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Alex Tuch

Luke Tuch Commits To Boston University

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While rookie forward Alex Tuch is making a name for himself with the Vegas Golden Knights this season, his younger brother is hoping to follow in his footsteps by joining one of college hockey’s top programs. Luke Tuch announced his commitment to Boston University today, as he begins to map out his own road to the NHL.

The commitment is curious in many ways though. The first oddity of Tuch’s decision is the age that he is making it. Tuch is just 15 years old and, while hockey is perhaps the most genetic sport in the world, has little proof of his ability thus far in his youth career outside of a growing frame similar to his brother’s and hopes that it will spawn a similar playing style and knack for scoring goals down the road. While he may have a couple of years on the youngest college commitment in NCAA history – 2018 draft prospect Oliver Wahlstrom who committed to Maine at 13 (and then de-committed at 15) – it still seems like the younger Tuch could have waited to make the decision. After all, his commitment is not until the 2020-21 season and he is not draft eligible until 2020.

It is also strange to see the brother of a Boston College alum decide to play at Boston University. Few rivalries in all of college sports rival the BC Eagles-BU Terriers feud as the two teams share a long history, a conference, the annual Beanpot Tournament, and, of course, a city. While both teams have seen multiple members of the same family play for their teams, it is far less common to see a family split between the rivals. Should Alex continue his rise to stardom and Luke reach the same level of hype his brother had during his college days, this sibling rivalry will be one that bears watching.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Minnesota Wild

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will look at what teams are thankful for as the season nears the quarter point of completion. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We take a look at what’s gone well in the first month and what could improve as the season rolls on. So far we’ve covered the following teams: ANA, ARZ, BOS, BUF, CGY, CAR, CBJ, COL, DET, EDM, FLA, LAK, NSH, NJD, NYI, NYR, PHI, PIT, SJS, STL, TOR, VAN, VGK and WSH.

Jordan GreenwayWhat are the Minnesota Wild most thankful for?

A deep prospect pool.

When the Wild approached the expansion draft last year, they were in trouble. They had too many assets that needed protection, and were destined to lose an excellent player. In order to sway the Vegas Golden Knights’ decision in a certain direction, they gave up prized prospect Alex Tuch. Though the team had drafted Tuch in the first round just a few years prior, his upside and potential impact wasn’t seen to be as high as some of their other prospects.

Well, six months later and Tuch is starring alongside Erik Haula (the other player lost in the expansion process) in Vegas, and the Wild are struggling to stay relevant in the playoff picture. Surely they’d like to have Tuch back, but luckily those other high-end prospects still remain.

Though the relationship with Kirill Kaprizov—or lack thereof—makes the Russian a complete wildcard, there are others who should have Minnesota fans excited for the next few years. Joel Eriksson Ek and Luke Kunin have both played roles in the NHL this season, while Jordan Greenway continues to dominate players even older than him in the college ranks. Ivan Lodnia was just signed after a blistering start in Erie, and the team has four picks in the top three rounds this upcoming draft.

Who are the Wild most thankful for?

Eric Staal.

General managers around the league must be hitting themselves over not pursuing Staal in the summer of 2016. Coming off a horrible season, in which he was traded from the team he’d been drafted by and captained for seven years, Minnesota happily scooped him up on July 1st. Much was said about how Staal might be on the way out of the game, until he immediately found success in Minnesota to the tune of 28 goals and 65 points.

The three-year, $10.5MM contract that he signed was just $1MM more in total than he’d earned in 2015-16 alone. Minnesota got a legitimate number one center, and borderline Hall of Fame candidate for the price of a third or fourth-line player. You can still hear Chuck Fletcher laughing to himself somewhere in St. Paul.

Staal has been everything for the club this year, leading the team in points with 26 through their first 30 games and coming through with one of the best possession seasons of his career. Playing nearly 19 minutes a night and hitting the ice in all circumstances, Staal’s contract is one of the best in the entire league. While now 33 years old, he’ll still be exceptionally valuable in the final year of his deal next season.

Mikko KoivuWhat would the Wild be even more thankful for?

Some “puck luck” for Mikko Koivu.

Despite still being an excellent possession player, used in all situations, Koivu can’t seem to get much going offensively this season. Coming off another one of his patented solid-if-not-spectacular seasons with 58 points, he only has 15 in his first 30 games and eight of those are on the powerplay. He’s now been held pointless in his last eight games despite being on the ice for more than 147 minutes, and hasn’t found the back of the net himself since October.

Amazingly, a lot of that has to do with pure bad luck. Koivu is carrying a pathetic 5.1% shooting percentage this season, far below his career average. Though he’s never been a sniper that carries a high percentage, he’s due for some luck going his way at some point. During his 21-game goalless streak he’s fired 58 shots on net without a single one trickling through.

He’s not only used for his offense, but a bounce here or there would be a big help for the Wild as they try to claw their way back into the playoff picture.

What should be on the Wild’s Holiday Wish List?

Another center.

When the Wild lost Haula and let Martin Hanzal walk in free agency, their center depth was tested. Though they brought in Matt Cullen, who has done a fine job for them so far, their unyielding ability to throw an effective center over the boards every single shift has left them. Charlie Coyle can play the position but the team likes him better on the wing, and Kunin isn’t quite ready for a full-time role.

There is the possibility that when Zach Parise eventually returns from injury they’ll move Coyle back to the middle, but an addition would be the best option. It’ll be tough, as the Wild are pressed right up against the cap thanks the the hefty cap hits of Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno, both who’ve been healthy scratches at times this year. That fact may force them to go with what they have right now, but it will be interesting to see if they find a way to get involved as the deadline approaches.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

NHL Snapshots: MacDonald, Haula, Marchessault, Bennett

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The Philadelphia Flyers announced today that defenseman Andrew MacDonald will miss four to six weeks with a lower body injury. According to NHL.com’s Bill Meltzer, MacDonald stepped into a path of a slap shot from Edmonton’s Milan Lucic during a penalty killing shift of Saturday’s 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. It hit his knee and MacDonald suffered a deep bone bruise, according to CSN’s Tim Panaccio.

Despite the injury, MacDonald stayed in the game. In fact, after taking the hit and going down, he still forced himself to get up and help clear the puck. The 31-year-old blueliner had a dominant performance against the Oilers, as he recorded three shots on goal, six blocked shots and played the second-most minutes on the team at 22:03.

No corresponding moves have been made, although its possible the Flyers will promote defenseman Samuel Morin, who made the team out of training camp, but was a healthy scratch for four games before he was sent down to Lehigh Valley. In five games with the AHL team, he has put up a goal, three assists, 10 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +3.

  • While the Vegas Golden Knights await the injury status of goaltender Malcolm Subban, Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Steve Carp tweets out that Erik Haula, who was put on injured reserve eight days ago, practiced with the team today and told Carp he is ready to return to the team, but wouldn’t say when. David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweets that Jon Marchessault, who was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 15, also says he is ready to return to the Golden Knights lineup and said he expects to be activated for Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks after practicing today. The team may reverse their transactions from last week and send Vadim Shipachyov and Alex Tuch back to the AHL. Both Shipachyov and Tuch tallied no points and neither had any shots on goal in Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Blues. Shipachyov received only 10:22 of ice time, while Tuch had 8:49.
  • Kent Wilson of The Athletic (subscription required) answers mailbag questions about Calgary Flames center Sam Bennett, who has zero points after eight games. Wilson writes the lack of offense would be acceptable if he was impacting the game in other ways, but that isn’t the case. Bennett, whose first full season showed a lot of promise two years ago when he finished with 18 goals and 18 assists, took a step down last year when he only had 13 goals and 13 assists. Now his numbers look even more bleak. Wilson suggests the team move the 2014 fourth-overall pick to the wing in hopes of helping the 21-year-old’s success and promoting Mark Jankowski, who is tearing up the AHL right now with five goals and four assists in six games.

Golden Knights Place Fleury, Marchessault On IR

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The Las Vegas Golden Knights may have had a nice start to their inaugural season, but Chris Johnston of Sportsnet tweeted that the team just placed two of their best players on injured reserve today in Marc-Andre Fleury and Jon Marchessault. No word on how serious their injuries are. The Golden Knights confirmed the transactions and announced they will call up prospect Alex Tuch and goaltender Maxime Legace from Chicago of the AHL.

The loss of Fleury, who has been the face of the franchise, is devastating to a team who lacks a solid backup goaltender. Fleury has helped lead Vegas through their first three victories, but the goaltender took a knee to the head from Anthony Mantha in the middle of Friday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings. While nothing has been officially declared by the Golden Knights about his injury, rumors that he has suffered a concussion have surfaced. Fleury has had multiple issues with concussions in his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins, so the team will likely be cautious with the 32-year-old veteran. He was having a good season so far in four games with Vegas, as he 2.48 GAA and a .925 save percentage. If you remove the last period he played (coincidentally, after he took the knee to the head), those numbers would be even better as he allowed four goals in that one period alone.

For the time being, the team will have to put their faith in backup Malcolm Subban. In fact, Subban will start tonight against his former team, the Boston Bruins. Just 12 days ago, Vegas decided to claim Subban from the Bruins and place their veteran backup, Calvin Pickard, on waivers. Pickard cleared waivers and the Golden Knights traded him to Toronto in exchange for prospect Tobias Lindberg and a 2018 sixth-round pick three days after that. Subban has little NHL experience. He played one partial game back in 2014-15 and another partial game last year, totaling 62 minutes and allowed three goals in each outing. In the preaseason this year for the Bruins, Subban played in four games, finishing with a 2.71 GAA and a .889 save percentage.

Marchessault, who has been playing on the Golden Knights top scoring line, is listed out with a lower-body injury. The 26-year-old wing scored 30 goals for the Florida Panthers last year before being claimed by Vegas in the expansion draft. He so far has just one goal in the team’s first four games. He will be replaced by Tuch, who was one of the top players for Vegas in the preseason. A physical player, Tuch was praised for his work on the boards and gritty, hard-working style. He was forced to go to Chicago because he was waiver-eligible on a roster full of non-waiver eligible players. Tuch has taken advantage of his time in Chicago. In three games with the Wolves, Tuch had four goals and an assist. The 21-year-old was a first-round pick by the Minnesota Wild back in 2014.

The team also recalled Lagace to be the team’s backup. Lagace, 24, has spent the last few years going back and forth between the AHL and the ECHL. He played for the Texas Stars last year in the AHL and played in 32 games, putting up a 3.56 GAA and a .883 save percentage. This year for the Wolves, Legace has allowed eight goals in two games with a 4.05 GAA.

Shipachyov, Theodore On AHL Opening Roster

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When the Vegas Golden Knights sent Vadim Shipachyov, Shea Theodore and Alex Tuch to the AHL earlier this week, it was expected that they would be recalled in time for tonight’s season opener. It was supposed to be just a paper transaction to give the team time to find a buyer for some of their defensemen, but that idea now has a little bit of doubt.

The Chicago Wolves—Vegas’ AHL affiliate—have submitted their “Opening Night Roster” to the AHL, and it includes all three of the expected recalls. Though this doesn’t guarantee that they’ll stay down, it’s interesting that the team would even include them if they knew a call-up was coming today. Even more to that point, the team tweeted out that both Tuch and Theodore have new numbers, though Shipachyov was not included.

Vegas currently has eleven healthy forwards, but many expect James Neal to come off the injured list to dress in tonight’s game. If that’s true, they wouldn’t necessarily need to recall anyone to ice the regular 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders. Neal was on the ice at morning skate, without Shipachyov.

NHL Snapshots: Johansson, Hanzal, Spezza, Tuch

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Former Washington Capitals forward Marcus Johansson said he wasn’t surprised that he found himself traded a couple of months ago to the New Jersey Devils. Despite winning another President’s Trophy, given to the top regular season team, Johansson knew that the team’s lifespan was limited and was prepared for a possible breakup. The Capitals traded Johansson, lost defenseman Nate Schmidt to the expansion draft and allowed Justin Williams, Kevin Shattenkirk and Karl Alzner all depart via free agency.

NBC Sports Cam Tucker writes that Johansson recognizes that as being part of the game and is ready to move on to a bigger role with the Devils who need scoring. New Jersey had the third-worst offense in the NHL last year at 2.2 goals per game.

“Sometimes you have to change things and we had some good opportunities to win these past two years and we didn’t take them and I think this is what comes afterward,” said Johansson. “They have to change something and guys needed new contracts and stuff like that, so that’s the way it goes. There’s nothing more to say about it.”

  • Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun writes that the renaming of the Toronto Maple Leafs arena last week that has Scotiabank getting the naming rights for $800MM (CAD) on July 1, 2018, will have a huge benefit to the players throughout the league. He writes that half of the $40MM each year goes to the hockey-related revenue, which should have a positive influence on the future salary cap.
  • Sportsday’s Mike Heika interviewed Dallas Stars’ head coach Ken Hitchcock about the team’s center position and learned that the new coach expects to play newly acquired Martin Hanzal at center, but still hasn’t made up his mind when it comes to Jason Spezza. “To me, Hanzal is a center. The role Jason will have is a split duty role, and if I play Spezza on the wing, it will be a left wing. Jason will play a lot of center and some wing. We need to start with the puck, so he’s definitely going to be taking draws on his strong side,” Hitchcock said.
  • Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen writes that while the Golden Knights are not likely to keep any first year players (other than Vadim Shipachyov, people should keep an eye on Alex Tuch. The 21-year-old wing who was a first-round pick of the Minnesota Wild in 2014, could be a darkhorse candidate to make the team. Vegas, known for stockpiling draft picks, actually traded their third-rounder two months ago for Tuch. He scored 18 goals in 57 AHL games for the Iowa Wild and managed to play in six NHL games a year ago.

Wild Did Not Push To Sign Kirill Kaprizov

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Despite rumors earlier this off-season that Kirill Kaprizov, one of the top prospects of the Minnesota Wild, was potentially looking to make to the jump to the NHL, the young Russian scorer ended up re-signing in the KHL. The 20-year-old inked a three-year deal with CSKA Moscow of the KHL, with the new contract finally being made official yesterday. The term of the deal surprised many, as – barring a player buyout – Kaprizov’s highly-anticipated NHL debut would not be until 2020. However, in an interview today with Soviet Sports (link in Russian), Kaprizov lent some reasoning to his new contract. It seems that the Wild were not all that interested in bringing him overseas this off-season after all.

When the reporter asked “Minnesota showed great interest in you?” (translated), Kaprizov replied honestly that he has not had any direct contact with the team. He stated that Wild representatives last spoke with his agent at the 2017 World Juniors, but had not reached out since. Kaprivoz’s understanding was that Minnesota was simply waiting for his arrival “one day”, which flies in the face of speculation that the team had reached out to the 20-year-old this summer. While some have opined that the negotiations were effected by outside intervention, seemingly supported by Kaprizov’s previous reluctance to confirm a new KHL contract and an assumption that he was waiting for an offer from Minnesota, Kamprizov had the chance to say as much today and failed to do so.

While Kaprizov was just only a fifth-round pick in 2015, he has already greatly outperformed his draft slot. At just 19 years old last season, Kaprizov registered 42 points in 49 games for the KHL’s Salavat Yulaev Ufa, second only on the teams to former NHLer Linus Omark, and then added another 12 points in seven games in an impressive World Junior showing. Why then did Minnesota not reach out to the high-scoring youngster? Kaprizov was asked in his interview if he had given any thought to the difficult task of breaking into a Wild top six of Zach Parise, Eric Staal, Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter, and Jason Zucker, to which he of course replied that he had not thought of since Minnesota had not yet offered him the chance to play for the team, but the reported does make a valid point. Even with Alex Tuch and Erik Haula now in Vegas, Kaprizov stood little chance of cracking that top six and may have even struggled to beat out Charlie Coyle, rookie Luke Kunin, or recent additions Marcus Foligno and Tyler Ennis for a top nine role. Rather than waste Kaprizov on a checking line role or put him in the AHL, it seems likely that the Wild would simply rather let him continue to develop in the KHL. As for the three-year term, Minnesota and Kaprizov both realize that getting out of KHL contracts is relatively easy and should a spot open up for him sooner than three years, don’t be surprised to see the two sides finally come together. Even if he does play out his contract with CSKA, the reporter notes that Kaprizov would still be only 23 years old, the same age that Artemi Panarin came over from Russia and won the Calder Trophy.

The bridge is far from burnt between Kaprizov and the Wild, but it is interesting to note that the information surrounding their relationship appears to have been way off. For now, Kaprizov will continue to be just a “prospect” of the Wild, but with a shallow pipeline of talent in Minnesota and a point-per-game player continuing to grow and develop in arguably the second best hockey league in the world, it seems likely that these two sides will be joined sooner rather than later.

U.S. National Development Program Announces 2017-18 Schedule

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It’s hard to make an argument that the American junior hockey system is superior to the Canadian junior hockey system. Sure, the USHL has been improving every year and the growth of college hockey has lead to a greater proportion of NHL draft picks coming out of the U.S. junior ranks than ever before. Still, the depth of talent and caliber of player coming out of the OHL, WHL, and QMJHL will almost always stand up to the best of the USHL or other lower tier leagues. However, the one thing Canadian juniors does not have that has been wildly successful in the United States is the presence of a National Development Program.

Located in Plymouth, Michigan the USNTDP houses both a U-18 and U-17 team, both of which travel throughout the country and sometimes even the globe to play hockey at many levels. The 2017-18 schedule, announced today, highlights the uniqueness of the national program. Unlike Canadian juniors, which can dominate the lives of the players, the teams largely travel on weekends, freeing the players up to live somewhat normal lives as high school students during the week. Additionally, rather than play against the same competition all year long, the team mixes it up quite a lot. Both squads play a majority of their games against local USHL competition and both also participate in national and international tournaments, but the U-17 team also squares off against teams from the Tier II NAHL, while the U-18 team is tested in exhibition games against NCAA programs from around the country. The U-18 team is scheduled to go up against college power houses like Harvard, Boston University, North Dakota, and Notre Dame this season.

Recruited from around the country, USNTDP players are the best of the best of junior-age Americans. The program has produced current NHLers like Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Patrick Kane, Phil Kessel, Seth Jones, and Zach Werenski just to name a few, with Calder candidates like Charlie McAvoy, Clayton Keller, and Alex Tuch about to make the jump as well. The prospect machine doesn’t show any signs of slowing down, so don’t miss the opportunity to catch the team in action if any of their games are with reachable distance. Current U-18 members include 2018 projected top picks like Joel Farabee, Bode Wilde, Oliver Wahlstrom and Jake Wise, who you’ll know soon enough as budding NHL stars.

Vegas Golden Knights Trade Breakdown

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The Vegas Golden Knights have already completed ten trades this offseason, wheeling and dealing around the expansion draft with a third of the NHL. While more deals will undoubtedly drop tomorrow and in the next few days, these first ten transactions have set the team up for success. We’ll take a moment to break down why each trade happened, though there may be more dominoes to fall regarding some of them.

Buffalo sends their 2017 sixth-round pick to Vegas

In the first trade of the night, Vegas acquires a late round pick in order to not select G Linus Ullmark from the Sabres. Golden Knights GM George McPhee explained on the Awards broadcast that they were down to two players, Ullmark and William Carrier and the Sabres made their decision for them with a pick. For what it’s worth, our mock draft had the same split decision over the two players with Ullmark eventually ending up as the selection.

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Expected Trades With Vegas Golden Knights

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The Vegas Golden Knights assuredly have more deals worked out than we know so far, but Bob McKenzie of TSN gave us a long breakdown of the ones that are expected to happen. With some added details from others like Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch and Arthur Staple of Newsday, here are the deals that the hockey world is pretty sure have been agreed upon. To be clear, none of these trades are final until they are announced at tonight’s NHL Awards ceremony:

Minnesota Wild

Vegas signs Erik Haula to multi-year contract, forfeiting expansion selection. Sends conditional draft pick.

Minnesota sends Alex Tuch.

Anaheim Ducks

Vegas selects Clayton Stoner.

Anaheim sends Shea Theodore.

Chicago Blackhawks

Vegas selects Trevor van Riemsdyk.

Chicago sends Marcus Kruger.

This deal in particular should be subject to skepticism, as today’s news surrounding Marian Hossa complicates things. Scott Powers of The Athletic has been told that Kruger will remain with the Blackhawks through tonight, though it’s unclear what that would mean for van Riemsdyk who is still eligible to be drafted.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Vegas will not select Josh Anderson, Joonas Korpisalo or Jack Johnson.

Columbus sends 2017 first-round pick, a prospect, and David Clarkson.

New York Islanders

Vegas will not select certain players left exposed (unclear who exactly has been included).

New York sends 2017 first-round pick, and  Mikhail Grabovski.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Vegas selects Marc-Andre Fleury.

Pittsburgh sends unknown draft pick.

There are also deals in place with other teams including Florida and Tampa Bay, but reports have been inconsistent on the details thus far. McKenzie’s thread gives some insight into what they could be, but at this point it is still speculation. Again, each of these should be considered still only expected as details are fuzzy on each of them. We’ll update this page with any other deals that are leaked in the next few hours.

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