SB Nation - Winnipeg Jets

Arctic Ice Hockey's 2013 NHL Mock Draft: Pick #16

2013 NHL Draft: Arctic Ice Hockey's Winnipeg Jets' Community Draft Board 11-15

Potential Buy-Out Candidates: Southeast Division

Arctic Ice Hockey's 2013 NHL Mock Draft: Pick #13

Sabres Links: Panthers trade Brennan, Drew Miller re-signs, Byfuglien's weight issues

Evander Kane successfully undergoes foot surgery

2013 NHL Draft: Arctic Ice Hockey's Winnipeg Jets' Community Draft Board 6-10

Frederik Gauthier

Kerby Rychel

Washington Capitals

Carolina Hurricanes

Florida Panthers

Tampa Bay Lightning

Sabres Links

Around The League

Left Wing / Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL)

Winnipeg Jets

Left Wing / Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

More in the NHL:

Who will the Buffalo Sabres' select with the sixeenth overall pick of the 2013 NHL Draft?

Frederik Gauthier

Mirco Mueller

Alexander Wennberg

Valentin Zykov

Other (please specify in the comments section)

Instructions:

Friendly Reminders:

Who will the Winnipeg Jets' select with the thirteenth overall pick of the 2013 NHL Draft?

Frederik Gauthier

Anthony Mantha

Alexander Wennberg

Nikita Zadorov

Other (Please specify in the comments section)

Instructions:

Friendly Reminders:

TJ Maughan — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:00:05 -0000

Hey all! Welcome to another instalment of Arctic Ice Hockey's annual NHL Mock Draft.

Over the next thirty days, we will attempt to telepathically channel the minds of NHL General Managers as they complete their final rankings in preparation for the 2012 NHL Draft being held June 30, 2012 in Newark, NJ.

Without further adieu, we present our loyal readers with the sixteenth overall pick of Arctic Ice Hockey's 2013 Mock Draft.

Darcy Reiger: With the sixteenth overall selection in this years draft, the Buffalo Sabres' are pleased to select...

Height: 6-3

Weight: 193

Born: April 26, 1995

Hometown: Mascouche, PQ

Shoots: Left

Rankings: CSS (8 NA), ISS (18), TSN (21), Hockey Prospectus (31)

The Skinny: After taking a defenceman with their first pick, the Buffalo Sabres should be looking at a forward with their second pick -- acquired as part of the Jason Pommonville trade. With Gauthier they will get a steady, competent player with offensive upside.

Hockey Prospectus:

"Gauthier experienced an up-and-down campaign. He showed significant flashes, but also lapsed offensively for long stretches. He measures at 6'5", 214 pounds, has some offensive talent, and shows advanced play for his age. He is an above-average skater, well above-average for a player his size, as he has a real easiness to his stride. He exerts little effort in his pushoffs, and he picks up speed very well. He is very agile, given his size."

AIH Draft Board

Pick	Team	Player	Pos	Nationality	Amateur Club
1	Colorado Avalanche	Seth Jones	D	USA	Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
2	Florida Panthers	Jonathan Drouin	LW	CAN	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
3	Tampa Bay Lightning	Nathan MacKinnon	C	CAN	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
4	Nashville Predators	Aleksander Barkov	C	FIN	Tappara (SM-liiga)
5	Carolina Hurricanes	Sean Monahan	C	CAN	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
6	Calgary Flames	Hunter Shinkaruk	LW	CAN	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
7	Edmonton Oilers	Elias Lindholm	C	SWE	Brynas (Elitserien)
8	Buffalo Sabres	Darnell Nurse	D	CAN	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
9	New Jersey Devils	Bo Horvat	C	CAN	London Knights (OHL)
10	Dallas Stars	Valeri Nichushkin	RW	RUS	Chelyabinsk 2 (MHL)
11	Philadelphia Flyers	Rasmus Ristolainen	D	FIN	TPS (SM-liiga)
12	Phoenix Coyotes	Anthony Mantha	RW	CAN	Val d'Or Forreaurs (QMJHL)
13	Winnipeg Jets	Kerby Rychel	LW	CAN	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
14	Columbus Blue Jackets	Max Domi	C	CAN	London Knights (OHL)
15	New York Islanders	Alexander Wennberg	C	SWE	Djurgaden (Allsvenskan)
16	Buffalo Sabres	Frederik Gauthier	LW	CAN	Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL)

Community Draft Board

Pick	Team	Player	Pos	Nationality	Amateur Club
1	Colorado Avalanche	Seth Jones	D	USA	Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
2	Florida Panthers	Nathan MacKinnon	C	CAN	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
3	Tampa Bay Lightning	Jonathan Drouin	LW	CAN	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
4	Nashville Predators	Aleksander Barkov	C	FIN	Tappara (SM-liiga)
5	Carolina Hurricanes	Valeri Nichushkin	RW	RUS	Chelyabinsk 2 (MHL)
6	Calgary Flames	Sean Monahan	C	CAN	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
7	Edmonton Oilers	Darnell Nurse	D	CAN	Sault Ste. Marie Grehyounds (OHL)
8	Buffalo Sabres	Elias Lindholm	C	SWE	Brynas (Elitserien)
9	New Jersey Devils	Hunter Shinkaruk	LW	CAN	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
10	Dallas Stars	Bo Horvat	C	CAN	London Kinghts (OHL)
11	Philadelphia Flyers	Rasmum Ristolainen	D	FIN	TPS (SM-liiga)
12	Phoenix Coyotes	Max Domi	C	CAN	London Knights (OHL)
13	Winnipeg Jets	Anthony Mantha	RW	CAN	Val d'Or Forreurs (QMJHL)
14	Columbus Blue Jackets	Ryan Pulock	D	CAN	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
15	New York Islanders	Nikita Zadorov	D	RUS	London Knights (OHL)

Poll

11 votes

2 votes

18 votes

7 votes

6 votes

44 votes | Poll has closed

TJ Maughan — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:00:05 -0000

After week one, the results are in. With 22 votes being tallied, our AIH Big Board slots 6-10 are as follows:

Today, we continue with slots 16-20.

Use the spreadsheet below to rank the top five available players in this year's draft. Take into account each player's talent, value, need, and character into account when making your selections. If you wish to rank them in terms of "best player available" simply rank them as such, as is your wont.

Players will receive five (5) points for every first place vote, four (4) points for every second place vote, and so on. They will receive zero (0) points if they remain unranked. Total points from all ballots will be added, and the 5 players with the most points will be taken out of the pool of available players and put up on the big board.

This is not a mock draft. We are running an independent mock draft with community input in line with this endeavour.
Don't predict what Winnipeg will want to do with their pick, this is your chance to play armchair GM.
Assume that everyone you can vote for is available.
Don't worry about who other teams will draft.
Don't worry about who will available at the thirteenth overall selection.
Don't mind that everyone is a "quarterback"; this template was borrowed from our pals at Dawgs by Nature.
Please vote only once.

Happy draft boarding!

Mike Murphy "Dig Deep" — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 12:00:04 -0000

Here we are with the third installment of the players who could be bought-out by their respective teams with one of the two amnesty buy-outs each team is allowed to use during the next two offseasons. Let's hop right into the players that could find themselves looking for some floaties and goggles sooner then expected because they very well might be headed to the free agency pool (see what I did there?).

I present to you the buy-out candidates for the Southeast Division.

Note: I am ignoring the implications of whether or not a team can "afford" to buy out a player or not for the sake of debate and discussion about what players are good buy-out candidates.

Who Could be Bought-Out: Brooks Laich

Brooks Laich is now three seasons removed from the last time he eclipsed the twenty goal mark (or scored at that kind of pace considering the partial season this year). Laich, 29, has four years left on his contract and he takes up $4.5 million of cap space on a team that doesn't have a great deal of cap space to work with. The fact that Laich has been struggling with injuries isn't helping his case but he is a popular and respected player in Washington and I am not sure that we will see him bought out unless the Capitals find they are desperate for cap space and can stomach parting with the solid two-way forward.

Who Could be Bought-Out: Tuomo Ruutu

Ruutu, 30, has three years left on his deal with a cap hit of $4.75 million a year. Carolina went on a rampage to bring in and secure top six talent that has greatly diminished Ruutu's role and also his value to the team. Ruutu is just one more example of a guy who isn't bringing enough bang to the team for all the bucks he is being given. Carolina does have some cap space to work with but if they want to make another splash in the free agent market like they did last year they might want to consider using an amnesty buy-out on Ruutu because trading him and his contract is going to be a tall task with his NMC. Ruutu was banged up this past season and had 9 points in 17 games, the season before that he had just 34 points in 72 games played.

Who Could be Bought-Out: n/a

At the moment the Jets don't seem to have any albatross contracts that they might want to look into escaping from. Winnipeg only has valuable players like Tobias Enstrom, Evander Kane, Dustin Byfuglien, and Andrew Ladd locked up to long-term deals at the moment. I expect Winnipeg to make some waves in the free agency pool this offseason because they have quite a lot of cap room to work with. The biggest moves they can and should make this offseason are re-signing RFAs Zach Bogosian and Blake Wheeler to keep them around in Winnipeg for as long as possible.

Who Could be Bought-Out: Scottie Upshall, Ed Jovanovski

The Panthers signings and moves confuse me more than any other team in the league and that my friends is really saying something. Scottie Upshall has two years left on his contract at a cap hit of $3.5 million a year and has struggled to stay healthy and simply hasn't produced as a Panther. Ed Jovanovski is slow, injury-prone, and not the player that he used to be. Jovanovski has two more years left on his contract and he takes up $4.125 million a year of cap space. Brian Campbell's contract is also a big headache but he has been outstanding playing in Florida since coming over from Chicago in a trade two seasons ago. But if Campbell's play regresses next season I can see his name being discussed as an amnesty buy-out option considering he currently has three years left at about $7.14 million a year.

The Panthers are a team that will surprise me no matter what they do with their amnesty buy-outs. Trying to predict what the Panthers are going to do is just seems pointless because their moves and signings are just a little less chaotic than a cougar trapped in a car.

"That beautiful death machine will do what god made it to do..."

Who Could be Bought-Out: Vincent Lecavalier, Eric Brewer, Ryan Malone

I'm going to turn the analysis of who might be bought-out in Tampa over to the Raw Charge's Managing Editor John Fontana who had this to say when I asked him which Bolts could be bought-out and why:

You think buyouts and think of the Tampa Bay Lightning and the elephant that comes into the room is team captain Vincent Lecavalier. Lecavalier signed an 11 year $85 million contract extension in 2008 that took effect in 2009. It’s one of those diving contracts akin to Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo’s contract. It’s one of those deals that amnesty buyouts were created for – to rid the league of bad contracts.

Another Tampa Bay Lightning site, Bolt Prospects, gave a great write-up on moving Lecavalier and the complexities of the issue (that has been presented as a black-and-white issue by all too many reactionary bloggers and pundits). If Tampa Bay is looking to create cap space in the next two seasons, Vinny’s contract must be scrutinized as a buy-out candidate.

Another buyout candidate (and another contract was created in 2008) is left wing Ryan Malone. Malone only has another three seasons on his contract, and while the numbers are relatively reasonable when compared to the length and cap hit on Lecavalier’s contract.

But Malone’s cap hit along with his ability to find himself on IR more often than contribute on ice is reason enough to think he’d be a potential amnesty buyout target.

On defense, depending on what the intentions are for the club during the off-season, Eric Brewer disappointed greatly this past season and was seen as part of the problem to Tampa Bay’s heinous defense. An amnesty buyout would wipe a $3.875 million cap hit off the books for TB.

The lame duck contract on defense that the Lightning can’t buyout is Mattias Ohlund. Ohlund hasn’t played since 2011 due to knee issues (and radical reconstructive surgery). His career is basically over but you can’t buy out players that are on long term IR.

Wow, maybe I should have just asked John to write the entire series for me. He is good at this whole "writing words to talk about hockey thing".

I think Brewer is a strong candidate and Malone is certainly an intriguing one especially considering how often he is injured. Vinny is a very tough call and I am not sure we will see it this offseason but I might actually be surprised if he isn't bought out next season when he is 34 years old and still is signed until the End of Days.

So what do you think boys and girls? Am I forgetting someone from the Southeast Division? Are any of these players potential fits or fixes for our beloved Rangers? Which of these players (if they are bought out) have the best chance of success wearing a different jersey? Do you think Lecavalier is hitting free agency two offseasons from now like I do? Have at in in the comments.

Let's go Rangers.

Special Thanks to John Fontana. Please go read and visit Raw Charge to check out outstanding hockey writing and Tampa Bay Lightning coverage.

TJ Maughan — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:00:03 -0000

Hey all! Welcome to another instalment of Arctic Ice Hockey's annual NHL Mock Draft.

Without further adieu, we present our loyal readers with the thirteenth overall pick of Arctic Ice Hockey's 2013 Mock Draft.

Kevin Cheveldayoff: With the thirteenth overall selection in this years draft, the Winnipeg Jets' are pleased to select...

Height: 6-1

Weight: 205

Born: October 7, 1994

Hometown: Torrance, CA

Shoots: Left

Rankings: CSS (17 NA), ISS (20), TSN (27), Hockey Prospectus (44)

The Skinny: Coming off back-to-back forty goal seasons, Kerby Rychel is a player who has been lauded for his shot and scoring sense as well as the sandpaper aspect he brings to the game. With NHL bloodlines, Rychel is no doubt fits the TNSE mold and his two-way two-way game could evolve him into a quality top-six option.

Hockey Prospectus:

"Rychel, the son of former NHL player Warren Rychel, has been a productive OHL forward the past two seasons, averaging over a point per game during that span. He has above-average puck skills, good offensive instincts, and a great shot. While he has good skill, I would not define him as a creative player. The Spitfires used him on the right point of their power play, where he was free to unleash his big one-timer. He can be effective in front of the net, as he has good hand-eye coordination, and a quality power game that helps him establish body position. He projects as a good secondary scoring option, with skill and physicality adding to his value. His skating is roughly average; he has some poor mechanics, but decent speed. He also needs to work on his defensive game."

AIH Draft Board

Pick	Team	Player	Pos	Nationality	Amateur Club
1	Colorado Avalanche	Seth Jones	D	USA	Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
2	Florida Panthers	Jonathan Drouin	LW	CAN	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
3	Tampa Bay Lightning	Nathan MacKinnon	C	CAN	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
4	Nashville Predators	Aleksander Barkov	C	FIN	Tappara (SM-liiga)
5	Carolina Hurricanes	Sean Monahan	C	CAN	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
6	Calgary Flames	Hunter Shinkaruk	LW	CAN	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
7	Edmonton Oilers	Elias Lindholm	C	SWE	Brynas (Elitserien)
8	Buffalo Sabres	Darnell Nurse	D	CAN	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
9	New Jersey Devils	Bo Horvat	C	CAN	London Knights (OHL)
10	Dallas Stars	Valeri Nichushkin	RW	RUS	Chelyabinsk 2 (MHL)
11	Philadelphia Flyers	Rasmus Ristolainen	D	FIN	TPS (SM-liiga)
12	Phoenix Coyotes	Anthony Mantha	RW	CAN	Val d'Or Forreaurs (QMJHL)
13	Winnipeg Jets	Kerby Rychel	LW	CAN	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)

Community Draft Board

Pick	Team	Player	Pos	Nationality	Amateur Club
1	Colorado Avalanche	Seth Jones	D	USA	Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
2	Florida Panthers	Nathan MacKinnon	C	CAN	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
3	Tampa Bay Lightning	Jonathan Drouin	LW	CAN	Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)
4	Nashville Predators	Aleksander Barkov	C	FIN	Tappara (SM-liiga)
5	Carolina Hurricanes	Valeri Nichushkin	RW	RUS	Chelyabinsk 2 (MHL)
6	Calgary Flames	Sean Monahan	C	CAN	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
7	Edmonton Oilers	Darnell Nurse	D	CAN	Sault Ste. Marie Grehyounds (OHL)
8	Buffalo Sabres	Elias Lindholm	C	SWE	Brynas (Elitserien)
9	New Jersey Devils	Hunter Shinkaruk	LW	CAN	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
10	Dallas Stars	Bo Horvat	C	CAN	London Kinghts (OHL)
11	Philadelphia Flyers	Rasmum Ristolainen	D	FIN	TPS (SM-liiga)
12	Phoenix Coyotes	Max Domi	C	CAN	London Knights (OHL)

Poll

14 votes

16 votes

10 votes

15 votes

6 votes

61 votes | Poll has closed

Jack N. Goods — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 13:00:09 -0000

The all-time best Sabres picks [Two In The Box]
West Seneca's Sean Malone is slated to be a third round pick [Sabres TV]

The first day of the NHL Awards was a busy one [TSN]
Former Sabre T.J. Brennan traded to the Predators [TSN]
Drew Miller signs three year extension with Detroit [NHL.com]
Dustin Byfuglien topped at 300 pounds this season [Winnipeg Free Press]
Coyotes have mystery buyer? [Arizona Central]

Matt Brigidi — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:57:48 -0000

Winnipeg Jets forward Evander Kane successfully underwent surgery on his left foot on Thursday morning, the team announced via the twitter account of corporate communications director Scott Brown.

Kane underwent the procedure to alleviate stress on a nerve in his foot. He is expected to need four to six weeks of recovery time, which should allow him to enter training camp without any issue. Prior to Thursday's announcement, the extent of Kane's foot injury was unknown.

General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff stated in May that Kane had been dealing with the issue toward the end of the season but did not indicate that surgery would be necessary, via the Winnipeg Sun:

"The one game where he missed pre-game warmup, he was getting his foot worked on well into the warmup to ensure that he could play. He's not the only one. Mark Stuart played with a significant abdomen injury the whole time. He's going to have to get checked as well."

In addition to his foot, Kane was dealing with a wrist issue. It was ultimately determined that the issue did not require surgery.

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TJ Maughan — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:00:07 -0000

After week one, the results are in. With 44 votes being tallied, our AIH Big Board slots 6-10 are as follows:

Player Name	1st place votes	2nd place votes	3rd place votes	4th place votes	5th place votes	Total points
Sean Monahan, C, Ottawa 67's	23	14	2	1	1	180
Elias Lindholm, C, Brynas	12	9	3	5	0	115
Darnell Nurse, D, Sault Ste. Marie	4	10	6	4	2	88
Hunter Shinkaruk, LW, Medicine Hat Tigers	2	2	9	8	7	68
Rasmus Ristolainen, D, TPS	0	2	11	2	6	51

Today, we continue with slots 11-15.

Player Name

1st place votes

2nd place votes

3rd place votes

4th place votes

5th place votes

Total points

Max Domi, C, London Knights

Bo Horvat, C, London Knights

Nikita Zadorov, D, London Knights

Anthony Mantha, RW, Val d'Or Forreuers

Adam Erne, LW, Quebec Remparts

This is not a mock draft. We are running an independent mock draft with community input in line with this endeavour.
Don't predict what Winnipeg will want to do with their pick, this is your chance to play armchair GM.
Assume that everyone you can vote for is available.
Don't worry about who other teams will draft.
Don't worry about who will available at the thirteenth overall selection.
Don't mind that everyone is a "quarterback"; this template was borrowed from our pals at Dawgs by Nature.
Please vote only once.

Happy draft boarding!