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Commissoner Gary Bettman’s decision to not go to the Olympics in South Korea next February is expected to have a chilling effect on NHL clubs being able to attract some Russian-born players from the KHL.
Ak-Bars Kazan forward Vladimir Tkachev reportedly had been on the radar of the Toronto Maple Leafs since last fall, but with the likelihood that the IIHF will not allow Russian players signed to NHL contracts (like Alex Ovechkin) to play in Pyeongchang, Tkachev has opted not to come to North America and has re-signed with the KHL club for two years.
Other KHL veterans, such as former first overall pick Ilya Kovalchuk and Vadim Shipachev appear not to be swayed by the opportunity to play in South Korea and are looking to emulate Alexander Radulov this summer and sign with an NHL team for big money.
Kovalchuk could be on the Leafs radar if the club decides to move James van Riemsdyk for defensive help and need a replacement as a top-six scoring forward. Kovalchuk played under GM Lou Lamoriello in New Jersey and was a big part of the Devils surprising trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012.
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A far cry from the last three years when the Maple Leafs picked in the top 10, Toronto Maple Leafs will select 17th or 18th in the 2017 NHL Draft in Chicago (depending on what Nashville does in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs).
The Leafs may still be in a spot where they will pick the best available player, but it is likely that they will be zeroing in on a defenseman with their first pick.
Unlike the last three drafts, where moving up in the first round would be costly and near impossible, teams are expected to be more willing to wheel and deal in Chicago because there are widely divergent opinions about where some of the prospects are slotted.
Last fall, the projected second overall pick was defenseman Timothy Liljegrin, but the young Swede missed two months (including the 2017 World Junior) with mononucleosis and is ranked in the lower half of the top 10.
The player who is rising on many draft lists is 17-year-old Miro Heiskanen, who starred for Team Finland at the Under-18’s and could be selected as high as third overall by the Dallas Stars.
Other defensemen who project to the middle of round 1 are Canadian’s Cale Makar (committed to University of Massachusetts), Nicolas Hague of the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads, Callan Foote of the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets and Finnish prospect Juuso Valimaki of the Tri-City Americans.
Sportsology’s Russ Cohen has Liljegrin, Valimaki and Heiskanen ranked in the top 10, and Makar, Foote and Hague in the neighborhood of the Leafs pick at 17 or 18.
With Toronto having a growing stockpile of prospects and extra draft picks in 2018, it is possible that GM Lou Lamoriello could move up five-to-eight slots to guarantee the player that Mark Hunter covets.
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Listen to part I of the season finale of the Blue and White Tonight Podcast:
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