Ferraro A Silvertip, Froese A Rebel

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Red Deer and Everett have swapped forwards, and for the Rebels they rid themselves of a potentially ugly training camp situation. In exchange they get a guy who has played internationally for Canada before and was taken at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Blackhawks Prospect Snap Shot

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The Chicago Blackhawks are one of the "original six" teams in the NHL having joined the league in 1926. Like the New York Rangers, the Hawks have 3 Stanley Cup Championships to their credit - fewest among original six franchises. It has been 39 years since Chicago has captured hockey's top prize, their last Cup victory coming in the 1960-61 season.

From 1997-98 until 2007-08, the Hawks qualified for the playoffs just once, a first round exit in 2002 at the hands of a top rival, St. Louis. Years of futility and aggressive rebuilding strategy allowed the organization to acquire a ton of draft picks over the last decade. In 2004, Chicago made 17 draft day selection including 5 in the first two rounds. The team has become much more North American flavored through the draft than during the 1990's and some would argue that it's a major reason why the club has enjoyed a major turnaround the last two years.

with an extremely talented and young leadership core the Blackhawks are poised for success over the next several seasons. And there is plenty more top recruits Coming Down the Pipe... here is a look at some of the best prospects in Chicago's system.

Wednesday Re-Set

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Tuesday night was an all-WHL show as the league's awards banquet and the 2009 Bantam Draft are all in Edmonton this week. That gave us the unique opportunity to have one in-studio guest that we would otherwise not have had plus we spoke with a slew of other people in and around the league as well.

First up was the Commissioner, Ron Robison. We began with a discussion revolving around the league's stance towards the decision by the Calgary Flames to bring their AHL affiliate into very close proximity to one of their WHL partners - the Chilliwack Bruins.

We also talked about a variety of other topics including the reason behind bringing this week's events to Edmonton. Then Dean hit the Commish with a series of "If I were King for a Day" ideas to make the league even better.

From the commish we moved on to Randy Hansch who is the Assistant GM of the Edmonton Oil Kings and the guy who will pretty much be calling the shots for the local 'Dub club at the draft table on Thursday. Are the Oil Kings looking for a specific type of player, is there a position they need to address and who are some of the names to watch for... all talked about with Mr. Hansch.

From Edmonton we went south to Lethbridge and were joined by TPS regular, 'Rodeo' Roy Stasiuk, the GM of the Hurricanes. We talked about the year the 'Canes had including the highs and the lows and the trades - especially Kyle Beach and what he was like after coming over from Everett. Also... if you haven't heard WHY Beach and Akim Aliu were sent home by the Chicago Blackhawks from their AHL affiliate (Rockford), you won't believe it.


At the top of the second hour we were joined in studio by Prince George Cougars forward Brett Connolly. The rookie ended up collecting some hardware on Wednesday as he was named the league's top freshman player. We also discussed his role with Canada's entry at the U18s in Fargo. This is a guy to keep an eye on... he's the real deal.

Bad Ass Trivia was focused on the WHL draft and the awards and while some were stumped, Bart Hunter called in to say he could answer the question regarding the trophy named after his father, the legendary Bill Hunter.

Finally, Everett Silvertips forward Byron Froese joined us from his home in Winkler, MB. We talked about the year in Everett and also his time in Fargo at the World U18 Championship where he skated on a line with Brett Connolly. He wasn't on the 2009 list for Central Scouting or ISS before the tournament but he's in the top 100 for both agencies now. On the rise and a guy who might surprise with how early he goes... I'm thinking late 2nd round candidate.

If you missed any of these excellent interview, you know what to do: Click the Archive... HERE.

U18 Check Up

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A couple of Tuesdays ago I listed 5 players that I thought could really up their stock with a strong U18 performance. I just wanted to take a brief look to see if any of them did in fact raise their ranking now that ISS and Central Scouting have released another update.

Toni Rajala went into the tournament ranked 39th overall by ISS and thanks to a tournament high 19 points in 6 games, is now slotted as a first rounder - 30th overall.

"The player who perhaps had the most eyes looking his way didn’t shy away but rather further pushed the spot light his way. Rajala needed to have a big tournament to cement his top round NHL draft pick potential. And do that he did, Rajala finished the tournament with 19 pts in 6 games, eclipsing the previous U18 scoring record set by some kid named Ovechkin, and he did it in one less game."

Edmonton Oil King import Robin Soudek is still unranked by ISS and NHL Central Scouting. He had just a pair of assists for the Czech Republic. I'm wondering if the winger's spot with the Oil Kings is secure for next season ir if the team has their eyes on a different player in the Import Draft to split the duties with Tomas Vincour in 2009-10.

I was being cheeky when I listed "Sweden" as a candidate and really, after their 5th place finish, I don't know that anyone on the club saw their stock go up. Maybe Anton Lander who had 9 points. I had singled out netminder Robin Lehner but if anything, he took a bit of a hit with a 3-2 record. ISS now has him ranked as the 6th best goalie available. Jacob Josefson scored rave reviews as a two-way forward though. It was William Wallen who seemed to impress ISS the most though:

"Wallen was consistently the most productive and effective Swedish player during the tournament. He is smaller but extremely elusive and quick, and very tenacious around the puck. Wallen played the point on the powerplay and packs a very strong shot. Although his size is a concern, Wallen plays a fearless game and squeaks away from checks with the puck but can also throw good physical hits as well, as illustrated on one shift against Canada where he took down McNabb and Doherty on the same shift. Wallen put up 8 points in just 4 games during the tournament. Wallen is very difficult to play against and his feet never stop moving."

USA's Kevin Lynch was ranked 82nd by ISS heading into the tournament but has come out sitting in the 42nd spot thanks to his 10-point performance. Central Scouting has actually dropped him from 93rd to 100th though so... who knows?

The guy I expected to see the biggest jump has vaulted up the charts. Everett Silvertips forward Byron Froese went from being unranked by both ISS and Central Scouting to #74 for ISS and #85 in N.A. for Central. ISS had this to say afterwards:

"Exposure at the world U-18s was great for him as he stepped up his game. Was consistently dangerous and cashed in chances around net. His defensive game is
solid and he often takes all the crucial faceoffs in all zones."

There are still two months before the draft and much can happen. The CHL playoffs are still ongoing and of course the NHL Combine and the interviews are ahead as well.

Really, the story of the U18s was the performance of the under-age players involved. The 2010 draft is already looking stellar with several players putting themselves on the map even more than they were prior to the Fargo-Moorhead games.

Canadians John McFarland, Joey Hishon, Brett Connelly and Erik Gunbrandson were all more than fillers on the roster - they were all impact players.

Finland has a pair of top prospects for next year in Mikael Grandlund and Teemu Pulkkinen.

German forward Tom Kuehnhackl (pictured) was first brought to our attention last November by team personnel in Camrose as someone we should keep our eyes and ears out for and he was impressive at the u18s.

Of course the Russians will have a very strong 2010 class, that's no secret. Kirill Kabanov and Maxim Kitsyn have been on the radar for a while now and Vladamir Tarasenko followed up his impressive WJAC last November with another strong effort in Fargo. All 3 should be considered 1st rounders for 2010.

(Photos Courtesy: Everett Silvertips, Sport1.de)

Top 5 Tuesdays: U18 Opportunists

Now what I'm talking about here are players involved in this year's U18s currently underway in Fargo-Moorehead who can elevate their 2009 draft stock a great deal by the way they play in this tournament.

I'm not talking about Magnus Svensson-Pääjärvi who might jump from top 8 to top 4... I'm talking about players who are outside the first round, perhaps not even rated right now by Central or ISS, who could parlay a big tournament into getting taken a couple rounds earlier than previously expected, or simply drafted at all.

Got that straight? OK, here we go...

#5 Toni Rajala - Finland

Nobody is really talking about the Finns this year because their really big names are going to be eligible for next year's NHL draft in 2010, that and the Swedes are so strong this year that the rest of Europe looks rather weak by comparison.

Toni Rajala is one of the very few Finns who are considered top 2 round quality this year. At 5'10 and 165 lbs though he's going to have to have a pretty impressive performance at Fargo to standout from the 2010 guys on his own team and get some spotlight of his own. So far he's kind of done that with a team high 5 points in 2 games. Flashback a year ago and some thought he could be a top-10 prospect and last month ISS, who have him ranked 39th overall right now, had this to say about him:

"Regarded as one of the most talented players to come out of Finland in some time, Rajala has put up consistent scoring numbers as an underage player at every level, including internationally. A dominant perimeter player, Rajala could jump back into the favour of NHL GMs with another of those performances at this April’s World U18 Championship."

#4 Robin Soudek - Czech Republic

Soudek played for the Edmonton Oil Kings in the WHL this past year and was not a player who caught attention on most nights. Every once in a while he would show a bunch of hustle that would raise an eyebrow but he could not sustain much from game to game. He was much better in March than he was in November though and I like Europeans who are better in the second half as opposed to the first which is what the stereotype is - Euros fade after the mid point of a North American season because of the heavy game schedule.

At the U18's so far the Czechs have been pretty disappointing. They pushed Canada but are still fell short and sit 1-3 with losses also coming to Germany and Sweden. For his part, Robin Soudek appears to be holding his own. He actually has a couple points which is more than fellow countryman Andrej Nestrasil who is ranked 67th by both ISS and Central Scouting. Soudek meanwhile, isn't ranked by either scouting group so anything he can do at this tournament that leads to his name being heard on June 26/27th would have to be considered a huge success.

#3 Sweden - Everyone


OK, it's a cop out, I know. But the Swedes are so freakin' intriguing this year that you can't just overlook them but at the same time, all 5 players on my list could have been Swedes! Passing over the big names like Svensson-Pääjärvi (3rd), Ekman-Larsson (23rd) and Josefson (10th) there are a bunch of guys who could vault into the first round because of the way they play in front of the North American scouts this week.

Carl Klingberg is one such guy. He's 6'3 and 205 lbs so you know the scouts are all over him because of his size but he's putting up points too. So far he's got 2 goals and 2 helpers in 3 games. ISS currently has Klingberg just outside the first round sitting in the 33rd spot.

How about Anton Lander who ISS has ranked 40th right now? He's not as big as Klingberg but he might be more offensive minded as he's got a whopping 8 points already, second only to Mr. Paajarvi's 10.

And don't forget about netminder Robin Lehner who TPS first started telling you about last Christmas but is really starting to generate discussion lately. He's the 3rd best goalie available this year according to ISS (March) but I'm hearing people say that Frolunda's Lehner isn't much different than Jacob Markstrom who went early in the second round to Florida last June and was recently rated the best goalie prospect in the world by The Hockey News. Lehner is 6'4 and 220 lbs... I won't be surprised at all if he's ends up being the first goalie drafted this year.

#2 Kevin Lynch - USA


ISS has Lynch ranked 82nd overall while Central Scouting had him slotted 83rd just in North America in their mid-term rankings. Lynch plays with the US-NTDP with a bunch of guys who are mentioned a lot more often than he is. However, right now in Fargo he's outscoring every one of those guys with a team high 9 points in 3 games. He's got 4 points more than anyone else on his team including guys like Jeremy Morin and Drew Shore, both are top-20 ranked players. Hell, his 5 goals are as much as any teammate has in points.

Lynch is 6'1 and just shy on 190 lbs so he's got decent size. If you're looking for a player who is making a name for himself at the U18s... this has to be the guy for the Americans at least.

#1 Byron Froese - Canada

He's unranked by ISS and Central Scouting has him way back at #102 in North America but Byron Froese is really coming out of the pack lately. A source in Everett told me a while ago that not only would he make Canada's U18 team ahead of Silvertips rookie leading scorer Kellan Tochkin but that Frose would get drafted ahead of him too. Tochkin is ranked 137th overall by ISS but I think it's safe to say that Froese is going to skyrocket up the chart from unranked to top 100.

In Fargo, Froese has a team high 6 points, tied with underage John McFarland and TPS guest blogger Ethan Werek. He's 6' and 178lbs but Froese is a tenacious character player that isn't limited to playing a checking role because he can also put up points. His 57 points were more than Landon Ferraro (55), Carter Ashton (50), Ryan Howse (44) and Cody Eakin (48) who are all considered top 2 round prospects.