Tony Fresco

More cap trouble for the Hawks, as Panarin is poised to finish in Top 10 of scoring, earning him a $1.725 million bonus. http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/blackhawks-panarin-closing-on-1-725-million-bonus-cap-crunch-could-worsen-in-chicago/ Hawks have had to expose players like Leddy, Sharp and Saad in years past. With our cap space and Chevy's relationship with the hawks, would be nice if we could be opportunistic here. Unfortunately, not a lot of great fits. If we target LHD, Hjalmarsson has a cap hit of $4.1 million and 3 more years of term. He's 28 but would leave Chicago with Keith/Seabrook and not much else. At forward, Andrew Shaw is 24 and a pending RFA who made $2.0 million last year and will be due a raise, although not as much as Saad earned last year. Frankly, after that, there wouldn't be much else that would interest me, as they won't be moving their core. At some point, unless the cap were to grow significantly, the Blackhawks' shell game of cap management will blow up and they will no longer be able to keep over 50% of the cap on 5 players (Toews, Kane, Keith, Seabrook, and Crawford) plus 5 more years each of Hossa at $5.2 million and Anisimov at $4.5. Come on Chevy! Bring Toews home!

Confirmed on TSN2

I'm not disputing Demko is a higher rated prospect than Phillips, 2 years younger and will in all likelihood with the Richter award, but the 2 have pretty similar numbers over the last 2 seasons, with Phillips playing almost every single minute for the Michigan Tech squad. Phillips 2014-15 Michigan Tech NCAA 41 1.74 .933 2015-16 Michigan Tech NCAA 33 2.00 .921 Demko 2014-15 Boston College NCAA 35 2.19 .925 2015-16 Boston College NCAA 32 1.77 .937

This should likely be in the Around the NHL thread, but speaking of Goalie Bob, he suited up tonight as an emergency backup for the Bruins when Jonas Gustavsson was taken to hospital with an illness. For the record, Bob is now 50. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/bruins-goaltending-coach-bob-essensa-jumps-into-emergency-backup-duty--photo-211824108.html

Confirmed:

So this happened last night ... I know as die hard Winnipeg sports fans, we always feel like we are picked on by the men in stripes. What gets me is the inconsistency from game to game and how if there is seemingly any grey, it sure feels like it goes against Winnipeg (either the Jets or the Bombers). How is that goal allowed when the Blake Wheeler shorthanded effort the other day is erased and on top of it, Wheeler gets the penalty to put us down 2 men? Here is the Wheeler play to refresh your memories:

Both Kyle Connor and Jamie Phillips on the preliminary Hobey Baker ballot ... http://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/2016/01/20/u-ms-compher-among-locals-hobey-baker-fan-ballot/7906918 Can go to the Hobey Baker facebook page to vote (1 vote per 24 hours) https://www.facebook.com/TheHobey/app/169616693395433/

Technically, Petan did, Ehlers didn't but did lead in PPG. You are correct, it's not the be all end all. However, it certainly beats the prospect struggling. And neither Petan or Ehlers led their league as a rookie. Hopefully, indicators of future upside, but by no mean a guarantee of success. I wouldn't exactly call those two busts either. Although I am a little concerned with Petan. While he looked decent the last 2 camps, I caught a Moose game a few weeks back and his speed looked average at best for the AHL level. At his size, you need to be quick to survive, never mind thrive, at the next level.

More praise for Mr Connor after another strong weekend. Now tied for lead in goals in entire NCAA (not just freshmen) and only 2 pts off points lead with 1 less game played than the leader. Starting to garner Hobey Baker talk. Will the Jets push for him to turn pro after this season? http://thehockeywriters.com/kyle-connor-ncaa/

Generally not a big fan of the quality of articles on THW, but not a bad read about Morrissey's progression recently compared to the beginning of the year. http://thehockeywriters.com/josh-morrissey-matures-with-the-manitoba-moose/ Of note, I was pleasantly surprised to see his physicality in this clip, along with a reference in the article to a Craig Button comment likening Morrissey's physical play to Kronwall.

Came across this write up on Mason Appleton (6th round pick) who is having a pretty good year himself with Michigan State, leading the team in assists (13) and tied for the team lead in points with 17 in 21 games played. http://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2016/01/05_appleton_slips_under_us.php Couple of interesting comments:

HF also names Connor NHL prospect of the month for December ... http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/133057/hf-nhl-prospect-month-december-2015-wjc-snub-leads-strong-month-michigans-connor/#more-133057 Brendan Lemieux gets honorable mention too.

I'm not going to post the whole article, but here is what Pronman says re: Leafs and Jets specifically 2. Toronto Maple LeafsPrevious ranking: 17 The Leafs' system has skyrocketed the past 12 months, following a great 2015 draft, key trades and progression from some prospects. Mitch Marner and William Nylander are true top-flight names, and they have a lot of depth in quality prospects, many of whom are in my top 100 overall NHL prospects column. 6. Winnipeg JetsPrevious ranking: 7 The Jets system has been bubbling up the past few seasons, thanks to a great 2015 draft and acquisitions of many high-upside talents who have developed well. The Jets have a ton of dynamic, young forwards on the way up, as well as Josh Morrissey on defense and Connor Hellebuyck in goal. A lot of their top prospects are also on the cusp of pushing for NHL time, after a lot of patience shown by the organization.

Interesting disparity between THN and Corey Pronman at ESPN, who lists Toronto at #2... Jets are listed at #6 BTW. Note link is blocked by a paywall ... http://espn.go.com/nhl/insider/story/_/id/13413499/nhl-ranking-every-nhl-team-prospect-strength