Also Casey Bailey's father told a newspaper that Buffalo was unwilling to burn a year of ELC and that is why he signed with Toronto. Up until Shanahan called and offered to burn a year, Bailey's father was sure his son was going to be a Sabre.
Bob McKenzie @TSNBobMcKenzie
18 NHL teams have expressed interest in the grandson of former Leaf Bobby Baun. Contract offers from NHL teams to be submitted by Monday.
Why wouldn't the Sabres be willing to burn a year for Bailey, that's odd?
As for Baun, Toronto sounds like the easy choice:
- Grandfather was a Leaf legend;
- Weak prospect pool and competition;
- Leafs willing to burn a year.
What more could a Toronto boy want?
Haven't watched him play but his stats don't suggest that he's going to be a top 6 guy. Flames probably have enough of his type with Jooris, Colborne, Shore, Bouma, Van Brabant, Wolf, Ferland, etc. (my fingers are too tired to list all the potential bottom 6 guys).
__________________
Calgary Flames, PLEASE GO TO THE NET! AND SHOOT THE PUCK! GENERATING OFFENSE IS NOT DIFFICULT! SKATE HARD, SHOOT HARD, CRASH THE NET HARD!
2. As of Monday night it was not 100 per cent certain Colgate forward Kyle Baun will forego his senior season to join an NHL roster, although teams would be surprised if he didn’t. He’s still sorting through offers, with a few Canadian clubs (Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Winnipeg) interested. We should have a better idea of his future Tuesday afternoon.
Quote:
3. The top NCAA free agent is goalie Matt O’Connor — although scouts who like him take pains to say he needs AHL time. There are several teams looking for goalie depth. A couple of them are also eying Vermont’s Brody Hoffman, who can still go back for another season.
It’s possible Hoffman waits to see where O’Connor goes (his school, Boston University, is still playing), so this won’t play out in the short term. Hoffman is from Wilkie, SK.
Hoffman previously attended a Flames development camp
Quote:
4. Sabres fans were stunned that Casey Bailey, a product of the Terry Pegula-funded Penn State hockey program, chose Toronto over Buffalo. The honest truth seems to be Buffalo GM Tim Murray wasn’t sold, especially when it came to performance bonuses and playing NHL games right away.
The Maple Leafs showed more interest, and put in a harder pitch. There is great debate about Bailey’s skating but he can fire the puck. However, he will need to play with a pass-first centre to make it work.
Something to keep an eye on: another Blackhawks draft pick might go UFA. Just finished his fourth year and Chicago has up to August 15th to sign him, but given that his college career is over and his agent is saying they are listening to what the Blackhawks are saying... he may be going UFA.
Negotiations between Vermont senior defenseman Mike Paliotta and the Chicago Blackhawks are ongoing over an entry-level contract, Paliotta’s agent said on Monday.
Paliotta has been a Blackhawks prospect since being selected by them in the third round of the 2011 draft. He became eligible to sign with the Blackhawks after his senior season ended with Vermont last week.
“We’ve had conversations,” said Paliotta’s agent Jordan Neumann of Edge Sports Management. “I think everything is progressing. We’re listening to everything the Blackhawks say, and Michael and his family are giving signing with the Blackhawks a tremendous amount of thought.”
Paliotta, who is 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, had nine goals, 27 assists and was a plus-14 in 41 games this season. He’s tied for second in the nation in assists among defensemen and tied for fourth in points. He was recently selected to the Hockey East second-team.
Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said in January he hoped to sign Paliotta after the season and was pleased with his development, especially offensively.
“His profile is not maybe as a high-scoring NHL player, but he does have that ability,” Bowman said in January. “That’s nice to see he’s tapping into it. I think he’s more along the lines of Stephen Johns. He’s a big kid. He’s got a physical side to his game. He’s not afraid to play a rugged game. But he’s worked on his skills, which is something we’ve talked about. Take advantage of it when you’re in college. He plays a lot of the power-play situations, and he’s done well with it. He’s someone we’re definitely looking to as soon as he finishes his year we want to turn pro.”
Chad Graff @ChadGraff
Expect an announcement tomorrow. But it sounds very likely that Grayson Downing will sign with the #MNWild.
Quote:
Grayson Downing, University of New Hampshire (forward) -- A talented offensive player, Downing can play at each end of the ice. He's been a consistent performer for the Wildcats, scoring at least 10 goals in each of his four seasons. This year he's up to 21, including an overtime-winner Friday in Game 1 of New Hampshire's Hockey East Quarterfinal series against Providence. He knows how to finish around the goal and has an NHL-caliber shot.
So he plays with Dylan Larkin, puts up a massive season and now thinks he's a hot shot? Previous 3 seasons he had 114 games and 35 points without Larkin. I hope the Panthers and other NHL teams tell him to go pound it. This rule is really stupid.
So he plays with Dylan Larkin, puts up a massive season and now thinks he's a hot shot? Previous 3 seasons he had 114 games and 35 points without Larkin. I hope the Panthers and other NHL teams tell him to go pound it. This rule is really stupid.
Is a fair rule. A player doesn't sign for years after he's drafted, that's enough to no longer have protection for team
