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Columbus Blue Jackets News Clips October 6, 2020

Columbus Blue Jackets PAGE 02: Columbus Dispatch: Buying out Alexander Wennberg's contract would help Blue Jackets save cash, gain cap space PAGE 04: Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets' Alexandre Texier to remain in France with family, play with Grenoble PAGE 05: ABC/FOX: Columbus Blue Jackets introduce logo for 20th PAGE 06: 1st Battery: Hits and Misses: Blue Jackets Have Had Ups and Downs in First Round of NHL

Cleveland Monsters/Prospects

NHL/Websites PAGE 08: The Athletic: NHL Mock Draft 2020: Corey Pronman’s final projection of the first round PAGE 12: The Athletic: LeBrun: Latest talk on Tyler Johnson, Josh Anderson and Patrik Laine PAGE 15: The Athletic: Down Goes Brown: Remembering five of history’s weirdest draft classes PAGE 19: The Athletic: Wheeler: Final 2020 NHL Draft thoughts, notes and predictions PAGE 25: TSN.ca: Josh Anderson a solid bet for rebuilding team PAGE 27: USA TODAY: NHL draft and free agency collide: What could happen during crazy week

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Columbus Dispatch / Buying out Alexander Wennberg's contract would help Blue Jackets save cash, gain cap space Texier to stay in France for family issue, Blue Jackets introduce 20th anniversary logo By Brian Hedger - October 6, 2020

Blue Jackets center Alexander Wennberg (10) has been the subject of reports that the team is considering buying out his contract. Prepare to hear the term “cost certainty” in NHL circles this week. After a season cut short by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which ravaged league revenue and led to a flat salary cap of $81.5 million for 2020-21 – and possibly 2021-22 – that term is on the front burner for many teams, including the Blue Jackets. Pierre-Luc Dubois is coming off his entry-level contract and will command a large pay raise as a restricted free agent. Josh Anderson’s RFA contract is up, too, along with that of defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov. The Blue Jackets started this week with just $7 million in cap space, according to CapFriendly.com, and that will shrink fast once Dubois – their No. 1 center – agrees to a new contract. There likely wouldn’t be enough left to sign Anderson, who may require salary arbitration, so general manager Jarmo Kekalainen could use some cost certainty in a week that includes the draft (Tuesday and Wednesday) and start of free agency (Friday). That where Alexander Wennberg, a 26-year-old center, enters the picture. Wennberg has struggled for three straight seasons – failing to match the value of a six-year, $29.4 million deal he signed before the 2017-18 season – and three years remain on a deal with a $4.9 million cap hit. A recent report in The Athletic said Kekalainen is weighing whether to use a buyout to end it, something he has until Thursday to do. That might make sense, even though it would allow Wennberg to become an unrestricted free agent in his mid-20s. Here’s why: It comes down to a numbers crunch, starting with how much the Blue Jackets could save in both actual dollars paid and cap space used. Wennberg was still 25 as of June 15, which is important in the context of the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement. Players who are 25 or younger as of June 15 each season can have their contracts bought out for one-third of the money left on the deal. In Wennberg’s case, the Jackets would pay him $5.35 million spread over six seasons if they bought him out, saving $10.7 million for two voided seasons. The Jackets would also recoup about $4.5 million of cap space for the next three seasons, followed by a cap savings of roughly $3.7 million from 2023-2026 – when, according to CapFriendly, the cap charge for Wennberg would go from $441,667 to $891,667 per season.

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Those are significant discounts for a team in the middle of re-signing its top center, trying to hang on to Anderson and also seeking a better second-line center – the role Wennberg hasn’t been able to fill reliably the past three years. The risk lies with perception, should Wennberg find a new home as a free agent and blossom back into the 59- center he was in 2016-17 – the season that earned him this contract. Inevitably, hindsight of both fans and analysts might not view the move kindly a year or two down the road. But time is not on Kekalainen’s side. If he doesn’t exercise a buyout now, the Jackets would be on the hook for two-thirds of the remaining money should they revisit the buyout option a year from now, since Wennberg turned 26 last month. Texier staying in France Rather than rejoining KalPa Kuopio in the Finnish Elite League (), Blue Jackets forward Alexandre Texier will remain in Grenoble, France with his family, which is dealing with an illness that prompted his return in late September. KalPa confirmed earlier reports about the decision by issuing a statement Monday, stating the loan agreement between KalPa and the Blue Jackets had been terminated. Texier’s agent, Simo Niiranen of Wasserman Hockey, said the talented two-way forward will now be loaned to the Grenoble Wolf Burners in France’s top professional division – his hometown team whom he played for one season prior to the Jackets selecting him in the second round (No. 45) of the 2017 NHL draft. Texier is expected to return to Columbus for training camp once the NHL and NHL Players Association hash out a start date for the 2020-21 season. Anniversary logo The Blue Jackets introduced a commemorative 20th anniversary logo Monday to honor their 2000-01 inclusion in the NHL as an expansion team. The logo will be worn by players in 2020-21 as a patch on the upper right side of both home and road jerseys. The patch features the number 20 and includes the team’s primary logo based off the state flag of Ohio. A patch with a different color scheme will accompany the Jackets’ third jerseys, which are blue and cream with a cannon logo. NHL draft First round: 7 p.m. Tuesday (TV: NBC Sports Network) Rounds 2-7: 11:30 a.m. Wednesday (TV: NHL Network) Blue Jackets picks: first round (21st overall), fourth (114th), fifth (145th), sixth (176th) and seventh (207th)

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Columbus Dispatch / Blue Jackets' Alexandre Texier to remain in France with family, play with Grenoble By Brian Hedger – October 6, 2020

Alexandre Texier’s offseason plans have officially changed. Rather than rejoining KalPa Kuopio, the Finnish team he spent two seasons with prior to his Blue Jackets debut in March 2019, the 21-year-old French forward will remain in Grenoble, France, with his family. Someone close to Texier is dealing with an undisclosed illness that caused Texier to return in late September from a mandated quarantine period in . A statement issued Monday by KalPa confirmed earlier reports, and Texier’s agent, Simo Niiranen of Wasserman Hockey, said the loan agreement between KalPa and the Blue Jackets was terminated Monday morning. The talented forward will now be loaned to the Grenoble Wolf Burners in France’s top professional division – the team he played with one season prior to being selected by Columbus in the second round (No. 45) of the 2017 NHL draft. Texier completed his NHL rookie season in August with four assists while playing all 10 of the Blue Jackets postseason games against the Maple Leafs and . He had six goals, seven assists and 13 points in the regular season – which was cut short for him Dec. 31 by a lumbar fracture (lower back). Texier missed about six months before rejoining the Blue Jackets for small-group training sessions at Nationwide Arena prior to training camp in July. He played mostly top-six minutes in the and had some impressive moments. The was to keep the momentum rolling in Finland while the NHL attempts to determine a start date for the 2020-21 season, but the illness situation took precedence. Texier previously played for Grenoble in 2016-17, putting up 10 goals, nine assists and 19 points in 40 games in France’s top men’s division. He was only 16 to start that season and turned 17 about a month into it, catching the attention of NHL scouts and agents. The Blue Jackets then directed him to Finland after drafting him, where he played for two seasons and totaled 63 points (27 goals, 36 assists) in 108 games.

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ABC/FOX / Columbus Blue Jackets introduce logo for 20th season By Jarrod Clay - October 6, 2020

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX/WTTE) — As it prepares for its 20th NHL season, the Columbus Blue Jackets introduced Monday a special 20th season logo. The Blue Jackets' 20th season will be presented by Nationwide and OhioHealth. The special logo features a large No. 20 that is white with red trim and outlines in blue and silver. The logo also features the club's primary logo, white stars in the shape of the letter "C" wrapped around the Blue Jackets star, the club's signature 1857 Napoleon cannon, and the phrase "Since 2000." Players will wear a patch featuring the commemorative logo on the upper right chest of their jerseys throughout the season. Special 20th season merchandise is also available for fans. Wednesday, Oct. 7, will mark 20 years since the Blue Jackets played their inaugural game. The club plans to recognize and celebrate milestones, great moments, players and plays with special features on former Blue Jackets players and personalities, interactive content, promotions, in-game activities and more throughout the 2020-21 season.

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1st Ohio Battery / Hits and Misses: Blue Jackets Have Had Ups and Downs in First Round of NHL Draft By Jacob Nitzberg - October 6 2020

The Blue Jackets' history in the first round of the NHL draft is quite interesting. In the early years of the franchise, their pick was usually very early on. From 2000 to 2012 (excluding 2011 because the Blue Jackets traded away their first round pick that year), their average place in the first round was 5.9. With those advantageous positions, they were able to draft names like: Rick Nash (2002, 1st overall) Nikolai Zherdev (2003, 4th overall) (2006, 6th overall) Jakub Voracek (2007, 7th overall) (2010, 4th overall) It's common sense that the potential franchise-changing players are typically available early on, and that the value of a pick in the top five or even the top 10 dwarfs the value of the 21st pick, which is what the Blue Jackets are working with tonight. They've drafted in the 21st spot once before, selecting defenseman in 2009. Moore played 86 games for Columbus over three seasons, splitting time between the AHL and NHL. More recently, the Blue Jackets have had success in the first round. Pierre-Luc Dubois (2016, 3rd overall) and Zach Werenski (8th overall, 2015) are both outstanding players and leaders. The Blue Jackets' most recent first-round pick, Liam Foudy, may be a blueprint for success in the draft. In 2018, the Blue Jackets took him with the 18th pick. Two years later, he was suiting up in the Playoffs at the age of 20. Don't look now, but Foudy's younger brother, Jean-Luc, is draft-eligible this year. He'll likely be selected towards the end of the second round or even the third, and I wouldn't put it past GM Jarmo Kekäläinen to trade up to get him. We've looked at the hits. Now, let's take a look at the misses. In the 2013, 2014, and 2015 NHL drafts, the Blue Jackets had a total of six first-round selections. They were: Alexander Wennberg (2013, 14th overall) (2013, 19th overall) Marko Dano (2013, 27th overall) Sonny Milano (2014, 16th overall) Zach Werenski (2015, 8th overall) Gabriel Carlsson (2015, 29th overall) Of those six, three are still with the franchise, and only two have had relative success at the NHL level. While this was certainly a letdown for Blue Jackets fans and the front office, it showcases how vast the difference is between picking in the top ten or top 5 to picking in the later stages.

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Other first-round picks that never panned out include: Alexandre Picard (2004, 8th overall) Gilbert Brule (2005, 6th overall) (2008, 6th overall) With the Blue Jackets selecting 21st, it's unlikely they'll get a star. After selecting Foudy in 2018, the front office will look to have similar success with a late first-round pick tonight. The 2020 NHL Draft will be held virtually with Round 1 taking place tonight beginning at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN (livestream). Rounds 2-7 will be held Wednesday, Oct. 7 (tomorrow) beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET on NHL Network.

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The Athletic / NHL Mock Draft 2020: Corey Pronman’s final projection of the first round By Corey Pronman – October 6, 2020

Within hours we will hear the actual picks of NHL teams, so this is my last and best attempt to project how the much-anticipated first round of the 2020 NHL Draft will play out. There are two main variables that affect the top of the first round. First, what does Detroit do at No. 4? I’ve had Cole Perfetti to them for a while, but if they pick someone else, I’m very unsure where Perfetti lands as I haven’t heard a ton about him other than the Detroit links, and he could be a slide candidate. Second, where will top goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov go and how does that affect the selection of the top skater prospects? Rangers: Alexis Lafreniere, LW, Rimouski-QMJHL I would not rule out any remote chances the Rangers go a different direction, but I am extremely confident the consensus No. 1 prospect will be going to New York. : Tim Stutzle, C, Mannheim-DEL The information on this pick has not changed since I last wrote about it on Thursday. A majority, but not an overwhelming majority of industry sources, think the Kings will go with Stutzle at No. 2 over Sudbury center Quinton Byfield. Senators: Quinton Byfield, C, Sudbury-OHL Ottawa will take whomever of the top three prospects are available at No. 3, in this scenario it would be Byfield. : Cole Perfetti, C, Saginaw-OHL Most arrows in recent months have seemed to be pointing in the direction of Perfetti as the pick here, but I do know some sources around the league who think the Wings will take Swedish forward Lucas Raymond and some who think they will take Russian goalie Yaroslav Askarov. I don’t think Perfetti would last long if he wasn’t the pick at No. 4, but I could see him go in the latter half of the top 10 if he doesn’t go to Detroit. : Jake Sanderson, D, U.S. NTDP-USHL Ottawa at No. 5 has been tough to figure out. I’ve heard Raymond a lot, I’ve heard Askarov a lot, some sources even think Ottawa winger Jack Quinn is in the mix. The most information I’ve gotten has been linking them to Sanderson, but I can’t say I feel confident about it going into the draft. : Lucas Raymond, LW, Frolunda-SHL People around the league have been linking the Ducks to the two defensemen in Sanderson and Jamie Drysdale, but I think if Sanderson goes at No. 5, the Ducks will be hard-pressed to not take one of the most purely skilled players in the draft in Raymond. Devils: Jamie Drysdale, D, Erie-OHL A lot of people in the industry think the Devils will take one of the top defensemen. I’ve heard

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Sanderson linked here more than Drysdale, but I think Sanderson will be gone in this scenario. The Devils have been tough to pin down. I’ve also heard of the Devils’ interest in Quinn and Askarov. : Jack Quinn, RW, Ottawa-OHL Trying to figure out the Sabres has been tough with the moving pieces from new management coming in, but the two names I’ve heard the most are the two Ottawa forwards in Quinn and Marco Rossi. I’ve been hearing Quinn more often now and think that could be the pick. : Marco Rossi, C, Ottawa-OHL With Minnesota’s outspoken preference for a center, this would be an ideal scenario to play out for the Wild where they could get a top center prospect, even if some teams aren’t 100 percent sold Rossi can stick down the middle in the NHL. If Rossi goes higher, I could see Askarov or Swedish winger here. Jets: Alexander Holtz, RW, Djurgarden-SHL Winnipeg’s organizational depth needs centers and defensemen, but the board likely doesn’t play out that way minus an outside chance that Rossi gets this far. Holtz would be the best player available in this scenario, but I could see someone like Portland center Seth Jarvis be in the discussion, too. : Yaroslav Askarov, G, SKA-KHL Trying to figure out where Askarov is going to go has consumed an amount of my time I’d rather not discuss. I think Nashville makes a lot of sense in terms of talent and fit, and I’ve had a hard time seeing teams picking higher tolerate the risk. As I’ve mentioned before, I also think the Predators like Portland center Seth Jarvis if they went in another direction. : Seth Jarvis, C, Portland-WHL It’s pretty difficult to gauge Florida right now and people around the league are mostly guessing on this one. As I’ve mentioned before in the Dale Tallon regime, the speculation was Brandon defender Braden Schneider. I could also see Chicoutimi forward Hendrix Lapierre here. : Hendrix Lapierre, C, Chicoutimi-QMJHL Lapierre is healthy again, and has looked good in the QMJHL through exhibition and a couple regular- season games. He’s a highly skilled and intelligent forward, a lot of what Carolina looks for in a player. His name has been buzzing around the league the last week or so, especially after his great opening weekend. Jarvis is another player I could see go to Carolina. : Dylan Holloway, C, Wisconsin-Big 10 I’ve had Edmonton taking Holloway as a hunch for a bit and haven’t heard anything to move me off that position, but I do think Prince Albert defenseman Kaiden Guhle would be another possibility. : Jacob Perreault, RW, Sarnia-OHL The Leafs usually target skill and the most skilled player left, according to the industry, would be Perreault. Some teams feel like Russian forward Rodion Amirov or Kamloops center Connor Zary would be considerations for the Leafs, too. : Kaiden Guhle, D, Prince Albert-WHL Guhle and the Habs has been a rumor for a few weeks. I think they would be interested in Holloway, Perreault and German forward Lukas Reichel, as well.

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Chicago Blackhawks: Dawson Mercer, C, Chicoutimi-QMJHL Chicago and Mercer has been a team I’ve connected for a while, even though I’ve heard the Blackhawks linked to various other names in recent days, such as Holloway and the two WHL defensemen. : Rodion Amirov, LW, Ufa-KHL Amirov’s name has been gaining momentum a bit after his strong start to the season and he is a player a lot of teams are convinced won’t get out of the teens. The Devils haven’t used a high pick on a Russian in a while, but they have shown they are willing to pick Russians. Flames: Connor Zary, C, Kamloops-WHL Zary and the Flames has been a rumor I’ve heard more in recent days. Schneider is the other name I’ve heard mentioned to the Flames by teams. New Jersey Devils: Lukas Reichel, LW, Berlin-DEL Reichel’s name has been buzzing a lot lately with a lot of teams trying to size up where he’s going, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him go 5-7 spots higher than this. Columbus Blue Jackets: Anton Lundell, C, HIFK-Liiga Where Lundell lands is a bit of a mystery to me. I haven’t heard his name mentioned a lot in the leadup to the draft as a player a team wants or heard other teams want with a high pick. It would be hard to imagine him lasting too much longer than this range. : , C, Brandon-WHL Greig, Chicago center Brendan Brisson and Halifax defenseman Justin Barron are the names I’ve heard speculated to the Rangers, with the former two being mentioned more often. Greig has a lot of buzz going into the draft because of his high skill and compete level, and he would make a lot of sense to the Rangers. Flyers: Mavrik Bourque, C, Shawinigan-QMJHL I’ve heard a few forwards mentioned to the Flyers. Greig is the one a lot of teams think they’ll take, but as I mentioned last week, I think that may just be connecting the fact his father scouts for the team. Bourque would make a lot of sense for them too. : Braden Schneider, D, Brandon-WHL Schneider was projected in the teens six months ago, but leading up to the draft I’m hearing from a lot of teams that he will probably go more in the 20s. I could see Schneider and Barron fitting a lot of what Washington looks for. Teams think they want Greig, as well. : Brendan Brisson, C, Chicago-USHL I’ve heard Brisson rumored to the Avs, as well as Justin Barron. Barron makes more sense in terms of the type of player they tend to target, but his recent medical procedure tends to make me think the tiebreaker will go against him. St. Louis Blues: Justin Barron, D, Halifax-QMJHL Barron has some concerns in his profile, but he has too much talent between his size, skating and some offense to not go somewhere in the tail-end of the first. There is still first-round interest in him, and he would make a lot of sense in what the Blues would covet in a blueliner. I think Soo defenseman Ryan O’Rourke is possible here too. Anaheim Ducks: Helge Grans, D, Malmo-SHL Grans has earned some positive reviews of late out in how he looked at Sweden’s U20 camp and with

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Malmo. I think he’s being discussed in by several teams late in the first round, and Anaheim would make a lot of sense given its depth chart lacks young defenseman – especially if the Ducks go with Raymond at No. 6. Ottawa Senators: John-Jason Peterka, LW, Munich-DEL I think Peterka will still go in the first round, somewhere in the mid to late 20s. He’s got skill and can skate, so someone will find that package appealing despite his frame. I could see Ottawa looking at Jake Neighbours here, as well. : Jeremie Poirier, D, Saint John-QMJHL I had Poirier going in the second round of my last mock, but he’s looked sharp to start the season and has earned positive reviews from scouts. He also fits a lot of what Vegas likes to target at the draft in terms of skill, and the Golden Knights have a need in the system for a defenseman who can create a lot of offense. Dallas Stars: Jake Neighbours, LW, Edmonton-WHL Dallas’ pick is tough to project. Defenseman William Wallinder would make sense for the size and skating combination, but I’ve had teams indicate they think it’s unlikely he’ll go Day 1. Neighbours brings some much needed offense to the system to go with a high compete level. I think if Peterka got this far it would be a strong fit, too. : Noel Gunler, RW, Lulea-SHL I’ve heard Gunler mentioned a few times to teams picking later in the first round, but he’s also a player who some think will slide. He’s very talented, but can frustrate some. And for what it’s worth, he’s been healthy scratched once to start the season. I think Neighbours and Russian center Marat Khustnudinov would be options here, too, for the Sharks.

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The Athletic / LeBrun: Latest trade talk on Tyler Johnson, Josh Anderson and Patrik Laine By Pierre LeBrun – October 6, 2020

Is Tyler Johnson on the move? That’s up to him, of course. The 30-year-old forward has a full no-trade clause and will have every say in how things play out, but sources tell me the Lightning approached his camp over the weekend about working together on a possible move. Normally in these circumstances, especially if both sides want to work amicably together on an exit plan, what you see is the agent give a destination or two. And I do think Lightning GM Julien BriseBois and Johnson’s agent, J.P. Barry, want to work together. Which makes the trade that much more difficult. So it’s not assured that Johnson will be moved. But the fact he was among the first options the cap-challenged Lightning looked at makes sense. One thing to note on Johnson, his full no-trade drops to a modified no-trade on June 15, 2021. So he would have less say where he might end up next year. But that’s also around the time the Seattle expansion draft will be held and while I’ve never asked Johnson this myself, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’d have an open mind to being part of the 32nd franchise in Seattle given that he’s from Spokane, Wash. So whether he’s moved this offseason or not, it could just be a temporary move depending on whether he’s protected for the expansion draft by the Lightning or his new NHL club. Again, the Cup champs have to find about $10 million in cap space this offseason. Now, one clarification: I was under the assumption when I wrote my Tampa story last week that the Bolts were under the gun to clear out cap space as rapidly as possible because pending RFAs Mikhail Sergachev and Anthony Cirelli are allowed to receive offer sheets from other teams as of Friday when the market opens. But the sense I get now is that the Lightning front office doesn’t feel particularly pressured by the Friday opening of free agency, that they’re not overly concerned about the possibility of offer sheets. Part of that is the Lightning won’t mess around, I don’t think, with either prominent RFA, they intend to put to best foot forward in contract talks right at the outset in an effort to sign them as quickly as possible. Decision on Josh Anderson? Let’s see if we get a fish-or-cut-bait moment with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Josh Anderson this week, given the first round of the NHL draft goes Tuesday night. The correlation is that Anderson could fetch a potential first-round pick in a trade, although a top-two centre would probably be more agreeable to the Jackets if indeed they decide to put the power forward on the market.

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The Jackets have tried to make headway on a contract extension with Anderson instead, but as of Monday morning, there was no breakthrough on that front. A source told me it was status quo on that whole situation. Which brings me back to my question: Can Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen risk losing out on what normally would be a great window for trades in and around the first round of the draft if he doesn’t put Anderson on the trade market this week? Again, the Jackets would much prefer to sign their pending RFA but haven’t been able to do so yet. And they don’t want to go to arbitration with him and have a one-year deal walk him to unrestricted free agency next summer. So it’s decision time either way with Anderson but the question is whether it’s decision time this week. There would be a long list of suitors if and when he’s put on the trade market. Yes, there would be concern about his shoulder after his injury-plagued season. But the allure of that power game and 27 goal-season of two years ago would have some teams calling. And I believe Montreal would be among those clubs checking in. The Canadiens not only would like to add a top-six forward this offseason but if they can be greedy, a top-six forward with some size. The Jackets are looking for a centre, would Max Domi be of interest to them? But again, the Habs would have serious company if Anderson goes on the market. Vegas trade options The signing of Robin Lehner not only has put an onus on the Golden Knights to move Marc-Andre Fleury but they’ve got to move at least another contract, too, if they’re going to get in on trying to sign Alex Pietrangelo as many of us expect they will (that’s if Pietrangelo does indeed hit the market and not re- sign with the Blues this week, I still haven’t closed the door on that possibility). From talking to other sources around the league, Alec Martinez, 33, and his $4-million AAV is a possibility to move. Which makes sense not only because he’s UFA in a year but also because if Vegas hopes to sign Pietrangelo it also needs to create a spot on the right side in its top four (Martinez is a left-hand who played the right side in the playoffs). The Knights haven’t shown any interest in signing Martinez to a contract extension so the veteran blueliner probably saw the writing on the wall, which is too bad because he’s been a nice fit there, in my mind. It should be noted Martinez doesn’t have any no-trade protection. Then again, if the Knights don’t get Pietrangelo, maybe they stick with Martinez and let him play out his deal. Paul Stastny is another possibility as far as Vegas trying to create cap space, he’s got one more year on his deal at a $6.5-million cap hit. He has a 10-team no-trade list. I don’t think the Knights really want to move him but if their cap-clearing efforts fall short on other fronts, they may have no choice. Jonathan Marchessault and Max Pacioretty, both of whom have modified no-trade clauses, have also been mentioned to me from other teams but no clear indication from any Knights source that that’s something they would for sure pursue. Flyers talk Laine Sources confirm that the Flyers and Jets had some Patrik Laine trade discussions last week although they seemed to cool off this past weekend.

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I would anticipate both teams circling back to each other over the next few days to see if there’s anything that can get that conversation to go next level or not. Obviously, the Jets are talking to other teams about Laine as well, as we’ve said before, both Columbus and Carolina have shown interest. The King Pending UFA goalie Henrik Lundqvist tweeted his intentions Sunday night that he was indeed hoping to continue his career. I think the Washington Capitals would make total sense on a short-term deal with the likely exit of Braden Holtby. And I also wonder about Vegas? If the Golden Knights are able to move Marc-Andre Fleury, would there be a fit there for the King with fellow Sweden Robin Lehner for a year or two? I do think, from what I’m told, that Lundqvist would prefer to stay in the East if possible, which is why Washington would top my list of possibilities, but the Vegas idea is fun. Flames a wildcard If there’s a wild-card team to watch over the next week or two, it’s the . I’m not sure there’s a GM that’s making more phone calls around the league right now than Brad Treliving. I honestly don’t believe he went into this offseason thinking he wanted to trade either Johnny Gaudreau or Sean Mohanan, but not surprisingly those are the names I believe are most often brought up by rival GMs in their discussions with Calgary. The challenge for Treliving is that while there may be an urge to shake up the apple cart on his team, you have to be careful you’re not making big moves just for the sake of it. These moves have to be calculated. I wonder if there’s a fit with Columbus. We know the Blue Jackets are listening on both their 26-year-old goalies Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo. Is there a basis for a bigger deal here between both clubs? Could the Flames address their goaltending in a bigger deal with Columbus plus try to make Josh Anderson part of the deal? Can the Jackets get in on Gaudreau or Monahan? While I do know the Jackets and Flames have talked, I have no knowledge of whether there’s any basis to get more serious in those discussions. But from my vantage point, I see two teams here who have the chance to help each other.

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The Athletic / Down Goes Brown: Remembering five of history’s weirdest draft classes By Sean McIndoe – October 6, 2020

The NHL Draft starts Tuesday, and I can’t tell you what’s going to happen, because Cory Pronman already did. But I can make two predictions with confidence: Every team is going to tell us that they’re thrilled with their 2020 draft class, and the whole thing is going to be weird. The weirdness will come from the setting, as the league ditches the big everyone-in-one-building draft floor (for obvious reasons) and shifts to a virtual setup. And the teams will say they love their draft classes because teams always do that. The next GM who walks out of a draft saying “Man, we messed up, these guys are a bunch of bums” will be the first, and also my new hero. So today, let’s get ready for a weird draft full of great classes by mashing those two concepts together into one: Weird draft classes from NHL history. We’ll revisit five times that a team went into a draft and came out with something that, in hindsight, was kind of remarkable. These aren’t the best classes ever, or the worst, or the most important. It’s just five interesting stories to kill some time on a Monday before your team drafts a new franchise player and/or screws up everything forever. Let’s remember some NHL draft oddities. 1977 Montreal , aka In Crease Increase Imagine you’re a scout for the 1977 Montreal Canadiens. You’ve just come off what might very well have been the greatest season in NHL history, a 60-8-12 masterpiece that ended with your second of what will turn out to be four straight Stanley Cups. You have the best coach ever (Scotty Bowman), the best GM ever (Sam Pollock), and an absolutely stacked lineup. Oh, and your is Ken Dryden, who was just a first-team all-star for the third time in four years. And he’s only 29. What’s your draft plan? Apparently, it’s “draft all the goalies,” because the Canadiens took seven of them in 1977. Seven! In one draft. I’m all for having a strategy and sticking to it, but that seems extreme. It’s not quite as crazy as it might seem to modern eyes – remember, this was back when the draft could go on forever. The Canadiens used 27 picks that year, stretching out to a 15th round, so it’s not like they only took goalies. But still… seven? When you only have one net, which is currently occupied by a legend in his prime? (And in case you’re wondering, their backup goalie was Bunny Larocque, who’d led the league in GAA that season.) So how’d they do with all those goalies? Not great. Their first goalie pick, fourth-rounder Robert Holland, only played two NHL seasons, neither with the Canadiens. They did a little better with seventh- rounder Richard Sevigny, who was a part-time starter in Montreal for five seasons in the 80s. Mark Holden played eight NHL games. And the other four goalies they took never made the big leagues at all. It was all part of a decidedly mixed bag for that 1977 Habs draft. They found a future Hall of Famer at the end of the second round in Rod Langway. But they also spent a third-round pick on Moe Robinson, the younger brother of Larry, who lasted one game. And they used the 10th overall pick on Mark Napier, passing on a fellow right-winger who was a hometown kid from Montreal. Some guy named .

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1983 Detroit Red Wings, aka Toughen Up The most famous Red Wings draft of all time came in 1989. That was the year they found two Hall of Famers who’d form the core of a Cup team (Nicklas Lidstrom and Sergei Federov), plus two more 1,000- game NHLers (Mike Sillinger and Dallas Drake), plus Soviet star Vladimir Konstantinov in the 11th round. Not bad. But not my favorite Wings draft. No, that would be 1983. It’s a draft every Detroit fan remembers fondly because it saw the Wings land Steve Yzerman with the fourth overall pick. That took a bit of luck – the North Stars spent the first overall pick on Brian Lawton and the Whalers took Sylvain Turgeon, leaving Pat LaFontaine and Yzerman on the board for the Sabres and Wings at three and four. That’s the draft, though. You do your homework and hope a franchise player drops to your pick. And what do you do when it all breaks right and you get that franchise player? Well, if it’s 1983 and you play in the Norris Division, you make sure you protect him. And you do that by drafting three of the most legendary tough guys in hockey history. The Wings got started in round three, grabbing big winger from the Soo Greyhounds. Probie went on to become the NHL’s all-time heavyweight champ, but the Wings apparently figured he could use some backup, so they used a fifth-round pick on Saskatoon Blades’ wrecking ball Joey Kocur. And just to make sure nobody got any ideas when both those guys were in the box, the Wings added some insurance in the 10th round, taking Stu “The Grim Reaper” Grimson from the Regina Pats. To be clear, none of those guys were one-dimensional enforcers coming out of junior. (Probert, in particular, was really good, with 72 points in 44 games for the Hounds.) And as it turned out, Grimson never signed and went back in the 1985 draft, where he was taken by the Flames. He’d eventually end up in Detroit for a few years in the mid-90s, but by that point, Kocur was winning Cups in New York and Probert was on his way to Chicago. So no, Yzerman never got to suit up for a game knowing all three guys were behind him, although I’m guessing that the Bruise Brothers provided enough protection on their own. But the effort was there. To this day, only 44 players in NHL history have racked up more than 2,100 PIM over their careers, and at the rate the game is going that list might not grow. It’s an exclusive club. And three of them were picked by the same team in the same draft. 1993 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, aka This Guy Looks Familiar This was the first draft in Anaheim franchise history. And they got off to a strong start, managing to pick the leading scorer in the draft. Any Ducks fan knows how the team spent its first-ever draft pick. The Ducks had the fourth overall pick, and after watching Alexandre Daigle, and Chris Gratton go off the board, they grabbed the reigning Hobey Baker Award winner. That would be , and while his career was shortened by injuries, he was easily the best forward in the draft, and his 989 points in 989 games was the most by any player taken that day. But he’s not the leading scorer I was referring to. Kariya was the leading scorer from the 1993 draft. But I said the Ducks took the leading scorer in the draft. Which they did. Ever heard of Anatoli Fedotov?

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Don’t worry if you haven’t because he was a defensive defenseman who only went on to play three NHL games after this draft. They all came for the Ducks in that expansion 1993-94 season, and he was held pointless. He had a couple of good years in the AHL, then played in and Japan, but never played in the NHL again. But here’s the thing about Anatoli Fedotov: He also played in the NHL before he was drafted. That shouldn’t be possible. And in theory, it isn’t – Fedotov is the only player in history to make his NHL debut before he was drafted. Here’s how it happened. By the early 1990s, Fedotov was already in his mid-20s and had established himself as a solid player in the Soviet Union, including a spot on the 1987 Cup team. He caught the eye of the – this was back in the Mike Smith days when they were loading up on Soviet players – and they signed him to an AHL contract. Midway through the 1992-93 season, the Jets called him up to the NHL, and he played in a game against the Oilers. So far, so good. But there was a problem: Fedotov’s contract was for the AHL only, and he wasn’t allowed to play in the NHL. He’d already played that one game before the league caught the mistake, but he was ruled ineligible for the rest of the season and made available in the 1993 draft. That’s where the Ducks spent a tenth-round pick on him, one that didn’t really pay off. But here’s the punchline: In that one game for the Jets, Fedotov recorded two assists. That’s how he wound up being the leading scorer in the 1993 draft. As in, he already had two NHL points to his name, and the other 285 players were all tied for second place, with zero. (Thanks to reader @TheHockeyBoomer for suggesting this story.) 1984 Los Angeles Kings, aka Pitch Perfect Every team goes into a draft hoping that they’ll find a Hockey Hall of Famer. In a perfect world, you might find two Hall of Famers. In 1984, that’s what the Kings did. As in, both of those things. One Hall of Famer, but also two. I’ll explain. The 1984 draft didn’t start especially well for the Kings. They went in holding the sixth overall pick, but with multiple 1,000-game players still on the board including Gary Roberts and Kevin Hatcher, they whiffed on defenseman Craig Redmond. They didn’t find much in the second (Brian Wilks) or third (John English) rounds either, and only one of the nine players they took the rest of the way ever even played an NHL game. But that guy turned out to be pretty good, as the Kings used their ninth-round pick to snag Luc Robitaille, one of the most productive left-wingers in NHL history. So there’s one Hall of Famer. But where’s the other? In the fourth round, as it turns out. That’s where the Kings picked a high school forward from Massachusetts. It was a decent pick, since the kid was a hell of an athlete. A little bit too good, as it turns out, because he also played baseball, and that’s the sport that Tom Glavine chose to pursue. Like Robitaille, Glavine went on to become a first-ballot Hall of Famer. It just wasn’t on the ice. Would Glavine had made it in hockey? We’ll never know, although he really was a decent prospect. Given how the baseball career turned out, though, he probably made the right call. 1990 Edmonton Oilers, aka Oh-for-Everything Sorry, Oilers fans, you knew this one was coming.

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The 1989-90 season had gone pretty well for the Oilers. Despite being written off after the 1988 departure of , an underdog Edmonton team made it back to the top of the mountain, winning the Stanley Cup for the fifth time in seven years. It would turn out to be the dynasty’s last hurrah; , and Glenn Anderson all left over the next year, and wasn’t far behind. But at the time, hey, a Cup is a Cup. Let’s party. And when you party, sometimes you like to take a few days off to recover. Which is apparently what the Oilers did at the 1990 draft. That year’s draft was 12 rounds long, and the Oilers had a selection in every round but the 11th. And it was a very good draft, one that produced one of the greatest goalies of all time (Martin Brodeur), a pair of 500-goal wingers (Keith Tkachuk and Peter Bondra), a Hall of Fame defenseman (Sergei Zubov), and one of history’s most productive scorers (Jaromir Jagr) – all of them, other than Jagr, were available when the Oilers’ first pick rolled around. And of course, there was the usual mix of future all-stars, solid talent, and guys who’d at least get a cup of coffee. And the Oilers wound up with… nothing. As in, nothing at all. The Oilers drafted 11 players that day, and not one ended up playing so much as a game in the NHL. From first-rounder Scott Allison to last-round longshot Sami Nuutinen and everyone in between, nobody from Edmonton’s draft ever made it. That’s pretty much unheard of. Not counting recent drafts, the only other team to pull off the oh-fer that I can find is the 2003 Coyotes. That one might be more impressive since that draft was arguably the best one ever, but the Coyotes only had eight picks to work with, and none in the first two rounds. (There’s also the infamous 1983 Blues, who didn’t bother to show up for the draft because they temporarily had ceased to exist, but still had just as much success as the 1990 Oilers.) Edmonton GM Glen Sather did redeem himself ever so slightly when he pulled off a 1993 trade for a young Doug Weight, the third-leading scorer from the draft. So the Oilers did squeeze at least some value out of the 1990 draft. They just needed another team’s selection to make it happen.

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The Athletic / Wheeler: Final 2020 NHL Draft thoughts, notes and predictions By Scott Wheeler – October 6, 2020

It’s here … it’s finally here. The draft that felt like it would never happen is happening. As always, I’ll have my full analysis of every team’s picks at the end of the first round as well as at the end of Day 2. I’ve also got a trio of stories on three top 2020 draftees that will drop this week after they’re picked. And next week, you can count on the re-release of my top 50 drafted prospects ranking and top 10 drafted goalie prospects ranking, with the addition of many 2020 draftees. But before then, here are some stray thoughts, notes, quotes from sources and predictions to put a bow on this year’s draft class as well as links to all of my 2020 draft coverage. The pandemic bump is real I’ve asked around: How set were teams on their lists before hockey’s August and September returns and how flexible were teams willing to be when some prospects played well while others didn’t play at all? There hasn’t been a level playing field in recent weeks, given the misalignment between when some leagues returned and others delayed into November or December. And the reality is that whether it’s fair or not, teams were eager to watch the ones who were back on the ice. Given the truncated nature of the 2019-20 season, most teams decided against locking in their boards until the last minute, using additional viewings as a valuable resource. I don’t blame them, either. Those who’ve been playing in the QMJHL, Russia, Sweden and Finland over the course of the last couple of months, in particular, must be re-evaluated within the context of a summer of offseason skills training, potential strength growth and new roles, often up a level. “I think all of us teams are trying to gather new information on guys. Through views, medical information, strength coaches, etc. Although we all know it’s unfair to bump a guy up or down based on recent play, it’s so hard not to let it affect you,” said one scout. “Experts who study biases are prone to their effects even when they are trying to avoid them, so I’d assume it will affect teams.” In the QMJHL, Hendrix Lapierre’s stellar preseason certainly didn’t hurt his case after a year and a half of questions about his health. “He’s good but he’s hurt all the time,” one source plainly told me of the importance of a strong return for Lapierre. In Sweden, a player like Emil Andrae has made the jump from the junior level to the pro level and shown consistent offensive flair in the SHL. In doing so, concerns about his size and average skating have been massaged. Also with Andrae’s HV71, teams have had another opportunity to see whether Zion Nybeck, who effortlessly dominated the SuperElit level as one of the smallest players in the draft, can play at pro pace. Lucas Raymond, now playing higher in the lineup (where he belongs) has helped stamp his case as a potential top-five choice, while Cole Perfetti’s Saginaw Spirit sit dormant and Ottawa 67’s star Marco Rossi elected not to sign in Europe at all. In Finland, Anton Lundell (No. 9 on my board) has been able to continue to showcase that he’s more than just a middle-of-the-roster centre while wearing an ‘A’ on his jersey in Liiga, no less. In Russia, the spread of COVID-19 has made KHL rosters younger, opening up opportunities for a number of prospects (drafted and undrafted) that may not have been there. Among those who’ve really

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taken advantage are Ufa’s projected first-round pick Rodion Amirov (No. 20 on my board) and their polarizing potential second-rounder Shakir Mukhamadullin (No. 56), who have each played regular minutes at even strength and on special teams and have produced in the world’s second best league at impressive rates now more than a dozen games into the schedule. And on and on and on. “It’s not fair, but what is fair in this world? If kids are playing well and they’re in a league that’s up and running, it’s certainly helping their cause. That’s my belief. Almost impossible to ignore what they are doing, whether everyone is playing or not,” another scout told me. The long break, he argued, may have benefitted another group too: players who look good analytically. Time for scouts to pore over the numbers should give players who produced a bit of a boost — “or at least generate more conversation,” the scout added. The overager trend More and more, teams are starting to get comfortable with taking overaged prospects. Perceptions are changing. Scouts will tell you they can be stubborn by nature, but they’ve increasingly come to terms with the shifting trajectories of teenaged prospects. Even as players, particularly forwards, begin to enter the NHL at younger ages, teams have begun to take stock of just how many bloom a little later, and how many we all get wrong. Teams don’t want another Yegor Zamula slipping through the cracks. Some of the real success stories of the last few drafts have been older players, too, like Drake Batherson, Nick Abruzzese, Samuel Fagemo, Tyce Thompson and Jack Dugan. This draft has no shortage of overagers who could be picked. Here’s an exhaustive list of players I wouldn’t scoff at a team taking (their ranking included): 87. G Nico Daws (Guelph Storm) HM. W Joonas Oden (KooKoo) HM. LW Pavel Gogolev (Guelph Storm) HM. RHD Axel Rindell (Jukurit) HM. C/W Benjamin Baumgartner (Davos) HM. LW Oliver Okuliar (Lethbridge Hurricanes) HM. G Amir Miftakhov () HM. RW Yegor Sokolov (Cape Breton Eagles) HM. C Parker Ford (Providence College) HM. C Gage Goncalves (Everett Silvertips) HM. LW Yevgeni Oksentyuk (Flint Firebirds) HM. C Alex Young (Canmore Eagles) HM. RHD Billy Constantinou (Soo Greyhounds) HM. C/LW Danny Weight (Penticton Vees) HM. RHD Alex Cotton (Lethbridge Hurricanes) HM. LHD Zach Uens (Merrimack College) HM. C/LW Xavier Simoneau (Drummondville Voltigeurs) NR. W Mathieu De St. Phalle () NR. C/W Carl Berglund (UMass-Lowell) NR. C Artyom Gilmov (Ak Bars Kazan) NR. RHD Samuel Johannesson (Rogle BK)

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NR. LW Kristian Tanus (Tappara) NR. LW Gunnarwolfe Fontaine (Chicago Steel) NR. LHD Jonas Brondberg () NR. LHD Marc-Antoine Pepin (Shawinigan Cataractes) NR. RW Josh Williams (Edmonton Oil Kings) NR. LW Luke Toporoski () NR. LHD Tucker McIntosh (Ottawa Jr. Senators) NR. G Samuel Hlavaj (Sherbrooke Phoenix) NR. C Bear Hughes (Spokane Chiefs) NR. RW Maxim Musorov (Barys Nur-Sultan) NR. RW Cole Mackay (Soo Greyhounds) NR. C Trevor Kuntar (Youngstown Phantoms) NR. C Kristof Papp (Des Moines Buccaneers/Madison Capitals) NR. RW Daniil Gutik (Loko Yaroslavl) NR. RW Jaroslav Likhacyov (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada) NR. LHD Adam Wilsby (Skelleftea AIK) NR. RW/LW Dmitri Sheshin (Chelyabinsk) NR. RW/LW Yegor Chinakhov (Avangard Omsk) NR. LHD Declan Carlile (Merrimack College) NR. LHD Robert Calisti (Soo Greyhounds) NR. LW Alexander Gordin (St. Petersburg) NR. G Taylor Gauthier () NR. RW/LW Dmitri Rashevsky (St. Petersburg) I was really high on a couple of those players a year ago, even. Ahead of the 2019 draft, both Constantinou (No. 67 on my board then) and Simoneau (No. 79) both ranked quite highly. I recently asked Soo Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis about Constantinou, who is a fabulous skater. “We’ve had a lot of questions about him,” Raftis said. “It was similar to when we had Mac Hollowell, where he didn’t have the jam at 18 and then everyone goes ‘ah, we should’ve (used) a seventh-rounder on him’. He does some stuff that’s hard to teach, especially with the puck.” Another source recently told me to keep an eye on how high Gage Goncalves — who was invited to Team Canada’s world juniors camp this summer — could go. Goncalves is a physical late bloomer who garnered a lot of attention in the second half of last season as he became one of the WHL’s top players. Not all of the nearly ranked players I listed above will be picked. But they all have a case and that case speaks to a larger trend. In the last three drafts, a total of 138 overaged players (46 per draft) were selected across 651 picks (217 per draft), accounting for 21 percent of the total picks. I wouldn’t be surprised if this draft eclipses that 46-player average. A note on Tullio A little more than a week ago, I was speaking with skills coach Anthony Cornacchia about a 2020 prospect for an upcoming story. Cornacchia works with a large group of the 2020 draft’s top prospects as well as the Oshawa Generals. At the end of the call, I asked him if there was one player he believes has flown under the radar.

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His answer? Ty Tullio, who is his client with the Generals but has also trained with him each summer for coming up on a decade. “Ty’s a player that has come into his own. We had a younger team in his first year and then he found chemistry with the TNT line there (Tullio, Brett Neumann, Philip Tomasino). That’s a young man that others would say ‘oh, he’s got an average frame at 5-foot-11’ but he has put on probably 15 pounds of muscle this summer,” Cornacchia said. “And Ty Tullio can shoot a puck, that goes without saying, but he’s not afraid to muck it in the corners and he had a couple of fights last year. He’s definitely a sleeper in my mind, that’s for sure. A team will be happy to get him.” Cornacchia’s not the first person to talk about Tullio that way with me, so I felt it worth mentioning. Tullio’s dad, Rocco, owns the Generals and that has always come with questions of a potential conflict with his usage and development, etc. But everything I hear about Tullio, as a person and a player, is positive. Tullio is my 69th-ranked prospect. A quiet first round for USA Hockey A year after there were 11 Americans taken in the first round, I expect just two, maybe three players from the United States will be selected in the top 31. Jake Sanderson could go as high as the top five. I expect Chicago Steel star and University of Michigan freshman Brendan Brisson will be a second. After that, though, there’s a sense that the national development program’s glut of top prospects will begin to be picked in quick succession in Rounds 2 and 3. Though it wouldn’t surprise me if top under-18 forwards like Thomas Bordeleau and Ty Smilanic or defencemen like Tyler Kleven and Brock Faber, snuck into the final picks of the first round, I’d sooner bet on each being available early on Day 2. The same can be said for Steel forwards Sam Colangelo and Sean Farrell, though the former’s odds at landing in the mid-to-late 20s are the higher of the two. There’s a non-insignificant chance you see more players from the Steel taken in the first round than from the national program. You’ll certainly see a larger divide of Canadians over Americans than has been typical in recent years, too. But it wouldn’t surprise me if you see more Swedes (I’d bank on it), Finns and Germans than Americans on Day 1, either. It’s worth pointing out that it’s not an indictment of USA Hockey. But it speaks to the emergence of the Steel as a competitive destination versus the CHL and the NTDP, and to the cyclical nature of this thing. Class superlatives Most likely to fall relative to my board: Jan Mysak Runner-up: Noel Gunler Most likely to rise relative to my board: Jake Sanderson Runner-up: Ridly Greig Most likely to be slept on: Veeti Miettinen Runner-up: James Hardie Smartest player: Cole Perfetti Runner-up: Alexis Lafreniere Biggest wild card: Hendrix Lapierre Runner-up: Justin Barron

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Fastest skater: Jean-Luc Foudy Runner-up: Tim Stutzle Best backwards skater: Jamie Drysdale Runner-up: Ethan Edwards Best shot: Alexander Holtz Runner-up: Carter Savoie Best hands: Jeremie Poirier Runner-up: Lucas Raymond Most athletic: Kaiden Guhle Runner-up: Dylan Holloway Best name: Ivan Ivan Runner-up: Ozzy Wiesblatt Easiest to cheer for: Zayde Wisdom Runner-up: Marco Rossi Deep, deeper or deepest? There has been a lot of talk and debate about the depth in this draft. Some believe this is one of the better drafts ever, with an elite top 10 or so prospects, and 40 or so prospects who have a top 20 or 25 case. Others, with all of the time we’ve now had to evaluate these prospects, have begun to cool on the draft as a whole. It’s a conversation that I think needs to be had carefully for two reasons: It’s had too often. It’s easy to be a prisoner of the moment, and of the potential. We can’t be sure about almost anything in this industry, but there’s a tendency in both the public and private spheres (especially the public one) to be hyperbolic before being measured. If you’ve read that this is a historic draft, I would refer you to 2015. With that said, there’s no question that the very top of this draft is in the conversation, with 2015, as the deepest of the seven drafts I’ve covered, especially when you consider how strong the top half dozen forward prospects are and the strength of Yaroslav Askarov as a legitimate star-level goalie prospect. Short of having Connor McDavid or , which 2015 had the former, the very top of this draft has the potential to be historically great at forward. Knowing that, I’m more comfortable, for example, saying that this draft is one of the strongest at the very top in recent history, than I am lauding how deep its depth of talent runs. That’s because I have been among those who has cooled a little on its sheer depth in numbers. Some of that, with me and others, could be overexposure to this class, which can make you nitpick. It has been nice to see so many of them remind us of their talent since the restart after a summer nitpicking, though. There’s a point, every year, in preparing my final draft board, where my list moves from players who I think have a real shot to ones who are merely interesting one way or another. This year, that cutoff on my board was at No. 73. And while I’m more confident in my evaluations of that group than I typically

23 am, I’m not entirely sure whether that’s just because I’ve had more time to find and identify that number of guys. All told, I think I’ve settled on it being arguably the second-best draft I’ve covered. It’s certainly not a bad draft, or even an average one, so I’ll say that hyperbolically! The next you’ll be reading of me will be to break it all down. Thanks for reading along the way.

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TSN.CA / Josh Anderson a solid bet for rebuilding team By Travis Yost – October 6, 2020

I’m not sure I can recall a time when so many household names were listed on TSN’s Trade Bait board. Some of this is merely about teams looking to improve heading into next season. Some of it is the beginning stages of preparation for the upcoming Seattle expansion draft. And some of it, unquestionably, is the economic crisis surrounding the league and the impact it is having on the salary cap. At any rate, a lot of talent is available. Players like Winnipeg forward Patrik Laine are going to draw the most attention, but the reality is Winnipeg probably isn’t moving off of an ultra-reliable 30-goal scorer unless their significant asking price is met from a team desperate for shooting talent on the wing. Further down the table is where intrigue grows, with less certainty about a player’s true talent and lower asking prices. One name that fits that description is Columbus Blue Jackets winger Josh Anderson. The 26-year-old is coming off of an ugly and injury-riddled 2019-20 season – he managed just one goal and three assists in 26 games, and is finishing up a six-month recovery from shoulder surgery he had back in March. Anderson is a restricted free agent now, with his previous three-year, $1.8 million cap hit contract expiring last month. Anderson has established himself as a middle-six forward, but Columbus making him available isn’t surprising. He’s recovering from a serious injury and it’s not clear if he fits into Columbus’ long-term plans. There are three important points here that make Anderson a quality buy-low candidate, so to speak. One, he’s shown that he can produce at the NHL level. Two, the player has seen his value relatively diminish because of a poor prior season ending with invasive surgery. Third, and perhaps most importantly: he is cost controlled on his next contract. Note: Columbus did tender a qualifying offer to Anderson on Oct. 5. Considering the financial uncertainty around the league, holding Anderson’s may be more valuable than normal. Perhaps Anderson rebounds and has a fantastic season, or perhaps Anderson needs another few months to get back to game speed. In both scenarios, you would expect Anderson to be doing it on a friendlier contract, with an awful 2019-20 taking much of Anderson’s negotiating power off the table. At some price point, a team will agree that trading for Anderson’s rights (and subsequently signing him) will be worth it, because the risk elsewhere has been mitigated and the reward may be significant. Should we be bullish on Anderson? I won’t attempt to answer the medical part of this question, but he wouldn’t be the first player to successfully recover from shoulder surgery. As for the hockey question: I don’t think there’s much of an argument. Over the past four seasons as an NHL regular, Anderson has exemplified himself as a reliable two-way forward who can play anywhere inside a team’s top three lines. If we use a regression-based measure like Goals Above Replacement to compare him to forward peers, we have a strong understanding of how and where this winger adds value:

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There are two important parts here. The first is that Anderson is a reliable defensive forward at this point in his career – even in last year’s ugly season, Anderson had better defensive numbers than 60 per cent of his peers. And when he has seasons with strong offensive contributions (like his 19-goal campaign in 2017-18, or his 27-goal season in 2018-19), he looks every bit the part of a capable second- line winger. If you don’t believe me, consider Columbus’ goal differentials over the years with him on the ice – their +36 margin at even-strength (+0.6 goals per-60 minutes) is team leading after the loss of forward Artemi Panarin through free agency: Anderson has benefited from strong even-strength goaltending over the years, which has correspondingly helped on-ice goal differentials. But we know that he is still a positive player by expected goals, which helps take a lot of the noise of goaltending performance out of the equation. It is inevitable that contenders around the league will line up to inquire about Anderson’s asking price because of the expectedly small cap hit, but I’m not convinced those teams – think Calgary, for example – are the best landing spot. The best buyer may be a true rebuilding team, one flush with draft picks to offer via trade, and with plenty of opportunity to ease a recovering player into the lineup. For a cash-poor, asset-rich team like Ottawa, the gamble makes much more sense. And the Senators wouldn’t be the only team in this group. New Jersey, Detroit and Buffalo are similarly starving for forward talent and need to be considering bets like these. Anderson is a good player, and Columbus won’t be giving him up for free. But for a quality pick or a more conservative cap-controlled player will be attractive enough for the Blue Jackets to move on from the Burlington, Ont. native. Now we get to do something we all excel at in the year 2020. Wait and see what happens!

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USA TODAY / NHL draft and free agency collide: What could happen during crazy week By Jimmy Hascup and Mike Brehm – October 6, 2020

The NHL had a moment to catch its breath after the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup on September 28, but now the offseason will hit overdrive. The draft will start Tuesday night and finish Wednesday and then less than two days later, unrestricted free agency will begin (at noon ET on Friday). The jam-packed week likely means a lot will happen. The coronavirus pandemic has also created uncertainty around the league. When will next season start? When will fans be allowed in buildings? How will this (along with a flat salary cap) affect the moves teams make in the coming days and weeks? We can't promise to have all the answers, but we can at least sort through the pending craziness and provide an idea of some things to look out for. Need a goalie? From future Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist to Jacob Markstrom to Braden Holtby, there is no shortage of goalies on the free agent marketplace. Whether a team needs a goalie as a long- or short- term solution, there is one who could fit a need. The abundance of goalies likely means prices will be suppressed. Robin Lehner's five-year, $25 million deal with the Vegas Golden Knights signed Saturday will provide a good barometer. But what about a franchise goalie of the future? The draft has an answer for that, too. Yaroslav Askarov, 18, is widely considered the best goalie prospect. He has backed Russia to six top-three finishes in six international events. "(Askarov) is the best goalie I've seen entering the NHL draft since Carey Price (in 2005)," Craig Button, TSN director of scouting and an NHL analyst, and a former NHL general manager, told NHL.com. History at the draft? Alexis Lafreniere is expected to go No. 1 overall to the New York Rangers, but depending on who's taken next, history could be made. Quinton Byfield, a 6-4 center from the Sudbury (Ontario) Wolves, is expected to go in the top three, making him the highest-drafted Black player. Evander Kane (2009) and Seth Jones (2013) went fourth overall. “Hopefully I can .. be a motivation to other players that are younger, of color as well, just to show you that you can play this sport and you can go places with it,” Byfield told the NHL’s Draft Class podcast. Top international prospect Tim Stuetzle also could go in the top three, either matching or topping 2019- 20 Hart Trophy winner Leon Draisaitl (No. 3 overall in 2014 to the Edmonton Oilers) as the highest- drafted German player. Lafreniere has pretty good company as a Rimouski (Quebec) player. star Sidney Crosby (2005) and former Tampa Bay Lightning star Vincent Lecavalier (1998) went first overall after playing there.

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Trades? The hockey world always yearns for draft day trades, and most of the time, they disappoint. But there is reason to believe some significant ones could transpire — and if not on Tuesday and Wednesday, shortly thereafter. The salary cap is frozen at $81.5 million and teams will also begin to get rosters in order for the Seattle Kraken's 2021 expansion draft. Roster maneuvering could be the theme of the offseason. TSN.ca's Trade Bait List includes 30 names, highlighted by Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray, Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba, defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine. Several teams have multiple first-round picks and could use one of them for a trade: Rangers, Senators, Ducks and Devils). Different looks? The Capitals and Rangers are moving on from their previous No. 1 goalies. The St. Louis Blues will need a new if Alex Pietrangelo leaves in free agency. The are expected to lose key defenseman Torey Krug, and Zdeno Chara, 43, needs to decide his future. The champion Lightning need to sign defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and a few others and might have to deal a forward or two. With Lehner signed, do the Golden Knights deal popular goalie Marc-Andre Fleury?

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