- The Canucks are expected to tender qualifying offers to AHL players Justin Bailey, Jalen Chatfield, and Guillaume Brisebois, reports Rick Dhaliwal of TSN 1040 and The Athletic (Twitter links). Bailey had a career year in the minors with Utica, collecting 28 goals in just 53 games, good for fourth league-wide. The 25-year-old has 65 career games of NHL experience and is eligible for salary arbitration. Meanwhile, Chatfield wrapped up his entry-level deal this past season and had four assists in 48 games. He was recalled on five separate occasions in 2019-20 but didn’t see any NHL action. As for Brisebois, he played in 48 games with Utica this past season, picking up four goals and 11 assists. He didn’t get into any NHL games in 2019-20 but does have eight games of experience from the 2018-19 campaign.
Canucks Rumors
Snapshots: Dillon, Jankowski, Devils
According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet the Washington Capitals are trying to move some money in order to free up enough space to keep Brenden Dillon from hitting unrestricted free agency, but if he does hit the open market a return home would be of interest to him. Dillon told TSN radio today that “any Surrey kid would love to play in Vancouver” and that he would be interested in signing with the Canucks should it fall that way.
While there is still so much to happen in the next few days that could complicate a move like that, the Canucks are obviously interested in adding a defenseman given the work they’ve done to try and acquire Oliver Ekman-Larsson so far. Perhaps Dillon, who is coming off a five-year deal that carried a $3.27MM cap hit, could be a potential fallback option through free agency.
- Not only do they have a draft and free agency to navigate, but the Arizona Coyotes are still busy building out their front office again after hiring GM Bill Armstrong to change the direction of the franchise. Yesterday they added Darryl Plandowski from the Tampa Bay Lightning and today the Coyotes have hired Ryan Jankowski as the new associate director of amateur scouting. Jankowski has worked with the Buffalo Sabres for the past two seasons after a lengthy stint with Hockey Canada.
- Speaking of filling out a staff, the New Jersey Devils are still looking for a goaltending coach and third assistant coach, according to GM Tom Fitzgerald who spoke to reporters including Corey Masisak of The Athletic today. Mike Grier was given a chance to return but declined, while Alain Nasreddine will be returning to his position as an assistant coach.
Latest On Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s Trade Market
The hot stove is heating up in the NHL and Oliver Ekman-Larsson is at the center of it all. He was listed as the top name on Frank Seravalli’s Trade Bait board for TSN and linked to the Edmonton Oilers. Darren Dreger threw cold water on the Edmonton connection as the Oilers are not currently on a short list of teams that the Coyotes captain would waive his no-movement clause for, but Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet has turned up the heat once again. Friedman tweets that the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks are on that list of approved teams, while Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider says that Boston is a “favored destination.”
When a GM told Seravalli that a number of “franchise-changing” players are being discussed each day, perhaps this is what he meant. Ekman-Larsson is the Coyotes highest-paid player, their captain and has been an anchor on their blue line for years now. The 29-year-old defenseman has seven years remaining on a $66MM extension he signed in 2018 and carries an $8.25MM cap hit.
In a normal year, it’s hard to imagine Arizona even considering a move like this. But with new management in GM Bill Armstrong and a payroll that could need to be drastically slashed thanks to lost current and future revenue, Ekman-Larsson may have played his last game for the Coyotes.
If that’s true, he leaves behind quite a legacy in the organization. The sixth-overall pick in 2009, Ekman-Larsson was a full-time player for the Coyotes by the 2010-11 season and tallied 364 points over 723 regular season games. That puts him behind only Teppo Numminen for the franchise lead, even counting the original Winnipeg Jets years. His 125 goals lead all franchise defensemen and put him among the upper-echelon in scoring defenders in the NHL.
That offensive production could certainly be why the Bruins have checked in, given they could be losing Torey Krug to unrestricted free agency in the coming days. Krug is one of the top offensive defensemen in the league, but his role could certainly be filled by Ekman-Larsson in the coming years.
How either Boston or Vancouver fit an $8.25MM cap hit into their current structure is unclear, but a deal like this would require plenty of moving pieces even without cap implications. Vancouver for instance could potentially get out of a bad contract like Loui Eriksson, who is owed just $5MM in actual salary over the last two years of his contract once his signing bonus is paid. That said, adding long-term cap doesn’t seem prudent for a Canucks team that will have to sign Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes before long.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Morning Notes: Johnson, Murray, Predators
Jim Rutherford may be a bigger fan than most of Jack Johnson, but that doesn’t mean the Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman will be in the lineup on opening night. Rutherford, the Penguins GM, spoke with Josh Yohe of The Athletic yesterday and explained that after acquiring Mike Matheson from the Florida Panthers there may not be any room on the left side for Johnson next season.
[Brian] Dumoulin and [Marcus] Petterson are still young and aren’t going anywhere. And obviously we like Matheson a great deal. He’ll play on the left side. So, that’s our left side. Those three. That’s it.
Rutherford suggested that Johnson could play the right side or is maybe “just going to be a depth guy” for 2020-21, but it certainly wasn’t the same vote of confidence he gave when the season ended. There is still lots of offseason left and the Penguins priority may be moving a goaltender, but make no mistake that there may still be changes coming on the blue line.
- Michael Murray has been hired by the Minnesota Wild as an assistant to the general manager, coming over from his post with the AHL. Murray was named vice president of hockey operations for the minor league in 2011 and was considered the second in command behind commissioner Dave Andrews. As Michael Russo of The Athletic points out on Twitter, Murray happens to be the son of Minnesota GM Bill Guerin’s former agent. The team explained that Murray will help oversee the day-to-day of the hockey operations department and assist with contract negotiations, player development, and scouting.
- The Nashville Predators are considering moving one of their centers according to Frank Seravalli of TSN, who lists Ryan Johansen, Matt Duchene, and Nick Bonino on his latest Trade Bait board and mentions Kyle Turris as well. Nashville has an incredible $26.1MM in cap space locked up in those four, with only Bonino’s deal (the cheapest of the bunch) expiring anytime soon. There wasn’t a 45-point player in the bunch of them this season, with Duchene (42) coming closest.
Trade Rumors: Ekman-Larsson, Mrazek, Virtanen, Tampa Bay
Name a top trade target or impending free agent and they seem to be linked to the Edmonton Oilers. While the team clearly needs to help superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, they have cap constraints because of those players as well and holes to fill all over the roster. The team must be confident that they can perform some cap magic, as they have their sights set on making a big splash this off-season. TSN’s Darren Dreger backed up previous rumors today that the Oilers have been talking to the Arizona Coyotes about elite defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. In fact, Dreger notes that discussions have been preliminary, but the interest is serious. It’s a complex situation given the cap situations in both Edmonton and Arizona, but the teams appear to be working through their options when it comes to moving Ekman-Larsson, a proven top-pair commodity. Of course, it’s worth noting that Ekman-Larsson has a full No-Movement Clause and could nix a deal to Edmonton if he chooses. Dreger adds that the Boston Bruins also remain interested; Ekman-Larsson may very well prefer landing alongside Charlie McAvoy on the top pair of a perennial contender.
- The Oilers are also known to be eyeing an addition in goal and have kicked the tires on a number of netminders on the trade block. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the latest name on that list is the Carolina Hurricanes’ Petr Mrazek. LeBrun believes that Mrazek could be more of a fallback option if Edmonton cannot add Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray or Arizona’s Darcy Kuemper or can’t woo Jacob Markstrom in free agency. Of course, if Mrazek is even available for trade, it may mean that Carolina has already landed one of those three Oilers targets for themselves. Mrazek had a fine season for the ’Canes, but the team is looking to upgrade at starter. Unfortunately for Edmonton, Carolina’s castoff would still be an upgrade for them.
- From GM Jim Benning’s comments since his Vancouver Canucks were eliminated from the postseason, it should come as no surprise that he is listening to offers for restricted free agent forward Jake Virtanen, according to Dreger. Virtanen has failed to live up to the expectations of being the 2014 sixth overall pick, but is still due a significant upgrade over his expiring $1.25MM AAV. The cap-strapped Canucks have greater needs than Virtanen’s third-line scoring totals and may be able to put his cap space to greater use via trade. Dreger reports that there is plenty of interest in the 24-year-old power forward, who could still grow into the dangerous scorer that he was in junior.
- The Tampa Bay Lightning are less than a day removed from taking home the 2020 Stanley Cup title, but GM Julien BriseBois is already back at work. LeBrun speculates that Tampa must clear at least $10MM in cap space in order to re-sign RFA’s Anthony Cirelli, Mikhail Sergachev, and Erik Cernak and to rebuild a defense with numerous pending UFA’s. As such, BriseBois can’t afford to waste any time with free agency approaching. LeBrun notes that the two most talked-about names on the Lightning roster right now are forwards Tyler Johnson and Yanni Gourde. However, he notes that both players have full No-Trade Clauses and would have to accept any trade. As a result, LeBrun believes there is a growing suspicion that the Bolts may trade a player or two that no one is suspecting in order to clear cap space. That could mean one of the RFA’s themselves is dealt, or perhaps it could be a player lacking trade protection, such as Brayden Point or Andrei Vasilevskiy. One way or another, the Cup-winning roster will look very different next season.
Offseason Keys: Vancouver Canucks
The offseason has arrived for most squads. Having covered the teams that weren’t a part of the NHL’s return and the ones ousted in the Qualifying Round and official first round, we shift our focus to the ones that were eliminated in the second round. Next up is a look at Vancouver.
After a relatively quiet 2018-19 season, expectations weren’t that high for the Canucks heading into this year. They were a team that was definitely in the mix for a Wild Card spot but not many were expecting them to do a lot of damage. Then came the bubble where Vancouver was one of the bigger surprises. Following their victory over Minnesota in the Qualifying Round, they ousted the defending Stanley Cup champions in the first round and took Vegas all the way to seven games before they were eliminated. Now, GM Jim Benning’s key goals for this summer will be helping the team take that next step forward. However, accomplishing that primarily means taking care of some of their own.
Clear Contracts
The list of notable free agents is fairly long and their cap situation, while not entirely dire, isn’t good enough for them to keep everyone that they want to. Yes, they have about $14MM to spend but need to sign a starting goalie, two defensemen, and three forwards with a pair of notable skaters in defenseman Chris Tanev and winger Tyler Toffoli among those that are slated to hit the open market next month. There’s enough room to keep some but certainly not enough to keep everyone.
That makes freeing up cap space extremely crucial for Benning. While he has stated on multiple occasions that he doesn’t want to part with future assets to free up cap space, he may have to do so as if he doesn’t, an impact player is probably going to leave.
Who could they try to move to free up that space? There are plenty of options. Loui Eriksson has two years left at a $6MM AAV (tied for the highest on the team) but only $5MM left in money owing with his signing bonus already paid for next season. Brandon Sutter is entering his final year with a $4.375MM price tag on the cap and $3.5MM in salary still owed. Both players can still play in the NHL, albeit in limited roles.
A little farther down the list are winger Antoine Roussel and center Jay Beagle who both signed four-year, $12MM contracts just two summers ago. They had the cap room to make those veteran additions now but shedding one of those deals would also give them a bit of flexibility. Beagle is primarily a faceoff specialist at this point while Roussel, if healthy, can be an effective energy player in a bottom six.
At this point, it probably doesn’t matter which one of those veterans gets moved out to give them some extra wiggle room to keep their core players. The priority simply has to be freeing up cap space. It may not be something that Benning wants to do but he likely will have to bite the proverbial bullet here.
Goaltending Decision
Toffoli and Tanev aren’t the only UFAs of note that the Canucks have to contend with as starting goalie Jacob Markstrom is also less than two weeks away from hitting the open market. While it has taken some time going back to his days with Florida, the 30-year-old has blossomed into a capable number one netminder and will be entering the market as one of the top options available.
While he wasn’t able to get to 60 games for the third straight season due to the pandemic and a knee injury, Markstrom still managed to put up a .918 SV% which was the highest of his career. He did a bit better in the playoffs with a .919 mark in 14 games before a groin injury took him out and put Thatcher Demko into the starting role.
Demko was nothing short of spectacular and nearly single-handedly dragged Vancouver past Vegas before the Golden Knights edged them in that seventh game. That presents a bit of a question for Benning. Demko has long been viewed as their goalie of the future and might be ready for a bigger workload which is something that can’t happen as long as Markstrom is in the fold. And while it may be a bit early for teams to really be worrying too much about the expansion draft for the Kraken next year, Vancouver can only protect one goalie. If Markstrom re-signs, it puts them in a likely situation of losing one of them for nothing a year from now.
While Markstrom won’t be commanding the money that Sergei Bobrovsky did a year ago (seven years, $70MM), he should still be in line for a sizable raise on the $3.67MM AAV he had on this most recent deal. It’s possible that he could command somewhere between $5.5MM and $7MM which would take up a big chunk of that remaining cap room. Benning will have to decide in the very near future if Demko is ready to be the starter and if not, he’ll have to re-sign or replace Markstrom.
Extension Talks
The window to sign players to contract extensions has opened up and Vancouver has a pair of young stars that are a year away from needing new deals. With how well both have performed already, there’s certainly a case to be made that Benning should be looking to get deals done with defenseman Quinn Hughes and center Elias Pettersson before the price tag gets even potentially higher next offseason. Doing so would also give them a better idea of their long-term financial picture which could come in handy when it comes to forecasting what they can spend on their current pending UFAs.
Hughes had a phenomenal rookie campaign and finished tied for fourth overall in league scoring by defensemen and was just two points behind Norris finalist Victor Hedman for the third spot. That performance helped him finished second in Calder Trophy voting and he was even better in the playoffs when he finished third in scoring with 16 points (2-14-16) in 17 games. Hughes isn’t eligible for an offer sheet but that shouldn’t affect things much. On his next deal, he’ll be setting the new benchmark for Vancouver’s defensemen as he’ll come in well ahead of Tyler Myers and Alexander Edler ($6MM each).
As for Pettersson, he has back-to-back 66-point seasons to start his career and has established himself as a capable front liner. He has split time between center and the wing and that versatility will only make him more valuable down the road. He may still have another level to get to offensively and it’s safe to say he will be a forward that they will build around. Like Hughes, he’ll undoubtedly be setting the new high point for Vancouver’s forwards as he’ll surpass Eriksson’s $6MM price tag.
Both players are franchise cornerstones so locking them up is going to be high on Benning’s to-do list even though they don’t necessarily have to sign new deals until 2021.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Trade Rumors: Kuemper, Laine, Penguins
There are many factors that have contributed to Darcy Kuemper being one of the most talked-about names on the rumor mill over the last couple of months. The first and most important is simply that the Arizona Coyotes must shed salary this off-season. The team is arguably in the worst salary cap situation of any NHL club, lacking any room to maneuver under the cap ceiling but with several restricted free agents and superstar trade acquisition Taylor Hall in need of new contracts. One area where they can trim the fat is in net, where Kuemper and Antti Raanta combine for $8.75MM against the cap and Adin Hill is also signed to a one-way contract and will need to clear waivers this season. Of the three, not only does Kuemper carry the highest cap hit, he is also undoubtedly the most valuable on the trade market. The 30-year-old was one of the best goalies in the NHL this season and is signed for two more years at a bargain relative to his performance. While this is seemingly a perfect storm of reasons why Kuemper should be dealt, new GM Bill Armstrong won’t let him go that easy. AZ Sports’ Craig Morgan reports that after Armstrong was hired last week, the asking price for Kuemper went up. An offer must now surpass the value of just one first-round pick in order to pry the talented netminder out of Arizona. If they are not satisfied, the Coyotes will not trade Kuemper. Although his trade value is depleted after a pair of injury-plagued seasons, the team could get nearly as much cap savings from moving Raanta, whose contract expires after this season. While Kuemper is the morename, don’t be surprised to see Raanta move instead barring a top-notch offer.
- Patrik Laine is another one of the hot names on the rumor mill right now, with reports that the Winnipeg Jets are “serious” about moving the young scoring forward. However, Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe doused those flames somewhat by stating that the Jets’ priority is still to re-sign Laine. It would be difficult for the team to get fair value for Laine and although they have more pressing needs than winger elsewhere on the roster, they could very well be better off holding on to the 22-year-old. A restricted free agent after next season, Laine will command a substantial salary that Winnipeg may find difficult to afford. Yet, Wiebe believes that current trade talks may be overblown so long as the two sides are still amenable to an extension, believing a trade to be more likely next summer – if a deal cannot be reached – rather than pulling the trigger early this off-season. Unless the Jets get exactly what they ask for in exchange for Laine, they have time before they need to get too serious about a trade.
- The most active team on the trade market so far has been the Pittsburgh Penguins, but things may begin to slow down for GM Jim Rutherford and his club. In a radio interview on Friday, Rutherford stated that his recent acquisition of defensemen Michael Matheson is not a precursor to another major trade regarding his top defensemen. Although there is a considerable logjam on the left side of the Pittsburgh blue line, top-four lefties Brian Dumoulin and Marcus Pettersson will not be traded. Matheson is expected to play on the left side of the team’s third pair, forcing Jack Johnson and Juuso Riikola to compete for a starting job on their off-side with righty Chad Ruhwedel. Matheson’s acquisition has also squashed the Penguins’ interest in free agent defenseman Chris Tanev and others, as Rutherford added that he does not anticipate adding to his defense corps on the open market.
Trade Rumors: Laine, Dumba, Rust
While it is Frank Seravalli who produces TSN’s Trade Bait board, colleagues Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun backed up the trade statuses of a pair of players at the top of his board on this evening’s edition of Insider Trading. While he may be only 22 years old with four 50+ point seasons under his belt, don’t dismiss the rumors surrounding Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine as wild speculation, warns Dreger. He states that the Jets are “serious” and absolutely listening on the young scorer. In fact, the Laine noise has not been louder merely because the interest has been limited so far, either due to the asking price or other teams not truly believing that Laine is for sale. LeBrun notes that the Columbus Blue Jackets are one team that is definitely interested in Laine. The team sorely needs high-end talent up front as may have the top-four defenseman and young center that Winnipeg desires. Another team that also kicked the tires on Laine was the Carolina Hurricanes, but LeBrun believes that they balked at the asking price for the Finnish sniper and talks fell off after that. One team that hasn’t checked in on Laine yet? The Montreal Canadiens. While LeBrun acknowledges that the Canadiens could desperately use a player of Laine’s ability, they thus far have been hesitant to enter negotiations.
- The trade availability of Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba, No. 2 on the trade bait board, has been far more concrete, as teams and the media alike can look ahead to the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft and see the conundrum coming down the line for the Wild. Yet, Dreger states that Dumba is on the block, but Minnesota is not in a rush to move him. He believes that the Wild will hold on to Dumba, perhaps even through the season, until the asking price is met. Right now, that price is believed to be a legitimate top-six center, which Dreger feels might be asking too much. The other option could be a high first-round pick and a young roster forward, which is a more likely return. The team will hold out for one of those two returns, as there is no urgency to move on from Dumba at a lower price.
- One name that rival GM’s are asking about who isn’t necessarily on the block is Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust. Rust is coming off of a career year, but it seems like no one on the Penguins roster is safe, leading other teams to ask the question. GM Jim Rutherford tells The Athletic’s Rob Rossi and Josh Yohe that he will listen to any offer, but isn’t keen to trade Rust. However, another sources tells The Athletic that Rutherford would part with Rust for an NHL-ready prospect and another top prospect. That might be a heavy price to pay, but don’t rule out the possibility in an unpredictable off-season.
Latest On Vancouver’s Pending Free Agents
The Vancouver Canucks have one of the more precarious salary cap situations in the league as they enter the offseason. While they project to have close to $14.3MM in space for next season, things are going to get a lot different in a year. That’s when Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes and Thatcher Demko will all hit restricted free agency at the same time, potentially eating up a huge chunk of the salary cap as the team’s young core.
With that expensive offseason right around the corner, Canucks GM Jim Benning will have to play his cards quite carefully next month to make sure he doesn’t back himself into a corner. That includes UFA negotiations with Chris Tanev, Tyler Toffoli, and perhaps most importantly, starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom.
Rick Dhaliwal was on TSN radio today talking about the Canucks pending free agents, even expressing awe that the team has still not worked something out with Markstrom:
This has not been an easy negotiation. We’re 15 months into this and now he’s 17 days away from walking and leaving. The two-time MVP of this team, he’s 17 days away from walking away from this team. They’ve been negotiating for 15 months–think about that for a second–and they’re not closer. There is still tons of work to do before they get a deal done.
Dhaliwal suggested again that the goaltender is looking for a deal with a cap hit of around $6MM, but stressed how challenging the negotiation has been so far. Markstrom, 30, is coming off his second straight year receiving Vezina Trophy votes, actually finishing fourth this season after putting up a .918 save percentage in 43 appearances. His market will be strong should he reach unrestricted free agency, something that Benning explained he was trying to avoid at his end of season press conference:
We’re going to try and figure out a way that makes sense for us and makes Jacob and his agent happy. Try and figure out a deal to get him signed. We want him back. We’re going to start working on that this week.
The question still comes back to that future cap situation though, especially given what Demko did in the playoffs with Vancouver. Though he’s not nearly as proven—Demko has just 37 regular season appearances under his belt—the Canucks could potentially hand the starter role to him next seaosn and take their chances with him on a full-time basis. They could also go after another free agent netminder instead, with Dhaliwal bringing up the names of Braden Holtby, Thomas Greiss and Cam Talbot as potential options.
In terms of Tanev, Dhaliwal explains that while Markstrom and Toffoli are the focus for Vancouver, the veteran defenseman hasn’t even received a contract offer from the Canucks at this point. Tanev, who will turn 31 in December, was the focus of a report today from Rob Rossi and Josh Yohe of The Athletic, which indicated that the Pittsburgh Penguins will be after him should he hit the open market. Tanev is the older brother of Penguins forward Brandon Tanev, who was given a long-term deal by Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford last summer.
Even though he is not an effective offensive weapon, Tanev has logged big minutes whenever healthy over the last decade in Vancouver. He registered 20 points in 69 games this season while still logging more than three minutes of short-handed ice time every night.
NHL Announces First And Second All-Star Teams, All-Rookie Team
Following the announcements of the final five NHL regular season awards, the league also revealed their three all-league rosters: the First-Team All-Stars, the Second-Team All-Stars, and the All-Rookie Team. Below are the 2019-20 honorees:
First All-Star Team (link)
G: Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
D: Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
D: John Carlson, Washington Capitals
LW: Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers
C: Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers
RW: David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins
The 2020 First-Team All-Stars are a historic group, the first time since the inaugural all-league honors in 1930-31 that all six honorees are first-time members of the team. Unsurprisingly, this team also covers most of the league’s major awards with Draisaitl taking home the Hart, Ted Lindsay, and Art Ross, Josi winning the Norris, Hellebuyck winning the Vezina, and Pastrnak earning the Rocket Richard.
Second All-Star Team (link)
G: Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins
D: Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues
D: Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
LW: Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins
C: Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
RW: Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
The President’s Trophy-winning Boston Bruins finish with a league-best three players on All-Star rosters. Their division rival, and current Stanley Cup finalist, the Tampa Bay Lightning are the only other team with more than one inclusion on the all-star rosters. Noticeably absent from either all-star teams are future Hall of Famers Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. This is just the third time since 2005-06 that at least one of the pair have not been on a postseason All-Star team, while they have both have been selected in the same year eight times in the past 15 years.
All-Rookie Team (link)
G: Elvis Merzlikins, Columbus Blue Jackets
D: Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
D: Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks
F: Victor Olofsson, Buffalo Sabres
F: Dominik Kubalik, Chicago Blackhawks
F: Nick Suzuki, Montreal Canadiens
The rookie elite, led by Calder Trophy-winner Makar, is an older group than usual. Merzlikins, Olofsson, and Kubalik, all 25 or older, played in Europe for a considerable amount of time before jumping to North America as a polished product, while Makar and Hughes each played a pair of seasons in the NCAA and Suzuki aged out of juniors before turning pro. Nevertheless, the first-year pros were all impressive and still have many quality years ahead of them.