in the concussion protocol. The young phenom has had his share of struggles this season but the Sabres were already looking to move one of their other defensemen to upgrade the forward ranks.
Atlantic Notes: Babcock, Dahlin, Anderson
Three weeks ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs were just OK. They weren’t dominating the Atlantic Division, but their underlying numbers were acceptable. However, quite a bit has changed in three weeks. The team has just one regulation victory in its last nine games (two in their last 15 games) and the team’s special teams are at the bottom of the league.
Now, after defending Mike Babcock three weeks ago, The Athletic’s James Mirtle (subscription required) now compares the pros and cons on whether it might be time to remove the head coach. While he points out that some of the team’s struggles are out of Babcock’s control, there are more reasons to look at the coaching staff skeptically within the last nine-game stretch.
Mirtle examines the coaches’ tactics and the special teams challenges (including 11.8 percent success rate on the power play and a 71.4 percent kill ratio on the penalty kill). However, the most interesting take is that the scribe believes that the head coach has lost his team in the locker room. Whether that will eventually fuel a coaching change is unknown, but Toronto fans won’t be happy long with a 9-9-4 record with all the expectations that were expected from this team.
- Despite being benched for the third period Saturday night, the Buffalo Sabres still intend to play second-year defenseman Rasmus Dahlin Sunday, who has struggled in the eyes of head coach Ralph Krueger. “We’re making decisions for the team in the moment. It was a coaching room decision, not against Rasmus at all; it was for the other guys to just tighten things up,” said Krueger (according to The Athletic’s John Vogl). “It worked, but Rasmus will grow from it, learn from it and move forward quickly from it, I’m sure. … Just sometimes wanting too much maybe and finding the balance between his amazing genius and skill and what we need when. He’ll improve from it.”
- The Fourth Period’s Matteo Pasculli wonders whether Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson‘s career with the Senators could be coming to an end. The 38-year-old veteran has been struggling this season with a 3.31 GAA and a .894 save percentage in 12 appearances this year. With Anderson losing hold of his job to Anders Nilsson, who has been steadier, Anderson could find himself on the trade block as a potential backup goalie for a playoff team. Of course, a playoff team would require some cap space to accommodate his $4.75MM contract, although Ottawa could retain some of that salary. He is, however, in the last year of his deal, which could be appealing to a team looking for a rental.
Stars Notes: Khudobin, Pavelski, Heiskanen, Dellandrea
In two seasons with the Dallas Stars, goaltender Ben Bishop has already appeared in 112 games if you include the playoffs. And while the goaltender put up Vezina-caliber numbers last year after posting a 1.98 GAA and a .934 save percentage in 46 regular season games. However, how long can the 32-year-old keep that pace up?
The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro (subscription required) writes that the team needs to turn backup goaltender Anton Khudobin into a tandem 1B goaltender. Despite appearing in 41 games with Dallas last season, his role has obviously been as a backup as he made just one playoff appearance in 13 games, and the 33-year-old played just 11:05 in that one game. Regardless, he has put up solid 2.57 GAA and a .923 save percentage.
With Bishop getting older, Shapiro writes that the team needs to include Khudobin more and give him an even bigger role, which would include making the goalie situation more of a tandem. Khudobin has never thrived when sitting on the bench cold and has proven to be stronger when he gets streaks of starts. That might make a tandem combination work better for Dallas.
- SportsDay’s Matthew DeFranks writes that while the 38 goals that new Dallas Stars’ Joe Pavelski scored with San Jose last season were nice, what the team is really hoping for is that the veteran forward can turn Dallas’ power play into an elite one. What the Stars are hoping for is that Pavelski can provide the power play with versatility and movement in the offensive zone, something that San Jose has always been great at. The Stars want the same mobility on their power play. “When the bodies are moving, the puck’s moving, it gets hard for penalty killers to keep track of everybody,” Dallas coach Jim Montgomery said. “That’s where you find the open lanes, seams for tips and one-timers.”
- NHL.com’s Rob Reese writes that while Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen had an impressive season, it’s even more impressive when you look at the numbers that the rookie put up. The blueliner was first among rookies, averaging 23:07 of ATOI, almost two minutes more than Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin. His 12 goals was ranked 17th among all NHL defensemen and his 10 even-strength were tied for eighth in the league. With more playing time expected next season, Heiskanen should continue to evolve into one of the elite defensemen.
- NHL.com’s Brett Amadon writes that Montgomery has made it clear that he is open to giving top prospect Ty Dellandrea a legitimate shot to make the team during training camp this season. The 13th-overall pick in the 2018 draft has been impressive in juniors and looked pretty good in a short stint with the AHL’s Texas Stars last season, but would have to make Dallas’ roster next year or be returned to his junior club, the Flint Firebirds in the OHL. “I’ve got to work extremely hard and take the stuff I learned from a bit of pro experience,” Dellandrea said at Stars development camp in June. “I’ve got to come in, do everything I can and give myself the best shot to make the team.”
Snapshots: Sabres, Gardiner, Tkachyov
Few have criticized the Sabres’ side of the recent Henri Jokiharju–Alexander Nylander trade, but it’s a fact that Buffalo is overflowing with defenders after acquiring the young right-hander from the Chicago Blackhawks. As Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News’ points out, the Sabres still have needs to fill up front and they could use their defensive depth to do so. Lysowski writes that Buffalo has ample cap space to make an addition at forward, but there are few ideal candidates left on the free agent market and the team may as well use their surplus of blue liners to swing a deal. Jokiharju is safe, as are fellow recent additions Brandon Montour and Colin Miller and 2017 No. 1 pick Rasmus Dahlin. RFA Jake McCabe is not likely to be dealt, but a potential candidate and injury-prone Zach Bogosian and overpaid veteran Matt Hunwick might be hard to move. That would seemingly leave Rasmus Ristolainen, a fixture on the rumor mill, Marco Scandella, and Casey Nelson as the most likely names to be dealt and it would not be a surprise if more than one ends up elsewhere. The Sabres are certainly not done making moves this summer.
- Of course, this makes Buffalo just one of a surprising number of teams not biting on Jake Gardiner this summer. PHR’s top-ranked UFA defenseman, Gardiner remains unsigned more than a week after the market opened. NBC Sports’ Scott Billeck reports that Gardiner is seeking $7MM annually in his next year, which is likely pricing himself out of the range that many D-needy teams are looking for. It’s hard to argue that Gardiner was not the best available defenseman when free agency opened, but he’s also not a top-pair defenseman by most metrics and teams aren’t willing to shell out right now simply due to a weak market. Billeck names the Winnipeg Jets as a team that could use Gardiner, but can’t afford him at his current asking price. The Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, and his own Toronto Maple Leafs also fit that description. Billeck feels the New Jersey Devils could be the leading candidate to land Gardiner right now, but there really aren’t many clear fits for the defender at this time unless he changes his expectations.
- Despite flirting with a jump to the NHL for several years, Vladimir Tkachyov has decided to re-sign in the KHL once again. SKA St. Petersburg has announced an extension with the young scorer. Tkachyov, 23, has been a solid offensive contributor for the past several years but the best may still be yet to come. The winger was acquired by SKA last month from Salavat Yulaev Ufa for the rights to Nikita Soshnikov, who has since signed in Ufa, and Tkachyov could be set for some career-highs with the perennial contenders in St. Petersburg. It is a two-year contract with SKA, so Tkachyov has a couple more years to further prove he is a formidable forward, and could very well drawn NHL attention once again in 2021.
2019 Calder Memorial Trophy Finalists Announced
The finalists for the Calder Memorial Trophy, given each year to the most proficient first-year player in the NHL, have been announced. The three rookies are Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson, St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington, and Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, according to Sportsnet’s John Shannon. New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal was the 2018 winner of the award.
While it seemed like a forgone conclusion that the Canucks’ Pettersson would walk away with the award early in the season, the young Swede has gotten some good competition from Binnington as well as fellow Swede Dahlin. However, Pettersson remains the front runner. The 20-year-old came over from Sweden this year and immediately posted 28 goals and 38 assists for 66 points, making the loss of both Henrik and Daniel Sedin, who retired a season ago, less noticeable. What’s interesting is that Pettersson was initially pegged to play the wing for a season as he transitioned to North American hockey. Instead, within a week or two of training camp the team announced he would play center immediately and fared extremely well at that. Despite the impressive numbers, the other two candidates have a legitimate chance at the award, as much of Pettersson’s production was concentrated in the first half of the season. He tallied 23 goals and 45 points in the first 40 games of the season, but struggled more in the second half, totaling just five goals and 21 points in his final 31 games.
Binnington didn’t make his first start this year until Jan. 7, but he made it count, posting a shutout against the Philadelphia Flyers and leading a struggling Blues team to the playoffs with a 24-5-1 record with a 1.89 GAA and a .927 save percentage. The 25-year-old netminder was not even considered the team’s top goalie prospect at the start of the season, as he was behind Ville Husso in San Antonio of the AHL, but a strong start to the season with the Rampage and his immediate success with St. Louis give the goaltender a good chance at challenging for the Calder.
Dahlin comes from a much more conventional place, as he was the 2018 No. 1 overall pick and immediately steadied a struggling Buffalo defense this season. He had one of the best seasons for an 18-year-old defensemen ever, as he posted nine goals and 44 points, second most in the NHL history for his age and position. Only his former coach, Phil Housley, did better as an 18-year-old defender, as Housley put up 57 points back in the 1982-83 season. Dahlin also played the second-most minutes among NHL rookies, averaging 21:09, behind Dallas Stars’ defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who many felt deserved to be among the top three in this race. Dahlin is the first Buffalo Sabres player to be a finalist for the award since Tyler Myers was nominated in 2009-10.
Colorado’s Odds At The First Overall Pick
Early this season, the Colorado Avalanche were in the most enviable position in sports. Their team was excelling and looking playoff-bound, but without any negative effect on their draft status. Because as the Avs won games, the Ottawa Senators were losing them and Colorado owned the Sens’ first-round pick this year as part of last season’s Matt Duchene trade. There was a real possibility that the Avalanche could be Stanley Cup contenders and also have the first overall pick in the draft. Lately, the Avs have looked less like a playoff team and more like the Senators. Colorado has four wins in their past 23 games dating back to mid-December and have slipped into a tie for tenth-place in the Western Conference, three points out of a playoff spot. The one silver lining: their odds at drafting No. 1 have improved and might end up being the best in several years.
Ahead of the 2014 NHL Draft, the NHL changed the draft lottery rules. Any team in the lottery could now move up into a top-three position and the odds would be more fairly distributed among all lottery teams. There have been slight variations in the odds for each draft, but the biggest shift came last year when the addition of the Vegas Golden Knights to the league added a fifteenth member of the lottery group and further split the odds. Yet, with 18.5% odds, the last-placed Buffalo Sabres still retained the first overall pick and drafted Rasmus Dahlin, a generational defenseman. This year’s prize, play-making forward Jack Hughes, is seen by most scouts as a guaranteed top-six center and power play wizard and the team with the worst record still stands the best chance of getting him by a significant margin.
Of course, the worst record looks like it will belong to Ottawa and thus the pick will belong to Colorado. The Senators are currently in 31st overall in the league standings, three points back of the Los Angeles Kings and New Jersey Devils. If those standings hold, based on last year’s odds Colorado will have a 18.5% chance that the Ottawa pick will be first overall, compared to 13.5% for L.A. and 11.5% for New Jersey. Then, Colorado’s own pick comes into play. Currently, the Avs are technically 23rd overall. If they remain in that spot, they would have 5% odds that their own pick would be No. 1. Combined, they would have a 23.5% shot at picking first. Since 2014, no team has come close to having odds that high at the top pick and Colorado could continue to struggle down the stretch and improve the odds on their own pick. If the Avs were to slip three more spots in the league standings, their odds would be greater than 25%, giving them better than a one-in-four shot at Hughes.
The possibilities are even more intriguing when you consider the odds of both picks winning the lottery instead of just one. Currently, there is about a 0.9% chance that Colorado could pick first and second, not dissimilar odds to those that the final lottery team has of picking first. The addition of both Hughes and the presumptive No. 2 pick, Finnish winger Kaapo Kakko, would be an enormous influx of elite draft talent unseen since the Sedin twins landed with the Vancouver Canucks at second and third overall in 1999. There is a whopping 58% chance that both of their picks land in the top four, which would also be an unbelievable boost for the Avalanche with a number of impact forwards available in this class. And again, these odds can only improve if the Avalanche continue on this downward spiral. If the current standings hold, the worst that Colorado could do is to pick fourth and twelfth – which would still be a better first-round combination than any team in recent years – and the odds of that happening are approximately 18x less likely than picking both first and second; the best case is greater reality than the worst-case.
The moral of the story is that, while it’s disappointing for Avalanche fans to see a talented team plummeting down the standings, there is some upside as well. The team is young and built for the future and are in better shape than any team in recent memory to add the best player in the draft and perhaps two of the best available. So whether you’re a Colorado fan soley focused on Hughes or holding out for another top prospect as well, the team’s current slump is only helping in that pursuit. The ping pong balls will ultimately decide the Avs’ fate, but the future is bright.
PHWA Announces 2018-19 Midseason Awards
Though they have no bearing on the eventual winners, last season the Professional Hockey Writers Association brought back their Midseason Awards to give fans an idea of who was leading the charge around the NHL at the halfway point. Today those ballots have been tallied and the midseason trophies were given out:
Hart Trophy – Most valuable player
1. Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
2. Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames
3. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Norris Trophy – Best defenseman
1. Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames
2. Morgan Rielly, Toronto Maple Leafs
3. Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks
Selke Trophy – Best defensive forward
1. Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins
2. Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers
3. Mark Stone, Ottawa Senators
Calder Trophy – Best rookie
1. Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
2. Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres
3. Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars
Lady Byng Trophy – Sportsmanship & gentlemanly conduct
1. Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers
2. Morgan Rielly, Toronto Maple Leafs
3. Sean Monahan, Calgary Flames
Vezina Trophy – Best goaltender
1. John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks
2. Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas Golden Knights
3. Frederik Andersen, Toronto Maple Leafs
Jack Adams Award – Best coach
1. Barry Trotz, New York Islanders
2. Bill Peters, Calgary Flames
3. Jon Cooper, Tampa Bay Lightning
GM of the Year Award
1. Brad Treliving, Calgary Flames
2. Doug Wilson, San Jose Sharks
3. Lou Lamoriello, New York Islanders
Rod Langway Award – Best defensive defenseman
1. Mattias Ekholm, Nashville Predators
2. Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames
3. Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
Comeback Player of the Year Award
1. Robin Lehner, New York Islanders
2. Jeff Skinner, Buffalo Sabres
3. Zach Parise, Minnesota Wild
Prospect Notes: Demko, Makar, Laaksonen
After the Vancouver Canucks used a second-round draft pick on Thatcher Demko in 2014, following a breakout freshman campaign at Boston College, and he proceeded to improve over his next two seasons with the Eagles, many expected that it wouldn’t take long for him to take over as the starter for Vancouver. Now in his third pro season, Demko has suited up for only one game with the Canucks and continues to sit behind the likes of Jacob Markstrom and Anders Nilsson, who have been far from spectacular in that time. With the Vancouver duo currently combining for a save percentage below .900 and a goals against average over 3.00, this season would seem to be a prime opportunity for Demko to finally break through as an option at the NHL level. However, a concussion in training camp derailed the beginning of the season for the young keeper and he has only recently returned to the net for the AHL’s Utica Comets. The Athletic’s Jason Brough recently caught up with Demko to get an update on how his return from the “scary” injury has gone so far. Demko stated that he really wanted to take his time and ensure he was 100% before returning from the concussion, but feels good now. Demko continued that he has been working closely with the Canucks’ new goalie coach, Ian Clark, and is anxious to get his chance in Vancouver this season. Six games into his season in the AHL, Demko’s numbers aren’t as stellar as they were last season, but as he grows healthier and more comfortable in net, he’s likely to return to that high-level performance. Assuming he does, Demko should have far more than one NHL start on his resume by the end of this season.
- Colorado Avalanche top prospect and college hockey superstar Cale Makar was invited to play for Team Canada at the Olympics last year, but declined the opportunity. History has repeated itself this year, as The Athletic’s Julie Robenhymer reports that Makar was offered a spot on Canada’s entry into the Spengler Cup tournament in Switzerland later this month, but has again passed up the international experience. Robenhymer writes that Makar has opted to work on getting back to full health before the second half of the NCAA season begins in January. With UMass ranked as the top team in the country, they need their top defenseman ready to go as they chase a national championship this season. While the Avs may have liked to have seen Makar in a different context at the Spengler Cup, they won’t hesitate to sign him as soon as his college season is over regardless.
- One defenseman who may not be so eager to make the jump to the NHL is Buffalo Sabres prospect Oskari Laaksonen. Laaksonen, 19, was a third-round selection by the Sabres in 2017 and is a well-regarded young puck-mover. However, Laaksonen is comfortable staying in his native Finland for the time being, as Ilves has announced a two-year extension with their young stalwart. While the press release included a quote from Laaksonen that he is happy to stay with the team until something happens in the NHL, Buffalo certainly wouldn’t mind if he wanted to log some time in the AHL beforehand and it would help Laaksonen reach to top level much sooner. With Rasmus Dahlin, Lawrence Pilut, and Rasmus Ristolainen all relatively young and seemingly locked in to long-term starting roles, Laaksonen likely sees a lack of opportunity right now in Buffalo. However, he does seem willing to make the move once the blue line opens up somewhat with the Sabres.