Category: NHL Draft Pick

06Mar

Jake Evans (71)

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Montreal Canadiens‘ 7th round pick in the 2014 draft (#207 overall), 4th year center Jake Evans(71) gets a new 3-year deal to continue his progress with the Le-Bleu-Blanc-Rogue.

He skated a career high 47 NHL games last seasons, scoring 3 goals and 10 assists with a +2 rating to earn his new $1.7M AAV deal .

The former University Of Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward was a big scorer as senior team captain (46 points in 40 games) and also reached the 40-point mark as a junior.

He was also a point-per-game player in two years of juniors for St. Michael’s Buzzers and won the 2013 OJHL Championship in his first campaign there.

The 25-year old hopes to be just getting started.

This season he is flirting with career high numbers and is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the current session, so the only team he’s ever suited up for offers him 4-years at $2.8M AAV to stay and he will continue to wear the Canadiens‘ colors.

02Mar

Logan Neaton (31)

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Winnipeg Jets‘ 5th round pick in the 2019 draft (#144 overall) goaltender Logan Neaton(31) isn’t finding enough space in the cage for UMass Lowell Riverhawks, so after two tries goes through the transfer portal to commit to Miami University (Ohio) Redhawks for 2021/2022.

The large 6’4″ 205 lbs. net minder maybe wasn’t able to settle in Hockey East play after putting up stellar numbers, first for Fairbanks Ice Dogs of the NAHL, then even better with Prince George Spruce Kings going 32-8-5 with a league best 1.92 GAA, then posting a 16-1 mark with a 1.46 GAA and .940 SV% en route to a 2019 BCHL Championship.

He also had shutdown numbers at his local Brighton High USHS-MI.

The 22-year old may just need the belief he can play the minutes and backstop wins.

For his rookie season, he bounces around some ECHL teams to arrive at Kalamazoo Wings with a deal for 2024/2025.

Allen Americans are struggling some, so trade to bring him in to hopefully solidify the starter’s role with the team.

He continued to move and ended up with Kansas City Mavericks, where in 1 start he didn’t post the win, but had a 2.08 GAA and .938 SV%.

4 times moved with little starts and he goes to Indy Fuel, who hopefully look to use him a bit more.

01Mar

Seth Helgeson (2)

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9th year, veteran defenseman Seth Helgeson(2) recently appeared in his 500th AHL game with 5th year club, Bridgeport Islanders.

The 6’4″ 216 lbs. blue liner was originally a New Jersey Devils‘ 4th round pick in the 2009 draft (#114 overall) and played in their system for his first 4 seasons.

He skated his only games in the big league with the team and even got a 1st NHL goal in his 44th appearance, where he also had 3 assists and almost oddly a +1 rating.

The former 4-year University Of Minnesota Golden Gophers‘ d-man has never been a big point scorer, but does have 2 goals in the current frame.

If he adds another one, he will have a career high 3.

He’s 3 times had 10+ assists in the league and twice close.

The 31-year old has done well for himself and it’s a bit of wonder if he doesn’t go exploring for his next contract, just for some different kind of fun in the game.

For 2022/2023, he re-signs to stay in Connecticut another season.

He will return to captain the little Islanders for a 7th straight run.

It took him a minute, but he will return on a pto for a 8th season in a little Islanders‘ jersey, but you got to figure, unless he decides not to, he will sign.

And 7 games in, he officially re-signs.

14Feb

Ben Blood (89)

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11th year defenseman Ben Blood(89) is enjoying a 7th season playing at the highest level possible in Finland, once again with the 1st team he laced them up for after coming over, Pelicans of Liiga.

In 5 games this season he has an assist, but is a +3 rating.

The very big 6’4″ 227 lbs. blue liner isn’t really known for putting up the points, only three times doing decent, once for half a session in Norway, one where he is and last year, he had a fairly good showing in IceHL for Graz99ers.

From Plymouth, MN, the University Of North Dakota Fighting Hawks‘ graduate was originally an Ottawa Senators‘ 4th round pick in the 2007 draft (#120 overall).

The 33-year old is still playing a decent game of hockey, so if he doesn’t have anything nagging will likely continue for awhile.

After 7 years of playing Finnish hockey, he decides to jump for a season in DEL with Lowen Frankfurt, which should prove to be a very good fit.

Looks like he misses Finland and re-signs with the 1st team he suited up for overseas and 1 he skated fr just last season, Pelicans.

At 35-years old, he takes a minute to figure his next move and decides to sign with Jokerit tier 2 Mestis club for the remainder of the frame.

03Feb

Slava Demin (20)

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Vegas Golden Knights‘ 4th round pick in the 2018 draft (#99 overall), Merrimack College Warriors‘ graduate defenseman Slava Demin(20) decided on skating a 5th season on his 2nd transfer, this time from UMass Minutemen.

He was initially at University Of Denver Pioneers for 3 years.

The 22-year old from Santa Clara, CA did 2 seasons with Wenatchee Wild and won a 2018 BCHL Championship.

With 3 goals and 10 assists this season, he’s close to coming up with college career highs for himself.

There’s little doubt, he’s an interesting watch.

He finishes up a fantastic season in North Andover, MA and waits it out, but signs for his rookie year 2023/2024 with Allen Americans, which should prove to be a very good fit.

After 23 ECHL games, recording 5 assists, but a woeful -15, he gets shipped to Florida Everblades, which should turn out to be a good landing spot.

He does manage to turn his game around quite nicely, getting 2 goals and 5 assists in 28 games with a +13 rating.

Fort Wayne Komets see the upside in his game and trade to pull him into their lineup.

He has a mostly inconsistent game, bouncing between 3 different teams, but Idaho Steelheads know what the upside is and trade for him in 2024/2025 that should work well for both parties.

In 19 games, with only 4 assists and a -2 rating, he finds himself dished to the new Tahoe Knight Monsters, where we think he’s fortunes will improve.

28Jan

Jack Drury (72)

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Carolina Hurricanes‘ rookie center Jack Drury(72) scores a first recall for his debut and pots a first NHL goal in the process to help the win.

Who had those odds?

The 5’11” 174 lbs. forward skated 23 shifts for 16:05 of ice time with 4 shots, 2 hits, 2 blocks and 2 penalty minutes, leaving the contest with +1 rating.

He’ll easily always where his former school, Harvard University Crimson on his sleeve.

As a rookie, playing in the AHL for affiliate Chicago Wolves, he wins himself a 2022 Calder Cup Championship with very good numbers.

He would split duties for just 1 more frame before becoming full-time in the show, where 8 goals and 19 assists in 74 games with a +4 rating, then adding another 5 points in 11 playoff matchups with a +7.

The restricted free agent picks himself up a nice 2-year deal to stay in a Hurricanes‘ sweater, moving forward through at least 2025/2026.

In an epic deal, he is traded to Colorado Avalanche, where in his debut, he scores a 1st goal with the team.

18Jan

Wade Murphy (6)

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6th year right wing Wade Murphy(6) returns to sign with Idaho Steelheads for 2022/2023 after spending the last 3 seasons of pandemic madness away in Norway, Austria and Slovenia, where he managed to capture that country’s 2022 league championship.

The 6′ 194 lbs. forward has 120 games of ECHL experience with decent scoring, but definitely could flatten that +/-.

Originally a Nashville Predators’ 7th round pick in the 2013 draft (#185 overall), he was never signed after an outstanding junior season based on his early college numbers.

He graduated after a 2 season transfer to Arizona State University Sun Devils from University Of North Dakota Fighting Hawks with a college career best 9 goals and 11 assists.

The 28-year old from Victoria, BC is a big frame that should be able to score goals almost at will we the right team in this league.

He takes a career high by a mile frame, scoring 21 goals and 22 assists in 54 games with a +38 rating to 20 playoff match ups and another 20 point total.

It’s an absolute no brainer that he receives a new contract to continue wearing a Steelheads‘ jersey for 2023/2024.

He is taking career scoring bests goals, assists, points with him for another foray to test his skills overseas in the tough to play Slovak Extraliga and signs with HC Slovan Bratislava for 2024/2025 and we think does very well here.

Limited to only 10 games last season, he scored 6 goals and 2 assists with a +5 rating and will next skate in the same league for HK Poprad in 2024/2025.

He is seemingly doing ok over there for a couple different teams, but has decided to return to strap on an Idaho jersey yet again.

13Jan

Anders Bjork (10)

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7th year left wing Anders Bjork(10) signs an AHL deal with Rockford Icehogs for 2023/2024, you have to wonder if it’s under the radar of Chicago Blackhawks, who obtained him close to the trade deadline last season and he came through with a tidy 2 goals and 6 assists in 13 NHL games with a +4 rating.

The former Boston Bruins‘ 5th round pick in the 2014 draft (#146 overall) has skated 225 games in the big league.

He was with them for 3.5 years before getting traded to Buffalo Sabres, where he stayed for roughly 2 years, but was bumped down for most of last campaign.

The 3-year University Of Notre Dame Fighting Irish from Mequon, WI scored of 21 goals and 31 assists in 39 games as a junior left 1 year on the table, but where he is could even return online to finish up.

He’s still just 27-years old.

Unrestricted free agent, he late signs with Milwaukee Admirals, where he definitely should start helping them.

09Jan

Chris Pelosi (28)

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Quinnipiac University Bobcats‘ freshman center Chris Pelosi(28) is a Boston Bruins‘ 3rd round pick in the 2023 draft (#92 overall) and has a healthy 4 goals and 3 assists in 17 games with a +5 rating.

The plays big 6’1″ 181 lbs. forward had an impressive 2nd USHL season of juniors, scoring 21 goals and 34 assists in 56 games before school.

From Seawall, NJ, the 19-year old looks set to score an NHL entry level deal when he’s ready.