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NCAA All-American Teams Named

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Prior to the reveal of University of Denver defenseman Will Butcher as the 2017 Hobey Baker Award-winner and ahead of the NCAA championship game tomorrow night, the American Hockey Coaches Association released the rosters of this year’s collegiate All-American Teams. The teams, first and second squads from either side of the country, are listed below with their NCAA teams as well as NHL-drafted or signed organization, if applicable:

East All-Americans

First Team:

RW Zach Aston-Reese, Northeastern (Pittsburgh Penguins)

RW Spencer Foo, Union

C Mike Vecchione, Union (Philadelphia Flyers)

D Adam Fox, Harvard (Calgary Flames)

D Charlie McAvoy, Boston University (Boston Bruins)

G Charles Williams, Canisius

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Western Prospect Notes: Lagesson, Roslovic, Phillips

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The Edmonton Oilers have signed their fourth-round pick from the 2014 draft, inking William Lagesson to a three-year, entry-level deal. After two seasons at the University of Massechusetts-Amherst, the Swedish defenseman has decided to turn pro. While he’s never been much of an offensive contributor, he was a key part of a blueline and logged tough minutes in the defensive end.

Lagesson was actually the second selection of the draft for the Oilers that year, as they didn’t have their second or third round picks. The first selection? None other than Leon Draisaitl who has already made a big impact in the NHL. While Lagesson will never quite reach those heights, the Oilers are hoping a second member from their 2014 group can reach the NHL level.

  • Jack Roslovic and Eric Comrie are both headed back down to the Manitoba Moose after their NHL debuts on Thursday night. Comrie stopped 34 of 38 shots for his first NHL win, while Roslovic played just over eight minutes and was held scoreless. While the pair will focus on their game at the AHL level for the time being, don’t underestimate the impact they’ll have at the NHL level sooner than later. Both players represent solid prospects in a system full of them, and should be knocking on the door as soon as next season.
  • The Moose have also signed Michael Spacek to an amateur tryout for the remainder of the season after his huge breakout in the WHL. Spacek exploded for 85 points in 59 games and scored another 12 in the Red Deer Rebels’ hard fought series loss at the hands of the Lethbridge Hurricanes. He also impressed for the Czech Republic at the World Juniors, his third such tournament for his home country. Spacek is a very interesting prospect for the Jets going into next year, as he’ll turn just 20 years old on Sunday. His offensive game has no ceiling, and he could easily turn into a legitimate scoring threat in the AHL as a rookie next year.
  • The Calgary Flames won’t be left behind, as they’ve also signed an interesting name to an amateur deal. Matthew Phillips—he of the 50 goal season—has signed an ATO with the Stockton Heat and will spend a little time with them before heading back to junior next year. Despite turning 19 yesterday, Phillips still only weighs in at a paltry 151 lbs. It will be extremely difficult for him to succeed at the professional level with his 5’7″ frame, but if anyone can do it perhaps he can. Phillips has scored at every level so far, including a 40 goal campaign in bantam hockey when he was 14—while playing only 33 games.

Minor Moves: Gillies, Ullmark, Bondra, Morin

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According to John Shannon of Sportsnet, the Calgary Flames will recall goaltender Jon Gillies prior to their game in Los Angeles tomorrow night. The Flames sent Chad Johnson home for precautionary reasons following his lower-body injury on Tuesday night. Even though the last two games are very important for the Flames in determining their playoff seeding Shannon wouldn’t be surprised to see the team give Gillies the start tomorrow.

Gillies, 23, had an outstanding career at Providence College before debuting in the AHL last year. A hip injury derailed his rookie season, needing surgery in December of 2015 to correct a long-standing issue. This year his game hasn’t come all the way back, posting just a .909 save percentage through 38 games at the AHL. He remains one of the top goaltending prospects in the league though, and may get his chance to start a game in the NHL for the first time tomorrow night.

  • The Buffalo Sabres have recalled Linus Ullmark for much the same reason, with Anders Nilsson suffering a minor injury. Robin Lehner will get the start tonight again Montreal, as the team winds down their season. Ullmark, still just 23, hasn’t gotten back on the ice in the NHL this season despite his impressive 20-game stint with the club last year. Registering a .913 save percentage in those games, the former Swedish pro has shown that he can handle the NHL game. This season hasn’t gone as well in the AHL, but he still remains part of the Sabres future in net going forward.
  • Scott Powers of The Athletic tells us that Radovan Bondra will join the Rockford IceHogs for their last few games before negotiating an entry-level contract. The 20-year old power forward had 63 points in 62 games split between the Vancouver Giants and Prince George Cougars of the WHL. At 6’5″ 220-lbs, the Slovakian winger already has more than enough size for professional hockey, but actually needs to improve his consistent physical game as he floats to the perimeter at times.
  • The Arizona Coyotes announced today that Kyle Capobianco will join the Tucson Roadrunners for the end of the season. Capobianco already signed his entry-level deal in October, and has just completed his fourth season with the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves. The defenseman racked up another 45 points this season, his third straight excellent offensive campaign for the Wolves. While the defensive game is still a big question mark for Capobianco, his size and skating ability should lend itself to a solid development path as he inches towards the NHL. He’ll be 20 next year and will probably play all season with the Roadrunners.
  • Samuel Morin and Colin McDonald are on their way back to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, though one or both could be back in time for Saturday’s matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Morin debuted successfully on Tuesday night, skating almost 18 minutes alongside Shayne Gostisbehere and registering seven hits in the game. While his game still needs work—as even he admitted after the game, saying that he still needed to mature physically—he provides hope for Flyers’ fans for the future of their blue line.
  • The Blue Jackets have assigned Oscar Dansk to the AHL following his season with Rogle of the Swedish Hockey League. The second-round pick from 2012 has continued to develop in Sweden while the Blue Jackets kept Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg here in North America. The three young netminders represent one of the strongest goaltending pipelines in the league at the moment, as each has shown high potential at times. They’ll compete for the NHL backup spot next season, and for starts in the AHL.

Snapshots: Zaitsev, Richardson, Flames Arena

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Earlier this week, news broke that the Maple Leafs were closing in on a seven-year extension for defenseman Nikita Zaitsev.

The deal is expected to be around $4.5MM per season, which would be a big raise for the 25-year-old rookie coming off his entry-level deal. The expected terms would be comparable to at least 20 top-four defensemen, at around 5-7 per cent of the salary cap and 5-8 years.

Zaitsev has been a solid addition to the Maple Leafs’ blue line, with four goals and 30 assists so far. He’s closing in on Borje Salming’s record of 33 assists for a rookie defenseman. He’s also leading the team in average ice-time, at 22:16 per game. Despite his good season paired with Morgan Rielly, the Maple Leafs need to be careful. The contract would take him to age 32, an age where defensemen begin to physically break down. In addition, Zaitsev has played just 76 games in the NHL. That’s not a long track record; Shayne Gostisbehere was very good in his rookie year but hasn’t found the same dominance this season as opponents figured out how to shut him down more effectively. The two defensemen play different styles, but the comparison illustrates the potential risk of judging a player based on one season. While a bridge deal minimizes that risk, the team then risks having to pay the player more should he develop further.

The rumored cap hit of $4.5MM is fair value for a top-four defenseman, but the term is risky. Nothing has indicated Zaitsev will struggle, but seven years is a long time.

  • Arizona Coyotes forward Brad Richardson will not play again this season, the team announced Saturday. Richardson hasn’t played since mid-November, when he broke his tibia and fibula in a collision with Canucks defenseman Nikita Tryamkin. GM John Chayka said Richardson underwent a procedure to “remove hardware” from the previous surgery. He’s expected to be ready for training camp. Richardson was having a very good season before the injury, with nine points in 16 games.
  • The same week that his team clinched a playoff spot, the Calgary Flames President and CEO Ken King made some less-than-popular remarks on Fan 590. Should the team and the city be unable to agree on a new arena deal, then King said “there would be no threat to move, we would just move, and it would be over” (via CBC). It’s not an unprecedented strategy to get public money for a new arena – Edmonton owner Darryl Katz publicly visited Seattle in 2012, months before the deal was finalized to build Rogers Place. Even so, it’s a risky ploy, especially as the team begins selling playoff tickets.

Kloos Chased By Flames And Wild

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Michael Russo of the Star-Tribune reported today that both the Calgary Flames and the Minnesota Wild are trying to sign University of Minnesota Gophers captain Justin Kloos. The Gophers failed to make the NCAA Frozen Four after losing to Notre Dame in the NCAA Regional tournament, ending Kloos’s four year run with the school.

Kloos is an intriguing college free agent. He had 18G and 25A in 38 games for the Gophers this season, equaling his point total from last season. The diminutive center—he’s only 5’9 and 179lbs—was second in team scoring, but ahead of recent New York Rangers signing Vinni Lettieri.

According to Michael Russo, the Wild offered Kloos a pro deal next season coupled with an amateur try-out with the AHL Iowa Wild this season. It is unclear at the moment what the Flames offered Kloos. If Kloos chose the Wild, however, he’d be playing in front of a home town crowd. Kloos grew up in Lakeville, MN—half an hour outside of Minneapolis—and was crowned Minnesota Mr. Hockey in 2012.

Josh Healey Signs With Calgary

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Highly-sought after Ohio State defenseman Josh Healey has signed with the Calgary Flames, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie.

Healey will report to the Stockton Heat on an Amateur Tryout (ATO), which means his two-year entry-level contract won’t kick in until next season. He played four seasons with Ohio State, scoring 60 points in 133 games. Twenty-five of those points came in 35 games this season.

The 22-year-old is not expected to be an offensive presence in the NHL; he’s a physical defender who has been said to “hit too hard for college.” That’s been clear this season, as he’s been suspended three times. However, Elliotte Friedman has previously pointed out that his suspensions didn’t scare any teams, because many of the hits wouldn’t have been penalized in pro hockey.

The Edmonton-native attended the Flames’ development camp last summer, after spending the previous two summer camps in Edmonton with the Oilers.

Calgary Flames Sign Dillon Dube To Three-Year ELC

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The Calgary Flames have put pen to paper with one of their top prospects, inking Dillon Dube to a three-year, entry-level contract. The financials of the deal have not been released, and with Dube’s Kelowna Rockets still in the WHL playoffs, it’s unclear if he’ll head to the AHL on an ATO at all this year. Dillon Dube

Selected 56th overall in last summer’s draft, Dube put in another good season for Kelowna this year, scoring 55 points in 40 games. He was limited at the beginning of the season with a lower-body injury, but healed enough to play for Canada in the World Juniors where he scored three points in seven games and helped Canada to a silver medal.

Incredibly dangerous off the rush, Dube uses his elite quickness and edge work to fly around defenders through the neutral zone but sometimes has trouble engaging physically on the forecheck. Though he looks small at times on the ice, he actually is quite solid (5’11” 192-lbs) and has shown bursts of ability to use his strength to defend the puck and create havoc below the hash marks. He needs to do that more often, or he’ll never be able to create offense on a consistent basis in the professional ranks.

Since he doesn’t turn 19 until this summer, he will undoubtedly go back to Kelowna for his final year of junior, where he should be expected to improve on his numbers. If he’s healthy, he’ll hopefully push towards 80+ points and be a big part of the World Junior team in a more advanced role. Flames fans should be excited, as at worst he projects as an energy forward capable of moving up and down a lineup.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Morning Notes: Crosby, Patrick, Cangelosi

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Last night, during the Pittsburgh Penguins-Ottawa Senators game, Sidney Crosby delivered a hard slash across the hands of Marc Methot resulting in one of the nastiest injuries this season in the NHL (*WARNING: GRAPHIC*). Senators’ head coach Guy Boucher said after the game that Methot would be out “weeks” with a “destroyed” and “shattered” finger, and owner Eugene Melnyk was upset about it this morning on TSN 1200 (via Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia and Frank Seravalli of TSN):

You hammer these [players who slash], you take away their money, and you say you know what? You are done for 10 games.  We all know who [Crosby] is. The guy is a whiner beyond belief. You do this kind of stuff—I don’t care who you are in the league, I don’t care if you’re the number one player in the league—you should sit out a long time for this kind of crap.

Melnyk said that he was sure the league would be looking at it, but Pierre LeBrun of ESPN reports Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly will not be evaluating it further. Crosby will receive no discipline for this incident, just as he faced no penalty for his spear in an unfortunate area of Ryan O’Reilly’s lower body.

  • For anyone hoping to catch Nolan Patrick in the first round of the WHL playoffs, you might have to wait a few days. Mike Morreale of NHL.com reports that the projected top pick in the upcoming entry draft won’t play in game one due to a lower-body injury. The Brandon Wheat Kings take on the Medicine Hat Tigers in the first round of the WHL playoffs.
  • The Calgary Flames have sent Garnet Hathaway back down to the Stockton Heat. The 25-year old forward didn’t play in his most recent call up, after Micheal Ferland returned earlier from his mumps quarantine. With Matthew Tkachuk now eligible to play after serving his two-game suspension, the need for Hathaway has lifted. Playing in 26 games for Calgary this season, Hathaway registered five points in under 10 minutes a night.
  • Similarly, the Minnesota Wild have sent Gustav Olofsson down to the minors, liking meaning Christian Folin is ready to return to game action. Olofsson has played in 13 games for the Wild this season, but will have to wait until next year to really make his mark at the NHL level. The 22-year old will try to help the Iowa Wild make the postseason for the first time in their short history.
  • Tom Gulitti of NHL.com reports that the Albany Devils have signed Austin Cangelosi to a two-year AHL contract. The 22-year old forward just graduated from Boston College where he had back-to-back 20-goal seasons the past two years. The 5’7″ forward will try to prove that his size won’t stop his skill from shining through at the professional level, as he moves up to the next challenge in his hockey career.

Injury Notes: Ferland, Stone, Leivo, Rust

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Calgary Flames winger Micheal Ferland has rejoined his teammates in Nashville today after being quarantined for almost a week. The 24-year old had showed signs of the mumps outbreak that had swept through the NHL briefly, but is now symptom free. He’ll be back in on the top line with Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan tonight, according to Kristen Odland of Postmedia.

Here are some other injury notes from around the league:

  • Josh Leivo will take the spot of the injured Eric Fehr in tonight’s Maple Leafs lineup according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. With Nikita Soshnikov still on the mend following a big hit from Zdeno Chara, Leivo will look to get back to his scoring ways tonight. The young winger had nine points in a ten game stretch last month when Mitch Marner was dealing with an injury, and has considerable offensive upside. He’ll slot in on the fourth line tonight beside Brian Boyle and Matt Martin.
  • Despite skating with the team in a regular jersey this morning, Cedric Paquette will not return to the lineup for Tampa Bay according to Caley Chelios of FOX Sports. The Lightning center will remain out alongside Steven Stamkos and Tyler Johnson for the time being.
  • On Stamkos, he was seen skating again before practice, but admitted to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times that “time is running out” for him to return this season. Stamkos has been skating for weeks as he tries to come back from a meniscus tear in his right knee. The Lightning are currently sitting five points back with ten games to play.
  • Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports that Ottawa Senators forward Mark Stone was back skating this morning, though he won’t play tonight. Stone was out early and stayed late at practice as he works hard to get back into the Senators lineup. The team can smell first place in the Atlantic Division, and getting Stone—arguably their best forward—back before the end of the season could help them wrestle the crown away from the Montreal Canadiens. With a matchup against the fourth Metropolitan team looming in the first round, whether they should really want it is a different story.
  • Penguins’ forward Bryan Rust is almost back in the lineup reports Bill West of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review after taking part in just about everything at today’s Pittsburgh practice. Though he won’t play tonight, the 24-year old forward will likely be back in a game before the end of the week; the Penguins take on Ottawa tonight, New York (Islanders) tomorrow and Philadelphia on Sunday.
  • Three goaltenders were at practice today for the Anaheim Ducks, including John Gibson as he continues to rehab his latest injury. Head coach Randy Carlyle said today that Gibson will definitely play before the end of the regular season, though that still leaves the question of whether he’ll be tested enough to start game one of the playoffs. We’ll see how many games the young netminder gets in before Anaheim has to take on a team like the Edmonton Oilers or Calgary Flames in the first round.

Minor Moves: McKenzie, Green, Beauvillier, Hronek

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As many non-professional seasons come to an end across North America and the world, players are starting to sign with their respective organizations to get a taste of the AHL and what lies beyond for them in their hockey careers. Here are some of the latest signings around the league:

  • The Utica Comets have signed Brett McKenzie to an amateur tryout after his season ended in the OHL. The North Bay Battalion forward was a point-per-game player for the first time in his junior career and led his team in goals with 29. Selected in the seventh round last season in his final year of draft eligibility, McKenzie will try to adapt his all-around game to the AHL level.
  • Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun reports that the Manitoba Moose have signed Luke Green an ATO. The third-round pick of the Jets this past draft had an outstanding year in the QMJHL, scoring 37 points in 60 games split between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Sherbrooke Phoenix. The 19-year old defenseman will have to return to the junior ranks next year if he doesn’t make the Jets out of camp—which would be quite a feat considering the names he would have to beat out on the right side.
  • Wiebe also tells us that the Moose have given Francis Beauvillier an ATO, one of the first out of the CIS (Canadian University) ranks this season. Beauvillier was originally drafted by the Florida Panthers in 2012, but failed to sign with the team before heading to the University of New Brunswick. He even played eight games for the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL in 2013 on a similar deal.
  • The Detroit Red Wings have assigned both Givani Smith and Filip Hronek to Grand Rapids after their OHL seasons ended. Both players are already signed to their entry-level contracts, but will not burn a year due to their age as long as they stay in the AHL. Smith leaves the Guelph Storm after another season of moderate point totals and big penalty minutes. A second-round pick in 2016, the winger scored 44 points while collecting 139 penalty minutes in 64 games. Hronek on the other hand—also a second-round pick last summer—excelled in his first taste of North American hockey, scoring 61 points in 59 games. The Czech defenseman was the fourth-highest scoring defender in the OHL, showing his immense upside for the Saginaw Spirit.
  • As expected, Adam Ollas-Mattsson has joined the Stockton Heat on an ATO, coming over from his Swedish team. The 20-year old was a sixth-round pick for the Flames in 2014, and has been playing professional hockey since he was 17.

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