A Midsummer Prospect Medley: Draft Fits and Fallout, Dev. Camps Abound, a New Addition to the Class of ‘26
Three soon-to-be Michigan Wolverines were selected in the first two rounds of last week’s NHL Draft; we dive into how they might fit in their new homes and touch on development camps across the league
Draft Fits for Soon-To-Be Wolverines
Frank Nazar became the first Wolverine taken at last week’s NHL Draft in Montreal, when the Blackhawks selected him at number thirteen overall. The pick extended Michigan’s run of consecutive NHL Drafts with a first round pick to six, a streak dating back to Josh Norris’ selection in 2018. Upon hearing the news, Nazar’s father could not contain his excitement.
Nazar said of his dad’s reaction to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun Times: “"He didn't grow up playing hockey, so this is kinda new to him... He didn't know what to expect, and the emotions got to him. It was great."
For the Blackhawks, selecting Nazar was a lone bright spot in an otherwise puzzling weekend. Chicago sent high-scoring winger Alex Debrincat to Ottawa in exchange for a first and second rounder in this year’s draft along with a 2024 third. Moving on from Debrincat (who is a year out from a hefty raise when he reaches free agency) is in a vacuum justifiable for a team obviously embarking on a full-on tear-down rebuild. With that said, the return feels thin for a player who profiles as one of the league’s top goalscorers.
Later in the first round, Chicago acquired goaltender Petr Mrazek and the draft’s twenty-fifth pick for its thirty-eighth in a deal with the Maple Leafs. The transaction was about the Leafs’ offloading Mrazek’s $3.8 million hit against the salary cap this year and next, and once again, the Blackhawks have not seem to extract anything close for such a “cap dump” move.
The next big question for the Blackhawks is whether Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews will remain fixtures of the franchise they restored to relevance over the last decade. If they are not, Nazar is poised to enter a franchise that will be in dire need of reason for excitement, something a player of his dynamic profile should provide.
Wolverine fans didn’t have to wait long for another of their favored prospects to be selected, as the Winnipeg Jets selected Rutger McGroarty one pick later at fourteen.
Like Chicago, Winnipeg is a franchise in a state of relative flux. After an extended and public pursuit of Manitoba’s own Barry Trotz to fill the team’s head coaching vacancy, the Jets settled on the far-less ballyhooed Rick Bowness. Reports swirling around the team allege locker room discontent and desire for a fresh start elsewhere on behalf of longtime stalwarts Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler.
For Jets fans, the good news is that McGroarty’s bears at least a passing resemblance to Wheeler’s. Wheeler is more of a pure playmaker, while McGroarty thrives as a dual-threat, but both are physical wingers with enough skill to generate serious offense without elite foot speed.
In Winnipeg, McGroarty will join Michigan hockey emeritus Kyle Connor and Jimmy Lambert’s Finnish cousin Brad (whom the Jets selected at the end of the first round Thursday).
At the forty-sixth overall pick, Seamus Casey became the third and final drafted Wolverine for 2022. The New Jersey Devils did the honors, making Casey the third Michigan blue liner they have selected in recent years (the other two being Luke Hughes and Ethan Edwards).
Longtime readers will know we at Gulo Gulo love to talk about the prototypical Michigan defenseman. Even with all of the talent the team has enjoyed up front in recent years, Michigan’s offensive dynamism emerges from the back end and its surplus of hyper-modern defensemen.
Michigan’s type is the kind of d-man who could be better described as a “back” or “guard” than a defenseman. The kind of player whose defensive value stems from their ability to move the puck up the ice rather than moving bodies in front of the crease on the penalty kill. Evidently, New Jersey shares in that vision.
Wright Falls to Seattle, Joins Beniers
The story of last week’s draft was Slovakian winger Juraj Slafkovsky supplanting Shane Wright as the number one overall pick.
Wright, the sixth player to ever earn exceptional player status to enter the CHL at fifteen, had been the consensus top pick in this draft for years. He drew comparisons to Patrice Bergeron and posted gaudy OHL numbers for the Kingston Frontenacs (ninety-four points in sixty-three games played during his draft year).
However, a perceived lack of a high ceiling led to doubts about whether Wright belonged atop this draft. This notion seemed to fester because the OHL cancelled the 20-21 season due to COVID and then Wright’s 21-22 got off to a slow start.
Meanwhile, Slafkovsky boasts a unique combination of size and skill that gives him the look you might hope for out of a number one overall pick. The Slovak was the breakout star of the Olympics, scoring seven goals to guide his country to its first ever Olympic medal.
Though Wright had spent years as the presumptive top pick, hints emerged that Slafkovsky might overtake him, beginning with Bob McKenzie’s king-making prospect ranking (the byproduct of extensive conversation with scouts and executives across the league). Then, reports emerged that the Slovak met with Habs GM Kent Hughes on the morning of the draft.
In the end, Montreal landed on Slafkovsky, and the early returns suggest they have a charismatic superstar in the making. First, there was unbridled joy at learning friend Filip Mesar was also selected by the Habs.
Then, upon arriving at Canadiens Development Camp, the big winger threatened to destroy an exercise bike with a superhuman display of power and lung capacity from which he sidled away chuckling without a hint of fatigue.
Perhaps more surprising than Wright not going number one is that his slide didn’t stop until the fourth overall selection. At two, the Devils went with another Slovak: defenseman Simon Nemec, bolstering the blue line rather than adding a third center from the top of the draft to complement Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes.
At three, the Arizona Coyotes selected future Minnesota Golden Gopher Logan Cooley of the USNTDP, a player with lots of offensive dynamism whom the Coyotes perhaps sold themselves on before Wright falling past pick number two appeared possible.
These decisions left the Seattle Kraken the obvious beneficiaries of Wright’s slide to pick number four. The Kraken jumped at the opportunity to select the centerman, who will join Michigan’s Matty Beniers in the Pacific Northwest.
Per the Athletic’s Ryan S. Clark, Wright received word from Kraken director of hockey and business operations Troy Brodie that Beniers wanted to get in touch within five minutes of the Kraken announcing the pick.
The pair united at Sunday’s Mariners-Blue Jays game in Seattle, where Beniers’ delivered the game’s ceremonial first pitch.
Two elite center prospects allow Kraken fans a credible fantasy of a championship contender to come. Of course, these two players alone cannot offer an assurance of anything. The Devils’ duo of Hischier and Hughes offer obvious evidence that two talented centers alone cannot propel a team to contention (although Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid provided a counter-example in the playoffs this Spring).
Nonetheless, a pair of high-end centers is a prerequisite to serious contention, and the Kraken can now check that box with confidence, providing a fanbase that endured a rudderless inaugural season with reason for optimism about the future.
Development Camps Galore
Elsewhere in prospect news, twenty-six current, former, and future Wolverines are attending development camps around the NHL.
https://mgoblue.com/news/2022/7/11/ice-hockey-wolverines-at-nhl-development-camps.aspx
These camps, which have not been held on a league-wide basis since 2019, offer a chance for prospects to work with NHL coaching and development staffs alongside their peers. Many of the players participating are doing so with the NHL club that drafted them, while others (like Strauss Mann or Mark Estapa) are looking to catch the attention of a team that might give them a shot down the road.
Crucially, the camps do nothing to impact NCAA eligibility, so do not allow the presence of players like Frank Nazar at Blackhawks Dev Camp to cause anxiety about who will be on campus this Fall.
For Michigan, these camps highlight the program’s status as a clear path to the NHL (and NHL stardom), a vital and living component to the school’s recruiting pitch. Sending an extraordinary crop of talent to these various camps is one link in that development chain. Of course, for a program as proud as Michigan hockey, development works in “both/and” tandem with competing for B1G and National Championships.
Wolverines Add a Goaltender to the Class of 2026
On Tuesday, Michigan announced the addition of goaltender Tyler Shea to its incoming freshman class. Shea, a native of Stevenson Ranch, CA, posted a .904 save percentage in 40 games with the BCHL’s Wenatchee Wild. With the addition of Shea, Michigan’s Class of 2026 climbs to twelve, Shea being the second late addition to the group following the addition of forward T.J. Hughes (last of the AJHL’s Brooks Barons and no relation to Quinn, Jack, and Luke) and Hunter Brzustewicz’s defection to the OHL.
Michigan Women’s Hockey Fundraiser
Last but not least, we’ll close with an item of local interest to any readers in the Ann Arbor area.
The Buddy’s Pizza in Ann Arbor will be hosting a fundraiser for Michigan women’s hockey next Tuesday (the 19th) afternoon and evening. Get out, enjoy some Detroit style pizza, and feel good about 20% of the proceeds going to support women’s club hockey at the University of Michigan.