Sudbury Miners Prospect Report: Spring 2019 (Pre-CCHL Entry Draft)

Sudbury Miners Prospect Report:  Spring 2019 (Pre-CCHL Entry Draft)



CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

With the CCHL season now complete and a Champion crowned, focus will now turn to the upcoming CCHL Entry Draft, as the Miners will look to add to their prospect cupboard.

There is no doubt that the Miners will be able to add some talent in the upcoming draft, but here are the Miners Top-10 prospects to conclude the 2019-20 season, prior to the CCHL Entry Draft.

To be considered a prospect for this report, the player is not currently on the CCHL active roster and/or has not played one full CCHL season.



Below are the Sudbury Miners top-10 CCHL prospects for Spring 2019

1. Kirby Dach – C.  Dach continues to look like he’ll be a future face of the Sudbury Miners. He is a tremendous passer, with a huge frame and skates very well for his size. Strong on the puck and good in possession, he has very offensive instincts.  He’s just going to get better, and is projected to be a big, offensively-gifted playmaker.  He will be on the Miners roster next season.
2. Martin Necas – C/W.  An explosive offensive talent who can play both centre and the wing, Necas is an excellent skater, and is a highly creative and heady playmaker with deft passing ability.  He possesses incredible speed and agility as well.  His creativity and skill make him a consistent threat in all three zones of the ice.  Along with Dach, expect to see Necas in a Miners uniform next season.
3. Spencer Knight – G.  Seen as one of the top goalie propsects out there, Knight is a superior athlete with excellent size for a goaltender.  He is usually in perfect position to make the routine save and he thinks the game well and can anticipate shooters' tendencies.  Projected to be a future No.1 goaltender with star potential.
4. Grigori Denisenko – W.  Denisenko is your typical, classic Russian winger who enjoys dangling with the puck on his stick from his off-wing (left), and he displays supreme playmaking ability. He has game-breaking skills on offense, but will need to pay attention to defence a little more at the next level.  There is no denying though, that he is a supreme, offensive talent.
5. Cole Caulfield – W.  Don’t let his small stature fool you – this sniper has the wherewithal to go into prime goal-scoring areas and his awareness of where to be on the ice is excellent.  His best asset is his supreme shooting skills, and he is seen as a future, feisty goal scoring winger.
6. Peyton Krebs – C/W.   Is an extremely fast skater with great burst and the ability to be quick with the puck on his stick.  He is responsible when he does not have the puck and is adept at working the defensive side of the game.  Krebs can play both wing and center, which adds to his overall value.
7. Rasmus Sandin – D.  Sandin is an excellent passer who skates very well and thinks the game smartly. While capable of putting up a lot of points, he can also defend his position well due to his cerebral approach and active stick.  A bit under-sized, he just needs to add some bulk and consistency to thrive at the next level.
8. Nick Robertson – W.  Robertson is a natural when he has the puck on his stick, as both a playmaker and goal-scorer.  He puts up points naturally and can be a big asset with the man advantage.  There are some concerns about his size, so he will need to become stronger in order to maximize production in the CCHL, but there is no denying he has the talent to succeed.
9. Philip Broberg – D.  With his size and strength, Broberg is not afraid to impose himself physically. He skates very well for his frame and he likes to rush the puck up the ice.   He has the ability to do it all from the back end.  However, he sometimes makes the wrong decision with or without the puck and needs to work on the overall decision-making process to maximize his talent.
10. Liam Foudy – C/W.  An exceptional athlete, Foudy skates like the wind and can wreak havoc on opponents because of his wheels. Displays plenty of offensive potential, and some two-way ability but may need a little more time than usual in order to fully hone his tools.

Honourable Mentions:  Alex Formenton, Victor Soderstrom, Conor Timmins, Mike DiPietro

Millers prospects update 4.14.20

Since the season ended with Georgetown barely missing out on a playoff berth despite undergoing a massive squad overhaul, the team’s recent moves suggest that qualifying for the post-season is a definite goal for the 2020-21 season. 

To that end some prospects and draft picks have been moved out to acquire veteran help. Most notably Rasmus Kupari was sacrificed to bring in Jakub Vrana, and Carl Grundstrom, Rudolfs Balcers, Jett Woo, Taro Hirose, David Ference, Dennis Gilbert and Mads Sogaard were dealt to bring in Kris Letang, Jonathan Toews and Jonas Siegenthaler. 


But some prospects were brought into the fold, notably Joel Farabee in the Ryan Strome trade and Jesse Ylonen and Lukas Dostal when Cal Peterson and Jason Dickinson were shipped to Sudbury.

Below is an updated ranking of the Millers top 20 prospects.

1.       Alex Newhook, C

2.       Barrett Hayton, C

3.       Joel Farabee, LW

4.       Owen Tippett, RW

5.       Ty Smith, D

6.       Ian Mitchell, D

7.       Tyler Madden, C

8.       Samuel Fagemo, RW

9.       Martin Fehervary, D

10.   Akil Thomas, C

11.   Lukas Dostal, G

12.   Michael Anderson, D

13.   Dmitri Samorukov, D

14.   Tuuka Tieksala, LW

15.   Janne Kuokkonen, LW

16.   Vladislav Kolyachonock, D

17.   Jesse Ylonen, RW

18.   Anttoni Honka, D

19.   Oskarii Laaksonen, D

20.   Peter Dilibertore, D

The Millers have 6 picks in the first 3 rounds of the Draft and should be able to add at least a couple of those picks to this list when it’s updated over the summer.

State of the Loons; A Complete Dismantling

Since entering the league two seasons ago the Loons have been arguably the most active team in the CCHL. Just when you thought it could not get any worse - the world goes into a quarantine. With nothing else to do - why not make some trades and drive the other general managers crazy! 

After a frenzy of moves out of Capeside it is clear that the Loons are in the midst of a fire sale - and anything of value must go. As of today, Atkinson, Halak, Ekblad, and Granlund have been sent elsewhere. The Loons currently have only 13 players under contract for $40 million. This was where the Loons were before free agency last year as well - however this year it does not look like Czepiel will be throwing cash at any marquee free agents. What is more likely is that a bunch of cheap scrubs will be brought in to fill out the roster until our prospects are ready to take over. Maybe if we want to maintain our fan base Capeside should broadcast the Northampton Chicks games instead of the Loons?

Speaking of the Chicks... A quick look at our top 10 prospects mid fire sale:

10  John Beecher      C  (Michigan NCAA)

 9   Shane Pinto        C  (UND NCAA)

 8   Egor Afanasyev   W (OHL)

 7   Oliver Wahlstrom W (AHL)

 6   Jake Oettinger     G (AHL)

 5   Matt Boldy          W (BC NCAA)

 4   Arthur Kaliyev      W (OHL)

 3   Alex Turcotte       C  (NHL)

 2  Trevor Zegras       C  (NHL)

 1  Filip Zadina          W  (Loons)

There appears to be plenty to look forward to, but at the rate players are being sent out of town - these next few years are going to be rough in Capeside. Our plan is to just maintain as low of a payroll as possible and improve our finances. We want to be able to add a big name and not have to worry about going bankrupt. 

Some more positive news out of the fire sale is that we have been able to stock up on some picks in this year's draft, if there even is a draft. First we need the season the restart so the Bruins can finish up their championship run. We have started researching players that we think could be available,  As it stands now we own 5 picks in the first 100: 18th, 36th, 56th, 61st, 76th. 

Over the next few weeks of our time in quarantine we will continue to look for new homes for our remaining veterans that should not be apart of a rebuild. Two names that are being actively shopped are Zdeno Chara and Tuukka Rask, Chara is still one of the top shut down defensemen in the CCHL and Tuukka Rask is the best goalie in the NHL.

I hope this helped pass some quarantine time for you - but more importantly this hits my blog bonus! No bankruptcy for the Loons this year!

Millers land Captain Serious in Toews

The Millers continue their bid to get back into the playoffs, acquiring C Jonathan Toews from Hamilton for prospects Jett Woo, Taro Hirose and Mads Sogaard. 


Georgetown has assumed all of Toews’ 2020-21 salary of $13,800,000. That figure represents the highest single season salary the club has ever taken on. Toews is an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the season. 


Toews is expected to center the top line and pair with RW Brett Boeser. Ryan Strome will center LW Jakub Vrana on the 2^nd line, and the remaining wingers will be determined in training camp and there could be rotation depending on matchups and line chemistry. 

Michael Backlund is expected to pair with Rocco Grimaldi on the 3^rd line and Radek Faksa will partner Jason Dickinson on the 4^th line, with the remaining bottom 6 wingers expected to rotate and match-up like the scoring lines. 


The wingers competing for these spots are Dominik Kahun, Nick Ritchie, Warren Foegele and Paul Byron. RFA W Marcus Foligno could also be re-signed and enter the competition. The club has also indicated they would be interested in acquiring an established top 6 winger that can play both sides.


With the Toews acquisition Jesperi Kotkaniemi will move into a reserve role and the club is expected to increase their efforts to trade Cody Eakins, who is in the last year of his contract.

CCHL Awards Handed Out!!!!

Hello sports fans. I am back here in Novosibirsk, where locals have sheltered in place for the coronavirus pandemic. It seems that everyone is watching old videos of President Vladimir Putin playing hockey against retired KHL and NHL Russian players. This may actually be a requirement of all citizens of mother Russia. Thankfully he had put on his shirt while playing hockey.


With the CCHL season over, it’s time to announce the end of season awards. What a season it was as we had the top 2 teams, Fort Erie and local Siberia, fighting it out until the last game to see who would get the top seed. Both ended up with an impressive 126 points, but Fort Erie won the tie breaker. We saw these two titans make it to the finals with minimal losses and we were treated to a heck of a series! 

The Icecats looked like they were going to sweep the Falcons after taking a 3-0 lead in games, but the tough as nails Falcons fought back with back-to-back wins. Siberia ultimately took game 6 and with that win brought home the first ever Kehler Cup to Siberia. Captain McDavid has been drinking vodka from the Kehler Cup ever since!


We had a lot of worthy nominees for the end of season awards. Without further ado, let’s look at the award winners.



Lady Byng - given to the most gentlemanly player

·         Derek Ryan – CGY: 6 PIMs in 82 games

·         Ryan O’Reilly – SPR: 6 PIMs in 82 games… wow, that’s amazing for this tough player

·         Brandon Saad - VIC: 6 PIMs in 82 games… I see a pattern here!

·         William Karlsson - SUD: 0 PIM in 82 games…are you kidding me, not a single penalty???

·         AND THE WINNER IS: William Karlsson won by a landslide, winning 90% of the votes

Selke - given to the best defensive forward

·         Mark Stone - SIB: Led the league in +/- with +40 and tied for 4^th in scoring, the guy can do it all

·         Gabriel Landeskog - ISL: +34 and played defensively responsible hockey for a tough SPR team

·         Joe Pavelski – FOR: great 2-way center who finished with a +31

·         AND THE WINNER IS: Mark Stone, won by 5 votes ahead of a tie for runner up between Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan O’Reilly

Calder - given to the best rookie (min 20 games played in NHL 2017-18 season to qualify)

·         Elias Pettersson - WIS: The Swedish wiz put up 60 points in 82 games for a team that struggled all year

·         Jordan Binnington - GEO: The rookie netminder had 23 wins, 2.92 GAA and a .908 S% for the Millers

·         Anthony Cirelli - LAS: The young 2-way forward managed 48 points in only 53 games for Vegas

·         Erik Cernak - DRT: This young defenseman put up a very respectable 38 points in 73 games and was a +14

·         AND THE WINNER IS: Elias Pettersson, who was 8 votes ahead of runner up, Anthony Cirelli

Norris - given to the best defenseman

·         Brent Burns - SIB: the Siberia rearguard led the league with 98 points in 82 games, +23

·         Jacob Trouba - VIC: this tough, 2-way dman was second in the league with 93 points in 81 games

·         Ryan McDonagh - WIS: the veteran defender was third in the league with 92 points in 82 games

·         AND THE WINNER IS: Brent Burns, who won by 3 votes over runner up Jacob Trouba

Vezina - given to the best goaltender

·         Ben Bishop - SPR: The veteran netminder settled into Springfield and led the league with a .911 S%

·         Pekka Rinne - DAY: the big, Finnish netminder had a strong season and led the league with 45 wins

·         John Gibson - FOR: John was a key member of the Falcons, finishing with the 2^nd lowest GAA 2.67 and led the league with 5 shutouts

·         Matt Murray – SIB: Matt had a very strong finish to the year, ending with the lowest GAA in the league at 2.66 and second in the league in wins

·         AND THE WINNER IS: Matt Murray, by one vote over Pekka Rinne and 2 votes over John Gibson. This was a close battle between 3 great goaltenders!

Jennings - given to the team/goalies with the fewest goals against

·         FOR: finished with a league low 222 goals against

·         SIB: came in second with 232 goals against

·         SUD: rounded out the top 3 with 243 goals against

·         AND THE WINNER IS: Fort Erie (John Gibson and Anton Khudobin) by a landslide!

Now we have the 2 biggest awards, the Hart and Con Smythe trophies. The Hart trophy is given to the player who is the most valuable to his team in the regular season

·         Connor McDavid - SIB: the young captain was great from the start of the season to the end, leading Siberia to the Kehler Cup. Connor led the league with 135 points, 22 greater than the next closest player.

·         Nikita Kucherov – REK: The Russian winger had a great season for first year GM, Maxime. Nikita was second in the league with 113 points.

·         Patrik Kane - HAM: the veteran winger led the Tigers to a first-round bye and into the Canosa Conference finals. He was third in the league with 101 points.

·         Mitch Marner – FOR: The young Falcons winger was tops on his team in scoring, leading the Falcons to the best record in the regular season

·         AND THE WINNER IS: Connor McDavid, who won 81% of the votes!

Finally, we have the Conn Smythe trophy, given to the most valuable player in the playoffs

·         Connor McDavid – SIB: Captain McDavid led his Icecats to the Kehler Cup, scoring 24 points in the playoffs

·         Nathan McKinnon – FOR: Fort Erie’s young star had a great playoff run, scoring 22 points and led his team to the Kehler Cup finals

·         Matt Murray – SIB: Murray was a wall in goal during the playoffs, leading all goalies with a GAA of 2.55 and .918 S%. He was one of the main reasons that the Icecats were able to overcome the high-powered Falcons

·         AND THE WINNER IS: Connor McDavid by 1 vote over Matt “the wall” Murray

Well sports fans, there you have it, the awards for the 2019-2020 CCHL Season. The Cup winning Icecats were well represented in the awards and there were some close races! Many questions loom for next season. Will we see a repeat of this year’s finals, Clash of the Titans 2? Will we see other teams load up to challenge the Cats for the Cup? How will the retirement of the legendary Bill Corfield impact the balance of power in the Corfield conference? Stay tuned and until then, stay cold!

State of the Loons!!!

The Loons season could be summed up in two words : Roller Coaster.

After a successful inaugural season, GM Czepiel went all in during free agency hoping to take the next step and win a playoff series in our second year. Mid way through the season in was apparent that this team was mediocre and had taken a step back. The Loons were hanging around the 4 seed but were a team with a lot of holes and were losing way too much money. Czepiel turned the Loons into sellers.

Aho, Krejci and Ellis were sent packing, and many more were rumored to be moved by the trade deadline. Around that same time it became evident that no one was going to stop either the Falcons or Icecats. It seemed like every other CCHL organization was sending out trade blocks with intentions of rebuilding as well. With Only the top four teams looking to be buyers, the trade market was at a stand still. In a blink of an eye Czepiel turned the Loons into buyers.

Panarin, Carlson, Handsome Phil, Krejci, Chara and Halak were acquired. Thoughts of a making a run and winning a playoff series or two returned, however the only thing that returned was a mediocre team with a high payroll.

The Loons went on a winning streak to end the regular season and held off the now relocated Dartmouth Lakers for 6th and final playoff seed. Unfortunately, playoff injuries exposed the Loons lack of depth and they fell to the Seattle Reign 4 games to 2 in the first round. 

The one positive from this year is the farm system. Through all the back and forth this year, Czepiel was able to add (and re-add) Turcotte, Kaliyev, Boldy and Oettinger to go along with Zegras, Wahlstrom and Afanasyev to give the Loons a solid future.  Let’s hope the fans can remember this as the Loons look to be cellar dwellers next year.

Congratulations to the Siberia Icecats on winning their first title.