Pierre-Luc Dubois Will Be Traded In QMJHL (Updated)
(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
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
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
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
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)
Training Camp Cuts: 10.03.16
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)