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Prospects In The OHL Playoffs: Vilardi, Pu, Brown

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The NHL playoffs aren’t the only teams vying for postseason supremacy. The OHL playoffs are finishing up the second round, with two teams close to moving on. Here’s a look at some of the prospects who may be on the NHL ice sooner rather than later. 

The Kingston Frontenacs were busy at the OHL trade deadline and added fire power in the way of Gabe Vilardi (Los Angeles), and Cliff Pu (Buffalo), who certainly delivered as expected through two rounds of the playoffs. Not only has Kingston secured a spot in the next round after dispatching Barrie in six games, Vilardi and Pu are first and fourth in points respectively, with teammate Linus Nyman tied at 16 points. Pu was impressive with London, so much so that Kingston went out and snagged him to guarantee scoring depth and a chance at its first Robertson Cup. Back in January, the Global News’ Doug Jeffries wrote about how Pu brought experience from the Knights’ Memorial Cup win in 2016. It surely has paid off for both the Frontenacs and Pu, who was a third round pick for the Sabres and whose value continues to rise.

Vilardi nursed an injury for the first half of the OHL season, but the former Windsor Spitfire played as strong as expected when on the ice, notching 58 points (22-36) in 32 games.  Vilardi has been just as dominant in the playoffs, leading the league in points (20) and goals (11). After signing an entry level deal back in March, barring injury there might be a strong case to be made for Vilardi suiting up in Los Angeles next season. The 11th overall pick of the 2017 NHL draft also won a Memorial Cup that same year.

One non-Frontenac making some noise is Kitchener’s Logan Brown (Ottawa), who was the 11th overall pick for the Sens back in 2016. Like Vilardi, Brown was also traded by Windsor in January and picked up where he left off, averaging over a point-per-game with his new club. The playoffs have seen Brown notch 19 points in 11 games as the Rangers currently hold a 3-2 advantage in the second round. Though only two of those 19 points have been goals, the Senators have to be pleased that Brown continues to produce. The Sens skated him in four games this past fall before sending him back to the Spitfires. Add in an impressive performance during the the World Juniors as well, Brown may find himself with the big club for a longer stay, especially since the team will most likely be retooling with youth in the 2018-19 season.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Keller, Makar, Boeser

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The NHL announced its three stars for the month of March as Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid has found his way to the top once again, named the first star. McDavid picked up 13 goals and 15 assists in 16 games, which pulls him into the lead for the Art Ross Trophy race. Despite the Oilers struggles, McDavid has taken his game to a new level as he has hit career highs in goals (41) and points (103) and remains six points ahead of Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov for top spot in the NHL.

Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand is the league’s second star for March as he had 10 goals and 16 assists in 15 games. Anaheim goaltender John Gibson picked up third star honors after playing in 13 games, picking up nine wins and boasting a .931 save percentage during that span.

  • Arizona Coyotes announced rookie Clayton Keller was named NHL Rookie of the Month for the second time this season. Keller, who won the award in October, had a strong start to the season, but struggled during the winter months before picking it back up recently. He picked up 19 points in the month of March, including six goals over 17 games. The 19-year-old is ranked second among rookies in points with 63 behind the New York Islanders’ Mathew Barzal.
  • BSN Denver’s Adrian Dater tweets that the Colorado Avalanche will have to wait a little while longer to get bring in 2017 first-round pick Cale Makar into the fold. The fourth-overall pick has decided to return to the University of Massachusetts – Amherst for his sophomore year.  An elite power-play defenseman, Makar had a solid freshman year at Amherst, putting up five goals and 21 points and the Avalanche had hopes of instantly upgrading its defense for next year.
  • Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal tweets that it is doubtful that Vancouver Canucks rookie Brock Boeser plays for Team USA at this year’s 2018 IIHF World Championships in Denmark. Boeser went down for the season with a back injury and likely will spend his summer getting ready for the 2018-19 season. The 21-year-old had a great rookie season in which he scored 29 goals and picked up 55 points.

Snapshots: Kane, Martin, Rasmussen, Rask, Hart

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While it’s not a big surprise, the play of San Jose rental Evander Kane has opened some eyes in the NHL. In 15 games with the Sharks, the 26-year-old has put up nine goals and five assists, showing he has the skills to be the star winger that many teams thought he could be despite some mid-season struggles with the Buffalo Sabres.

Despite getting Kane for a reduced price because of the lack of interested teams, don’t expect that to be the case this offseason. While it is believed that the San Jose Sharks will try to re-sign him this summer, The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) writes in a mailbag column that no extension talks have begun and the price should be quite high as many more teams are likely to be in on Kane. In fact, Kurz writes the forward will be looking for both term and salary in this deal and could cost the Sharks as much as seven years at $7MM per season, which he believes will likely happen

  • Kurz also mentions in his mailbag feature that it is extremely likely the team will buyout defenseman Paul Martin, who has one more year next season at $4.85MM. The 37-year-old blueliner has slowed down and has only managed to appear in 10 games for the Sharks this year and spent 18 games with the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL, the first time he’s ever played in the AHL. A buyout would save the Sharks $2.83MM in cap space for next season, which they might want if they intend to sign a big-named free agent.
  • Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press writes that 2017 first-round pick Michael Rasmussen has been playing some of the best hockey of his career in the WHL playoffs. One big difference is that the center has occasionally moved to the wing during recent games due to his excellent chemistry with Carolina Hurricane’s prospect Morgan Geekie. His success at the wing could be a good sign if the 19-year-old prospect hopes to make the Red Wings squad out of training camp. Rasmussen, who has had 31 goals and 59 points (along with five goals and 12 points in four playoff games) for the Tri-City Americans, could be a key rebuilding chip for a struggling Detroit squad.
  • Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News-Observer tweets that Carolina Hurricanes forward Victor Rask, who was declared out for the season almost two weeks ago, had successful surgery on his shoulder and is expected to be ready for training camp next season assuming his rehab goes well. The 25-year-old had 14 goals and 31 points this season.
  • The Athletic’s Alexander Appleyard (subscription required) breaks down the amazing success that Philadelphia Flyers prospect goaltender Carter Hart has had this year. Besides the amazing, eye-popping numbers of a 1.60 GAA and a .947 save percentage with the Everett Silvertips of the WHL, the 19-year-old has had a such a dominating season that no other goalie’s numbers are even close to Hart. Appleyard continues to break down 106 seasons between the WHL, OHL and the QMJHL combined and can’t find a year in which a prospect had this great of a season in comparison to his peers. Hart is expected to get more seasoning next year in the AHL before he takes over in Philadelphia.

Ilya Kovalchuk Can Begin Talking To NHL Teams On April 15

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While many people are looking forward to free agency this summer, which includes a number of interesting players like John Tavares, James van Riemsdyk, John Carlson and Evander Kane, the NHL is also expected to get back Russia’s Ilya Kovalchuk this summer, who has made it clear he wants to return to the NHL.

What people may have forgotten, according to the New York Post’s Larry Brooks, is that Kovalchuk also finds himself in an exclusive category as he will become a unrestricted free agent on his 35th birthday, which will be on April 15, and the veteran can begin talking to teams then. While he cannot sign an actual contract for the 2018-19 season until July 1st, he can negotiate with teams and agree to a contract in principle after his birthday. That could prove to be a big advantage to other players who will have to wait for the pre-July 1st interview period to negotiate with teams.

Besides leading Russia to a gold medal at this year’s Olympic Games, Kovalchuk has produced big numbers in the KHL. Despite being in his mid-thirties, he has put up great numbers over the past two years. He has scored 32 goals in each of those seasons and combined for 143 points. While last year, he made it clear he wanted to play in New York or in Florida, Kovalchuk has stated he wants to win a Stanley Cup before he finishes his playing career, which could rule out most of those options from a year ago.

Kovalchuk’s SKA St. Petersburg team is currently in the second round of the KHL playoffs with his team leading 3-1 over Lokotomotiv.

NHLPA Approves Proposed Changes To Lottery Odds

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In what has become an annual event, the NHL Players’ Association has yet again approved changes to the NHL Draft lottery odds. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the NHLPA today signed off on a new lottery set-up recently submitted by the league. It marks the third season in a row that the odds have been altered.

The percentage chance that a team is selected to pick first, second, or third, as expressed by the number of ping pong balls present in the lottery draw, is dependent on where they finish in the overall league standings. Unsurprisingly, the changes to the odds first agreed upon in the Collective Bargaining Agreement began with the Edmonton Oilers and the painful realization that they had won yet another lottery in 2015 and would move up in the draft order to select Connor McDavid as their fourth first overall pick in a six year span. In response, the league significantly boosted the odds in 2016 toward the teams finishing last winning the lottery – expecting that Edmonton would no longer be in that range – as LeBrun notes that the 30th-place team had 20% odds of picking first two years ago. After the worst team in the NHL, the Toronto Maple Leafs, retained the top pick that year and selected Auston Matthews, the league and NHLPA again agreed to lessen the odds and insert more chance (and excitement) into the lottery. LeBrun indicates that last year the league’s worst, the Colorado Avalanche, had an 18% chance of holding on to the top pick. However, in a wild turn of events, three teams outside the bottom four won the lottery and moved into the top three draft slots, the biggest shift being the Philadelphia Flyers, who narrowly missed the playoffs, picking second. So, to perhaps combat another clean sweep, the odds have again been increased for those toward the bottom

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the new odds of selecting first for the upcoming 2018 NHL Draft will be 18.5% for 31st, 13.5% for 30th, and 11.5% for 29th. With the addition of an extra non-playoff team, there is also a new distribution which in fact increases the odds for the last team to miss the playoffs, the 17th-place finisher, by a tenth of a percent to 1%. This is accomplished by lessening the odds for the middle-of-the pack lottery teams. It may not be a coincidence that the Oilers are part of that group. Nor may it be a coincidence that the current bottom three – the Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, and Arizona Coyotes – are all teams that have been struggling for years and would certainly appreciate retaining their high picks. This yearly change in draft lottery odds seems to be very responsive to the results of each prior lottery, but that isn’t a bad thing. So long as both the league and NHLPA agree, it’s safe to assume that the changes have the best interests of competitive balance in mind.

Retired Official To Join Situation Room For Goaltender Interference Reviews

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7:30PM: The NHLPA has worked quickly to review the proposed changes. The Competition Committee announced this evening that they have approved the “NHL General Managers Recommended Change to Rule 78.7(ii) Governing Coach’s Challenges for Goaltender Interference”. The Committee, made up of members Mike Cammalleri, Ron Hainsey, Kevin Shattenkirk, Cory Schneider and Daniel Winnik, was joined by other players in making this decision. Players’ Association executive and long-time NHLer Mathieu Schneider stressed that “first and foremost, the players want consistency in the application of the rule”. The last remaining step in the process is for the recommendation to be approved by the NHL’s Board of Governors. At this rate, the rule change could be made by the end of the week.

10:30AM: The league knew something had to be done about the goaltender interference problem, and today at the GMs meetings in Florida Gary Bettman announced that a retired official will join the situation room in Toronto to determine the call on interference reviews. This announcement, as reported by several sources including Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, comes pending approval from the Competition Committee and Board of Governors.

Though the league demonstrated that there hasn’t been considerably more challenges this season than those the last few years, the decisions have come under much greater scrutiny. Weekly there is a decision that is met with ire from fans of a certain team, and coverage was only increased when the league admitted they would be instructing their officials to call things differently after the All-Star break.

Now things seem to be taken out of the on-ice officials’ hands, as the league will make the decisions themselves—though one can suspect they will consult the game referees. Still, theoretically it should provide some more consistency to the calls at the very least. As Darren Dreger of TSN points out, the league could eventually move to the same system they have for offside reviews, in which a team receives a minor penalty if they challenge and get it wrong.

Frank Seravalli of TSN believes that the six referee supervisors will be the ones who rotate through the situation room, listing Don Koharski, Paul Devorski, Rob Shick, Mick McGeough and Don Van Massenhoven as potential options, while Greg Wyshynski of ESPN adds Bill McCreary and Director of Officiating Stephen Walkom.

Tavares Notes: Potential Suitors, Rangers, Deadline Moves, Snow

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The worse the New York Islanders play as their recent struggles continue, the more NHL teams are salivating at the chance to steal away a star player, which is a rare thing, according to the Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons. The last significant star free agent that signed with another club dates back to 2006 when the Boston Bruins signed Zdeno Chara away from the Ottawa Senators. However, usually franchise free agents sign with their former team like Steven Stamkos did back in 2016.

Simmons writes that the San Jose Sharks and the St. Louis Blues are the two teams that are thought to be at the top of the list of suitors for Tavares. He adds that several teams with cap space might also be interested in attempting to lure Tavares to their team as they lack that superstar player, including the Vegas Golden Knights, New Jersey Devils and the Vancouver Canucks. Other teams like Montreal, Detroit, Carolina and even Toronto might also attempt to make a stab at acquiring the 27-year-old center.

  • It doesn’t look like the New York Rangers are expected to go after Tavares, according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post. With the Rangers rebuilding their franchise, it just doesn’t seem to make sense that Tavares would sign with them. Considering Tavares is fueled by team loyalty, it seems unlikely he would sign with the Rangers who could offer only seven years, while the Islanders can offer eight years and are much closer to reaching the playoffs.
  • The lack of trade deadline moves might also count against the New York Islanders in their quest to re-sign Tavares, according to Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos. While saying that he would not move Tavares, Islanders’ general manager Garth Snow also said he would not make moves for rental players. In the end, the biggest acquisition the team made was trading a third-round pick for defenseman Brandon Davidson, who had been placed on waivers only months earlier. Now after seven losses since the deadline, Kypreos questions whether Snow’s moves were the right ones. Certainly bolstering the team for a playoff run might have shown Tavares how committed the team is to winning. Instead the losing could easily drive the soon-to-be free agent away. The team is sitting in last place in the Metropolitan Division, well out of range of a playoff spot. “It almost feels like this thing is snowballing away from the Islanders and Tavares,” said Kypreos.
  • Arthur Staple of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that co-owners Scott Malkin and Jon Ledecky have some tough decisions to make in the next few weeks. The scribe writes that they chose to keep Snow last offseason because he and then-new head coach Doug Weight were close with Tavares. However, with fans calling for Snow’s head, ownership may want to make a change before Tavares hits free agency. Even if they don’t make an immediate move, Snow’s job may come down to whether Tavares stays or goes. “It’s out of my control,” Tavares said regarding Snow’s job status. “I’m here to play hockey, be the best player I can be for the Islanders. Those things are above my head. I just try to have the right attitude every day, not take this for granted, enjoy the group we have, the staff we have. Ever since I’ve been here I’ve been treated great, just tried to come out and give everything I can. We wish we’d have more success, but anything that happens, anything that has happened is out of my control.”

 

Maple Leafs Sign Mason Marchment To Entry-Level Deal

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The Toronto Maple Leafs announced they have signed winger Mason Marchment to a two-year entry-level contract Saturday. The son of former NHL star Bryan Marchment, Mason Marchment has been playing in the Maple Leafs system without an NHL deal, but has finally earned one after a quality 37 games with the Toronto Marlies this season in which he nine goals and 21 points.

Already 22, Marchment was considered a late bloomer as he didn’t make the jump to the OHL until he turned 19 years old. As a result, he has worked his way through Toronto system as he signed an AHL contract with the Marlies in 2016 after he finished up his final junior season with the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads that season. He played three games that year and came back last season to play in nine games, but was sent down to the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears after struggling. However, he put together a solid season in Orlando, where he scored 14 goals and 20 points in 35 games. This season he’s shown continued success back at the AHL level.

Even without an NHL contract, Marchment did receive a invitation to the Maple Leafs training camp last year and even survived the first round of cuts with Toronto. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound winger is considered to be a solid skater with good size, who is adept at doing the dirty work. He is projected to be a bottom-six forward in the NHL.

 

Minor Transactions: 02/17/18

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Though teams made several transactions yesterday to make their younger players eligible for the AHL playoffs, the rest of the season will still be filled with call-ups to help out the NHL team. Remember, after the trade deadline that though rosters have no limits in terms of total players, teams are allowed only four non-emergency recalls.

  • The Washington Capitals have recalled Travis Boyd, who had been playing with the Hershey Bears of the AHL. For the third consecutive season, Boyd is among the scoring leaders for Hershey with 44 points in 56 games. While it’s unclear if he’s scheduled to enter the Capitals lineup right away, he can definitely give them some offensive punch if inserted down the stretch.
  • Cory Schneider was assigned to the Binghamton Devils on a conditioning stint today, but is expected to be brought back on Wednesday to rejoin New Jersey on their current road trip. While that doesn’t guarantee he’ll be back in the crease right away, it is a good sign that he’s approaching his return to the lineup.
  • The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled Tristan Jarry on an emergency loan after announcing that Matt Murray has been diagnosed with a concussion. Jarry had been sent down to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, but will now have to help Casey DeSmith with the NHL duties. DeSmith is expected to start tonight for the Penguins, but Jarry has more experience in the starting role and could be asked to take over while Murray is out.
  • The Calgary Flames announced that they have sent Andrew Mangiapane to the AHL, but the move was actually completed yesterday to make sure he was eligible for the minor league playoffs. With the addition of Chris Stewart off waivers, Mangiapane was likely looking at some healthy scratches and now can help the Stockton Heat instead.
  • The Buffalo Sabres have recalled Seth Griffith from the AHL, spending one of their recalls to bring up the 25-year old forward. Griffith has played 76 NHL games over his career and is a point-per-game player at the minor league level. The undersized forward has excellent creativity and playmaking ability, but hasn’t ever been given an extended chance in a team’s top-6.
  • As expected, the Minnesota Wild have brought Luke Kunin back up from the minor leagues. The Wild are extremely close to the cap, and needed to move out some salary at the deadline in order to bring Kunin up for the stretch run while keeping enough room to sign Jordan Greenway. Kunin has just 19 points for the Iowa Wild this season, but is a hard working two-way center that could jump right into the lineup for the Wild.
  • Ethan Bear will be one of the Edmonton Oilers’ four call-ups for the remainder of the season, and will get a chance to show what he can do after an outstanding junior career. Bear was a 70-point defenseman in his final season with the Seattle Thunderbirds, and was a huge part of their qualifying for the Memorial Cup in 2017. The undersized but super-skilled Bear has 16 points in his first professional season for the Bakersfield Condors.
  • The Anaheim Ducks have returned winger Kalle Kossila and goalie Reto Berra to San Diego of the AHL, notes Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register.  Berra’s demotion was expected with John Gibson likely to return to the lineup on Friday. As for Kossila, he didn’t get into any games after being recalled back on the 24th; he has a goal and an assist in ten contests with Anaheim from earlier this season.

Trade Deadline Recap: Western Conference

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After a month of lead up, a sprinkling of trades over the last week or so, and a wild deadline day today, NHL teams are done with transactions for the 2017-18 NHL season. Here are the deals that improved contenders in the Western Conference:

Deadline Day

Winnipeg Jets receive:
F Paul Stastny

St. Louis Blues receive:
F Erik Foley
2018 first-round pick
Conditional 2020 fourth-round pick

 

Vegas Golden Knights receive:
F Tomas Tatar

Detroit Red Wings receive:
2018 first-round pick
2019 second-round pick
2021 third-round pick

 

Nashville Predators receive:
F Ryan Hartman
2018 fifth-round pick

Chicago Blackhawks receive:
F Victor Ejdsell
2018 first-round pick
2018 fourth-round pick

 

San Jose Sharks receive:
F Evander Kane

Buffalo Sabres receive:
F Danny O’Regan
Conditional 2019 first-round pick
Conditional 2020 fourth-round pick

 

Anaheim Ducks receive:
F Jason Chimera

New York Islanders receive:
F Chris Wagner

 

Vegas Golden Knights receive:
D Philip Holm

Vancouver Canucks receive:
F Brendan Leipsic

 

Winnipeg Jets receive:
D Joe Morrow

Montreal Canadiens receive:
2018 fourth-round pick

 

Calgary Flames receive:
F Nick Shore

Ottawa Senators receive:
2019 seventh-round pick

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