It was a fairly quiet week overall but that should change soon as most college teams have been eliminated which should start to open up the free agent market in the days to come. Meanwhile, here are the top stories from the past seven days.
Mascherin Won’t Sign With Florida: It’s not very often that a second-round pick will opt to re-enter the draft over signing with the team that picked him but that’s the case with Panthers 2016 pick Adam Mascherin, who informed the team that he will not sign with them. Florida is now likely to try to trade his rights in the hopes of recouping some sort of asset for him; only first-rounders that do not sign are eligible for compensation picks. The diminutive winger had his third straight season with at least 35 goals and more than 80 points, putting up 40-46-86 totals in 67 regular season contests.
Rangers Open To Trading A First-Rounder: As a result of the Rick Nash and Ryan McDonagh trades near the deadline, the Rangers have two extra first-round picks in the upcoming draft. GM Jeff Gorton acknowledged that he would be open to moving one of those selections even though the team is clearly rebuilding. With New York adding several other prospects in their trades plus their pair of first-round selections from 2017, there is a young core now in place and perhaps that may be what Gorton would be looking for in this type of trade – another young player whose NHL timeline meshes with that group. They’d be wise to talk to Calgary who is looking to acquire a first-round pick before the draft.
Thornton Could Return In Postseason: The Sharks have done well to position themselves in a playoff spot as they sit second in the Pacific, six points clear of Los Angeles. Now, they’ve got further good news as center Joe Thornton has been skating for the better part of two weeks now and wouldn’t rule out the possibility of returning at some point in the playoffs. The veteran has been recovering from MCL surgery back in late January and is no stranger to postseason action as he sits third overall among active players in playoff contests with 160 and tied for third overall in playoff points with 123 (27-96-123).
Marody To Edmonton: It’s rare at this time of the year to see a trade but there was one made between the Flyers and Oilers with Edmonton acquiring prospect Cooper Marody in exchange for New Jersey’s third-round pick in 2019 (previously acquired for Patrick Maroon at the trade deadline). The Flyers get a nice return on their investment in Marody, who they selected 158th overall in 2015. Marody recently finished up a very productive year at Michigan, collecting 48 points (16-32-48) in 38 games. He has one year of college eligibility remaining although it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Oilers try to take a run at signing him.
Draft Lottery Changes: With the addition of Vegas this season, the draft lottery odds needed to be changed as there are now 15 teams that miss the postseason. The new odds have been agreed upon with the chances of the team finishing last overall actually increasing slightly, from 18% to 18.5%. Meanwhile, the team with the most points that misses the postseason will have just a 1% chance, down from 1.1%. Additionally, the odds for teams in the middle of the lottery have been decreased, undoubtedly in response to the results from the 2017 lottery that saw the bottom three finishers all drop three spots in the selection order.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.