Latest news with #Brzustewicz
Global News
28-06-2025
- Sport
- Global News
3 London Knights, Aylmer's Cameron Reid chosen in 2025 National Hockey League Draft
After two days and 224 selections, the ice chips have settled following another NHL Draft. Henry Brzustewicz, Aleksei Medvedev and Noah Read of the London Knights and Cameron Reid of Aylmer, Ont., heard their names called at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles, which is a regular home of the Emmys, the Grammys and the ESPYs among other major award ceremonies. Story continues below advertisement Night number one saw Reid and Brzustewicz drafted 21st and 31st overall respectively. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Brzustewicz got on of the largest cheers as he went to the host Los Angeles Kings in front of the crowd The two-time OHL champion and Memorial Cup champion Brzustewicz joins London teammate Jared Woolley who was selected by the Kings in the sixth round of the 2024 NHL Draft. Brzustewicz made plays all over the ice in his second year in the Ontario Hockey League and may have saved his biggest goal of the season for the Memorial Cup tournament when he opened the scoring against the host Rimouski Oceanic in a 3-1 Knights win. Reid is coming off a solid year with the Kitchener Rangers where he was named an alternate captain with the team and recorded 14 goals and 54 points in 67 games. Reid played for Elgin-Middlesex growing up. On day two of the draft, the Vancouver Canucks called the name of London goaltender Aleksei Medvedev in the second round with the 47th overall pick. Medvedev left home in St. Petersburg, Russia at 14 years old and went to live with a family member in Toronto, Ont., with the hope of one day making hockey a career. Story continues below advertisement He shared the Knights crease in the regular season with Austin Elliott as a 17-year old and had a 2.79 goals against average and a .912 save percentage in his rookie season in the OHL. That kind of a performance earned him the F.W. 'Dinty' Moore Trophy which goes to the OHL rookie with the lowest goals against average. The Anaheim Ducks selected London forward Noah Read in the third round with the 72nd overall pick. Read took full advantage of his opportunities from training camp forward. The St. Catharines, Ont., native came into the season as a 10th round pick with only an outside chance at earning a roster spot on a Knights roster full of returnees. Not only did Read make the team, he became a player who earned more and more ice time as the year went along. He helped to eliminate the Owen Sound Attack with a hat trick in the series-clinching game in the first round of the OHL playoffs. Next up in the draft world in hockey will be the 2025 CHL Import Selection which will take place on Wednesday, June 2. Canadian Hockey League teams are permitted three import picks on their rosters. Story continues below advertisement That marks an increase from two in 2024-25.
New York Times
25-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Winnipeg's next move after Jonathan Toews; Nikolaj Ehlers and contingencies for his departure
Jonathan Toews' signing, once made official July 1, will give the Winnipeg Jets nine NHL forwards under contract. That number will increase to 11 once Gabriel Vilardi and Morgan Barron have signed their contract extensions, and it could get as high as 12 if Nikolaj Ehlers completes the starting lineup by re-signing. Advertisement More likely, the Jets have work to do. Winnipeg will start by making its first-round pick Friday. We've explored 12 options with the Jets in mind, and Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler have each chosen right-shooting defenceman Henry Brzustewicz in their mock drafts. Brzustewicz is a big, mobile defenceman who would give Winnipeg a defenceman beyond Elias Salomonsson to be excited about, and the Jets know a lot about him because they are also tracking the progress of his London Knights teammate, 2023 fifth-round pick Jacob Julien. There is a world in which the Jets simply make that pick Friday and their four remaining picks Saturday, then head into the summer hoping Toews and Winnipeg's next generation of prospects are enough to help repeat as Cup contenders. They could bet on the next steps from Vilardi, Cole Perfetti and Dylan Samberg — or the first full NHL seasons from prospects Brad Lambert and Nikita Chibrikov — as 'enough.' But what about the bigger picture? Wouldn't it behoove a team that won a Presidents' Trophy and one playoff round to make a bigger investment in re-establishing itself, with or without Ehlers? Well, duh. In addition to preparing for the NHL Draft, Jets brass is gathered this week to sort out its plans in a post-Ehlers future. Elliotte Friedman reported on '32 Thoughts' this week that Winnipeg might have pitched Ehlers on playing with Toews as a reason to stay. I'm not sure that's enough to tilt the scales: Ehlers is 10 seasons into his NHL career and less than a week away from his first look at unrestricted free agency. It would be stunning if he didn't gauge the market and surprising if the market didn't provide enough offers to earn serious consideration. If you're Winnipeg, the difference between Perfetti-Toews-Ehlers and Perfetti-Toews-Vladislav Namestnikov on your second line is enough to necessitate a multitude of contingency plans. The best-case version of Toews adds 'hard to play against' in a way the Jets need with or without Ehlers; anything short of that gives Perfetti a lot of work to do to generate offence. More likely, the Jets could use an effective forechecking winger with enough skill in his game to create some of that offence, too. Andrew Mangiapane continues to be a useful example — tremendous puck recovery numbers, according to All Three Zones, despite a drop-off in scoring that accompanied a drop-off in minutes. He could probably score well again in the right context, but Toews is exceptional as an unrestricted free agent. Winnipeg is his homecoming dream but not every player's first choice. If the Jets get to have their choice of non-Ehlers free agents, productive middle-six wingers such as Brock Boeser, whom the Jets have liked since before he was drafted, and Mikael Granlund, the 902-game veteran who helped the Dallas Stars beat Winnipeg in this year's playoffs, would top the list. Neither player would be expected to have Ehlers' impact — Granlund scored his 66 points in 1,614 minutes, and Ehlers put up his 63 points in 1,090 minutes — but adding 'part of' Ehlers along with Toews would be a lot more palatable than going forward without a replacement. Even a buy-low attempt to get 32-year-old, right-shooting Viktor Arvidsson's ($4 million AAV) career going again after a middling season with Edmonton would seem a viable gamble. Advertisement The best way to push forward without Ehlers might be on the trade market. JJ Peterka is an exciting, up-and-coming player thought to be available, and veterans Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust and Morgan Geekie show prominently on our trade board. Rust's $5.125 million AAV contract has a no-movement clause that expires June 30 and three seasons left in its duration. He's probably past his prime as a play-driver, but he's coming off of 31- and 28-goal seasons. Geekie is a restricted free agent whom the Boston Bruins should keep, although he did ride a 22.0 shooting percentage to 33 goals last season; he could be too expensive for the Bruins (if they're interested in rebuilding). If you're drawing up a player from scratch, he'd be hard to play against, put up points, shoot right, play primarily on the wing and win faceoffs when called upon. That's tough to accomplish in just one player — Ehlers himself was not all of those things. It's also a bit rich to conjure up two homecoming stories in one summer, but the 26-year-old Geekie might come the closest. The problem, of course, with filling Winnipeg's needs via trade is that it's asset-inefficient. The Jets have only just begun to celebrate adding a UFA such as Toews, whatever level he gets to, for cash alone after so many years of trading draft picks for centre help. If they find themselves shipping more draft capital out to backfill for Ehlers' UFA departure, it will undo some of the gains they've just made. With Toews to officially sign July 1, the Jets have momentum going and the opportunity to keep it going with a good pick at No. 28 on Friday. They're also in an unenviable position with respect to Ehlers — one they've been planning for, for ages. The contingencies are difficult to track and could include UFA or trade success, or even an uncertain bet on youth like Lambert to step forward, with recalibration as the season begins. They'd like to have clarity much sooner than that, though. The next two weeks should be fascinating, from general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff's media address Thursday through the draft, development camp next week and beyond. (Top photo of Jonathan Toews: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
Calgary Herald
06-06-2025
- Sport
- Calgary Herald
FLAMES RETOOL TRACKER: Potential options on defence at the NHL Draft
If there's one thing that's become clear as we've looked through the state of the defence in our Flames Retool Tracker series this week, it's that the organization is well-stocked with young talent on the blue line. Article content That makes it pretty unlikely that the Flames will take a defenceman with their first of two first-round picks at the NHL Draft later this month. Article content Article content Article content Measurements: 6-foot-1, 192 lbs. Article content The skinny: It's not just that Brzustewicz's brother, Hunter, is one of the most highly regarded prospects in the Flames system and could be part of the blue-line puzzle next season. Henry also played big minutes for the Knights as they won the Memorial Cup this year and was one of the big risers on most draft boards as the season progressed. Scouts praise him for his super-high hockey IQ and his dependability on both ends of the ice, while acknowledging there's room for him to be more assertive offensively. Brzustewicz is expected to be picked in the second round and it would be a great story if the Flames wound up with both brothers. Article content Article content Article content Measurements: 6-foot-4, 200 lbs. Article content The skinny: The son of eight-time Canadian long ball champion Lisa Vlooswyk is a defensive defenceman who brings real physicality to the ice and that could have real value for a Flames team that already has its fair share of offensively minded blueliners in its system. FC Hockey's draft guide credits Vlooswyk for his physical presence, positioning and stick work and notes that he 'excels in denying net-front access (and) tying up threats without losing structure' — and that's exactly what coaches like in a defenceman. If he's available in the later rounds, the Flames just might look at bringing another Calgary kid home.
