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Dennis Cholowski Joins Grand Rapids Griffins

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Dennis Cholowski has had quite the path to professional hockey, but that dream finally seems a reality. The Detroit Red Wings prospect has been assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins, where he’ll likely suit up in the playoffs and then stay with for the 2018-19 season—that is, if he doesn’t make the NHL out of camp. Cholowski’s CHL team, the Portland Winterhawks, were eliminated from the WHL playoffs recently, ending his junior career.

In 2016, Cholowski was selected in the first round by the Red Wings who knew full well that he was planning on heading to college. The young defenseman had played in the BCHL to maintain NCAA eligibility, and was headed to St. Cloud State in 2016-17. He would make it to the collegiate ranks, but spend just one season at St. Cloud before signing his entry-level contract. That came with a single game for the Griffins last spring on an amateur tryout, though he’d have to wait for another opportunity in professional hockey.

Instead, he was sent to the CHL where he signed a deal with the Prince George Cougars. Prince George had drafted him way back in 2013 with the 200th selection in their bantam draft, never really expecting him to play for them. Instead, they received half a season—and an excellent one at that, scoring 39 points in 37 games—before moving him to Portland for a boatload of draft picks. Cholowski wold continue his strong play, scoring another 34 points in 44 games for the Winterhawks down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Cholowski was seen as a reach of sorts in his draft year, but looks like he’ll pay off for the Red Wings at the next level. A talented puck-mover, he’ll be a key part of how the Detroit re-tool looks over the next few seasons. For now, he’ll get some playoff experience with the Griffins who are trying to defend their 2017 Calder Cup Championship.

Cody Glass Assigned To Chicago Wolves

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Just before the Chicago Wolves are about to start their AHL playoff series against the Rockford IceHogs, they’re getting a talented young forward added to their group. Cody Glass has been assigned to the AHL now that his WHL season is over. Glass’ Portland Winterhawks team was eliminated last Friday, meaning the top pick can get a taste of professional hockey down the stretch.

Glass, selected sixth overall last June by the Vegas Golden Knights, had another outstanding season in the WHL, recording 102 points in 64 regular season games before adding another 13 in 12 playoff contests. Despite that success, he was left off the Canadian World Junior team but now could get a chance to prove his worth at a higher level. It’s unclear if he’ll get into the lineup right away, but even just skating with the team will be worthwhile for his development.

The Golden Knights have obviously had a huge amount of success on the ice this season, but their draft last June looks like an impressive beginning to a prospect pipeline. Glass, along with fellow first-round picks Nick Suzuki and Erik Brannstrom all look like they will be impact NHL players in the next few years, while second-round defenseman Nicolas Hague scored 35 goals in the OHL and is already playing for the Wolves.

Evening Notes: Cholowski, Maple Leafs, Kadri

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One of the young players who Ken Holland spoke of at his recent press conference will be a step closer to breaking into the Red Wings future. Defenseman Dennis Cholowski will join the Grand Rapids Griffins, writes the Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James, as his Portland Winterhawks were eliminated from the second round of the WHL playoffs. Cholowski has been tied to much of the criticism Red Wings fans have about Holland, being that the former was considered a “reach” by many draft analysts while Detroit traded out of a chance to grab Jakob Chychrun, who already has 118 NHL games to his name. The development of Cholowski will be watched closely by fans and Detroit’s brass. A solid year with both Prince George and Portland has seen his stock rise. St. James writes that Cholowski is expected to report to Grand Rapids as early as Tuesday.

  • Sportsnet’s Sean McIndoe believes that the Maple Leafs-Bruins tilt tonight will be a better offering than what was seen during Thursday’s 5-1 game. McIndoe writes that a game two loss won’t spell doom for the Leafs, but it would certainly make for a tough hole to climb out of, needing to win four out of five against a tough Boston squad. With regards to losing Nazem Kadri, McIndoe wonders if Auston Matthews, William Nylander and James van Riemsdyk will compensate for his loss, as the Leafs forwards had a “quiet night.”
  • McIndoe’s colleague Chris Johnston agrees with the Kadri analysis, writing that the loss of Kadri for three games was a “significant blow.” Johnston reports that the Leafs can still without him and compares it to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who played  without Kris Letang, and even lost Sidney Crosby for a few games en route to their second consecutive Cup. The key, Johnston adds, is for the Maple Leafs to embrace the challenge instead of rueing it. He quotes bench boss Mike Babcock, who said: “(so) Let’s just get on with it. We went without a number of centers this year. Let’s play.” Known for his background in psychology, it benefits Toronto even more to have Babcock there to focus on the sunnier side of their predicament.

Snapshots: O’Ree, World Championships, Yamamoto

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The NHL has announced a new award to be given out annually, named the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award. It will be given to the a person not affiliated with the league or any club, who “best utilizes hockey as a platform for participants to build character and develop important life skills for a more positive family experience.”

The award is named after Willie O’Ree, the NHL’s first black player who has spent decades working to bring the sport of hockey to those who may not normally be exposed to it or able to afford to play. O’Ree was honored this year on the 50th anniversary of his NHL debut—suiting up for the Boston Bruins on January 18th, 1958.

  • Several players have announced their intention to play at the upcoming World Championships, including Thomas Chabot (Canada), Chris Kreider (USA) and Casey Mittelstadt (USA). The tournament is loading up on talent this season, perhaps in part as a response to the lack of Olympics participation. The teams should be filled with talent, as others like Connor McDavid and Mathew Barzal have already expressed interest.
  • Tyler Benson and Dmitri Samorukov will be joining the Bakersfield Condors for the end of the season, but Kailer Yamamoto will not. The Edmonton Oilers’ first-round pick from 2017 suffered an injury in the WHL playoffs and will focus on his health instead. Yamamoto played just nine games with the Oilers at the beginning of the season, meaning he won’t burn a year of his entry-level contract. Watch for him to make an impact at training camp next fall, and try to secure a full-time roster spot.

Noah Gregor Signs ELC With San Jose Sharks

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Another prospect, another contract for the San Jose Sharks, who today signed Noah Gregor to his three-year entry-level contract. Gregor is currently in the second round of the WHL playoffs with his Victoria Royals, and might not get a chance to sign an amateur tryout in the AHL this season. GM Doug Wilson released this statement on the young forward:

Noah’s taken his game to a whole new level during Victoria’s postseason run, and has shown that he can be a difference maker at both ends of the ice. His combination of talent, hockey sense, speed and hard-working nature make him a player that can be counted on in all facets of the game and we look forward to his continued development.

Indeed, Gregor was a force for the Royals in the first round, recording 10 points in the seven-game series, and showing that he probably deserved to go higher than his fourth-round draft selection. He was ranked #45 among North American skaters pre-draft in 2016, but fell all the way to 111th-overall. The Sharks, who had selected Dylan Gambrell 60th-overall, quickly snapped Gregor up with just their second pick of the day.

That draft looks like it could bear fruit even though the team had so few selections, and Gregor is a big part of that. The two-way forward has experience at center and could make an impact for the San Jose Barracuda next season.

Nashville Predators Sign Tanner Jeannot To Entry-Level Contract

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Though he won’t come with the fanfare of their last deal, Tanner Jeannot has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators. Jeannot is a CHL free agent forward who is currently playing in the WHL playoffs with the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Jeannott, 20, exploded this season in his fourth season with Moose Jaw, scoring 40 goals and 80 points in 72 games. After his previous career-high in goals was just 19, this season’s output may have come as a surprise to many scouts, though perhaps not those in Nashville or even Minnesota and Washington, where he attended development camp in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

The 6’2″ 207-lbs forward has dramatically improved his skating for this season, and will now try to take the next step in his hockey career. Likely heading to join the Milwaukee Admirals next season, he’ll try to prove that he should have been drafted or snapped up in years prior.

Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Cal Foote To Entry-Level Deal

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The Tampa Bay Lightning announced they have signed their 2017 first-round pick, defenseman Cal Foote to a three-year entry-level contract. The Athletic’s Joe Smith writes that Foote will sign an Amateur Tryout (ATO) with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL for the remainder of the season. Foote is the son of former NHL blueliner Adam Foote.

Foote, the 14th overall pick in last year’s draft, is a big 6-foot-4 defenseman with an offensive mind. The 19-year-old scored 19 goals last season for the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL and tallied 70 points, both were two shy of being team records. He led all Kelowna blueliners in goals, assists and points and had the second highest plus/minus ratio at +31. The team captain was also named MVP of a team that was loaded in scorers, including Kole Lind, Dillon Dube and Carsen Twarynski.

The blueliner aided Team Canada to a gold medal at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championships earlier this year. Known for his incredible hockey sense, the prospect has worked hard on his skating skills, which has always considered his weak point as he wears size-16 skates. However, his scoring ability as well as his size was a big reason why general manager Steve Yzerman held onto him during trade negotiations at the deadline as Foote’s name was constantly in the rumor mill.

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.

Canucks Extend Defenseman Ashton Sautner

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Armed with an extension of his own, Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning has security in his future and has shifted his attention beyond 2017-18 to the future of his team. He has already signed defensemen Erik Gudbranson and Alex Biega to extensions in the last month, and now adds another blue liner to his plans moving forward. The Canucks announced this evening that Ashton Sautner has agreed to terms on a new two-year, two-way contract with a cap hit of $675K.

Sautner, 23, was undrafted coming out of the WHL, but after back-to-back impressive campaigns with the Edmonton Oil Kings to cap off his junior career, earned a three-year entry-level deal from Vancouver in 2015. Three years later, Sautner has been a reliable member of the AHL’s Utica Comets. While his offensive totals from his junior days have come down considerably in the pros, his defensive game continues to shine through. Sautner has 11 points through 53 games this season, but more importantly has shown his solid play through a team-leading +12 rating.

A leader in Utica and one of the more experienced players on the Comets’ blue line, Sautner is the next man up for the Canucks. He seems extremely likely to make his NHL debut over the course of these next two years of his extension. In the team release, Benning said of Sautner that “Ashton has developed into a good pro and has shown continual growth over the past three seasons… He has provided stability to the defense and played important minutes in Utica. We’re excited to have him in our organization providing further depth to our blue line.” Those kinds of accolades from the man in charge, especially for a team that has had their fair share of struggles on defense, would seem to indicate that Sautner is in line for a role in Vancouver sooner rather than later.

Arizona Coyotes Sign Tyler Steenbergen To Entry-Level Contract

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The Arizona Coyotes have inked one of the best goal scorers in the CHL, signing Tyler Steenbergen to a three-year entry-level contract. Steenbergen currently plays for the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL, where he has put up another outstanding offensive season.

Though Steenbergen is used to scoring goals, with 95 over the last two seasons with Swift Current, none have come close to the importance of the gold medal-winning tally for Canada at the most recent World Juniors. Steenbergen, a surprise addition to the team after a scorching start in the WHL, was held off the board the entire tournament until 1:40 remained in a tied gold medal game against Sweden.

Steenbergen was selected in the fifth round in 2017 after going undrafted in his first round of eligibility. He’s done nothing but produce since, and could turn into a legitimate prospect for the Coyotes down the road. Now 20, he’ll join the Tucson Roadrunners next season to see if that scoring touch will carry over to the professional ranks. Though he’s not armed with any one standout skill, he always seems to be in the right place at the right time and can get off his shot quickly even while pressured.

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