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NHL Draft Prospect Notes: Patrick, Liljegren, Hischier, Mittelstadt

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With the World Junior Championships over after the United States took gold, several prospects headed for the 2017 NHL Draft saw their stock rise. For many, like Nico Hischier,  the international showcase served as a boon for his professional career. Casey Mittelstadt, on the other hand, has turned heads at the high school level. They’re both likely to see it pay off this summer when Chicago hosts the draft in late June.

ISS Hockey released their latest rankings and still have center Nolan Patrick and Swedish defenseman Timothy Liljegren as #1 and #2 respectively. Patrick has been nursing an upper body injury, and while he’s played only six games for the Brandon Wheat Kings this season, he remains at the top of the list. Liljegren, who didn’t play in the WJC, remains the top ranked defenseman.

Sam McCaig of Puck Daddy writes the following on Hischier and Mittelstadt:

Hischier, a right winger who plays for the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads, turned heads at the WJC with four goals and seven points in five games for his native Switzerland. As a result, Hischier rose from the No. 8-ranked prospect a month ago all the way to No. 3. Mittelstadt, a centre who’s playing high school hockey in Minnesota and has committed to the University of Minnesota next year, went from No. 12 up to No. 6.

When Sportsnet conducted its rankings in early December, Patrick remained at the top of the list as well. But Jeff Marek did bring up the case of Gord Kluzak, who played only 38 games in the year he was drafted. If the name isn’t familiar, there’s a good reason for that. Kluzak succumbed to a knee injury and would go on to have 10 surgeries following the injury. He did end up playing 299 games with the Boston Bruins, but injuries shortened–and hampered–his career.

While Marek doesn’t think that Patrick will travel down the same path, he also writes that NHL scouts he spoke with weren’t too concerned with him not playing in the WJC. Marek, prior to the Championships, also noted Hischier’s rise.

ISS January Rankings: Top Ten

  1. Nolan Patrick – Center – Brandon  – WHL
  2. Timothy Liljegren – Defenseman – Rogle – Sweden
  3. Nico Hischier – Center – Halifax – QMJHL
  4. Gabe Vilardi – Center – Windsor – OHL
  5. Owen Tippett – Right Wing – Mississauga – OHL
  6. Casey Mittlestadt – Center – Eden Prairie High School
  7. Michael Rasmussen – Center – Tri City – WHL
  8. Callan Foote – Defenseman – Kelowna – WHL
  9. Klim Kostin – Center – Dynamo – KHL
  10. Eeli Tolvanen – Left Wing – Sioux City – USHL

 

“Major” Juniors Trades: Dubois, Gauthier, Popugaev

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The Pierre-Luc Dubois trade has been completed. Nearly a month after it was originally reported that the 3rd overall pick in the 2016 draft would be moved to another QMJHL team, the details of the deal have finally been formalized, and on the league trade deadline no less. Dubois will move from the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, whom he has played for in parts of three seasons, to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. In exchange, Cape Breton will receive 16-year-old forward Mathias Laferrière and the Armada’s first round draft pick in 2017 and second round pick in 2018.

The Columbus Blue Jackets prospect is quite a haul for Blainville-Boisbriand. Though Dubois had a less-than-stellar World Junior experience with Team Canada and has yet to find his rhythm since returning to juniors, he remains one of the top young two-way forwards in Canadian juniors. Dubois racked up a whopping 99 points in just 62 games with the Screaming Eagles last season, and his physical style earned him 112 penalty minutes as well. He’ll now bring that unique combination of high-end skill and grit to an Armada team that currently sits in second in the QMJHL’s West Division, just two points behind the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

  • Another QMJHL team getting much better on deadline day is the Maritime Division-leading Saint John Sea Dogs, who have acquired 2016 first-round forward Julien Gauthier. Gauthier comes over from the Val-d’Or Foreurs, who sit in last place in the West Division, at the price of a third-round pick in 2017, two second-round  picks in 2018 and a first rounder in 2019, as well as prospect Nathan Cyr-Trottier. It’s a steep price for the Sea Dogs, but well worth it for one of the junior league’s best power forwards. The 21st overall pick by the Carolina Hurricanes this June, Gauthier is back on his better than a point-per-game pace this year that he finished the season with in each of his first two campaigns with Val-d’Or. He’s also fresh off of a five-goal effort for Team Canada at the World Juniors. Joining fellow top prospects Thomas Chabot, Jakub Zboril, and Matheiu Joseph, Gauthier completes a formidable roster for Saint John, now likely the favorite to win the QMJHL this season.
  • Over in Western Canada, the WHL is approaching their own Trade Deadline on Tuesday and the Prince George Cougars have mad a major move. Headed to the B.C. Division leaders is 2017 top-ten hopeful Nikita Popugaev. The 6’6″ scorer already has 51 points in 40 games for the Moose Jaw Warriors in his second major junior season, good enough for a place in the top ten in scoring. The move is somewhat of a surprise as the Warriors sit in second place in the East Division, with just three points less than the Cougars on the season. However, Moose Jaw is getting their fair share in return, as  Prince George sends 18-year-old forward Yan Khomenko, 17-year-old forward Justin Almeida, a second-round pick in the 2018 Draft and a fifth-round pick in the 2017 Draft back in return.

 

Snapshots: Sabres, McDavid, Meier, Burakovsy

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The Buffalo Sabres will be getting back a defenseman soon.

NHL Buffalo correspondent Joe Yerdon reported that one Sabres coach Dan Bylsma expects one of Zach Bogosian or Taylor Fedun to travel with the team on their upcoming road trip. Meanwhile, injured forward Tyler Ennis is skating on his own as he makes his way back from groin surgery. Bogosian and Ennis have been out since early November, while Fedun has been out since the beginning of December.

The Sabres host the New York Islanders on Friday night, so new Sabres winger Kyle Okposo will face his former team for the first time after nine years on Long Island/ Brooklyn. Okposo leads the Sabres in scoring with 21 points in 29 games, while his replacement on the Islanders, Andrew Ladd, has just seven points in that stretch. Okposo’s 21 points would rank second on the Islanders, behind only John Tavares.

  • Edmonton Oilers center and budding superstar Connor McDavid should win the Hart Trophy, argues Ryan Lambert of Puck Daddy. Lambert took a look at the Oilers advanced stats with McDavid on the ice compared to when he’s not on the ice, and it isn’t pretty: when McDavid isn’t on the ice, the Oilers are in the bottom-half in every category for each stat for all teams from 2007-2016, but jump to mostly the top end (including some NHL bests) when McDavid is on the ice. Lambert compares McDavid’s affect to that of Taylor Hall’s tenure in Edmonton, in that the Oilers are awful without but the player is so strong that he lifts them to respectability. David Staples of the Edmonton Journal suggests that the Oilers need Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle to “twist the throttle harder” in order to boost their scoring numbers. Eberle has 23 points in 32 games but could have more, having missed some glorious opportunities while being set up by McDavid; Nugent-Hopkins has struggled with a 5.7% shooting percentage and 15 points in 32 game. More was expected from the pair of $6MM men to help mitigate the loss of Hall.
  • San Jose Sharks rookie Timo Meier will play his first NHL game on Friday night in Montreal, according to lineups posted by TSN 690’s Amanda Stein. Meier, who played junior in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, has 15 points in 17 games in the AHL so far this season. He was the Sharks’ first pick, ninth overall, in the 2015 NHL draft.
  • The Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan reports that the Capitals have no timetable for getting Andre Burakovsky back into the lineup. Burakovsky was a healthy scratch in the Capital’s last game, a 4-2 win over the Islanders. He has just two goals and 10 points in 28 games this season.

San Jose Sharks Call Up Timo Meier

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Finally, the savior is coming up in San Jose – or, so the fans would have you believe. Timo Meier is on his way up to San Jose after just 17 games in the AHL. The injury to Logan Couture last night against the Ottawa Senators forced the Sharks hand, as they’re also without Tomas Hertl for the immediate future.

Meier was the 9th overall pick in the 2015 draft after dominating the QMJHL with 90 points in 61 games. His next year, he scored 87 in just 52 despite having to deal with being traded mid season. This year, the 20-year old is scoring at almost a point-per-game pace in the AHL, and showing that he can use his physical style in the professional game.  A power-forward through and through, Meier can get in penalty trouble with his aggressive game, but can already dominate at times against much older players.

Since the Sharks are missing Couture and Hertl, Meier may well find his way into the top-six immediately, with Joe Pavelski sliding back to the middle to solidify the second line. While nothing is set in stone, it’ll be interesting to see the line rushes tomorrow morning when the Sharks prepare for their game against the Montreal Canadiens.

Amazingly, the player sent down to make room for Meier is Mirco Mueller, who has been involved in more transactions than one can count in the last few days. Also a former first-round pick, Mueller has spent many days with the Sharks this season without getting into a single contest. He was just called up on Monday, his third time in seven days.

Pierre-Luc Dubois Will Be Traded In QMJHL (Updated)

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(2:10pm): While no details on the return package have emerged, Jeff Marek of Sportsnet relays a tweet from Jerome Berube, the head scout in Quebec for HockeyProspect.com, citing the depth of young talent the Armada has along with owning Sherbrooke’s first-round pick, which as of now would be a top-five selection. The suggestion being the Armada has the assets necessary to pry Dubois away from Cape Breton.

Meanwhile, Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch tweeted that a trade of Dubois was expected, and that the trade to the Armada puts the Blue Jackets prospect in a better situation that should allow the talented pivot to play meaningful hockey deep into the QMJHL season.

(11:59am): Columbus Blue Jackets third overall pick and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) star Pierre-Luc Dubois will be traded when the QMJHL trading period begins, according to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie.

Dubois will be moving from the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.

More to come…

*Glen Miller contributed to this post.

Snapshots: Golden Knights, Team Czech Republic, All-Time Lists

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The (probably) Golden Knights have hit another snag in their naming saga as the US Trademark office has denied their application due to the similarities to the College of Saint Rose Golden Knights. While this doesn’t seem like a real problem – in a statement given to Alex Prewitt of SI, the Vegas team says that these actions are “not at all unusual” and points out the many duplicate names across professional sports – it is just another public annoyance for a team that likely just wants to start playing hockey. With so much discussion over the name, logo and all the other minutia, the start of the 2017-18 season can’t come soon enough for George McPhee and his team.

  • Corey Pronman of ESPN has a look at the preliminary roster for Team Czech Republic at this year’s World Junior Championship. As the rosters of many of the other teams came out over the past few days, the Czech list was conspicuously missing. Among the highlights, are Red Wings’ prospect Filip Hronek who is off to an unbelievable start with Saginaw, scoring 20 points in 24 games (as a defenseman) and Senators’ prospect Filip Chlapik who ranks in the QMJHL top five in both scoring (44 points) and penalty minutes (58 PIM in 26 games).  The team will be dangerous with several high NHL draft picks on it and will likely be in the mix for a bronze medal at the tournament.
  • The NHL Network published their list of the top-40 goaltenders of all-time and as Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times put it, the list is “uh, interesting, in a lot of ways.”  The list has the regulars at the top – Martin Brodeur, Dominik Hasek, Patrick Roy, in that order – but gets “interesting” a little further down as they list active goaltenders like Jonathan Quick (#16) and Marc-Andre Fleury (#21) quite high. While obviously these lists are subjective, it does lend credence to the idea that goaltending is better than it ever has been before and is a major reason for the suppressed goal totals. Comparing players across eras will always be difficult, but I can imagine our readers will have a few different takes on the order of this list. Share your thoughts in the comments.

NHL, Stakeholders Discuss Possible Change To Draft Age

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Could the NHL change the draft age from 18 to 19?

TSN’s Bob McKenzie spoke about the possibility on Tuesday night’s edition of Insider Trading. Former third-overall-pick Pat LaFontaine is leading a group of stakeholders that includes the NHL, NHLPA, CHL, USHL, Hockey Canada, USA Hockey, and NCAA to discuss a “whole new development model.”

According to McKenzie, the model would go from age five to age 20, and would include changing the NHL Draft-eligible age to 19, with “some obvious exceptions for exceptional players.”

The system would likely feature an expanded version of the CHL’s Exceptional Player Status. Normally, players aren’t eligible to play in the WHL, OHL, or QMJHL (the CHL’s three leagues) until they’re 16. However, there is a process (outlined extensively by McKenzie here) where players deemed exceptional can begin to play Major Junior at age 15. Players and their families apply to the CHL and Hockey Canada, and the player is examined on and off the ice to determine if he truly is exceptional. So far, only six players have ever applied, with John Tavares, Aaron Ekblad, Connor McDavid, Sean Day, and 2018-eligible Joseph Veleno being successful candidates. The first thee on that list went first overall in their OHL and NHL draft years, while Day went fourth in the OHL draft was a third-round pick of the New York Rangers in 2016. While it’s still early in his career, McKenzie noted that “some were questioning whether he was as blatantly exceptional as Tavares, Ekblad or McDavid.”

Changing the NHL Draft age would drastically change the way the draft is conducted. Looking back over the past two drafts, top selections like McDavid, Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, and Patrik Laine would likely have been able to still be drafted at age 18. All four of them have been successful in their rookie seasons, and were clearly NHL-ready at age 18/19. While McDavid was a CHL exceptional-status player, the other three played NCAA, Swiss National League, and Liiga in their draft years. The NHL and other stakeholders would need to find a way to coordinate with all leagues to determine which players are truly exceptional and deserve to be drafted at age 18.

While the above mentioned players would still have been drafted at 18, elite prospects like Dylan Strome, Mitch Marner, Noah Hanifin, Jesse Puljujärvi, and Pierre-Luc Dubois may have been forced to wait an extra year, depending on the rules set out. As it stands now, several teams have issues with how the NHL-CHL agreement is laid out, as it forces 19-year-old draft+1 players to either play in the NHL or CHL when the AHL may be the best for their development. Strome is a current example: he’s posted 129 and 111 points in his last two years in the OHL and has nothing to gain from returning to junior, where he will dominate and potentially learn bad habits because of how dominant he is at that level. Strome has just one assist in six NHL games this year, and would be well-served by 40 games in the AHL to learn the pro game. That’s currently prevented by the NHL-CHL agreement. On one hand, it’s easy to see that CHL teams don’t want to lose their brightest stars before they absolutely have to, but at the same time it may not be in the player’s best interests to go back to junior. Changing the draft age to 19 could alleviate this issue, with drafted players only playing one more year of junior, at most, before turning pro.

LaFontaine and the stakeholders will meet again on Wednesday. On Insider Trading, McKenzie said they’ll “need to get some traction soon if it’s going to happen.”

The NHLPA would also need to agree to the change in collective bargaining when the current CBA expires in 2022 (both sides can opt out two years early). Convincing the Players Association that players will have to wait an extra year before making an NHL salary could be a tough argument, but it will be interesting to see how the discussion goes over the next little while.

Senators Return Chabot To Junior

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The Ottawa Senators have returned defenseman Thomas Chabot to the Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Chabot made the Senators out of camp but only appeared in one game. However, Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion told reporters that Chabot “gained so much valuable experience here” and Dorion expects him to challenge for an NHL position next season.

The 18th overall pick in 2015, Chabot has 24 goals and 108 points in 168 games over three seasons with the Sea Dogs. He’s expected to make his season-debut on Thursday night.

Chabot will be counted on to lead their defense alongside Bruins first rounder Jakub Zboril, and should make Team Canada at the upcoming World Juniors in Toronto and Montreal. Chabot posted 3 assists in 5 games at the 2016 World Juniors. Canada will be looking to avenge their 6-5 quarter-final loss to eventual gold medal-winners Finland.

There are now 13 slide-eligible rookies, after six players hit the 10 game plateau in the last few days.

Training Camp Cuts: 10.06.2016

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We’re now less than a week from the regular season and teams are starting to make the final cuts from their squads. Here is where we’ll keep track of all the day’s cuts.

Anaheim Ducks (via team release and General Fanager):

LW Ondrej Kase (to San Diego, AHL)
C Julius Nattinen (to San Diego, AHL)
D Clayton Stoner (on waivers for purposes of AHL assignment)
F Sean Bergenheim (released from PTO)

Buffalo Sabres (via John Vogl):

G Linus Ullmark (assigned to Rochester, AHL)

Carolina Hurricanes (via team release):

D Jake Bean (to Calgary, WHL)
F Julien Gauthier (to Val d’Or, QMJHL)
F Aleksi Saarela (to Lukko, FEL)
G Alex Nedeljkovic (to Charlotte, AHL)
D Dennis Robertson (to Charlotte, AHL)
D Jake Chelios (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Andrew Poturalski (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Valentin Zykov (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Raffi Torres (released)

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Training Camp Cuts: 10.03.16

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With just over a week towards the start of the NHL regular season, teams are continuing to pare down their rosters.

Here are Monday’s cuts:

Anaheim Ducks (via team release):
LW David Booth (released from PTO)
RW David Jones (released from PTO)
LW Max Jones (to London, OHL)
LW Antoine Laganiere (released from PTO, will report to San Diego, AHL)

Calgary Flames (via NHL.com):
D Ryan Culkin (to Stockton, AHL)
RW Matt Frattin (to Stockton, AHL)
G Jon Gillies (to Stockton, AHL)
D Mikhail Grigorev (released from PTO)
C Mark Jankowski (to Stockton, AHL)
LW Morgan Klimchuk (to Stockton, AHL)
D Oliver Kylington (to Stockton, AHL)
RW Emile Poirier (to Stockton, AHL)
D Colby Robak (released from PTO)

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