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Alex Newhook a potential Canucks draft target + Edler negotiations stalled

June 4, 2019, 1:32 PM ET [506 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Now that the Scouting Combine is in the books, we'll start to hear more tidbits about how teams are leaning as they dig in for these last two and a half weeks before the draft.

You'll remember, last year the buzz got loud about Montreal looking for a centre, and how they might go further down the list to draft Jesperi Kotkaniemi at three, even though he was ranked sixth among European skaters by NHL Central Scouting.

By the day of the draft, it was a done deal. Kotkaniemi went third—and rewarded the Habs' faith in him with a pretty solid rookie season as an 18-year-old (11-23-34 in 79 games).

The Arizona Coyotes further upset the apple cart by taking a centre of their own, Barrett Hayton, at five—even though he was ranked ninth among North Americans. Hayton ended up going back to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, where he was named captain but was limited to 39 games due to a charley horse injury. Despite the limited ice time, he hit a new career high with 66 points. He also picked up four points in five games with Team Canada at World Juniors.

Bottom line: at this time last year, nobody was expecting to see Kotkaniemi or Hayton selected in the top five, so we may still see the draft boards jumble pretty significantly between now and June 21.

Here's the latest intel on the Canucks:




This is interesting to me because it seems like so much of the chatter around the Canucks going into the combine was focused on defensemen. Newhook, of course, is an offensive force and a leader. The captain of the BCHL's Victoria Grizzlies last season, Newhook's 102 points were 18 better than second-place Ryan Brushett of Powell River, and earned him MVP honours in the league.

A native of St. John's, Newfoundland, Newhook could be described, physically, as a young Sidney Crosby—a 5'11", 190-pound left-shooting centre. Of course, I'm not saying that Newhook's talent matches Crosby's. He's ranked in the 10-20 range by the various scouting services heading into the draft. But he has been very productive in his two years in the BCHL. He was named rookie of the year in 2017-18 thanks to his 66 points in 45 games.

The Grizzlies finished first in their Island division during the 2018-19 regular season and also scored the most goals in the BCHL. Newhook also led the BCHL playoff scoring race with 24 points in 15 games, despite the fact that the Grizzlies got swept in the third round by the eventual champion Prince George Spruce Kings.

After his season was over, Newhook joined Team Canada at the U18 Championship in Sweden, where he tied for the team scoring lead with 10 points in seven games. Newhook was named one of Canada's top three players, along with Peyton Krebs and defenseman Braden Schneider—noteworthy, seeing that he easily held his own compared to top WHL forward prospects Krebs and Dylan Cozens.

For what it's worth, the five top prospects who were chosen to make the rounds at Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday were three WHL kids and two USNTDP prospects: Jack Hughes and Alex Turcotte from the U.S. team, and Cozens, Kirby Dach and Bowen Byram from the Western League.




Here's an interview with Newhook from the Combine. Scott Wheeler also has a new profile on Newhook up at The Athletic where he gives props to the player's maturity and leadership, calling him "18 going on 30," and IDs him as one of the best skaters in this year's draft class.




Newhook is committed to Boston College next season. The opportunity to go the NCAA route is what prompted him to join the BCHL, even though he had more than enough talent that he could have played major junior.

Newhook moved from 16 up to 13 in the final Central Scouting rankings among North American Skaters.

Scanning through the Scouting Combine fitness test results, Newhook's name appears quite a few times:

• 17th in aerobic test duration
• 21st in VO2Max
• 1st in pro agility - left side
• 20th in anaerobic fitness - mean power output
• 20th in anaerobic fitness - peak power output
• 25th in squat jump
• 23rd in left hand grip

Now, changing course—the new "31 Thoughts" podcast dropped this morning, and the episode notes include a reference to Vancouver as "the most intriguing off-season team."

I haven't had time to listen yet, but the good folks at Sportsnet broke down Friedman's thoughts on 10 impending UFAs into article form, and Alex Edler made the list.

I'm not surprised by this at all. Says Friedman: "The issue is 1) Term, and 2) Expansion draft availability. They want him eligible for the expansion draft, he doesn’t want to be."

Make sense. As the guy with deep roots here who only wants to stay in Vancouver, Edler is looking for reassurance that he'll be able to end his career here. I think if the issue was only a three-year term, the Canucks would be OK with it, even for an older player. And I doubt his dollar ask is anything too crazy. But a three-year term with a no-move that would require them to use a protection slot on him in the expansion draft is a completely different deal.

Which side will bend? I guess it would depend what other options are available. Edler may decide that he'd rather take money and security now, in a city of his choosing, rather than risk moving in the expansion draft in the two years' time. Friedman mentions San Jose as a team that might have interest.

On the other hand—it is just Seattle. If he did get selected, he'd barely have to move.

Would Edler be satisfied if the Canucks bumped up the dollar value a bit in order to get him to agree to the term they want?
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