Monthly Archives: June 2010
9:45 am: Kris Versteeg, all of 24 years old, is already the player the Islanders and their fans hope (and pray) just one of their small forward prospects turns out to be in the next 2-3 years. He may be what they hope their prospects of any size develop into. In his first two NHL seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, the 5-10, 180-pound Versteeg has averaged 21 goals and 49 points. Rarely a member of the first unit, Versteeg posted only slightly over a quarter of his 97 points in those two years on the power play.
The right wing reiterated to me during the Western Conference Final, during one of my many recent visits to Chicago, that he owes a huge debt of gratitude to Scott Gordon for making him an NHL player. “Nobody seemed to know what to do with me, and I wasn’t making it any easier,” said Versteeg, as honest a person as he is a hockey player. “With Scott in Providence, I got a role and confidence.” Now Versteeg will get a Stanley Cup ring.
A reliable league source tells Point Blank that Versteeg is the most likely Blackhawk forward to be moved before July 15. As has been well-documented, the Blackhawks will shed salary over the next month.
Before the Cup Final began, players like Versteeg, Patrick Sharp and Andrew Ladd had a good sense of humor when asked about the franchise’s impending cap crunch. Better yet, the players embraced a win-now, win-together attitude, knowing there would not be a full-scale team reunion when training camp started in September.
From what I witnessed for a week in March and at the Conference Final and Cup Final, I don’t see how Chicago GM Stan Bowman can trade Sharp. The 28-year-old forward was the glue in a very young locker room. Captain Jonathan Toews repeatedly spoke of leaning on Sharp for counsel. Whenever the Hawks wanted to hide Toews and Patrick Kane from the media, they trotted out the willing and quotable Sharp. And oh by the way, he had 25 goals and 66 points in the regular season and was 11-11-22 and +10 in 22 playoff games. At $3.9 million for each of the next two years, Sharp is not a salary cap solution – he is a bargain.
Dustin Byfuglien? I don’t think the Blackhawks will move him after his playoff heroics. If I’m the Islanders, Big Buff wouldn’t be my guy for this team at this time.
Dave Bolland at $3.37 million for each of the next four years? In a heartbeat, but I have to believe the Blackhawks will waive big contracts like Cristobal Huet’s before they lose the versatile Bolland.
Versteeg to the Islanders makes all the sense in the world, even if he wouldn’t solve the Islanders’ size problem. He may be small, but he’s gritty, chippy, lippy and would go a long way towards solving their lack-of-skill problem. He’s also a big-time leader with a championship pedigree, just a few years older than the Islanders’ top kids. For perspective, Versteeg is two years younger than the very solid Frans Nielsen.
Thanks in large part to a paperwork snafu that cost former Chicago GM Dale Tallon his job, Versteeg will make $3 million each of the next two years. Even at that rate, he is a better investment than a majority of the quality forwards the Islanders could hope to woo in the unrestricted free agent market. (Did I mention he’s just 24?) He also knows the head coach and his style of play. Heck, he loves the head coach and his style of play. Before the Bruins gave him away, Versteeg had 49 points in 43 games in 2005-06 as a 20-year-old for Gordon in Providence. How many Islanders draft picks have produced at that level recently in Bridgeport?
The cost? Probably in the vicinity of a second round draft pick. Maybe a second and a fourth. Since the rest of the league knows Bowman is in a bind, even Blackhawks management concedes the team getting Versteeg is winning the trade.
Versteeg is a righty shot who can play on one of the Islanders’ top two lines, on either wing. When coach Joel Quenneville wanted to assemble a shut-down unit, he enlisted Bolland, Ladd and Versteeg for a “third” line. They were dynamite. The 24-year-old Ladd is a restricted free agent who made $1.6 million last year. He’ll also be available for the right deal. He is 6-2, 200 pounds and has averaged 16 goals and 44 points the last two seasons.
After acquiring Versteeg, certainly GM Garth Snow can address his team’s biggest void - “We could use some size,” said Coach Gordon – with one of his many other offseason acquisitions. There is plenty of space on the roster and below the cap.
The next month cannot be only about adding the fifth overall pick and a few other hopefuls to the prospect camp and the delusional he’s-bound-to-be-awesome pool. First, it was the 2006 draft, where there’s still a little time but the successes are limited to the seventh overall pick (Kyle Okposo) and Ted Nolan’s selection in the sixth round (Andrew MacDonald). Not so long ago, the Islanders and many of their fans thought they were getting a lot more high-end talent. Now everyone’s convinced the 2008 crop is franchise-defining. That’s the way it works with the draft; teams (and their die-hard followers) always think their recent ones are epic. It’s important to wait until a few of the kids actually play an NHL game first.
If the Islanders want to reach Snow’s stated goal of making the playoffs next season – and not hurt the slow and steady rebuild by giving up a top prospect – Versteeg should be presented with a royal blue jersey in the next two weeks.
Please check out my story on the highly-skilled, fallen prospect at FanHouse.
On this Fathers’ Day weekend, we take a brief break from Draft Madness to salute our dads. If your father played a role in your love for the NHL and the New York Islanders, or your own youth hockey career, here’s your chance to honor him. Please keep entries at a max of 300 words. Place them in Comments. Thank you…CB
For my final prospect interview for FanHouse, here’s Erik Gudbranson of the Kingston Frontenacs. If the Islanders pick at 5 and go for defense, it will likely come down to a choice of Gudbranson or Brandon Gormley of Moncton. At the end, Erik speaks of his younger brother Dennis, who could be diagnosed cancer-free on August 18.
1:05 pm: Visitors to Jones Beach recently might have run into quite an international quartet.
There was Ryan Jankowski, the thirtysomething Islanders scouting chief from Alberta. Joining Jankowski was a trio of 18-year-old hockey players:
Nino Niederreiter, the big, talented right wing from Switzerland
Alex Burmistrov, the dynamic center from Russia
Mikael Granlund, the small, but super-skilled center from Finland
The three young men visited the Islanders three weeks ago. They stayed at the Marriott next door to the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. They underwent testing with Islanders orthopedist Dr. Elliott Herschman. They met with trainer Garrett Timms. They met individually with general manager Garth Snow. They went for dinner and toured the area with Jankowski.
And on day two there was the trip to Jones Beach.
“Beautiful place, that Long Island,” Burmistrov told Point Blank. “All of us had such a great time. The Islanders really took care of us and made us want to play there. I know Mikael and Nino really liked it, too.”
So what did they do at the beach?
“Mostly enjoyed the surroundings,” laughed Burmistrov, who visited Ottawa earlier that week. “It was just really nice. Mr. Jankowski showed us around. We talked hockey a lot the day before, so the day at the beach was all about having fun. I went in the water. Nino and Granny, they were too scared. Too cold.”
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CB’s Draft Mockery: Picks 3, 4 and 5
Agent pledges full disclosure of Connolly’s medical records
My final two videos for FanHouse capture completely different personalities, but I would warn you: I would not make the mistake of judging 18-year-old hockey players based on how they speak, or – in this case – who forgets to take the gum out of their mouth. I can’t tell you how many great players I’ve seen through the years who did not come off as sharp or smooth, but turned out just fine where it matters most – on the ice. Connolly will have plenty of time for media training. Actually, I think he comes off as a solid, tough, old-school hockey player. Watch the goal. Final vid later. Comments.
6:30 pm: So I asked my go-to scout this afternoon, “If Hall, Seguin, Connolly and Fowler are gone, who is the proverbial best player available for the Islanders to take at 5? Is it Gudbranson? Gormley? El Nino”?
“Nope,” he said. “Burmistrov. No question. First-line forward for them. Playmaker for Tavares. Whether it’s the Islanders picking at 5 if those first four come off the boards or another team, you can’t pass up Burmistrov’s talent and makeup.”
You may be surprised to learn that my jaw didn’t drop when the scout suggested Alex Burmistrov as the best player available. Fact is, since I really started digging into this draft thing over a month ago, Burmistrov’s name has continually come up as a dynamic force a team near the top of the draft would be foolish to not consider.
So why then doesn’t the 18-year-old from Kazan get more Canadian hype machine and mock-draft love? You know the answer. If he was Alex Carter of the Barrie Colts and not Alexander Burmistrov, the 6-1 center would be an automatic entry in the next-level group with Fowler and Gormley and Gudbranson. Instead, you’ll find him ranked anywhere from 6-16 in rating services and media mocks. I’ve been equally guilty of ignoring the signs, until today’s call.
In the “scouting community” – as scouts like to call it – Burmistrov is regarded as a player who merits selection in the 4-8 range.
“A terrific player and, even better, what a great attitude,” said the scout. (He’s my main guy I’ve referred to several times on this blog over the last two years, the one who has steered me well in the big spots and done a heckuva job for his own NHL team). “First-year player in Barrie, over from Russia, and the other teams tried to beat the hell out of him. He was tested and always got right back up. You should have seen him at the Draft Combine. He won everyone over with his personality and commitment to the NHL.”
The vitals on Burmistrov: 6-1, 185 pounds and growing. He’ll be 19 on Oct. 21. He joined the Ontario Hockey League because he wants to be in the NHL…soon. In 62 regular season games with the Colts, he had 22 goals and 43 assists for 65 points. He won over the remaining disbelievers when he was 8-8-16 in 17 playoff games for Barrie. Kazan Ak Bars has his rights in the KHL, but Burmistrov never signed a contract with them and has no commitments with his hometown team (bright kid).
The first time I heard Burmistrov’s name in big-boy territory was when a scout volunteered this to me during the OHL playoffs, after the Islanders landed the fifth pick in the lottery:
“He’s a center by trade and so is Tavares. But the more I see Burmistrov play, the more I picture him being a perfect teammate for Tavares and the rest of the good young players on the Islanders. He can be a first-line player. I can’t say that with as much certainty about Ryan Johanssen or Nino Niederreiter and some of the others who may go top-ten. Burmistrov has been penalized because he’s a Russian. To those guys who can’t get past that, I’d tell them he’s as North American as anyone in the OHL – just with more skill.”
The Islanders are interested. According to Newsday, he is one of seven players to meet with team executives in New York.
Since Gordie Clark has been on a media tour the last two days to drum up interest in the draft, I called my friend and former colleague for detail on Burmistrov’s showing at the NHL Draft Combine. Gordie was kind enough to go on the record.
“He was a star on the ice this season and one of the stars of the Draft Combine,” said Clark, who runs the Rangers’ draft with Jeff Gorten. “Everyone on our staff and anyone I talked to with the other teams came away with such a strong impression of the kid.
“His English is strong. When I saw he liked to joke around, I decided to bust his chops a bit. I said to him, ‘Look, we’ve been good at keeping our Russian players here, like (Evgeni) Gratchev. How do I know if you don’t make the NHL next season, you’re not going to run home to the KHL’?
“Burmistrov looked at me like I was crazy. He leaned forward in his chair and said, ‘Sir, I went to Canada and played junior hockey for 80 dollars a week! I could have made a lot more in Russia. Do you think I did that so I could play in the KHL next year? I’m going to play in the NHL. I’m staying here.’ That was really impressive.”
Burmistrov is going to be in the NHL in a year or two. It’s just a matter of where.
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