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Why are all of those elite hockey players in Ann Arbor, Michigan? |
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If you want to see NHL’s best prospects, an impressive number of them are playing for the University of Michigan hockey team.
No one can remember a college team having as many high-end NHL prospect as the Wolverines currently boast.
The No. 1 (Owen Power, Buffalo Sabres), No. 2 (Matty Beniers, Seattle Kraken), No. 4 (Luke Hughes, New Jersey Devils) and No. 5 (Luke Johnson, Columbus Blue Jackets) are all playing for Michigan.
Brendan Brisson, son of NHL agent Pat Brisson, was also a first-round pick for the Vegas Golden Knights in 2020. Thomas Bordeleau is a second-round pick by San Jose Sharks.
Those six players are the top six scorers on a Michigan team that has started the season with an 8-2 record. Most of these players stayed at Michigan to try for an NCAA championship
The rest of this week’s 25 notes:
2. Would like to see the Ducks take a hard look at Jeff Gorton for the vacant general manager job. He has rebuilding experience, and understands how to integrate veterans into the mix. 3. Finland’s Brad Lambert is falling on draft lists, according to Red Line Report. Coming into the season, he was considered a candidate to go in the first several picks. Lambert’s mom is Finnish and his dad is Ross Lambert, a Canadian who played hockey at Princeton. He is the nephew of Lane Lambert, a former NHLer and current New York Islanders assistant coach. Brad has spent most of his life in Finland. Red Line Report now has him at No. 10 for the 2022 draft.
4. How ugly is the Coyotes’ situation? They are averaging 1.62 goals per game and giving up an average 4.08 goals per game. 5. If the Blackhawks move Marc-Andre Fleury, the Oilers have to be the favorite.
6. Surprised it took so long for the Blue Jackets to retire Rick Nash’s No. 61. His had to be the first jersey to be retired. 7. Phil Kessel has five points in 13 games. That would probably be eight or nine points on most teams. Give the Coyotes a call, Lightning, or Stars, or Senators. 8. The Flames have been impressive to the point that I wonder what they will do later in the season when they don’t have him signed. If you are still playing well, you can’t possibly trade him. 9. The Oilers still are averaging 4.18 goals per game and their power play percentage is 46.9%. But they still are giving up more shots on goal than they produce. 10. Detroit rookie defenseman Moritz Seider wears No. 53 because that was the number of the car on the Movie Herbie.
11. Carolina’s decision to sign Freddie Andersen to play in net couldn’t be going any better. In 10 starts, he has posted seven games in which his save percentage has been .944 or higher. 12. In case you were wondering, Alexander Ovechkin scores 36.5% (271 of 741) of his goals on the power play in the regular season. 13. Jonathan Toews, Zach Parise and Kyle Palmieri are among the players who haven’t yet scored a goal this season. 14. Matt Duchene has been a different player at the start of the season. He scored goals in four of his last five games and is 6-5=11 in first 13 games of the season. He had 6-7--13 in 34 games played all of last season. 15. When Washington’s Zach Fucale plays against Detroit tonight, he will be the eighth consecutive backup goalie the Red Wings have faced. Tells you a little bit about what opponents think of Detroit.
16. Mike Smith is now week-to-week because of a leg injury. It’s time for the Oilers to look at trade market options. 17.Tony DeAngelo has started his Hurricanes’ career with 11 points in 11 games. He’s also +11. His problems with the New York Rangers were never about his playing ability. 18. Christian Dvorak is -14 for the Montreal Canadiens. It could be worse if he was still with the Arizona Coyotes. 19. Jakob Chychrun is -20 for the Coyotes after 13 games. If he continued that minus-rate for 82 games, he would -125. 20. If Alex Nedeljkovich continues to play well, the Detroit Red Wings might consider moving Thomas Greiss.
21. Jack Quinn, the Buffalo Sabres’ first-round pick, has seven goals and 13 points in his first nine games for Rochester in the American League. There’s a call-up in his future. 22. Goalie Jesper Wallstedt, taken 20th overall by the Minnesota Wild, is 8-4 in the Swedish League with a 1.69 goals-against average. Goalie Sebastian Cossa, taken five spots ahead of Wallstedt by the Red Wings, is 8-3-3 with a 2.03 goals-against average for Edmonton in the Western Hockey League. 23. Hearing the Ottawa Senators would like to add Vitaly Kravtsov to their stable of young talent. Still think he would be a good fit for the Sabres. 24. As fans discuss the Oilers’ need for a goalie, GM Ken Holland has continued to poke around the trade market for a defenseman; 25. Gilbert Perreault turns 71 on Saturday. He scored 30 or more goals 10 times in his career It doesn't seem all that long ago.
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