QUICK HITS: JUNE 21, 2018
1) With the exceptions of Ian Laperriere winning the Masterton Trophy in 2010-11 and Bill Barber winning the Jack Adams Award in 2000-01, no Flyer has won an NHL Award since Eric Lindros claimed the Hart Trophy in 1995. That streak continued for another year, but Sean Couturier finished second in the Selke Trophy balloting.
Claude Giroux finished a distant fourth overall for the Hart Trophy but was very narrowly edged out by Anze Kopitar for a "finalist" spot. Giroux was named to a second-team NHL All-Star at left wing. The last Flyer to be named a postseason All-Star was Jakub Voracek's first-team right wing selection in 2014-15. The last Flyer to named to any postseason award was Shayne Gostisbehere's NHL All-Rookie Team selection at defense for the 2015-16 season.
This year, Gostisbehere finished 10th in the Norris Trophy voting, but Ivan Provorov did not get even one point (i.e., so much as a single fifth-place vote) in the balloting. Wayne Simmonds was a nominee for the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award but the award's namesake, who personally selects the winner from among three NHL-chosen candidates, chose Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland as this year's winner.
Giroux also finished ninth in the balloting for the Lady Byng Trophy (NHL's most gentlemanly player) with 123 points including six for first-place. Gostisbehere tied for 47th with a fifth-place vote. The highest finish in franchise history for that award was Mikael Renberg's fourth-place finish in 1995.
Additionally, Giroux received one third-place vote for the Selke Trophy; he placed tied for 16th.
Ron Hextall received one first-place vote for the General Manager of the Year Award. Dave Hakstol got a pair of third-place votes for the Jack Adams.
For more on the specific point totals the Flyers candidates received in the balloting,
click here.
2) The NHL contingent now moves on from Las Vegas to Dallas for the NHL Draft. Although the first round of the Draft is on Friday, there are numerous pre-Draft activities scheduled for Thursday. Most notably, a group of the top prospects expected to be selected in the top 10 of this year's Draft will conduct a youth hockey clinic, along with Stars captain Jamie Benn, at the Dr. Pepper StarCenter facility in the Dallas suburb of Farmer's Branch, TX. There's also a Big Brothers/ Big Sisters ball hockey game later in the day, featuring Tyler Seguin.
On Wednesday, there was a grand opening event for the brand-new Texas Hockey History Center and Alumni Center at the rink in Farmer's Branch. Several Dallas Stars Alumni Association members, including goaltender Ed Belfour and forwards Jere Lehtinen, Vern Fiddler and Bob Bassen will be attending the event to help unveil the new Dallas Stars Alumni Locker Room as well as the Texas Hockey History Center, which celebrates the history of the game of hockey in the Lone Star State.
3) The tallest, the smallest and youngest: One of more interesting late-round Draft candidates this season is Windsor Spitfires (OHL) center Curtis Douglas. The 6-foot-8, 245-pounder has a chance to become the tallest player selected in the NHL Draft since the New York Islanders selected Zdeno Chara in the third round of the 1996 Draft. Douglas had 22 goals and 46 points split between the Barrie Colts and Windsor this past season.
At the other extreme, middle-round candidate Ruslan Iskhakov could be the smallest player chosen in this year's Draft, at 5-foot-8 and 155 pounds. A shifty little playmaking center, Iskhakov played this past season at the MHL (junior hockey) level in Russia. Only slightly bigger is 5-foot-9, 170 pound Finnish winger Niklas Nordgren, a star at the U18 World Championships (eight goals, 10 points) who dressed in 15 Liiga games this season (three assists) for the HIFK men's team. Nordgren is generally projected to be selected in the second round of this year's Draft.
The youngest player in this year's Draft class is Czech forward Jan Jenik. Had he been born a single day later, he would have missed the Sept. 15, 2000 birthday cutoff for eligibility and would have had to wait until next year's Draft to be selected. A skilled but raw 6-foot-1, 165-pound right winger, Jenik played pro hockey this past season, albeit in the weak Czech Div. 1 level, and held his own (11 points in 30 games for HC Benatky nad Jizerou. Jenik represented the Czech Republic at the U18 Worlds and was selected by his coach as one of the top 3 players on his team.
There are two notable first-time eligible players for this year's Draft who were born a day too late for 2017 Draft eligibility (i.e., born Sept. 16, 1999). The first, of course, is projected top 10 pick Brady Tkachuk. The other is Sudbury Wolves (OHL) center/winger David Levin. Levin is a skilled stickhandler with good hands but who is considered solely a late-round candidate due to question marks over his skating/pacing, hockey sense, defensive play and competitiveness.
4) On Tuesday, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms announced that they had re-signed veteran captain Colin McDonald as well as rookie defenseman David Drake to American Hockey League contracts for the 2018-19 season.
5) Today in Flyers History: On June 21, 2002, the Flyers traded left winger Ruslan Fedotenko and a pair of 2002 second-round picks to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for the fourth overall pick of the 2002 NHL Draft. The Flyers selected Finnish defenseman Joni Pitkänen.
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