At the beginning of the season, the Devils weren’t expected to be picking in the top ten but that’s where they find themselves after the lottery earlier this week. Speaking after the lottery, GM Tom Fitzgerald indicated to reporters including team reporter Amanda Stein that it’s not a guarantee he’ll use the tenth pick next month, suggesting it’s an option to be moved if the right trade presents itself. It’s not very often that top-ten picks are dealt but with New Jersey being a team in win-now mode, they could be inclined to try to use that selection for someone who is more established and can contribute right away.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Capitals prospect Ryan Leonard opted not to sign with Washington for their playoff run, instead choosing to stay at Boston College instead. However, with San Jose getting the first-overall pick (which is expected to be used on Macklin Celebrini), it’s possible that Celebrini signing will also result in San Jose getting Will Smith to turn pro and become their one-two punch down the middle. If that happens, Colby Cohen suggested on a recent Daily Faceoff appearance (video link) that Washington could then try to re-engage on getting Leonard, a current teammate of Smith, to sign for 2024-25. Leonard had a dominant campaign, putting up 31 goals and 29 assists in 41 games in his freshman year.
- While the Kings haven’t decided on if they’ll remove the interim tag from Jim Hiller who took over as head coach midseason, Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reports in his latest Toronto Star column that Los Angeles is kicking the tires on Craig Berube. Berube has also been speculatively linked to the openings in New Jersey and Toronto and appears to be well-positioned to return behind an NHL bench in the coming weeks. The 55-year-old has been an NHL bench boss for parts of eight seasons with his teams playing to a .584 points percentage.
I don’t think Smith leaving would change Leonard’s mind. That could change if Perrault would go pro. Boston College has James Hagens coming in next season. Leonard & Perrault will likely play with him. Not sure Perrault turns pro because I don’t see him having much chance to crack the Rangers lineup.
Yeah, I think that BC trio wants to win a college championship together. And with Hagans coming on board, they would be the favorites to do so.
College sports are such trash.
How is it good for their development for all of the best players to go to same 3 to 4 schools and roll over their competition?
Wow, you self selected into a super team and then won a title…take a bow, I guess.
Scholarships.
The past ten NCAA hockey champs: Denver, Quinnipiac, Denver, Massachusetts, Duluth, Duluth, Denver, North Dakota, Providence, Union. Please identify the same three or four schools that get all the best players and roll over their competition.
Ahh…the same outcomes vs. opportunities argument that MLB fans use to pretend the Royals have the same chance to win as the Yankees and Dodgers.
Ignore how many top ten NHL picks one team has on it’s roster, if they fall short for whatever reason, they are basically to be regarded as a team of walk ons.
The Yankees haven’t participated in a World Series game since 2009. The Royals have been there twice since then and won one of them. The Dodgers are 1-2. Did you bring MLB into this because your NCAA hockey argument got shot full of holes? A couple of posts back you stated that the best players go to the same 3-4 schools and roll over the rest. You have ignored a request to identify those schools. Why?
Why?
Because I don’t have to jump through your hoops, mostly. I said what I said.
And because you have used championships as the (flawed) metric, when those (especially in short playoffs like MLB or NCAA hockey) are prone to small sample flukes.
Go through the last 10-20 years of NHL first rounds and see how many top picks cluster at the same few schools (even if those schools shift slightly over time) and you’ll see this pattern….especially with BU, BC, U of Minn and (back when) Wisconsin and (now) Denver.
Are you trying to claim that this BC team is not stacked?
And bottom line, college sports are boring because of self selection while the drafts are the life blood of pro sports and what keep them competitive and interesting.
Oh, and while you are it, you could look at the same with 30 years of Duke and the college basketball elite or Alabama and the football elite in the NBA and NFL respectively and see the same pattern.
Recruiting builds super teams.
Boring AF.
Okay, thanks for admitting that your theory is full of holes. Yes a bunch of the high draft picks generally end up at the bigger schools but these big bad schools are not rolling over their competition. If they were they might have a national championship or two over the past decade. Check out NHL rosters and see how many players are not from those big schools that you mention.
Stacked enough to not roll over their all of their competition. If you are bored by college sports, quit watching. It will save you from feeling the need to complain about them.
I can relate to both sides. Making super teams has diluted the parity in every league. Unfortunately sports, including college, has become a business. It’s not uncommon that 4-5 teams drive the league and it’s value.
You again use the metric of titles to ignore all of the other reasons why this is bad for virtually everyone except the super schools.
So be it.
The junior leagues use drafts and distribute their talent more evenly in a way which develops players at a faster pace (only to be undone by how much teams stack at the trade deadlines to make the Memorial Cup admittedly, but…).
I don’t watch them but I am free to explain why they are boring or bad for player development.
I understand you derive more dopamine than most from contrarianism but you are also free to ignore my opinions, as well.
Kings ‘kicking the tires on Berube’? Didn’t move very fast did they?