With the Expansion Draft a mere five days away, the Seattle Kraken’s goaltender selection is anyone’s guess. There are a handful of quality options out there but still no clear favorite at this point.
The rules require the Kraken to select at least three goalies in the Expansion Draft. There are roughly 30 options for the Kraken to choose from on Wednesday, so to make sense of the options, I have tiered all the likely goalies available.
Expansion Draft goalie tiers definitions
Bona fide starter – These are goalies that are proven starters in the league and can still bear the weight of 50+ regular-season games.
Veteran platoon – This is a group that consists of goalies over 29 years old that are best utilized if they can share the goaltending duties at roughly a 50/50 split at this point in their career.
Potential, but with risk – These goaltenders have shown potential to play at a high level but have not played a whole season as a starter or are just breaking into the league. They show promise, but it is unknown if their play is sustainable as full-time starters in the NHL.
Solid backup – Players in this category have proven to be reliable backups in the NHL. They could be used in an expanded role in case of injuries to other goalies on the team but should not be relied upon for extended workloads.
Here is a look at the goalies most likely available by category.
Bona fide starters
Linus Ullmark (BUF) and Philipp Grubauer (COL) are the cream of the crop of available goalies in the Expansion Draft. Both are pending unrestricted free agents with no guarantee they will sign with Seattle, but one of them may be worth pursuing during the exclusive negotiating window.
Grubauer will more than likely attract more suitors in free agency and might be a bit of an overpay for a goalie that will turn 30 next season.
Ullmark, if unprotected, is the most desirable goaltender available to the Seattle Kraken. He is a bit younger than Grubauer and has one of the best high/medium/low danger save percentages at five-on-five across all available goalies. Seattle might be willing to sign him to a longer term. Kraken goalie scout Andrew Allen has a lot of familiarity with Ullmark as well from their time together in Buffalo.
Cam Talbot (MIN) is the only other candidate in this group that would have a reasonable shot at playing for Seattle next year. At 34 years old, he carries some risk, and we still don’t know for sure if he or Kaapo Kahkonen will get protected.
Frederik Andersen (TOR), also a pending UFA, dealt with injuries this year and probably carries too much risk at this point in his career.
Tuukka Rask (BOS) is a pending UFA and will likely re-sign with the Boston Bruins.
Matt Murray (OTT) has had two years of below-average numbers, and the Kraken will have better options out there.
Potential, but with risk
This category gets a lot of media coverage because these goalies showcased well over the last season. The Kraken would be taking a big gamble if they are expecting a goalie from this category to get most of the starts for the 2021-22 season.
Of all these goalies, Adin Hill (ARI) is the most likely candidate to be drafted in the Expansion Draft. Hill is a big goaltender who is just starting to break into the NHL as a regular with 19 games played in the 2020-21 season. There are a few scenarios where he is not even available. The projected protected goalie in Arizona is Darcy Kuemper, who has been rumored to be on the trading block for the last two offseasons. Arizona may trade him before the rosters are locked on Saturday, or they may choose to protect Hill over Kuemper, since Kuemper only has one more year remaining on his contract.
Chris Driedger (FLA) is a trendy pick from the Florida Panthers, but he is a pending UFA and only has 35 games played over the last two seasons. He could pan out, but he could also be the next Scott Darling.
Vitek Vanecek had strong numbers in his first year in the NHL. He played 37 games for the Capitals with a .908 save percentage. There are questions if his long-term upside matches those good numbers, making him a pick with risk.
Joey Daccord (OTT) and Anton Forsberg (OTT) could be even riskier options. Both goalies had limited views playing for a relatively bad team. Forsberg had a heck of a journey this past season, as he bounced across three different teams before ultimately finding a home in Ottawa late in the season.
Veteran platoon
Having a veteran platoon goalie is not a bad bet for year one of the franchise. One of the two can probably do some heavy lifting if the other falters, or they could be a stable support system for some of the younger goalies just breaking into the league.
31-year-old Jake Allen (MON) could fit the bill relatively well. Allen is a good backup goalie that can get a healthy dose of games throughout a season, but he is not a goalie that you want as your primary goalie. He would be a great fit to pair with a younger goalie such as Adin Hill or Vitek Vanecek.
David Rittich (CGY) could also be an option, but he’s an unrestricted free agent.
Solid backup
The only scenario in which I see Seattle drafting a goalie from this category is if their primary goalie is Ullmark, Grubauer, or Talbot. With a solid starting netminder, the Kraken would just need a decent backup that can give the starter a day off from time to time.
Still anybody’s guess
There are a lot of variables at play for the Kraken’s goaltender selections, which still makes forecasting the selections extremely challenging. It is also important to realize that the team could make a post-draft trade or sign another goaltender in free agency to shore up the position. Who Seattle ends up choosing to man its inaugural goalcrease remains anybody’s guess.
It’s been a long road. Dating back to our NHLtoSeattle days, we’ve been daydreaming, prognosticating, and even occasionally arguing about what will happen on Wednesday, July 21. Despite all the things that have happened in the world the past couple of years, many of which certainly could have derailed this process, here we are, Seattle. We are standing at the precipice of the Kraken—OUR Seattle Kraken—finally fielding a team for the first time ever.
Come Wednesday evening, the organization will have 30 players from which it can create the bulk of its inaugural roster. In case you somehow missed the news, the festivities will kick off from Gas Works Park on the north end of Lake Union at 3:30 p.m. Pacific that day, with national TV coverage beginning at 5 p.m. on ESPN2.
It is a private, ticketed event, but even if you aren’t able to get in, you can boat, sail, paddleboard, kayak, swim, diaper float (my personal favorite mode of water floating), hydrofoil… whatever it takes to get yourself in on the action. A stage will be erected on the shore of the lake, and a massive floating screen will be propped up on a barge to show the proceedings. So get out on the water, and you should be able to—at least in some way—be a part of this historic event.
LET’S F***IN’ GO, KRAKEN!
Expansion Draft protection pictures becoming more clear
It’s no surprise that there has been a flurry of trades, buyouts, and signings this week in preparation for the Expansion Draft. General managers across the NHL are making their last moves to prepare their teams for next week’s league-wide ceremonial sacrifice to the hockey gods (and by “hockey gods,” we of course mean the Seattle Kraken).
The biggest bombshell came from my own Minnesota Wild, who opted to buy out the contracts of not just Zach Parise, but also the still very effective Ryan Suter, Parise’s partner in crime. The move means that Minnesota can now certainly protect Matt Dumba, making Carson Soucy, Kaapo Kahkonen, or Victor Rask (I personally doubt that last one will be the choice) the most likely targets, assuming the Wild do protect Cam Talbot over Kahkonen.
Meanwhile, the Florida Panthers—who arguably had the worst go of any team in the league in the Vegas Expansion Draft—bought out ironman defenseman Keith Yandle and re-signed Anthony Duclair. The Avalanche traded away an obvious Expansion Draft candidate in Ryan Graves, and Dallas’ Ben Bishop, Colorado’s Erik Johnson, and Buffalo’s Jeff Skinner all waived their no-movement clauses to give their respective teams an additional protection slot.
More such news will certainly trickle in over the next two days, as teams are required to submit their protection lists on Saturday.
This is going to be an incredibly fun few days; a period of time that we have been patiently awaiting for literal years. We just hope everybody has a good time.
*HOT TAKE ALERT!*
By the way, this is a complete guess, but since the Kraken will be naming their players and are allegedly trying to get at least some of them to attend the Expansion Draft selection show in person, wouldn’t this be a great time to give us our first glimpse of the team’s jerseys? Again, no insider info here. It’s just a guess that I’m putting in writing so that I can either be lauded or shamed for a correct/incorrect guess in a few days. We shall see.
Matiss Kivlenieks memorial draws tears, laughs, and Torts
We at Sound Of Hockey were devastated to learn of the passing of 24-year-old Columbus goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks on July 4 after an errant firework hit him in the chest at a party in Michigan. His memorial service was held on Thursday.
Per Emily Kaplan of ESPN, fellow Blue Jackets netminder Elvis Merzlikins said that Kivlenieks “died a hero,” protecting Merzlikins, his pregnant wife, and several other people in attendance.
Goaltender coach and close friend Manny Legace reportedly shared stories of his close bond with Kivlenieks and joked that even John Tortorella was in attendance at the funeral, which was a big deal because, “He hates goalies!”
RIP Kivi. You’re gone way too soon, but the hockey community will never forget you.
Around the boards
Robert Morris University has reversed course on its plans for demolishing its men’s and women’s hockey programs. You may recall that the school put out one of the worst press releases in the history of press releases to declare the programs dead, but the regents have now stated that as long as they can raise $7 million over the next five years, they can keep the programs alive. I, for one, really hate this tactic of forcing hockey programs to raise millions of dollars to survive budget cuts from schools that have promised scholarships and four years of Division I hockey to their athletes, but that’s just me.
It was announced in May that the Utica Comets, Vancouver’s AHL affiliate, would be moving to Abbotsford, British Columbia, in time for the start of the 2021-22 season. What wasn’t known before Thursday was what the top minor league club for the Canucks would be called going forward. Now we know that the team will be named… [drumroll]… the Canucks! That’s right, the Abbotsford Canucks, ladies and gentlemen! How original! Sarcasm aside, their jerseys will be green and will prominently feature the famed Johnny Canuck, which we at SOH wholeheartedly support.
Speaking of jerseys and logos, the WHL’s Vancouver Giants and Portland Winterhawks both revealed some new branding this week. Vancouver has a very sharp new black, gold, and red uniform, with a rather dashing and burly gentleman’s face for the crest. Portland showed off its new logo, which replaces the controversial Blackhawks-esque Native American silhouette that it had used for the entirety of its 45-year history. Instead, the Winterhawks will now sport a hawk with an image of Mount Hood cleverly factored in.
We do have one question about the Giants’ logo, though. How are we to know that the face on the jerseys is actually that of a giant? There’s nothing around it to give it scale, so as far as we’re concerned, they’re just the Vancouver Bearded Faces.
Palate cleansers
Earlier this week, the Tampa Bay Lightning held their second Stanley Cup boat parade in as many years. Two of the highlights were this very minor mishap…
The Stanley Cup got bent in Tampa today. Has to be repaired in MONTREAL! Oh good Lord! This should make a good headline in the Canadian press. pic.twitter.com/EmWy0gsKtj
Finally, let’s give it up for friend of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast and former Seattle Thunderbirds equipment manager Jason Berger, who apparently brings the f***in’ heat when it’s needed most.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
SEATTLE – The Seattle Kraken have games on the schedule. Friday morning, the 32nd NHL franchise released its preseason schedule for the team’s inaugural season.
Starting Sept. 26, the Kraken will play six preseason contests, three home and three away, against the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and Calgary Flames. Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena will not be completed and available for preseason games – although the team confirmed Friday that the arena will be open in time for the regular season opener – so the home games will be held in three WHL arenas within Washington State.
On Sept. 26, the Kraken will host the Vancouver Canucks in the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, home of the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs. Seattle will next play the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 1 at Angel of the Winds Arena, the home rink for the Everett Silvertips. The next night the Calgary Flames will visit the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent to play in the home of the Seattle Thunderbirds.
The Kraken will be on the road on Sept. 28 in Edmonton, Sept. 29 in Calgary, and Oct. 5 in Vancouver. Those games will be played in the regular NHL arenas of the home teams.
“We are so grateful to the men and women who have worked tirelessly to build Climate Pledge Arena in the most extraordinary of circumstances and thank Mortenson and all the sub-contractors,” Tod Leiweke, CEO of the Seattle Kraken said via press release. “The arena is on track to host our first regular-season home game in mid-October, but we have made the decision to play our three inaugural preseason games at three outstanding local arenas. This gives us an opportunity to partner with the WHL teams, celebrate hockey across our region and grow this beautiful game. We couldn’t be more excited for these games and then to open Climate Pledge Arena.”
The Seattle Kraken will donate a portion of ticket revenue to One Roof Foundation with a goal of raising over $500,000 to expand youth access to hockey. The Kraken are working with the Thunderbirds, the Silvertips, and the Chiefs, along with the Tri-City Americans and the Portland Winterhawks, to grow the game across the region.
Kraken season ticket holders were notified by the team that they would receive a credit for preseason games that originally were planned to be played in Climate Pledge Arena. The credit is to appear on ticket holders’ accounts by July 26.
While we don’t know the rosters or lineups for these preseason games as of yet, the schedule opens the door for homecomings of a couple players with ties to the Northwest. When Edmonton plays in Everett it will be a chance for former Seattle Thunderbird Ethan Bear to appear in the region again. Bear played for Seattle from 2013 through 2017. He is Seattle’s all-time leader in goals by a defenseman and was a key member of the Thunderbirds 2017 WHL Championship team. Bear was a fifth-round pick of the Oilers in 2015 and has been a regular in their lineup the past two seasons.
Having appeared in the ShoWare Center for his last WHL game with the Everett Silvertips this past spring, Calgary’s Dustin Wolf will make his return when the Flames visit Kent. Wolf was with the Silvertips from 2017 through 2021 and was twice named WHL Goalie of the Year and once CHL Goalie of the Year. The Flames selected Wolf in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Draft and the upcoming season will be his first in pro hockey.
The full NHL regular season schedule is expected to be released prior to the July 21 NHL Expansion Draft.
One of the most important pieces to any hockey team is a high-end defenseman. Every successful club has at least one guy who can move the puck, join the rush, and pile up points from the back end. In a class that features a number of such defenders, Luke Hughes is among the best, and there’s an outside chance that the Seattle Kraken call his name at the NHL Entry Draft on July 23.
If the last name Hughes sounds familiar, it should. Luke is the youngest of the Hughes brothers, all of whom were drafted with top-ten picks. Quinn Hughes was selected by the Vancouver Canucks with the seventh overall pick in 2018, while the New Jersey Devils took Jack Hughes first overall in 2019.
That is quite the track record for the Hughes clan and the case could be made that they are the new American hockey family – move aside Tkachuks.
Like Quinn, Luke is an exciting defenseman who can skate and control the puck. He’s had the fortune of watching and learning from both of his NHL brothers. That has been a big boost for Luke during his NHL Draft season.
“They kind of taught me going into the year that you got to be ready for everything,” Hughes said during the NHL’s Top Prospect media availability this week. “You’ve got to stay level-minded and you can’t get too high or low all through the year. And I think that really applies to me this year with all the COVID implications and getting shut down and quarantined at numerous times throughout the year. So, that was one big piece of advice they gave me.”
Hughes spent the season playing with the United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP) but suffered a lacerated tendon in his foot that kept him from playing in any postseason tournaments.
He is healthy now and hoping to continue following in his siblings’ footsteps. Both Quinn and Jack played for the USNTDP on their way to the NHL and Luke will follow Quinn’s path as he has committed to play for the University of Michigan next season,
“I’m super excited to go to Michigan,” Hughes said. “I think you guys know we’re going to be a really good team next year and hopefully we can go pretty far and try to win it all. So, I’m super excited for my time and I think watching my brother Quinn go through it and how much he grew up as a player, but more as a person just to meet really smart people and make longtime friends… I’m really excited for that.”
Michigan’s Owen Power, Matty Beniers, and Kent Johnson will all be selected early in this year’s draft and all could potentially return to play for the Wolverines next season. Add a Luke Hughes to that mix and the Frozen Four will be in reach.
But that’s for next season. What we care about is the draft and where Hughes will be selected.
“I think every year you’re trying to get better at something, but you know, right now I’m trying to just work on all aspects of my game so I can dominate at the next level,” Hughes said.
Defenseman Luke Hughes is a fantastic skater and puck handler which could lead him to be drafted high in July’s NHL Draft. (USA Hockey photo)
Luke Hughes by the numbers
Listed at 6-foot-2 and 176 pounds, Hughes spent last year with the USNTDP U18 club, which also gave him time competing in the USHL. He appeared in 38 games with the U18 team and scored six goals while adding 28 assists for 34 points.
He burst on the scene and started garnering attention during the 2018-19 season with the Little Caesars 15U team. Hughes posted monster, video-game-like numbers there, piling up 83 points, and 22 goals, in 71 games.
While an injury kept him from participating in the U18 Championships this spring, he did play for the US in the U17’s the prior season, scoring a goal and three assists in six games.
He says that the injury that kept him out of the U18’s is healing, and he’s set to attend the US’s World Junior Summer Showcase. It’s expected that he would make that roster and appear at next winter’s tournament, again following in his brothers’ footsteps.
“I’ve been skating for five weeks now, and I’ve been working out for like eight or nine, so I feel really good,” Hughes said about his injury. “I’m almost 100 percent… I finished rehab and there’s no problem with the toe. It feels great and I’ll be ready to go.”
What the scouts say about Luke Hughes
Hughes has been consistently ranked among the top five prospects for the upcoming draft. NHL Central Scouting has him slotted as the fourth-best North American skater. He’s been ranked as high as third and as low as 11th in the various online draft rankings.
Scouts focus on his skating and ability to handle the puck. He’s the type of skater that will draw defenders to him which frees up space on the ice for his teammates. Hughes has the ability to find those open guys with the puck and make those around him better.
“Look at what Quinn Hughes has done for the Vancouver Canucks, then you say, oh, there’s his brother Luke, who’s also in this draft,” Hockey Sense’s Chris Peters told the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. “(Luke) is 6-foot-2, where Quinn is like 5-foot-10. Luke skates very similarly to Quinn. He doesn’t have the straight-ahead speed that Quinn does yet but that could come. (Luke) is not quite as dynamic offensively either, but he is an offensive defenseman, he scores points, and he gets pucks through to the net. He makes plays.”
Hughes is not ranked as high as someone like Owen Power, but there are those who believe he ultimately has the most upside of the class.
He is confident on the ice with the puck and off it.
“I think my three biggest strengths are my hockey sense, my skating, and compete level,” Hughes said about his game. “I can play in all situations. I can play the power play I can play the PK. You know, I can defend the cycle, defend the rush, and net-front. I’m really poised with the puck in my transition game.”
Luke Hughes on film
The attributes that Hughes and scouts alike use to define his game can be found on film.
In this clip from play in the USHL, Hughes demonstrates his puck management and poise as he draws two defenders to him up high. His on-ice vision allows him to see the teammate that is left open, and he makes a sure pass that sets up a great look at the net.
Love this little bit of work by Luke Hughes. Great catch, draws pressure from two forwards at the top of the zone. Manipulates the defenders, throws a pick and creates space for his D partner to gain inside ice. How many defenders just shoot off the pass? Love to see it @FCHockeypic.twitter.com/TM70enZoZ0
In this entertaining shift, he pinches in and gets the entire defense chasing him as he controls the puck, shows off some edge work, and eventually spins a defender right off his skates to free up space for himself.
Controlling the puck to exit the zone is a key skill for a defenseman. Here is an example of Hughes retrieving it in his own end and beating two forecheckers by himself with poise to rush the puck to the opposing blue line.
Watching some USNTDP U17 hockey from early December. Stumbled upon this clip of Luke Hughes (2021). Hughes is so good. pic.twitter.com/LAs3V7sHWQ
Will the Seattle Kraken take Luke Hughes with the second overall pick?
The prevailing thought is that Seattle will pick Matty Beniers or Owen Power at number two, depending on what the Buffalo Sabres do with the first pick.
But that assessment is speculation based on the latest NHL Draft rankings around the internet. They have Hughes pegged as the fourth- or fifth-best option. Of course, none of that matters. If Seattle’s amateur scouting team and Ron Francis feel that Hughes’ potential is the highest of this class, then don’t be shocked if they select him.
Francis drafted defensemen with his first pick three of the four drafts he had while with the Carolina Hurricanes and with the number of quality blueliners in this year’s class, he could do so again by taking Luke Hughes to come away with a cornerstone of the future.
The New Jersey Devils have the fourth overall pick and if Seattle passes would love to team up Luke Hughes with his brother Jack, whom they drafted first overall in 2019.
“My brother, you know, clearly wants me to be there and that’d be super cool to play with him,” Luke Hughes said. “I’d love that but at the same time, it’s 32 great teams out there and I’d be happy to go to any one of those teams.”
“Secondary scoring” is a term that is thrown around as an essential ingredient to a team’s success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I have heard it for years and have largely accepted it. For this week’s Data Dump, I want to dig into the numbers around “secondary scoring” to evaluate if it truly is important or just some playoff lore that we like to talk about.
There is no consensus definition for secondary scoring, but the general thought is that it is the scoring beyond a team’s top line or top goal scorers. Think of it as a distribution of goal scoring.
You do not have to look far in this year’s playoffs to find a good example of “secondary scoring.” For the Tampa Bay Lightning, Tyler Johnson scored two goals in Game 3 and Blake Coleman scored in Game 2 and 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. Neither of these players would be considered a top goal scorer for the Lightning, but it is not totally surprising when they do score.
Secondary scoring by the numbers
Figuring out how to evaluate secondary scoring is a challenge. After several exploratory iterations, I landed on what is the percentage of the team’s goals scored for the top-three goal scorers on the team. The lower the percentage of goals scored by these primary goal scorers, the more secondary scoring you are getting from other players.
Here is a look at the average percentage of goals scored by the top-three goal scorers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs based on the round the team reached in the postseason. Note that I excluded the first-round playoff games since the sample size of games played per team is relatively small.
Based on the visual above, teams with more secondary scoring (lower percentage in the chart) tend to go deeper in the playoffs. However, just because you have more secondary scoring, does not automatically mean a good playoff run.
Here is a look at the team detail over the last four years.
This year, Winnipeg only saw 35% of its scoring coming from their top-three goal scorers and last year, Philadelphia saw 34% of its scoring from its top three, but neither team advanced past the second-round.
It is important to consider context when looking at numbers, particularly for the teams with a small sample size. In Winnipeg’s case, Mark Scheifele, tied for second in scoring in the playoffs for the Jets, was suspended for the last three games against Montreal and therefore did not have an opportunity to score more goals. Had Scheifele played and scored, the percentage of top-three goals would have gone up, while the secondary scoring would have gone down.
Player detail
Here is a look at the player detail that has made up the top-three scorers by team by year and the percentage of teams’ total goals.
If you look at Vegas this year, Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, and Jonathan Marchessault accounted for just 30 percent, but if you followed the Montreal-Vegas series, you would realize that those players came up relatively empty in that series with a total of one goal over the six games. The 30 percent is not really an indicator of the secondary scoring but more likely a lack of scoring from the top-three goal scorers.
Except for Tampa Bay in 2020, the Stanley Cup Final teams’ (in red) top-three goal scorers all account for less than the average of 43 percent. What stands out to me is that teams with a much greater dependency on their top-three goal scorers: Boston-2021, Boston-2020, Islanders-2019, and Pittsburgh-2018 all failed to make it past the semi-final round of the playoffs.
Conclusion
The only conclusion I can reasonably come up with based on this quick analysis is that you cannot be overly dependent on your top-three goal scorers and expect playoff success.
Although it may appear that secondary scoring is a component of playoff success, there are other factors involved. Goalies, injuries, special teams, etc. are all factors that can contribute to a team’s success. We would need to identify all the contributing factors to determine just how important secondary scoring is when we consider all these components. We could also expand the scope of the analysis to include regular season to determine how the distribution of scoring may predict playoff secondary scoring.
How would you approach understanding secondary scoring? Put your thoughts in the comments section or send me a message on twitter.
In a sign that we are somewhat returning to normal, the Canadian Hockey League held its annual Import Draft Wednesday morning. Both Puget Sound WHL teams, the Everett Silvertips and Seattle Thunderbirds, made selections to stock up on talent for the upcoming season.
While the draft was back, there were some differences this year.
The Import Draft usually occurs after the NHL Draft, but this year happened a month prior. Instead of selecting the draft order by reverse season record, the CHL held a lottery to determine order. Everett won the lottery among WHL teams and held the second overall pick.
All 60 CHL teams – including the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL – participated in the two-round process. CHL teams are allowed two imports on their roster at any one time. Both the Silvertips and Thunderbirds had import slots open so both made selections in the draft.
Players drafted are not required to play in the CHL, which means recruiting of these Import Draft picks is now underway.
Here is a closer look at who the Silvertips, Thunderbirds and the rest of the US Division selected Wednesday.
Everett Silvertips
In his first action since adding general manager to his job title, Everett head coach Dennis Williams made one pick in the Import Draft.
The Silvertips played last year without imports but were hoping they would see Kasper Puutio and Michal Gut back in the fold. Puutio was drafted in the fifth round of the 2020 NHL Draft by the Florida Panthers and signed a pro contract with KalPa Kuopio in Finland, so he will not be returning to the Silvertips. Gut is expected back, though, which is good news for Everett after he scored 13 goals and 36 points for the Silvertips in 2019-2020.
Niko Huuhtanen – Finland – RW – 6-foot-1, 203 pounds – selected No. 2 overall
The Silvertips drafted a 2021 NHL Draft eligible forward with a lot of size working for him. Huuhtanen is ranked 49th among European skaters by NHL Central Scouting and is coming off a year where he scored 20 goals and 34 points in 37 games for a U20 Tappara team in the Finnish U20 SM-sarja league. Huuhtanen also represented Finland at the U18 World Championship this past spring where he notched a pair of goals and five points in seven games.
Scouts say he has a nose for goal scoring and possesses a heavy and strong wrist shot. His strength lies more working in the cycle rather than off the rush, and he has some room to approve his skating ability. If he signs with Everett, he’ll be a load to handle down low, behind and in front of the net.
Here’s a glimpse of how deadly that wrist shot can be:
The Silvertips have some offense to make up for with Cole Fonstad and Gage Goncalves both moving on this coming season. Huuhtanen signing and being a productive player could help in that endeavor.
Seattle Thunderbirds
Seattle also went without any imports this last season. In the offseason, the Thunderbirds acquired Russian forward Vladimir Alistrov from the Edmonton Oil Kings for defenseman Simon Kubicek. They also had selected defenseman Samuel Knazko from Slovakia in last year’s Import Draft.
According to general manager Bil La Forge, Alistrov will be playing in the KHL this coming season while Knazko, who was drafted and recently signed by the Columbus Blue Jackets, has chosen to play professionally in Finland this season.
So, with no imports incoming, the Thunderbirds made two selections Wednesday.
With their first pick, 41st overall, Seattle took an Italian forward in Alessandro Segafredo and followed with a right-handed defenseman from Great Britain, Leon Okonkwo Prada with pick 86.
Seattle went with a younger pick with their first selection with Italian winger Segafredo. He’s set to turn 17 in September which means he would not be eligible for the NHL Draft until 2022. He played for a number of clubs last season, including the Zurich Lions U17 team where he appeared in 26 games and scored 25 goals, 27 assists, for 52 points. He also got into 24 games with the U20 team and added 10 more goals and 11 points.
If he were to sign, Segafredo would join what is becoming a crowded forward group for the Thunderbirds. Seattle can return all but one of the forwards it deployed last season which would make for some interesting personnel decisions for La Forge.
Leon Okonkwo Prada – Great Britain – D – 6-foot-1, 201 pounds – selected 86th overall
It’s not often that a British player comes over to play in the WHL, and for Seattle, Prada would be the first. A big defenseman with a bit of grit to his game, Prada didn’t put up huge numbers with the Swedish Rogle BK J18 last year. However, two years prior, in a U18 league he put up 21 points in 27 games for the R8 Hockey Academy. The aforementioned grit showed up as well as Prada was penalized 32 minutes in those 27 games.
Like Segafredo, Prada joins a position group that is crowded. Seattle’s defensemen from last season are all eligible to return this coming season.
— Seattle Thunderbirds (@SeattleTbirds) June 30, 2021
The rest of the U.S. Division import picks
Portland Winterhawks
With Swiss Simon Knak, who was second in team scoring last year, set to return to Portland this year the Winterhawks made one import pick Wednesday. With the 26th pick overall they selected Czech left defenseman Marek Alscher to join their young blue line.
Tri-City Americans
The Americans made one pick in the draft last year with Czech Republic goalie Tomas Suchanek, who did not play in the WHL. At pick 57 this year they selected a U18 World Championship teammate of Suchanek, forward Petr Moravec. Eligible for the 2021 NHL Draft, Moravec is ranked 82nd among international skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
Spokane Chiefs
The Chiefs made two selections Wednesday. At pick 17 overall they selected big, 6-foot-3 defenseman Timofei Kovgorenya, from Belarus. Kovgorenya is 17, a right-handed defenseman who played last year for Minsk Bison in the Vysshaya Liga.
At pick 117 Spokane selected 17-year-old German center Yannick Proske who played for his home country in the U18 World Championship.
