Snapshots: Ventura, Eklund, Canadiens
The Buffalo Sabres are adding another talented executive to the front office, as Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that they will hire Sam Ventura as VP of hockey strategy and research. Ventura will be leaving his position with the Pittsburgh Penguins and rejoining former colleague Jason Karmanos, who was hired by the Sabres earlier this year.
As Greg Wyshynski of ESPN points out, Ventura comes from the hockey analytics world and has long been considered as a candidate for a future GM position in the NHL. For now, he’ll join a Sabres organization that has struggled to find any success in recent years, last making the playoffs in 2011.
- William Eklund, who continues to creep up draft boards, has been announced as the winner of the E.J. McGuire Award of Excellence by the NHL. The award is given out by NHL Central Scouting to “the candidate who best exemplifies commitment to excellence through strength of character, competitiveness and athleticism” in the upcoming draft class. Eklund is ranked as the top international skater even after a tumultuous 2020-21 campaign that included an emergency appendectomy, a positive COVID-19 test and a pre-tournament injury that kept him out of the World Championship.
- The Montreal Canadiens will make several lineup changes as they try to stave off elimination in the Stanley Cup Finals. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Erik Gustafsson, and Jon Merrill will all be scratched in favor of Jake Evans, Alexander Romanov, and Brett Kulak for tonight’s game four. When asked by Wyshynski why Tomas Tatar hasn’t made an appearance during the season, Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme explained that it is “just a matter of combinations and playing at that time of year.” Tatar is an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Vancouver Canucks Targeting Center With No. 9 Pick
The Vancouver Canucks have a number of talented young forwards on the roster and in the pipeline, but outside of Elias Pettersson they have very few at the center position. After a deep playoff run last season, Vancouver expected to continue as a contender for years to come. Instead, they took a major step back this season. The thin silver lining is that they have the opportunity to address their greatest prospect need with a top ten pick – and plan to do just that.
In his first round mock draft, The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler also included some hints from league sources that influenced his decisions. The most detailed report pertained to the Canucks and their hopes for the No. 9 overall pick. Wheeler writes that the Canucks are expected to take one of William Eklund, Mason McTavish, or Kent Johnson with the selection, assuming at least one is still available. While all three have played wing as well in their young careers, they are primarily considered centers and Johnson and McTavish are largely expected to stick at center at the pro level.
In Wheeler’s mock, he has Eklund – the consensus top player of the group – and McTavish already off the board by the time Vancouver picks. However, that shouldn’t be a problem. Wheeler believes that Johnson, the most natural center of the group, is considered to be the Canucks’ top choice for their pick. Johnson may need to fill out his frame and work on his physical compete level, but his talent is obvious. The University of Michigan is natural puck-mover and play-maker with some of the best puck skills in the draft class to go with smooth skating and great vision. Once Johnson grows into his frame and develops more two-way sense, he should be a perfect fit down the middle. If he falls to Vancouver, Wheeler notes it would be another instance of an incredibly skilled but lanky, physically immatures player going later than he probably should to the good fortune of the Canucks. It worked out nicely with Pettersson and the team would not hesitate to take the chance again.
If Johnson is gone by No. 9, as are Eklund and McTavish, the Canucks could still target the center position with U.S. National Team Development Program standout Chaz Lucius, another versatile forward who could line up down the middle in Cole Sillinger, or a natural center and preseason top pick candidate Aatu Raty. The team will have plenty of options to address their biggest development need in the first round, before addressing their current roster over the rest of the off-season.
Owen Power Leads 2021 NHL Central Scouting Ranking
NHL Central Scouting has released their final ranking for the 2021 NHL Draft and as expected, University of Michigan defenseman Owen Power leads the way among North American skaters. The 6’6″ defenseman is currently in Latvia playing at the IIHF World Championship with Team Canada and is the odds-on favorite to be selected first-overall this summer.
While two of Power’s Michigan teammates, Kent Johnson and Matthew Beniers are also highly ranked, the number two spot is somewhat of a surprise. Mason McTavish, who had usually been ranked a little further down the chart by other publications, slides in directly behind Power after his outstanding U18 tournament and experience overseas. When the OHL failed to return this season, McTavish went to play in Switzerland, where he was actually born while his dad Dale McTavish played pro hockey in 2003. In 17 games for EHC Olten, the 18-year-old center recorded 11 goals and 18 points.
The full rankings can be found here, but the top five on each list are:
North American Skaters:
D Owen Power
F Mason McTavish
F Kent Johnston
D Luke Hughes
F Dylan Guenther
North American Goalies:
G Sebastian Cossa
G Benjamin Gaudreau
G Tristan Lennox
G Olivier Adam
G Emerik Despatie
International Skaters:
F William Eklund
D Simon Edvinsson
F Aatu Raty
F Nikita Chibrikov
D Daniil Chayka
International Goalies:
G Jesper Wallstedt
G Aleksei Kolosov
G Patrik Hamrla
G Aku Koskenvuo
G Carl Lindbom