With less than a week before the Boston Bruins host the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, the Bruins announced the free agent signing of Jeff Zehr. Drafted 31st overall by the Islanders in ’97, Zehr never came to terms with New York and now, at age 20, finds himself competing for a spot on the Boston Bruins roster. “I’m not going to Boston thinking that I’ll play a year in the minors,” Zehr told reporters of the Boston Globe following his signing. “I’m thinking I’ll make the club. I play a feisty game. I like to be involved out there, in all key situations.”
This future power forward, who has been compared to Brendan Shanahan, notched 24 goals in 57 games last year and knows what is expected of him. “The Bruins are keying on me, telling me I’ll get a chance – and now it’s up to me to make the most of it.” Voted by OHL coaches as the West Division’s most improved player for 1996-1997, Zehr should have no problems adjusting to the pro game assuming he can develop his game at the same pace.
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After last season’s contract dispute with Juha Lind, the Stars have finally come to terms with the left-winger on a two year deal. This move provides much needed speed and skill to the Stars lineup, and at the same time injects youth into an aging group of forwards. The Stars openly admit that they made a mistake in letting Juha go back to Finland last year, and I agree. Further more, I still maintain that Benoit Houge would not have been needed if Lind were still around. Look for Juha to be penciled into the second line rotation, with a roster spot all but assured.
5-10 180lbs 1/2/74 92-DRAFT #178
’98-’99 team: Jokerit (Fin.)
’98-’99 statistics: gp-50 g-20 a-19 pts-39 pim-22 +16
BYE-BYE TUREK, WE’LL MISS YOU
In a move that was heavily scrutinized, the Dallas Stars quickly shipped Roman Turek to the St.Louis Blues for a third round pick in 1999. However, the Stars pointed out in the papers that they were trying to make a deal with Atlanta not to take Turek, but they didn’t receive a response in time. This left Dallas up against the deadline, and resulted in low-balling tactics by interested teams, thus fulfilling their worst nightmares. In turn, the Stars traded Roman for little in return rather than risk losing him for nothing on Friday. So now all Stars fans will get to see Roman work his magic with a conference rival, and at the same time will see the once great Grant Fuhr replaced as the #1 goalie. Hopefully this move won’t come back to haunt the Stars, but I’m afraid it will. Read more»
The 1999 Entry Draft will be an important one for the Florida Panthers. After years of bad draft picks, busts, trades, and the graduation of Parrish, Kvasha, Spacek and Worrell, the Florida Panthers now find themselves with a weak prospect pool and many holes to fill.
The biggest hole to fill is obviously goaltending. With Sean Burke’s contract set to expire in the year 2000, and UFA Kirk McLean likely gone, the Panthers do not have a young goalie ready to step in, not even as an NHL backup. The Panthers best goaltending prospect, Todd MacDonald is hardly good enough to land an AHL starting job. The Panthers are in desperate need of a young, apprenticing goaltender in the system.
The Panthers also lack skilled forwards, especially at center. With the exception of Novoseltsev, a high-end scoring forward, and Nilson, a checking forward, the Panthers don’t have much to write home about. Center is the Panthers 2nd most lacking position with only career-AHL types such as Herbert Vasiljevs and Ryan Johnson in their system. The Panthers would love to have a skilled playmaking center in the system, along with a developing 2-way checking center.
As for the defense corps, Panthers GM Bryan Murray has assembled a solid group of defense prospects, many of them hardly known in hockey circles. Boyle, Allen, and Ratchuk bring offensive games, while Jakopin, Ference, Kuba, Teterenko, and Rossiter play a solid defensively. Although the Panthers lack a true #1 defensemen, they have many solid defense prospects, many of which could be NHL bound. Read more»
Just when you thought it was safe to put away your hockey sweater for the summer, I am back with a quick down-and-dirty on the latest developments in the Boston Bruins camp since the season ended over a month ago. With the draft quickly approaching, we will take one final look at the Bruins’ biggest needs and who they may select to fulfill those requirements. Many thanks to those who responded to my earlier HF Draft Preview with good feedback that has allowed for one final tweak before the main event in Boston on Saturday.
Who’s In:
Jeff Zehr. The big news in Boston last week was the signing of 1997 Islanders 2nd- round draft pick Zehr, who comes to the Bruins after a solid OHL career. He has shown promise as a power forward and seems to have every inclination of earning a place on Boston’s roster this year. He’ll have his work cut out for him, but this is an excellent move by management after Zehr could not come to terms in New York.
Eric Van Acker. Van Acker is a big(6’5, 220 pound) blueliner out of Baie-Comeau of the Quebec League and was Boston’s 11th choice, 218th overall in 1997. He’s a meat-and-potatoes stay- at-home defender who does not generate much offense, but could develop into a solid pro with the right seasoning.
Who’s Out:
Jim Baxter. The Oshawa Generals’ defenseman had a great year, leading team defensemen in scoring and establishing himself as a real power play point-producer. Boston’s 9th choice(180) in 1997 couldn’t agree on a deal with Boston and re-enters the draft.
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The Islanders fire sale has continued with the departure of their best player, Ziggy Palffy out west to the Kings. As upsetting as this move is the Isles did manage to land some quality young players, as well as a third top 10 pick in the upcoming draft. Olli Jokinen is one of the premier young talents in the league. He was eased into the Kings line up this season and was impressive despite his decieving stats. He was a superstar in the Finnish men’s league for two years as a 17 and 18 year old posting better than a point a game, and has also shined in international competition. His acquisition gives the Isles the 3rd (Jokinen), 4th (Luongo), and 5th (Brewer) overall picks from the talented 1997 draft.
Josh Green is a huge winger and was a dominant scorer at the junior level. He has put up solid numbers in the AHL and played 27 games with the Kings last season put only saw limited ice time. He has great size and potential and should be able to find his scoring touch in the NHL with some quality ice time. The Isles also acquired towering defenseman Matthieu Biron, the KIngs first round pick last year. Biron gets better every year and has shown signs of becoming an offensive presence to go along with his sound positional play and toughness. It would not be difficult to project a huge blueline for the Isladers with Kenny Jonsson (6-3 197), Eric Brewer, (6-4 201), Zdeno Chara (6-9 255), Biron (6-6 215), and Vladimir Chebaturkin (6-2 213).
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