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Brock Boeser keeps scoring summer-league goals but gets no love from NBC |
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Did you happen to catch any of Monday's livestream from Da Beauty League?
Brock Boeser barely left the ice as his Team Bic overcame a 6-1 deficit to tie their game against Tradition 6-6 before ultimately losing thanks to Jake Guentzel's winning goal.
Bic had Alex Stalock back in net after a one-week absence but iced just 10 skaters. With both Casey Mittelstadt and Derek Stepan out of the lineup on Monday, Bic was missing its two best centres; the team's only NHL skaters were Boeser and defenseman Nate Schmidt.
Boeser took matters into his own hands to fuel the comeback, finishing the night with two goals and three assists including this stunner:
Boeser now has 27 points in six games. He still hasn't scored fewer than four points in a game and maintains his overall lead in the league scoring standings, four points ahead of Tradition's Brock Nelson.
Despite three straight losses, Bic is guaranteed to make the league playoffs next week. Their 4-3 record ties them with Walser for second place with eight points, with four of six teams advancing.
Tria and Tradition are tied for fourth spot with six points each—and they'll play each other in the regular-season finale on Wednesday, so one of those two teams will be left on the outside next week. Bic finishes up its regular season on Wednesday at 4:45 p.m. PT against Walser, after beating them 7-4 back on July 25.
Despite his summer-league heroics, Boeser's star still isn't shining bright enough stateside to earn the Vancouver Canucks a spot on U.S. national television during the upcoming NHL season. Though NBC is trying to get more young stars on its broadcasts and will increase its coverage of Canadian teams like Edmonton, Toronto and Winnipeg on its 2018-19 broadcast schedule in an effort to reverse sagging regular-season ratings, Vancouver and Ottawa are the two teams that were left off the list that was released Monday.
More details in my Forbes story here:
As well as Boeser, Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall, Calder winner Mat Barzal and future Norris winner Seth Jones also failed to draw much attention from the NBC programmers for their respective teams.
Personally, my interest in the Islanders has kicked back up a notch since seeing the impressive Noah Dobson do his thing at the World Junior Showcase in Kamloops. Dobson signed his entry-level contract with the Islanders on Monday. With his talent, the Islanders' lack of defensive depth and the team's need to sell some hope in the wake of John Tavares' departure, I expect Dobson will be given every chance to stick with the big club—and I think he could do it.
Man-child Aaron Ekblad was listed at 6'3" and 213 pounds when he made the jump straight from junior to the Florida Panthers in 2014—and went on to win the Calder Trophy. Dobson was listed 36 pounds lighter at a much leaner 6'3" and 177 pounds when he was drafted.
Dressed in the Team Canada-issue Nike T-shirt and shorts when I spoke with him after Canada's win over Sweden on August 2, Dobson didn't look especially wiry as he spoke about the Islanders' instructions for him to build strength this offseason. His new bosses, Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz, are not exactly known for rushing young players into NHL lineups, but Dobson's rocket-speed development trajectory over the last year make him worth watching through training camp and preseason.
If Dobson does stick with the Islanders, he might not be available to Team Canada for the World Junior tournament this Christmas. Ekblad wasn't released by the Panthers in his rookie season—he played 81 NHL games before joining the men's team in Prague, where he won a gold medal at the World Championship.
Dobson is on Craig Button's projected Canadian roster, released today, and so is prodigy Alexis Lafreniere, who was outstanding in last week's Hlinka Gretzky Cup. But one name from the World Junior Showcase is noticeably absent for Canucks fans: hard-hitting defenseman Jett Woo.
Button gave me a scare when goaltender Michael DiPietro's name didn't appear on his list, but it looks like TSN has made an update that now includes him as starter. Thanks, Classic321, for pointing this out!
Chosen 64th by the Canucks in 2017, DiPietro was drafted eight spots ahead of Matthew Villalta, then went on to outplay him in the OHL last season. DiPietro posted a .910 save percentage and 2.79 goals-against average in 56 games with Windsor in 2017-18 and was named the OHL's goaltender of the year, while Villalta boasted the OHL's best goals-against average at 2.58 but had a .908 save percentage.
DiPietro was also the only goalie who received any media shine from Hockey Canada during the Kamloops tournament.
Button's also projecting that Olivier Rodrigue will make the team. Drafted 62nd in 2018, Rodrigue just turned 18 in July and has a lot of physical development ahead of him—at 6'1" and 156 pounds, he's talented but skinny!
Canada's fourth goaltender in Kamloops was Matthew Welsh of the QMJHL's Charlottetown Islanders. He's just 5'11", turned 19 in July and has now gone undrafted twice, so I don't expect him to be a factor in final roster selections. At 6'3", Villalta is built more like a modern-day NHL goaltender than the 6'0" DiPietro. At worst, I expect DiPietro will fight it out with Villalta for the starter's job in Vancouver this Christmas.
As I've said before, I don't think a World Junior roster spot is close to guaranteed for Jett Woo, though his physical play does bring a different dimension to the Canadian blue line. If a player like Dobson does become unavailable because he's in the NHL, or injuries open up roster spots, or if coach Tim Hunter simply stays true to his roots as a player and makes an effort to ice a gritty team, Woo's odds of making the team will increase.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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