Boston University goalie Matt O’Connor will play at least one more game for Boston University, after his Terriers won a thrilling 3-2 overtime game over Yale on Friday to open the NCAA’s Northeast Regional.
If B.U. wins on Saturday, they’re on to the Frozen Four April 9-11 in Boston. That means the 6-foot-5, 204 pound unrestricted free agent — the hottest UFA on the college market this spring — can take his time choosing which National Hockey League team to sign with.
If B.U. loses Saturday against Minnesota-Duluth, expect an announcement on Wednesday or Thursday, so O’Connor can possibly burn a year of his two-year Entry Level deal by playing an NHL game before the end of the regular season.
Ottawa, Edmonton, the New York Rangers and Buffalo head the pack in teams vying to sign O’Connor, with Vancouver and Calgary also in the race. Nearly half the league has shown interest, but O’Connor is looking at organizational goalie coaches, and how many goaltending prospects already exist in the various organizations.
“Who’s the goalie coach? How much patience do they have to stay with a guy, and really develop him into a NHL goalie?” asks family advisor Reynolds (the NCAA forbids O’Connor to have an agent).
“The depth chart is important, but that can change. We will make our decision before July 1 and the draft, and the depth chart can change considerably after you sign.”
What Reynolds is saying is, he doesn’t expect a team not to improve its goaltending in the short-term. That’s not an issue in Ottawa or New York but certainly is in Buffalo and Edmonton, two teams looking for an NHL No. 1 next season. O’Connor, who will graduate with a Business degree this summer after only three seasons at B.U., will conduct some site visits, speaking with GMs and coaches, and trying to get a feel for the town. Edmonton came out with the prize won when defenceman Justin Schultz conducted one of these deals, though he has not lived up to billing as an offensive defenceman, to a large extent.
“Edmonton is one of the teams going to get serious consideration. There will be a cluster of teams,” Reynolds said. “He’s got lots of options.”
Handicapping the four cities, Buffalo needs goaltending, will get either Connor McDavid or O’Connor’s B.U. teammate Jack Eichel in the draft, and is close to home in Toronto; Ottawa has a strong history of developing goaltenders, though the arrival of Andrew Hammond may have created a reason for the 23-year-old O’Connor to look elsewhere; the only real prospect in Edmonton’s system is former Oil King Laurent Brossoit, and Ben Scrivens in under contract for one more year; the Rangers likely won’t be able to keep Cam Talbot past next season, when he becomes a UFA (Edmonton, desperate for help in net, will pitch draft picks and Slovak defenceman Martin Marincin at the 2015 draft for Talbot, we predict). Being Henrik Lundqvist’s caddy in NYC may not be a bad place for O’Connor to get his feet wet in the NHL, but King Henrik is signed for six more seasons past this one.
Our prediction: Buffalo has the inside track, then Edmonton, the Rangers and Ottawa. (Gut feeling: Don’t rule out Calgary. They’re not married to either Karri Ramo or Jonas Hiller, with Joni Ortio on the farm in Adirondack.)
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What head coach would have a greater appreciation of having Carey Price as his goalie than Patrick Roy, the last, great Canadiens ‘keeper?
“He’s a leader on their team. He’s been consistent night after night,” Roy said. “How many times do you read in the paper where Michel Therrien says, ‘Carey has been Carey.’ That says a lot about the way he’s been playing.”
Roy, meanwhile, has had a brutal sophomore season with his Avs. Most recently they outplayed both Calgary and Edmonton, and didn’t come away with a point. Finally on Thursday night the Avs were rewarded, absolutely dominating Vancouver in a 4-1 win to finish their road trip.
But it’s too late now. Everything that went right last year when Colorado won the Central has gone wrong this season, when the Avalanche reside in last place in their Division.
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Like so many players, injuries caused former Red Wing and Canuck Mikael Samuelsson to tap out on his career the other day, announcing his retirement at age 38. He played only 69 pro games over the past three seasons, ending it with Djurgarden in Sweden this year.
“Towards the end, I couldn’t practice properly, I could only do rehab training, and you can only do that so long. I wanted to retire when I still could do something on the ice,” Samuelsson said on the Djurgarden web site. He won Olympic gold in Turin in 2006, a Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2008, and was sorely missed when he bowed out midway through the Canucks 2011 run due to injury.
Samuelsson may be best remembered for this quote however, issued when he was left off Team Sweden’s 2010 Olympic roster. “I pretty much have one comment and maybe I’ll regret it,” Samuelsson said. “But they can go f*** themselves.”
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One last goaltender note: A shout out to Trail B.C. native Don “Smokey” McLeod, the former Edmonton Oil King, Vancouver Blazer and Calgary Cowboy goalie who passed earlier this month at age 68.
He only played 18 NHL games (Detroit, Philadelphia), but McLeod was a World Hockey Association fixture, believed to be the first pro goalie to curve his stick. McLeod was the first goalie I ever saw shoot the puck the length of the ice, a tactic used by the Cowboys’ penalty kill to much success. He was, by all accounts, a character.
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On Thursday the Calgary Flames announced the signing of their seventh round pick in 2014, the 6-foot-3 Victoria Royals left-winger Austin Carroll. He could be a real steal for the Flames, who picked him last year as a 20-year-old, one year before he would have left the Western Hockey League as a UFA.
“He would have been a pretty attractive free agent this year had he not been drafted,” said Victoria GM Cam Hope.
“He’s got a pro body (225 lbs.), and is probably the best natural goal scorer on our team,” said Hope. “He knows where to go, has a great shot and he plays with a edge. He likes the rough stuff, and it’s a credit to his discipline that he doesn’t have 250 penalty minutes this season.”
You always have to be careful when judging a 20-year-old WHL player. Especially one like Carroll, who is bigger, stronger and more experienced than most of the players he is playing against. But he led Victoria in goals (38), points (77) and PIMs (124), all good signs for the Flames’ future.
Treliving indicates that Carroll will go straight to Adirondack, if the Royals bow out of the WHL playoffs while the Flames top farm team is still playing games this spring.
