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Move Over, Vesey. Here Comes Di Pauli

July 28, 2016, 6:22 PM ET [12 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Updated:

I have a confession to make.

I've typed the name "Jimmy Vesey" far too many times than I care to mention in the past five months.

Last week, I told myself to dial down my Jimmy Vesey watch.

ESPN's Craig Custance reminded me this week that Vesey is not the only college free agent who will be switching allegiances from the team that drafted him on August 15.

Italian born Thomas Di Pauli was the fourth round selection of Washington Capitals in 2012.

Di Pauli will not sign with the Capitals before the August 15 deadline and he will become an unrestricted free agent.

Like Vesey, Di Pauli is free to sign his NHL entry-level contract with a team other than the Washington Capitals.

Who is Thomas Di Pauli?

He was born in Italy and moved to the United States when he was 12 to play for the Chicago Mission Midget Program.

With USA Hockey, Di Pauli was a two-time invitee to the U.S. National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid, New York (2012 and 2013).
• Spent two seasons with USA Hockey's National Team Developmental Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
• Served as an alternate captain with the Under-18 team in 2011-12 scoring 10 goals with 11 assists for 21 points.
• Picked up 22 penalty minutes in 55 games.
• Member of gold-medal winning team at the Under-18 World Championships.
• Served as co-captain of the Under-17 team in 2010-11, when he had seven goals and 20 assists for 27 points in 49 games.
• Helped his team to the gold medal at the 2011 Under-18 Vlad Dzurilla tournament, recording three assists.
• Member of Under-17 World Hockey Challenge team that won the silver medal in 2010 portion of the season.





He's not the biggest player in U.S. college hockey, however, he may be the fiercest competitor on NCAA rinks. The kid scrubs the walls and can motor through all three zones. He's not easy to knock off pucks and he is a deft passer.


In 145 career games at Notre Dame, Di Pauli scored 30 goals and added 48 assists for 78 points. That's .54 points per game. He collected 83 PIMs and was + 29.

Di Pauli is a 5'11" 190 lb. ball of energy. He recently graduated from the University of Notre Dame. He is a high skill, 200 by 85, high motor player who scored 14 goals and 18 assists in 37 games for the Fighting Irish last season. Di Pauli is a natural center man who is adept at winning faceoffs. He will play the wing in the NHL if need be.




As a Senior at Notre Dame, Di Pauli was named an Honorable Mention Hockey East All-Star.

Other accomplishments in his senior season include:


• Voted the team’s Offensive MVP following the season.
• Served as an alternate captain and was a member of Notre Dame’s Rosenthal Leadership Academy.
• Skated in all 37 games and scored a career-high 14 goals and added 18 assists for a career-high 32 points.
• Had three power-play goals, two game winners and finished with a +13 rating.
• Had 21 points (7-14-21) in 22 Hockey East games.
• Finished with eight multi-point games on the season including the game-winning goal and three assists in Notre Dame’s 8-2 win over UConn at the Barclays Center (Nov. 1).







Unlike Vesey, Di Pauli will likely need to play a year or two in the AHL before making his transition to the NHL.


When he develops confidence in his offensive game, it's very possible that Di Pauli will follow in the foot steps of fellow NCAA star Drake Caggiula , who recently graduated from teh Univesrity Of North Dakota. In four seasons and 162 games played at NoDak, the 5'9" 185 lb. Caggiula scored 62 goals and 65 assists for 127 points. That's .78 points per game.






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The Minnesota Wild announced have re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Matt Dumba to a two-year bridge contract with a total value of $5.1 million. He's a $2.55M AAV.

Frankly, I'm shocked at the term and dollars. I thought for sure that Dumba had earned a 3-4 year deal in the $4M AAV neighnborhood. I've always enjoyed watching Dumba skate, create and distribute the puck to Zach Parise, Jason Pominville and the skilled Wild forwards. I see Dumba as a one man break put machine in the vein of Tyson Barrie. Dumba and his agent should have used their leverage to create more value for Dumba. He's a dynamic puck mover who always finds the open forward. More times than not Dumba is the first mab back to break up chances against. He's a 200 foot player who has earned a long term deal.

That's my take. The Wild don't see things my way.

Dumba turned 22, scored career highs in goals (10) and assists (16). He averaged 16:50 TOI per game. He landed 152 shots on enemy goalies and blocked 56 shots. He's not known as a physical D but he delivered 80 hits last season. I really developed a lot of respect for Dumba's overall game watching him play a large role on Team Canada's gold medal winning squad at the IIHF World Championships this past May. The kid has a bomb for a shot and isn't shy about join the rush.



With the Dumba signing the Wild now have $24.8 million dollars committed to seven defensemen next season.

Ryan Suter leads the pack with $7.5M AAV.

Jared Spurgeon is $5.2M AAV.

Jonas Brodin is $4.2M AAV.

Marco Scandella is $4M AAV.

Christian Folin is $725,000 AAV.

Nate Prosser is $625,000 AAV.

Amazingly, Dumba has already played 3 seasons in the NHL.

Dumba will earn $2.35 million in 2016-17 and $2.75 million in 2017-18. I definitely feel that he left money on the table and did Wild GM Chuck Fletcher a huge favor by accepting the team friendly deal.

This summer has seen several long term deals handed out to young, restricted free agent defenders around the NHL.

On Thursday afternoon, Arizona signed RFA D Connor Murphy to a six year deal that will pay him $3.85M AAV. On Wednesday, Detroit locked up RFA D Danny DeKeyser to a six year, $30 million contract.

Other market-establishing free agent contracts include:

Seth Jones, years, $32.4M; $5.4M AAV
Alex Goligoski, 5 years, $27.374M; $5.475 AAV
Torey Krug, 4 years, $21.5M; $5.25M AVV
Olli Maatta, 6 years, $24.5M; $4.083M AAV
Sami Vatanen, 4 years, $19.5M; $4.875M AAV


This is the summer of the young RFA D-man. Many more defenders have become multi-millionaires. Several more RFA D-men will have the Brink truck back up to their doors in the next few weeks.

The agents for high profile RFA D-men like Buffalo's Rasmus Ristolainen, Colorado's Tyson Barrie, Winnipeg’s Jacob Trouba, Ottawa’s Cody Ceci, and Anaheim’s Hampus Lindholm are going to say "Thanks, but no thanks" to Dumba's two year bridge deal.
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