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Jets Rumors

Winnipeg Jets To Be Patient With Connor Hellebuyck And Mark Scheifele

September 7, 2023 at 11:00 am CDT | by Josh Erickson 3 Comments

Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele have been in trade rumors all summer long. And Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe says that training camp isn’t putting any pressure on the Winnipeg Jets to find a deal. Wiebe says that the Jets don’t want to make a rash decision regarding their top center and goaltender, especially following the trading of Pierre-Luc Dubois, Scheifele’s former number-two, to the Los Angeles Kings.

Instead, Wiebe expects both Scheifele and Hellebuyck to attend training camp, where reporters and fans should be able to get a much better sense of what path forward the players may prefer. The team remains open to both trades and possible contract extensions, although the price of either option would be steep. How the Jets handle Hellebuyck and Scheifele’s situation will be very interesting to follow, as it could be a strong indicator of the team’s goals over the next few years.

And while Hellebuyck has been a stone wall in net, Scheifele has been the team’s goal-scorer. He netted 42 goals in 81 games last season, his first time breaking the 40-goal mark. He’s reached 272 career goals, all coming with the Jets, placing him just 56 goals behind Ilya Kovalchuk’s franchise goal-scoring record. Scheifele also ranks second in all-time franchise scoring, with 645 career points. While the Jets have tended to spread around their ice time, Scheifele continues to operate confidently as the team’s top-line center.

The Winnipeg Jets aren’t necessarily up against the cap but keeping around a Vezina-caliber starter and 40-goal-scoring top-line center beyond this season will undoubtedly come at a rich price. For a team with a lot of questions looming, decisions around Hellebuyck and Scheifele will be telling.

[SOURCE LINK]

Players| Winnipeg Jets Andrei Vasilevskiy| Connor Hellebuyck| Mark Scheifele

3 comments

Winnipeg Jets Announce ECHL Affiliation With Norfolk Admirals

August 25, 2023 at 12:38 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 2 Comments

The Winnipeg Jets have signed a new affiliation agreement with the Norfolk Admirals of the ECHL for the 2023-24 season, according to a team release.

Winnipeg hasn’t had a full-time ECHL affiliate since the 2020-21 season, the last of a four-year partnership with the Jacksonville Icemen. The last two seasons were their first without an ECHL affiliate since the franchise’s inaugural season in Winnipeg in 2011-12.

The Admirals had spent the last two seasons affiliated with the Carolina Hurricanes and the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. The agreement ended this summer, with the Wolves franchise choosing to operate independently of an NHL parent club.

This Norfolk franchise is not the same one some hockey fans will remember from the 2000s and early 2010s. That team played in the AHL from 2000 to 2015, after which they relocated to San Diego to become the Gulls, the current top affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks. The current iteration of the Admirals began in 2015, relocating from Bakersfield to continue playing in the ECHL.

It’s been an extremely tough stretch for the Admirals since relocating, however. They’ve finished well below the .500 mark every season since their inception and are still looking for their first playoff appearance.

They haven’t even cracked the 30-win mark since their inaugural 2015-16 season, but that’s something the Admirals are hoping to change by signing on with the Jets. Admirals general manager and head coach Jeff Carr gave the following statement:

Last year, our organization made a concerted, positive transformation to our on and off-ice product that our incredible city and fanbase has been desperate for. This affiliation helps us build a solid base as we continue to ascend in our new culture. Winnipeg’s dedication to winning and development is no secret in the hockey world. With the depth that Winnipeg has and their view on development, they’re going to be very involved with our roster. We both felt joining forces together with the goals of character, winning, and development outweighed any obstacle of geographical distance.

It certainly will be a haul for any player shuttling between Norfolk and the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. The cities of Winnipeg and Norfolk are separated by a straight-line distance of 1,375 miles and separated by an indirect commercial flight of at least five hours. While most NHL teams have brought their AHL affiliates closer to home over the past decade, it’s still somewhat common for ECHL affiliates to be more than halfway across the continent from their NHL (or AHL) parents.

One player in the Jets organization set to be impacted considerably by this move is goalie prospect Thomas Milic, The Athletic’s Murat Ates notes. Winnipeg’s fifth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft is set to return to his final season of major junior hockey with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds in 2023-24 but is a likely candidate for a starting role in the ECHL when he does turn pro. The 20-year-old netminder earned his draft selection after being passed over twice, thanks to winning a gold medal with Canada at the World Juniors and a WHL championship with Seattle last season.

ECHL| Winnipeg Jets

2 comments

Logan Stanley No Longer Looking For Trade After Re-Signing

August 23, 2023 at 12:58 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

  • Despite reportedly requesting a trade earlier this year, Winnipeg Jets defenseman Logan Stanley told the Jets’ Jamie Thomas he’s “happy with how [negotiations] went” on his new one-year contract with Winnipeg and looks forward to training camp next month. Stanley alluded to his series of injuries last season, which limited him to 19 games, making it hard to get along with new head coach Rick Bowness, whom Stanley said he’ll speak to in the near future after signing his extension. It’ll be tough for Stanley to break into the lineup every game, however, especially after the Jets signed breakout defender Dylan Samberg to a longer, richer contract earlier in the summer.

Olympics| Toronto Maple Leafs| Winnipeg Jets Logan Stanley| William Nylander

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Extension Candidate: Mark Scheifele

August 22, 2023 at 1:30 pm CDT | by Ethan Hetu 1 Comment

The Winnipeg Jets are approaching a potentially franchise-altering season. Two of the organization’s key players, former Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck and team number-one center Mark Scheifele are each on expiring contracts that stand to walk them straight to the unrestricted free agent market next summer.

The Jets are intent on remaining competitive with key players such as Kyle Connor, Josh Morrissey, Nikolaj Ehlers, and recent acquisition Gabriel Vilardi still on their roster. So it stands to reason that the team would be interested in retaining Scheifele, the player with the most goals in Jets history since they arrived from Atlanta.

But seeing as his name has come up in trade rumors this summer, it’s also a very real possibility that he ends up on a different team next season. A poor campaign by Winnipeg could finally catalyze the type of re-tool that seems off the table at this current moment entering 2023-24.

The likeliest scenario that would result in Winnipeg engaging in serious discussions about a long-term contract with Scheifele next season would be if the team sprints out of the gate at the start of the regular season and looks like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

If that ends up happening, the Jets finding a way to retain their number-one center would likely become an organizational top priority. Should the Jets make a determined effort to extend Scheifele — assuming they haven’t already — what might that contract look like?

2022-23

For quite a while now, the question of Scheifele’s true on-ice value has been a hotly debated one. He’s a divisive player, and that’s not even a reference to the vicious hit he laid on an unsuspecting Jake Evans during the 2021 playoffs — one that got him suspended for the team’s final three games as well as Winnipeg’s season-opener the following campaign — but rather a reference to the way in which Scheifele approaches the game.

Scheifele places a premium on offensive creation and offensive production, something that is certainly admirable, but often comes at the detriment of his all-around value. His fixation on always maximizing his and his linemates’ offensive production has made him something of a lightning rod for criticism as the Jets franchise has declined since their 2018 run to the Western Conference Final.

Scheifele’s approach to the game has at times attracted harsh criticism from those who would like to see him take a more committed approach to the defensive side of the game. A lot is typically asked of elite centers in the NHL, and nothing Scheifele has shown in recent seasons has suggested he is able to capably manage the sort of defensive commitment many coaches want to see out of top pivots. Jets coach Rick Bowness even appeared to show some frustration at Scheifele during last season, per The Athletic’s Murat Ates, suggesting that many fans’ frustration with Scheifele’s offensive focus could be shared, to a certain extent, by figures within the Jets organization.

But on the flip side of those negatives is the undeniable reality that Scheifele is among the most offensively gifted centers in the NHL. He scored a career-high 42 goals last season and has frequently been an at-or-above point-per-game scorer. He’s a two-time NHL All-Star and has even been productive in the playoffs, with 32 points in 37 career games. He undoubtedly has the numbers of a true first-line center, and first-line centers are extremely rare. But then the question becomes, he has number-one center numbers, but does he play like one?

Statistics

2022-23: 81 GP, 42 G, 26 A, 68 pts, -16 rating, 43 PIMs, 206 shots, 20:29 ATOI, 58.5% CF
Career: 723 GP, 272 G, 373 A, 645 pts, +46 rating, 303 PIMs, 1,620 shots, 19:59 ATOI, 55.7% CF

The Market

Centers who put up the kind of numbers Scheifele has throughout his career don’t come cheap. While Scheifele is undoubtedly a cut below the dynamic, league-defining centers such as Nathan MacKinnon that are at the top of the financial leaderboard, he nonetheless has the profile of a player who merits a franchise-defining contract.

It’s very rare for a point-per-game top-line center to hit the open market, and while it’s certainly up for debate if Scheifele truly fits that mold, he’d certainly end up the best center on the open market assuming both Auston Matthews and Steven Stamkos re-sign with their current clubs.

That would likely aid Scheifele significantly should he be seeking the highest AAV mark possible on his next deal, as it’s probable that teams desperate for a true scoring center (such as the Boston Bruins, who lost David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron to retirement) would be ready to open their wallets for Scheifele.

The Jets have the sort of cap space to afford a hefty raise for Scheifele, in large part thanks to the nearly $7MM set to come off their books at the expiration of Brenden Dillon and Dylan DeMelo’s contracts. The team shifting to a cheaper goaltender should Hellebuyck depart could also make fitting a pricey Scheifele extension all that much easier for Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff.

Comparable Contracts

Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings) – Detroit invested an $8.7MM AAV in Larkin’s next contract, and although Scheifele is three years older he has a decent argument to have earned more than that number. Scheifele has a more extensive track record of offensive production than Larkin, though Larkin’s defensive game certainly surpasses Scheifele’s. It’s also worth noting that Larkin was signing with his hometown team and the club he captains, and although Scheifele has spent his entire pro career with the Jets it’s unlikely he has ties as deep, long-lasting ties as Larkin had, the sort of ties that would make a player particularly motivated to re-sign.

Bo Horvat (New York Islanders) Horvat has posted numbers far below Scheifele’s career standards for much of his time in the NHL, and he earned an $8.5MM AAV from the New York Islanders. Horvat’s commitment to defense far surpasses Scheifele’s and he is two years younger. But NHL teams first and foremost pay for production when it comes to scoring forwards, and as a result, it’s difficult to imagine Scheifele earning less than Horvat on his next deal, at least on an average annual value basis.

Projected Contract

In our preview of the 2024 free agent class, we projected a $9.4MM AAV on Scheifele’s next contract, on a seven-year term. That’s certainly a fair number looking at Scheifele’s offensive production, but one wonders if teams would give pause to committing that kind of money to a player with Scheifele’s defensive warts now that he’s past the age of 30.

That being said, the type of bidding war that would be likely to take place should Scheifele hit the open market would almost undoubtedly see Scheifele offered a contract at that AAV, if not higher. Quite simply, centers of his caliber are among the rarest commodities in the NHL, and almost never hit unrestricted free agency.

If the Jets want to motivate Scheifele to forgo a likely highly lucrative trip to the free agent market, they’ll likely need to pony up, potentially giving him a maximum-term deal above the $10MM mark.

Similarly, for a team to prevail in what is likely to be a hotly contested battle for his signature in any potential Scheifele unrestricted free agency, they’ll likely need to cross that $10MM threshold as well.

It’s far from a given we reach that point since Scheifele still needs to have a productive 2023-24 season, but if he has another near or above-point-per-game season he could very well end up the star of next summer’s free agent frenzy. Though if he does, there will undoubtedly be quite a bit of debate over whether he truly merits the contract he’ll receive.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Pro Hockey Rumors Originals| Winnipeg Jets Mark Scheifele

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Jets Re-Sign Logan Stanley

August 19, 2023 at 2:10 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

The Jets have reached an agreement on a new deal with one of their remaining restricted free agents.  They announced that they’ve re-signed defenseman Logan Stanley to a one-year contract.  The one-way deal will pay him $1MM and matches what his qualifying offer was back in June.

The 25-year-old was a first-round pick by Winnipeg back in 2016 (18th overall) with the team hoping that his 6’7 stature could make him a force on their back end.  While Stanley has shown flashes of being an impact player, he hasn’t been able to do that consistently at this point in his career.

Last season was a tough one on multiple fronts for Stanley.  He missed a total of 40 games due to a pair of lower-body injuries and when he was healthy, he struggled to get into the lineup.  The end result was just 19 appearances during the regular season, the lowest of his three-year career.  In those games, Stanley had just three points along with 44 hits while logging less than 14 minutes a night.  In the playoffs, Stanley got into just one contest, playing less than nine minutes in total.

Along the way, Stanley requested a trade, one that has yet to be granted.  The challenge for Winnipeg in terms of extracting value for Stanley is that at this stage of his career (spanning 114 games), he simply hasn’t shown enough to be counted on as a full-time top-six blueliner.  GM Kevin Cheveldayoff won’t want to give Stanley away as the trade value for a depth defender isn’t particularly high while on the flip side, an acquiring team won’t want to pay a higher asking price for someone who hasn’t yet landed a full-time lineup spot yet.

Unfortunately for Stanley, his situation hasn’t changed much over the summer as Winnipeg’s back end hasn’t changed.  If nothing else, it might have gotten more crowded with Declan Chisholm (their other remaining RFA) now waiver-eligible while Ville Heinola (who also has made it known he’d welcome a change of scenery) also in the mix.  At the moment, Stanley will likely be battling for the sixth or seventh spot on the depth chart which puts him exactly where he was a year ago.

Stanley will once again be a restricted free agent next summer with a $1MM qualifier.  He’ll have arbitration rights at that time as well, something he elected not to exercise this time around, a decision likely made with the hopes that it might help facilitate a trade.  If he’s still around next summer, it’ll be interesting to see if he takes that route if nothing changes for him in the coming months.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Transactions| Winnipeg Jets Logan Stanley

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Cole Perfetti Hoping To Fill Second-Line Center Spot

August 19, 2023 at 11:45 am CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

With the Jets moving Pierre-Luc Dubois earlier this summer, they have a vacancy to fill down the middle in their top six.  Although Cole Perfetti spent last season on the wing, he told Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press that he thinks he could fill that role for Winnipeg in 2023-24.  The 21-year-old is a natural middleman but has yet to play a full season at the NHL level after an upper-body injury cost him the final two months of last year plus their first-round series against Vegas.  Perfetti will likely be battling Gabriel Vilardi (who came over in the Dubois trade) for the second-line center role with Vladislav Namestnikov also being a possible option after he served in that role at times following his acquisition at the trade deadline back in March.  With Perfetti entering the final year of his entry-level deal, demonstrating that he could be a long-term solution down the middle would certainly bolster his case heading into contract talks.

Calgary Flames| Minnesota Wild| Winnipeg Jets Brad Richardson| Calen Addison| Cole Perfetti

2 comments

East Notes: Trade Targets, Amirov Jersey Retirement, Nylander

August 17, 2023 at 12:37 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 6 Comments

Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander and Winnipeg Jets players Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele land atop the latest Trade Targets list from The Athletic, written by Shayna Goldman. All pending unrestricted free agents, Nylander finds himself first on the list after recording a career-high 40 goals and 87 points in 82 games last season. As Goldman notes, it’s highly unlikely a potential Nylander extension becomes top of mind for Toronto GM Brad Treliving until an extension for teammate Auston Matthews is signed, sealed and delivered.

Regarding Hellebuyck, his trade value has decreased in recent months, with teams shying away from doling out large sums of cash to bonafide starting netminders, instead looking for value options in the crease to guide them deep in the playoffs. Goldman posits, however, that it’s a method that can work only for a select few – namely Colorado and Vegas, as it has the past two seasons, given the strengths of their defense corps. While teams should be rightfully wary about handing out too much term to Hellebuyck on an extension, given he’s already 31 years old, acquiring a clear-cut elite starter is still necessary for some teams to reach championship contention. Other names on the list included Anaheim Ducks netminder John Gibson, Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce, Calgary Flames players Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm, and Arizona Coyotes forwards Nick Schmaltz and Jason Zucker.

  • In a well-deserved and meaningful gesture, KHL club Salavat Yulaev Ufa will be retiring Rodion Amirov’s number 27 after the young forward passed away from a years-long battle with a brain tumor on Tuesday, according to The Hockey News’ David Alter. The 21-year-old Maple Leafs prospect had suited up in 70 games for his hometown team before he had to stop his playing career in 2021 to undergo cancer treatment. Reports indicate Salavat’s captain, 625-game KHL veteran Grigori Panin, initiated the decision.
  • Alexander Nylander is a candidate to slide into the Pittsburgh Penguins’ top six to begin the season, says The Athletic’s Rob Rossi. The 2016 eighth-overall pick could get a look at either Sidney Crosby’s or Evgeni Malkin’s left wing with Jake Guentzel sidelined for the first few games of 2023-24 after undergoing ankle surgery earlier this month. Now on his third NHL organization, the 25-year-old Nylander will look to capture a full-time spot in the NHL for the first time since he played 65 games with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019-20.

KHL| Pittsburgh Penguins| Snapshots| Toronto Maple Leafs| Winnipeg Jets Alexander Nylander| Connor Hellebuyck| Mark Scheifele| Rodion Amirov| William Nylander

6 comments

August Free Agency Update: Central Division

August 16, 2023 at 5:30 pm CDT | by Josh Erickson 7 Comments

As even most mid-tier free agents are now off the market, it’s a good time to look at how each team has fared on the free agent market this offseason. We’re publishing a list of one-way signings (i.e., likelier to start the season on the NHL roster) by team, per division, to keep you updated on NHL player movement since the new league year began on July 1.

Asterisked players denote a restricted free agent. Double-asterisked players denote the contract starts in the 2024-25 season. Next up is the Central Division. You can check out the list of Atlantic Division signings here and the list of Metropolitan Division signings here.

Arizona Coyotes

F Jason Zucker (one year, $5.3MM cap hit)
D Mathew Dumba (one year, $3.9MM cap hit)
F Alexander Kerfoot (two years, $3.5MM cap hit)
*F Matias Maccelli (three years, $3.425MM cap hit)
F Nick Bjugstad (two years, $2.1MM cap hit)
*F Jack McBain (two years, $1.599MM cap hit)
D Troy Stecher (one year, $1.1MM cap hit)

Chicago Blackhawks

*F Philipp Kurashev (two years, $2.25MM cap hit)
F Ryan Donato (two years, $2MM cap hit)

Colorado Avalanche

*F Ross Colton (four years, $4MM cap hit)
*D Bowen Byram (two years, $3.85MM cap hit)
F Miles Wood (six years, $2.5MM cap hit)
F Jonathan Drouin (one year, $825K cap hit)
F Andrew Cogliano (one year, 35+ contract, $825K cap hit)
D Jack Johnson (one year, 35+ contract, $775K cap hit)
*F Ben Meyers (one year, $775K cap hit)

Dallas Stars

F Matt Duchene (one year, $3MM cap hit)
F Craig Smith (one year, $1MM cap hit)
*F Ty Dellandrea (one year, $900K cap hit)
F Sam Steel (one year, $850K cap hit)
D Joel Hanley (two years, $787.5K cap hit)
D Gavin Bayreuther (one year, $775K cap hit)

Minnesota Wild

*G Filip Gustavsson (three years, $3.75MM cap hit)
*F Brandon Duhaime (one year, $1.1MM cap hit)

Nashville Predators

F Ryan O’Reilly (four years, $4.5MM cap hit)
F Gustav Nyquist (two years, $3.185MM cap hit)
D Luke Schenn (three years, $2.75MM cap hit)
*F Cody Glass (two years, $2.5MM cap hit)
*D Alexandre Carrier (one year, $2.5MM cap hit)
F Denis Gurianov (one year, $850K cap hit)

St. Louis Blues

*F Alexey Toropchenko (two years, $1.25MM cap hit)
F Mackenzie MacEachern (two years, $775K cap hit)
F Oskar Sundqvist (one year, $775K cap hit)

Winnipeg Jets

*F Gabriel Vilardi (two years, $3.438MM cap hit)
F Vladislav Namestnikov (two years, $2MM cap hit)
G Laurent Brossoit (one year, $1.75MM cap hit)
*D Dylan Samberg (two years, $1.4MM cap hit)
*F Morgan Barron (two years, $1.35MM cap hit)
*F Rasmus Kupari (two years, $1MM cap hit)
G Collin Delia (one year, $775K cap hit)
F Jeffrey Viel (one year, $775K cap hit)

Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Arizona Coyotes| Chicago Blackhawks| Colorado Avalanche| Dallas Stars| Minnesota Wild| Nashville Predators| St. Louis Blues| Winnipeg Jets

7 comments

Update On This Year’s August 15 Free Agents

August 16, 2023 at 10:27 am CDT | by Josh Erickson Leave a Comment

Most NHL free agent business is dealt with in the early summer months. There is one important date later each year, however. August 15 marks the date when NHL teams lose their exclusive signing rights to most college-drafted players if they’ve graduated (or completed without graduating) college and are not yet signed to an entry-level contract.

Earlier this month, we published a list of players slated to hit the UFA market yesterday if not signed to an ELC within the coming days. However, the guidelines the NHL uses to determine a college graduate are some of the most complex sets of rules relating to contractual obligations in pro sports. That means it’s often impossible to glean a full list of players whose rights have expired (or not expired) until after the August 15 deadline has passed.

This year was no different, as CapFriendly issued multiple updates today on their X account regarding the list of August 15 free agents they’d made public earlier in the month. Three players who were slated to expire actually remained on their team’s reserve list: Calgary Flames 2018 fourth-round pick F Demetrios Koumontzis, Ottawa Senators 2018 seventh-round pick F Jakov Novak, and Senators 2018 second-round pick D Jonny Tychonick.

On the flip side, 12 players they expected to remain on teams’ reserve lists hit the free-agent market yesterday. With that in mind, we have a revised, accurate list of players who became unrestricted free agents yesterday. Asterisked players were not originally expected to come off their team’s reserve list.

Anaheim Ducks

*F Trevor Janicke (2019 fifth round, 132nd overall)

Arizona Coyotes

F John Farinacci (2019 third round, 76th overall)
*F Anthony Romano (2019 sixth round, 176th overall)

Boston Bruins

*D Dustyn McFaul (2018 sixth round, 181st overall)

Calgary Flames

*F Joshua Nodler (2019 fifth round, 150th overall)

Carolina Hurricanes

F Kevin Wall (2019 sixth round, 181st overall)

Chicago Blackhawks

F Jake Wise (2018 third round, 69th overall)

Colorado Avalanche

*F Matt Stienburg (2019 third round, 63rd overall)

Columbus Blue Jackets

D Robbie Stucker (2017 seventh round, 210th overall)

Detroit Red Wings

F Robert Mastrosimone (2019 second round, 54th overall)
*F Ethan Phillips (2019 fourth round, 97th overall)

Edmonton Oilers

F Skyler Brind’Amour (2017 sixth round, 177th overall)

Minnesota Wild

*D Marshall Warren (2019 sixth round, 166th overall)

New Jersey Devils

*D Case McCarthy (2019 fourth round, 118th overall)
*F Patrick Moynihan (2019 sixth round, 158th overall)

New York Islanders

D Christian Krygier (2018 seventh round, 196th overall)
F Jacob Pivonka (2018 fourth round, 103rd overall)

New York Rangers

*F Eric Ciccolini (2019 seventh round, 205th overall)
*F Riley Hughes (2018 seventh round, 216th overall)

Ottawa Senators

*F Luke Loheit (2018 seventh round, 194th overall)

Philadelphia Flyers

F Jay O’Brien (2018 first round, 19th overall)

San Jose Sharks

D Arvid Henrikson (2016 seventh round, 187th overall) Originally drafted by the Montreal Canadiens

Toronto Maple Leafs

D Ryan O’Connell (2017 seventh round, 203rd overall)

Winnipeg Jets

G Jared Moe (2018 sixth round, 184th overall)

Of the list above, Krygier and Pivonka are remaining in the Islanders organization on confirmed AHL contracts for 2023-24, although they remain eligible to sign with another NHL team should one come calling. All others are either returning to school for 2023-24, have contracts signed in other leagues, or are not signed for next season.

Notably, this is the official confirmation that the Flyers’ exclusive signing rights of O’Brien have lapsed. As compensation for not signing a first-round pick to their entry-level contract, the Flyers will receive a compensatory second-round pick from the league in the 2024 NHL Draft.

Anaheim Ducks| Arizona Coyotes| Boston Bruins| Calgary Flames| Carolina Hurricanes| Chicago Blackhawks| Colorado Avalanche| Columbus Blue Jackets| Detroit Red Wings| Edmonton Oilers| Minnesota Wild| Montreal Canadiens| New Jersey Devils| New York Islanders| New York Rangers| Ottawa Senators| Philadelphia Flyers| San Jose Sharks| Toronto Maple Leafs| Winnipeg Jets Anthony Romano| Arvid Henrikson| Case McCarthy| Christian Krygier| Demetrios Koumontzis| Dustyn McFaul| Eric Ciccolini| Ethan Phillips| Jacob Pivonka| Jake Wise| Jakov Novak| Jared Moe| Jay O'Brien| John Farinacci| Jonny Tychonick| Joshua Nodler| Kevin Wall| Luke Loheit| Marshall Warren| Matt Stienburg| Patrick Moynihan| Riley Hughes| Robbie Stucker| Robert Mastrosimone| Ryan O'Connell| Skyler Brind'Amour| Trevor Janicke

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2009 NHL Draft Take Two: Fourth Overall Pick

August 15, 2023 at 9:40 am CDT | by Josh Erickson 4 Comments

Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.”  Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended.  For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’re looking back at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now.  Will the first round remain the same, or will some late-round picks jump up to the top of the board?

The results of our redraft so far are as follows, with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Victor Hedman, New York Islanders (2)
2nd Overall: John Tavares, Tampa Bay Lightning (1)
3rd Overall: Ryan O’Reilly, Colorado Avalanche (33)

The Conn Smythe winner with the 2019 Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues is off the board at third overall, becoming the first player taken outside of the first round to appear in our redraft. Notably, he does stay with the team that took him on Day 2 of the 2009 NHL Draft – the Colorado Avalanche, who used their second pick of the draft on O’Reilly after selecting Matt Duchene with the third overall pick. Both players have gone on to produce good offensive totals near the top of the class, although O’Reilly’s taken home more in terms of award hardware with a championship, a Conn Smythe and a Selke Trophy all under his belt. O’Reilly won with 48% of our polling, while Duchene finished second in third-overall voting with just 13% of the vote.

Next up on the draft board is the Atlanta Thrashers at fourth overall. This was their second straight top-five selection after using the third overall pick on defenseman Zach Bogosian in 2008.

This year, however, their big prospect add was forward Evander Kane out of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants. While it wasn’t a bad pick at all if you look at his point production throughout his career and his ability to consistently play a top-six role, Kane has had a multitude of off-ice incidents throughout his career, including having his contract terminated by the San Jose Sharks in 2022 for breaching COVID protocols.

Nonetheless, Kane was a solid player for the Thrashers (and Winnipeg Jets) for parts of six seasons until he was moved to the Buffalo Sabres in 2015. He was widely viewed as the best pick available at the time – after all, he had just posted 96 points in 61 games with the Giants while recording 89 penalty minutes to boot, and he’d recorded six points in six games for Canada at that year’s World Junior Championships.

He signed his entry-level contract with Atlanta just weeks after the draft and made the NHL full-time out of the gate in a middle-six role. As an 18-year-old, he recorded 14 goals and 12 assists for 26 points in 66 games, finishing tied in Calder Trophy voting with Hedman that year. By the time the 2012-13 partial lockout rolled around, Kane had a 30-goal season under his belt and was averaging over 20 minutes per game.

After later career stops with the Sabres, Sharks and now Edmonton Oilers, Kane has some well-documented defensive weaknesses but still brings an intriguing blend of shooting ability and physicality to the table. In 853 games, he’s scored 302 goals – third among the 2009 class behind Tavares and Duchene. His 573 career points are sixth in the class.

There’s an argument to be made that the Thrashers made the right pick, but Duchene could have also been a more intriguing option had he been available for the Thrashers to select at fourth overall. They don’t have very long to decide, though, as Atlanta is now on the clock – who should they select with the fourth-overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft? Make your voice heard below:

If you can’t access the built-in poll, click here to vote.

Polls| Pro Hockey Rumors Originals| Winnipeg Jets Evander Kane

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