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Archives for September 2019

Dallas Stars Sign Dawson Barteaux

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The Dallas Stars have signed one of their draft picks, even after sending him back to the CHL earlier this month. Dawson Barteaux has inked a three-year entry-level contract, but because he is still just 19 and already back in junior, it will slide forward and won’t kick in until the 2020-21 season.  Barteaux will spend this year with the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL.

Selected in the sixth round in 2018, Barteaux put together another solid season for the Rebels in 2018-19 by recording 34 points in 67 games. The 6’1″ defenseman can skate very well and became an extremely important all-around option, earning him a contract that not many sixth-round picks get just a year after being selected. While an entry-level contract certainly doesn’t guarantee an NHL look, just earning a deal at all should be considered a win for the young defenseman.

The Stars currently sit with 49 of the available 50 contract slots used, but given that Barteaux’s will slide it won’t count towards that number for now. The team will still be able to add a player from waivers or sign restricted free agent Julius Honka without moving out another player.

Bowen Byram Sent To WHL

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The WHL has gotten a serious talent injection today, as not only was Dylan Cozens sent back to the Lethbridge Hurricanes earlier, but Bowen Byram is on his way too. The Colorado Avalanche have decided to return the fourth-overall pick to the Vancouver Giants for this season, where he’ll jump right into the fray as their home opener is tomorrow night.

Byram, 18, was the unquestioned best defenseman available in this year’s draft and was even challenging for a spot in the top-3 selections for a time thanks to his outstanding junior season. He recorded 71 points in 67 regular season games with the Giants, only to then lead the entire WHL in playoff scoring with 26 points. Named the CHL’s top draft prospect, he eventually fell to the Avalanche where they couldn’t pass on him even with their glut of young defensemen.

It’s hard to find a more exciting young defense prospect around the league (though Colorado has one of the few in Cale Makar), as Byram can seemingly do it all when the puck is on his stick. A dangerous player cutting through the neutral zone, he can also find the tiniest lane from his own end to fire stretch passes to streaking forwards. Though not an imposing physical player, Byram still limits zone entries with a strong stick and actively works along the boards to disrupt cycles. Those are what he’ll need to focus on even more to really excel at the NHL level, a development step that may actually have to wait until he hits professional hockey.

This is the dilemma for teams with such an exciting and dominant junior prospect. The CHL sometimes doesn’t pose the level of competition that they need to work on the weaknesses in their game, since their strengths can overcome almost all of their opponents. Working on those weaknesses will be Byram’s challenge this season given his obvious physical gifts, but he should be in the running for WHL Most Valuable Player and could very easily lead all defenders in points.

Waivers: 09/26/19

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With the NHL regular season approaching quickly, many players will be put on waivers over the next several days. We’ll keep track of all of them right here:

Anaheim Ducks

F Andreas Martinsen
F Andrew Poturalski
F Chase De Leo
D Jani Hakanpaa
G Kevin Boyle

Boston Bruins

F Paul Carey
F Brendan Gaunce
D Alexander Petrovic*

Calgary Flames

G Jon Gillies

Chicago Blackhawks

F John Quenneville

Colorado Avalanche

D Jacob MacDonald
D Dan Renouf

Montreal Canadiens

F Matthew Peca
F Phil Varone
F Dale Weise
D Karl Alzner
D Xavier Ouellet

New York Islanders

F Travis St. Denis
F Matthew Lorito
F Cole Bardreau
D Kyle Burroughs
D Seth Helgeson
G Christopher Gibson
G Jared Coreau

New York Rangers

F Steven Fogarty

Ottawa Senators

F Nick Paul
F Jordan Szwarz

Vegas Golden Knights

F Patrick Brown
F Curtis McKenzie

*Petrovic was in Bruins’ training camp under a professional tryout. Waivers would indicate that the team has signed him to a standard player contract.

Training Camp Cuts: 09/26/19

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Like always, we’ll keep you aware of all the training camp cuts right here. Keep checking back to see the updated list:

Anaheim Ducks (per team release)

F Alex Broadhurst (to San Diego, AHL)
D Hunter Drew (to San Diego, AHL)
D Zack Hayes (to San Diego, AHL)
F Justin Kloos (to San Diego, AHL)
F Jack Kopacka (to San Diego, AHL)
D Patrick Sieloff (to San Diego, AHL)
D Chris Wideman (to San Diego, AHL)
G Anthony Stolarz (to San Diego, AHL)

Boston Bruins (per team release)

F Ryan Fitzgerald (to Providence, AHL)
F Joona Koppanen (to Providence, AHL)
F Zach Senyshyn (to Providence, AHL)
F Pavel Shen (to Providence, AHL)
F Oskar Steen (to Providence, AHL)
D Jeremy Lauzon (to Providence, AHL)
D Urho Vaakanainen (to Providence, AHL)
G Kyle Keyser (to Providence, AHL)
F Paul Carey (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Brendan Gaunce (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Alexander Petrovic (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)

Buffalo Sabres (per team release)

F Dylan Cozens (to Lethbridge, WHL)

Carolina Hurricanes (per team release)

F Morgan Geekie (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Janne Kuokkanen (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Steven Lorentz (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Eetu Luostarinen (to Charlotte, AHL)
F Stelio Mattheos (to Charlotte, AHL)
D Jake Bean (to Charlotte, AHL)
D Kyle Wood (to Charlotte, AHL)
G Alex Nedeljkovic (to Charlotte, AHL)
D Jesper Sellgren (to Lulea HF, SHL)
F Ryan Suzuki (to Barrie, OHL)

Colorado Avalanche (per team release)

D Bowen Byram (to Vancouver, WHL)
F Martin Kaut (to Colorado, AHL)
F Sheldon Dries (to Colorado, AHL)
F Logan O’Connor (to Colorado, AHL)
F Michael Joly (to Colorado, AHL)
G Hunter Miska (to Colorado, AHL)
D Jacob MacDonald (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Dan Renouf (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)

Edmonton Oilers (per team release)

F Kailer Yamamoto (to Bakersfield, AHL)

Florida Panthers (per team release)

F Anthony Greco (to Springfield, AHL)
D Ian McCoshen (to Springfield, AHL)
G Chris Driedger (to Springfield, AHL)

Montreal Canadiens (per team release)

F Matthew Peca (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Phil Varone (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Dale Weise (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Karl Alzner (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
D Xavier Ouellet (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)

New York Rangers (per team release)

F Daniel O’Regan (to Hartford, AHL)

Ottawa Senators (per team release)

F Parker Kelly (to Belleville, AHL)
G Marcus Hogberg (to Belleville, AHL)
F Nick Paul (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)
F Jordan Szwarz (placed on waivers before AHL assignment)

Vegas Golden Knights (per Jesse Granger, The Athletic)

F Reid Duke (to Chicago, AHL)
D Dylan Coughlan (to Chicago, AHL)

Dylan Cozens Sent To WHL

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The Buffalo Sabres have decided that Dylan Cozens will have to wait just a little longer before starting his NHL career. The team has sent the top prospect back to the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL, where he will remain for the rest of the season.

Cozens, 18, was the seventh overall pick in June’s draft, taken by the Sabres after an incredible junior season. The smooth-skating forward put up 84 points in 68 games with the Hurricanes, just a year after earning the WHL Rookie of the Year award. Add in some international success at the U18 World Juniors and Hlinka-Gretzky and Cozens was a hard-charging prospect that caused some to wonder whether he could step right into the NHL.

That regular season debut will have to wait, but even after suffering a thumb injury that took some time away from his training camp, Cozens impressed in his first chance. The Sabres are hoping to start moving towards a competitive window and players like Cozens will be relied upon heavily to add some offense behind Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner. Already standing 6’3″ with elite skating ability, if he can add a bit more strength he should be a force unlike many others around the league.

Players that are sent back to junior are ineligible for recall except in emergency situations, meaning Cozens will have to wait until the end of his year with the Hurricanes before joining either the Sabres or Rochester Americans of the AHL for some professional experience. He will however have a shot to earn himself a role on Canada’s World Junior team after being invited to the Summer Showcase earlier this summer. He was unable to attend because of that thumb injury, but a good start with Lethbridge could make him an undeniable entry on what should be a powerhouse international roster once again.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Minor Transactions: 09/26/19

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As teams finish their final week of preparation before the 2019-20 season, there will likely be several transactions around the league. As always, we’ll keep track of all those moves right here:

Minnesota Wild Searching For Help At Center

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The Minnesota Wild are looking for a top-six center according to Darren Dreger of TSN, who explained what new GM Bill Guerin is looking for on the latest edition of Insider Trading:

He’s willing to be aggressive but he’s also a realist. He wants a top center, or a second-line center. How do you acquire that piece? The Minnesota Wild have an abundance of wingers, they have a good draft pile in terms of prospects and they also have a good picks list. So he’s willing to use all of that as bait, but again, he’s also careful knowing that the market just doesn’t throw a player like that out there.

Former GM Paul Fenton was probably looking for the same thing when he sent Nino Niederreiter to the Carolina Hurricanes last season for Victor Rask, but the 26-year old center hasn’t been able to accomplish anything in Minnesota and is now fighting to even have a roster spot on the team. Ryan Donato, another one of Fenton’s acquisitions from last season is being tried at center, while Eric Staal is the only real lock down the middle while Mikko Koivu fights his way back from ACL surgery.

Getting another player in one of those top two spots would obviously be ideal, but those kind of centers don’t come cheap. Matt Duchene has been traded twice over the last couple of seasons, both times for substantial packages without any real guarantee he would re-sign (he ended up taking the free agent route). If Guerin and the Wild want someone on that level with any term, it will likely take even more than the Avalanche and then Senators received.

It’s a tough situation to be in, and though Dreger suggests they have a stockpile to deal from, that isn’t really the case. The Wild don’t have any additional draft picks for the next three seasons past their own, and actually already moved their 2020 third-round selection for a pick in June. Sure they have some promising prospects in the system, but for a team that has a huge amount of money tied up in players well on the wrong side of 30, they’ll need some cheap options to fill in the gaps on entry-level deals in the coming years.

2007 NHL Draft Take Two: Twentieth Overall Pick

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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 2007 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?

Here are the results of the redraft so far, with their original draft position in parentheses:

1st Overall: Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks (1)
2nd Overall: Jamie Benn, Philadelphia Flyers (129)
3rd Overall: P.K. Subban, Phoenix Coyotes (43)
4th Overall: Logan Couture, Los Angeles Kings (9)
5th Overall: Max Pacioretty, Washington Capitals (22)
6th Overall: Jakub Voracek, Edmonton Oilers (7)
7th Overall: Ryan McDonagh, Columbus Blue Jackets (12)
8th Overall: James van Riemsdyk, Boston Bruins (2)
9th Overall: Wayne Simmonds, San Jose Sharks (61)
10th Overall: Kevin Shattenkirk, Florida Panthers (14)
11th Overall: Jake Muzzin, Carolina Hurricanes (141)
12th Overall: Kyle Turris, Montreal Canadiens (3)
13th Overall: David Perron, St. Louis Blues (26)
14th Overall: Mikael Backlund, Colorado Avalanche (24)
15th Overall: Evgenii Dadonov, Edmonton Oilers (71)
16th Overall: Alec Martinez, Minnesota Wild (95)
17th Overall: Carl Hagelin, New York Rangers (168)
18th Overall: Lars Eller, St. Louis Blues (13)
19th Overall: Alex Killorn, Anaheim Ducks (77)

Another mid-round pick jumps up in Killorn, showing just how hard it is to predict the outcome of an 17-year old prospect at the time of the draft. Born just before the cutoff that would have made Killorn a 2008 draft eligible player, he was one of the youngest available at the time and had only played 25 games of high school hockey in Massachusetts. Still, the Tampa Bay Lightning saw something in the young forward and he ended up being easily their best selection that year. His eventual NHL success wouldn’t come for quite some time however, as Killorn took a long path to the professional ranks.

After spending another year playing high school hockey, the Halifax native ended up heading to Harvard to play for one of the most prestigious and successful programs in the NCAA. By senior year Killorn was a dominant offensive presence for the school, scoring 23 goals and 46 points in 34 games and being named an All-Ivy Leaguer and All-American. That 2011-12 season was already a success, but Killorn jumped into the AHL at the end of the year and helped the Norfolk Admirals all the way to a Calder Cup, scoring 12 points in 17 playoff games. It was clear then that he wouldn’t be long for the minor leagues, and by the end of the following season Killorn was a regular in the Tampa Bay lineup.

In the time since, Killorn has put up consistent offensive production while being a physical presence and moving up and down the roster. It’s his impact in the playoffs that has never wavered from that first season in Norfolk. Through 68 NHL playoff contests, the 30-year old winger has scored 21 goals and 41 points, while being a grinding, frustrating presence for Tampa Bay. Though it hasn’t yet resulted in a Stanley Cup, he’s still an important part of a unit that is one of the best in the NHL.

Back in 2007, the Pittsburgh Penguins were next on the board and had just watched Angelo Esposito drop to them. The QMJHL star had long been a top prospect for the NHL draft and was even ranked the eighth best North American skater by NHL Central Scouting. Still, there were questions about Esposito after he had taken a slight step backwards in his second year of junior hockey (though he still put up 79 points in 60 games for the Quebec Remparts) and those doubts proved correct in the long run, though it wasn’t exactly for reasons within his control.

Two major knee surgeries and several other injuries derailed a promising career, and Esposito barely even played professional hockey, never even sniffing the NHL. His best pro season came in 2011-12 when he recorded 21 points in the AHL, but after bouncing around Europe his playing career ended in 2016. A pick that they would like back, there was still a lot of talent left on the board.

Needless to say, they’ll wind up with a better pick this time around.  With the twentieth pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Pittsburgh Penguins select?  Cast your vote below!

[Mobile users click here to vote]

*Tragically, 17th overall pick Alexei Cherepanov died at the age of 19 and would never get a chance to suit up in the NHL. He has not been included in this vote.

Latest On Patrik Laine

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Another big restricted free agent domino fell today when Matthew Tkachuk signed the most expensive three-year bridge deal in NHL history. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) examined what that means for the last three unsigned stars, with particular interest in Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets. According to LeBrun, the focus between Laine and the Jets is on a two-year contract, with the team hoping for an average annual value around $6MM and the player looking for more than $7MM per season. There have also been teams reaching out to Laine’s camp, though it’s not clear if that is offer sheet or trade interest.

Though there is still significant intrigue in Colorado with Mikko Rantanen, the Jets are the focus of attention for many hockey fans right now as they prepare to begin the season with a roster that looks very different than last season. Already departed through trade or free agency are Tyler Myers, Jacob Trouba, Ben Chiarot and Brandon Tanev, while Dustin Byfuglien has stepped away to consider whether he even wants to play another minute of NHL hockey. If Kyle Connor and Laine are both not signed by opening day, suddenly a once powerful Jets team will be considered a shadow of their former selves.

There is still a week before that nightmare becomes a reality, as the Jets don’t open their season until Thursday, October 3rd. Unfortunately it will be Trouba and the New York Rangers coming to visit, reminding them again of who has left over the last few months.

Laine, 21, has proven to be one of the most dynamic goal scorers in the world over his three years in the league, but also brings with him a level of inconsistency that makes it hard for either side to lock down a value long-term. The Jets also have serious cap implications to consider, even if their roster currently sits more than $20MM under the ceiling. That doesn’t include the $7.4MM that could be assigned to Byfuglien the moment he returns (if he returns), meaning they have to be careful with how much they hand out to Connor and Laine in the first place.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Injury Notes: Dubinsky, McCabe, Blackhawks

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have already run into some injury trouble, announcing that Brandon Dubinsky will be out indefinitely with a wrist injury. Dubinsky is expected to miss the start of the regular season, though it’s obviously not clear how long this will keep him out.

This injury will open the door for another young Blue Jackets forward to see more ice, and isn’t the end of the world for Columbus given Dubinsky’s decline over recent years. Since the start of the 2017-18 campaign, the veteran forward has struggled offensively and recorded just 31 points in 139 games including just a single goal in 16 playoff contests. With Artemi Panarin gone to New York the Blue Jackets will need new faces to take on some of the offensive responsibility, and someone like Alexandre Texier will be relied on even more heavily as injuries start to pile up.

  • Buffalo Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe will miss the rest of the preseason with an upper-body injury, though the team believes he will be available to start the season. The Sabres loaded blueline is starting to look thinner and thinner thanks to several injuries, and it is not clear who would take his place if McCabe is not ready to go next week. Injuries aren’t a new thing for the 25-year old, who has played just 112 games over the last two seasons combined.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks were without Robin Lehner at practice today as he nurses a right hip injury, but it is not expected to keep him out long. Kirby Dach, who has been working through a concussion, will travel with the team to Europe for their Global Series matchups but isn’t expected to play in either game. The Blackhawks leave on Thursday and will play an exhibition match against Berlin in Germany before opening their regular season against the Philadelphia Flyers in Prague, Czech Republic.

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