Buckle up—Hockey Christmas is here!
It's Draft Lottery day, starting at 4 p.m. on Sportsnet. NBC is listing their broadcast time for the event as 8:00 Eastern, which is 5:00 Pacific, so I'm expecting a long scene-set and preamble before the draft order is finally revealed just before puck drop of the Washington/Pittsburgh game. Given the dismal playoff ratings that Sportsnet is enduring this spring, they'll need to milk this event for all it's worth.
For all our dreams about the Canucks reeling in a top three pick, the chance of that happening is not all that great.
Here's the final chart with all the lottery teams' odds:
My advice? Brace yourself for fifth, but leave open the possibiity that something better might come along. Fifth should still be a strong enough position to acquire a very good player.
Sportsnet's Dan Murphy spoke to Jim Benning a couple of days ago. As usual, he's pretty candid about his thought process.
Benning says he sees this year's top three as players who'd be able to make the jump straight into the NHL in 2016-17, while the players just below them will need a little more time for development.
While he says the team's amateur scouting meetings are still coming up, he states definitively that they have one defenceman ranked in that 4-6 range "and if he's there, we take him."
That statement's almost tantalizing enough for me to want to see it happen. Finland's Olli Juolevi, Russian Mikhail Sergachev of the OHL's Windsor Spitfires and Canadian Jakob Chychrun of the Sarnia Sting have variously been identified as the best defencemen available this year, although it seems that, like his fellow Finns, Juolevi's stock has risen as the season has worn on.
Anyway—nobody has to say right now who they're going to select. It all comes down to the lucky ping-pong balls today.
A couple of reminders going into the main event:
• For the first time ever, the top three positions will all be randomly selected from among the 14 teams that missed the playoffs.
• That means, as the league's 30th place team, the Toronto Maple Leafs have the best chance of anyone of getting a top three pick. There's a 53 percent chance that they will—but there's also a 47 percent chance that they won't see their number drawn, and will end up picking fourth. In other words:
Maybe Arizona or Buffalo will hit the jackpot tonight after getting bumped by the Oilers in the Connor McDavid sweepstakes last year?
Canucks Sign Michael Garteig
There's only so much that a team can do to prepare for a random draw, so in addition to courting University of North Dakota free agent Drake Caggiula during his visit to Vancouver this week, Canucks management also dropped a surprise announcement on Friday that they had inked college free-agent goaltender Michael Garteig to a one-year entry-level contract.
Contract details are yet to be confirmed but
General Fanager has put Garteig down for the maximum allowable salary for now. As they put it, "Contract estimated based on maximum allowable entry level contract. Details to be confirmed." That's a two-way deal for $925,000 in the NHL and $70,000 in the AHL, plus a signing bonus of $92,500.
Now 24, Prince George native Garteig had an excellent senior year with No. 1 ranked Quinnipiac in the ECAC, going 32-4-7 with a 1.91 goals-against average and .924 save percentage.
He outdueled Thatcher Demko as his Bobcats beat Demko's Boston College Eagles 3-2 in the Frozen Four semifinal before losing 5-1 to Brock Boeser's North Dakota team in the final.
After being college rivals for the last three seasons, now Demko and Garteig will now be competing side-by-side on their road to the NHL.
Like Troy Stecher, who signed with the Canucks earlier this month, Garteig's a B.C. boy who's thrilled for the opportunity to be a part of the organization that he grew up cheering for.
As for Garteig's expectations of where he ends up next year?
Next year's goaltending situation in Utica is a bit up-in-the-air. Incumbent Richard Bachman is signed for one more year on a one-way contract that pays him $575,000, while Joe Cannata will become a Group VI unrestricted free agent on July 1.
The simple solution would be for Bachman and Thatcher Demko to share duties with the Comets next year. My guess is that the organization is hoping that signing Garteig will create more of that "internal competition for jobs" that Jim Benning likes to talk about.
At the ECHL level this season, 33-year-old veteran Joel Martin carried most of the load, including all playoff games, while Clay Witt, who we saw at last summer's Young Stars tournament, went 2-7-0 in 12 games, with a 3.80 goals-against average and .883 save percentage.
Based on that, I'd assume that the plan is to start Garteig at the ECHL level and see where things go from there. Given that he's four years older than Demko, maybe he'll adjust to the pro game more quickly—or, maybe his upside is a lot more limited.
One thing's for sure: with both Ryan Miller and Jacob Markstrom scheduled to become unrestricted free agents at the end of next season and Demko the only real prospect in the system, the Canucks' goaltending depth just got a whole lot better.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»