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Interest Rising For Jack McBain

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One of the more interesting stories around this season’s trade deadline is unsigned college prospect, Jack McBain. The rights to the Minnesota Wild draft pick are expected to be traded in the next few days, as McBain has apparently made it clear he will not be signing with Minnesota and would instead test free agency this summer. He could reach unrestricted free agency in the middle of August, at which point the Wild would receive no compensation and essentially lose the third-round pick they used on McBain in 2018.

Now 22, the Boston College star could sign and play with a team this season, adding an impressive 6’4″ forward into the mix. In 24 games at BC this season he scored 19 goals and 33 points, while also attending the Olympics with Team Canada. The asking price was believed to be a second-round pick, though Darren Dreger of TSN suggests it could even be climbing as multiple teams join the hunt to try and get him signed.

Selected 63rd overall in 2018, McBain was the first pick of the third round and could quickly become one of the steals of the draft should his college production carry over to the professional ranks. Big, two-way centers aren’t easy to come by, and given the sneaky amount of skill that McBain possesses, there may even be more than the bottom-six pivot he still projects as. If he can carve out a role similar to Joel Eriksson Ek, for instance, he would obviously be worth even more than a second-round pick.

That’s obviously not a guarantee though, and as contenders load up on rentals, McBain’s future may lie with a team not quite as close to the top. Prospects in a situation like this often chase the best opportunity, not necessarily the best team, as they hope to make an impact early on. Given that he’s already 22, McBain will be signing a two-year entry-level contract, meaning he’ll be set to reach restricted free agency by the end of 2022-23. If he wants to have NHL stats to take into a negotiation, finding a home with a less impressive depth chart may be the way to go.

Chicago Blackhawks Sign Alex Vlasic To Entry-Level Deal

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Adding to today’s growing list of NCAA players signing their entry-level contracts, Alex Vlasic has signed a three-year entry-level deal with the Chicago Blackhawks. Per the team, the deal will carry an $824,167 cap hit. Vlasic was drafted by the Blackhawks 43rd overall in the 2019 draft, only just before another of today’s signings, Drew Helleson. 

Vlasic, 20, is perhaps best known for being among the biggest players in his draft class. Standing at six-foot-six, Vlasic’s size has made him an intriguing prospect as he’s developed in the NCAA. There’s not a lot of offense to his game, as he has only 20 points in his 82-game career at Boston University, but his aforementioned size, which is highly coveted and difficult for teams to find, has made it so that lack of offense hasn’t tarnished much of his shine as a top prospect. Just by being as big as he is, Vlasic offers high defensive upside thanks to his reach and potential to be a menace along the boards. He’s the cousin of Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and while that has little bearing on his actual play on the ice it should excite fans who know the connection and remember Vlasic in his prime when he was among the NHL’s most fearsome defensive defenders. Even if Vlasic’s offensive game never comes along, he should be able to carve out an NHL career as a defensive specialist.

Speaking of his potential ability to carve out an NHL career, his doing so could be closer than many would think. Vlasic is heading straight to Chicago to be with the Blackhawks team, according to Bartlett Hockey, Vlasic’s representation. While it is not confirmed if Vlasic will make his NHL debut this soon after signing, the Blackhawks getting him into Chicago and with the team this quickly should signal their excitement over his upside and their confidence that he is ready for the rigors of NHL hockey. Given the uncertainty NHL fanbases often wrestle with when it comes to NCAA prospects and their signability, seeing Vlasic fast-tracked to the NHL like this should relieve and excite a Blackhawks fanbase that looks headed into uncharted waters under new GM Kyle Davidson.

Corey Andonovski Signs With Pittsburgh Penguins

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March 10: Dreger reports that Andonovski has chosen the Pittsburgh Penguins for his NHL home. The Penguins are notorious for bringing players out of the college ranks and giving them a real opportunity at the NHL level. The team has officially announced the two-year contract, noting that it will begin in the 2022-23 season. He’ll join the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on an amateur tryout for the time being.

March 7: As the NCAA season comes to a close for many programs, NHL teams will be desperately trying to sell their organization as the best place for an undrafted talent to take the next step. That’s what is happening in the case of Corey Andonovski, who according to Darren Dreger of TSN “continues to mull over multiple NHL offers” and could make a decision this week.

Andonovski, 22, just finished his third season (and fourth year) at Princeton, scoring 22 points in 31 games. Technically he could go back as he had an extra year of eligibility due to the lost 2020-21 season–when Ivy League schools did not participate in hockey due to COVID restrictions–but that appears not to be the case. Princeton was ousted from the ECAC first round by Union over the weekend, with Andonovski scoring the lone goal for the Tigers in the deciding game.

Since the beginning of this month, NHL teams have been able to sign undrafted prospects to entry-level contracts that start in 2022-23, though that may not necessarily be the case here. Andonovski would be signing a two-year deal either way, meaning if a team really wants to win the battle for his services, they could offer him a contract that starts in 2021-22 instead, get him directly into professional hockey and closer to restricted free agency.

Signing his first NHL contract will be a big step for the former BCHL forward, but there’s potentially another big moment coming up soon as well. On March 16, the Hobey Baker Top-Ten Finalists will be announced, and Andonovski was one of the original nominees. His is a long shot, given how many other outstanding college players there are around the country, but even being nominated is obviously a nice honor in his final season with Princeton.

Ivan Miroshnichenko Could Miss 2022-23 Season

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One of the top prospects for the 2022 draft–at least before the recent invasion of Ukraine poured doubt onto the futures of all Russian prospects–was Ivan Miroshnichenko, a brilliant skater that combines good size with uncanny offensive instincts. The 18-year-old was expected to go right near the top of the board, with one scout even putting him first overall in Bob McKenzie’s midseason poll for TSN. Now, it’s unclear when Miroshnichenko will even play hockey again.

The Russian Ice Hockey Federation announced this morning that the young forward has been diagnosed with a serious health issue and could miss the entire 2022-23 season. He is currently receiving medical treatment in Germany, and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet has confirmed that Miroshnichenko has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The disease is “the most common form” according to Friedman, and is curable.

At this point, it’s completely unclear how this will affect Miroshnichenko’s draft position, though it seems very likely that he will drop out of the first few selections. Those choices are so valuable to teams that even with his unique blend of skills–skills that could potentially give him the highest upside in the entire draft–it’s likely too much of a risk to use one on him unless there is more clear progress in the coming months. The NHL draft is set for July 7 this year.

This isn’t the first time a young Russian forward has received some bad medical news recently. Rodion Amirov of the Toronto Maple Leafs is also receiving treatment in Germany after being diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Jordan Frasca, Taylor Gauthier

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3:15pm: Not only have the Penguins officially announced the contract for Frasca, but they have also signed Taylor Gauthier to a three-year entry-level deal. Both will start in 2022-23 and give Pittsburgh some extra prospect depth. Gauthier, 21, has been arguably the best goaltender in the WHL this season, posting a .932 save percentage through 28 games, winning 20 of those appearances. Since joining the Portland Winterhawks partway through the year, those numbers have actually only continued to rise, with a 13-1 record and .943 save percentage following the midseason trade. ’

While Frasca will likely end up starting with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, there’s a chance that Gauthier heads to the ECHL next season where NHL teams often send their raw goaltending prospects. Either way, Pittsburgh has nabbed another interesting name to keep an eye on.

11:15am: Teams are now allowed to ink prospects to entry-level contracts that start in 2022-23, meaning a rush of signings is likely to happen in the next few days. One of those is expected to be Jordan Frasca, who will sign with the Pittsburgh Penguins according to Darren Dreger of TSN.

Frasca, 20, went undrafted but is having an outstanding season for the Kingston Frontenacs, scoring 32 goals and 65 points in 44 games. His performance in fact has been part of the reason why some people have considered Shane Wright’s season disappointing. The potential first-overall pick in this year’s draft sits behind Frasca in the Frontenacs scoring race (while both sit well behind 21-year-old Lucas Edmonds, another undrafted forward that returned to Canada after several years in Sweden).

Set to turn 21 in July, Frasca will still be signing a three-year entry-level contract. It’s an impressive run for a player who wasn’t even drafted into the OHL until the seventh round of the 2017 Priority Selection, and had just 23 points in his first full season–then with the Windsor Spitfires. He’s now set to join an NHL organization, though it won’t be the first time he’s around professionals. Last summer, Frasca attended development camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs, something that likely helped fuel his dominance this season.

Calgary Flames Sign Rory Kerins

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The Calgary Flames are finalizing an entry-level contract with late-round prospect Rory Kerins, according to Darren Dreger of TSN. The news comes on the first day teams are eligible to sign prospects to contracts that begin in 2022-23, likely the plan for the young forward. Unlike some of the others that have inked deals today, Kerins is not undrafted and was still on the Flames reserve list after they picked him 174th overall in 2020. The team officially announced the deal not long after the report surfaced, and PuckPedia relayed that it will carry an average annual value of $847K at the NHL level.

It also won’t be the first time he signs a contract with the organization. Kerins inked an amateur tryout last year in order to play four AHL games with the Stockton Heat while the OHL season was canceled due to COVID restrictions. That taste of professional hockey certainly seems to have ignited something in the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds forward, as Kerins has 33 goals and 84 points in just 50 games.

That’s good enough for second in the entire OHL, only behind Windsor Spitfires star and Dallas Stars first-round pick Wyatt Johnston who has 85 in 46 games. Kerins’ 33 goals are good for third in the OHL behind two other high picks, Brennan Othmann and Luke Evangelista. All of that turns into a pretty good season for the young forward, who will now be secured a professional future starting next season. Given that he’ll turn 20 at the start of April, Kerins will likely play with Stockton in 2022-23 as he continues his climb toward the NHL. For now, he’ll stay with the Greyhounds and chase an OHL championship, or even a Memorial Cup.

Washington Capitals Sign Henry Rybinski

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2:05pm: The team has made it official, announcing the three-year entry-level contract that will start in 2022-23.

12:30pm: The Washington Capitals are getting into the CHL free agent forward market, as Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic reports that the team has signed Henry Rybinski from the WHL. Rybinski currently plays for the Seattle Thunderbirds and was originally drafted by the Florida Panthers in 2019. Because he failed to sign a contract with them by last summer, he became a free agent and quickly started to draw interest from around the league.

Today is the first day teams can sign free agent prospects to entry-level contracts that kick in for the 2022-23 season and given his age, Rybinski will be signing a three-year deal. The 20-year-old forward has been outstanding this season for the Seattle Thunderbirds, recording 18 goals and 54 points in 39 games. That’s good enough for 27th in league scoring even though he’s played up to 15 games fewer than some of his competitors.

Rybinski was in Edmonton Oilers development camp last August, and before that had been in camps run by the Panthers. That’s actually where he transitioned back to center, the position he now plays full-time. Adding another center prospect to the pipeline is never a bad thing, and Washington–like Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay, who added players today–always needs to refresh the system in ways outside of the draft because of their perennial contender status and trade deadline escapades. There’s still a long road ahead of someone like Rybinski, but when his contract is made official, he’ll be taking a big step.

Winnipeg Jets Re-Assign Ville Heinola To Manitoba

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After getting a long look at the NHL level over the past few weeks, the Winnipeg Jets have opted to send defenseman Ville Heinola back down to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.

Heinola’s played in eight NHL games this season, an auspicious number considering the 10-game ’entry-level slide’ rule that can apply to young prospects on entry-level deals. This isn’t a contractual move, though, as the Jets have already slid the beginning of Heinola’s entry-level deal twice, meaning the clause no longer applies.

After being drafted 20th overall in 2019, Heinola immediately signed his entry-level deal with the team. He’d played in 13 NHL games prior to this season, notching a goal and four assists.

This season, he’d notched two points in another eight games, but averaged under 14 minutes a game and saw limited usage. At this point in time, the team’s decided they trust Logan Stanley more in an NHL role, opting to send Heinola back to the Moose. There, he has 16 points in 25 games this year, continuing to develop his all-around game.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Dmitry Ovchinnikov

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed one of their more interesting prospects, inking Dmitry Ovchinnikov to a three-year entry-level contract. The young forward will immediately join the Toronto Marlies once his work permits are issued.

Ovchinnikov, 19, was a fifth-round pick in 2020, falling all the way to 137th overall despite having already made his KHL debut and starring at the MHL level in 2019-20. The speedy forward has spent the two seasons since bouncing up and down between the KHL and MHL clubs, finding most of his success at the lower level.

Still, the fact that he has already decided to bring his game to North America is a big win for the Maple Leafs. His KHL contract was terminated earlier today despite Sibir still being in the playoff picture, suggesting he’s ready to completely commit to Toronto’s minor league development plan. While there’s still plenty of work to do before he should be considered a top prospect, the steps he’s taken since his draft should be encouraging for Maple Leafs fans.

As Toronto continues to trade away high picks to try and contend at the NHL level, it will be mid-round selections like Ovchinnikov that will need to emerge. With half a season still remaining for the Marlies, he’ll get a chance right away.

Top Prospect Logan Cooley Commits To University Of Minnesota

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After previously committing to the University of Notre Dame, top 2022 NHL Draft prospect Logan Cooley is changing Big 10 schools, as the USA Hockey National Development Team Program announced today that he’s committed to the University of Minnesota for his collegiate career.

Cooley is a consensus top-five selection for the upcoming draft, with Daily Faceoff’s Chris Peters even ranking him first in the class ahead of Shane Wright in his midseason rankings.

A product of Pittsburgh and the Penguins’ youth system, Cooley has been money in the bank since joining the U.S. National Team in 2020. During the 2021-22 campaign, Cooley is dominating with 20 goals and 36 assists for 56 points in 41 games. He was also a part of the USA’s World Juniors roster, netting an assist in a singular game prior to the tournament’s abrupt cancellation.

With him and Wright making noise as the likely two best centers in this draft class (although Matthew Savoie would like some words as well), Cooley is a giant get for a Minnesota program that already includes prominent NHL prospects such as Brock Faber, Matthew Knies, Chaz Lucius, and Ryan Johnson. It’s somewhat likely that Cooley’s stay only lasts a year, however, as the highly-touted prospect likely isn’t too far away from making an NHL impact.

 

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