Sport-scan daily brief

“We'd really like to get a forward, unless there's a defenseman that's too good to pass up,'' he said. “If we feel there's two players (at different positions) that are even we'll lean toward the forward. … If we can add a little size up front, it would be beneficial.''

Some decent-sized forwards who might be available when the Red Wings pick include Bo Horvat of London (6-0, 206), Adam Erne of Quebec (6-0, 210) and Anthony Mantha of Val-d'Or (6-4, 190).

Horvat is a good skater who competes and goes to the hard areas of the ice. Erne also skates well, has skills and can play a physical game. Mantha is a pure sniper who led the Quebec League with 50 goals.

Others forwards who might be available at No. 18 include Curtis Lazar of Edmonton (WHL), Andre Burakowsky of Malmo (Sweden), Alexander Wennberg of Djurgardens (Sweden), Kerby Rychel of Windsor (OHL), Frederik Gauthier of Rimouski (QMJHL), and Valentin Zykov of Baie Comeau (QMJHL).

If the Red Wings take a defenseman with their first pick, various mock drafts have them selecting Mirco Mueller of Everett (WHL), Josh Morrissey of Prince Albert (WHL) or Nikita Zadorov of London.

McDonnell said selecting a goaltender is not a high priority this year and they will not take one in the first three rounds, at least. They're well-stocked at the position with Petr Mrazek, who led the Grand Rapids Griffins to the Calder Cup championship as a rookie, 6-foot-5 free agent Jared Coreau of Northern Michigan, and Jake Paterson of Saginaw (OHL), their third-round pick a year ago.

The Red Wings have each of their picks in the seven rounds. The entire draft is Sunday.

Free agency opens on July 5. It's a relatively weak free-agent class because more teams are locking up their own players to long-term contracts.

It further emphasizes the need to build through the draft.

“In the salary-cap era, it's everything,'' McDonnell said. “If you don't draft well and develop your players you don't have any hope. If you're going to be a good organization you better draft.''

NHL entry draft

When: Sunday from 3-11 p.m.

Where: Prudential Center, Newark, N.J.

TV: NBC Sports Network from 3-8 p.m.; NHL Network from 8 p.m. to conclusion.

Top five picks: 1. Colorado, 2. Florida, 3. Tampa Bay, 4. Nashville, 5. Carolina.

Top prospects: Seth Jones, D, Portland; Nathan MacKinnon, C, Halifax; Jonathan Drouin, LW, Halifax; Aleksander Barkov, C, Tappara (Finland); Elias Lindholm, C, Brynas (Sweden).

Red Wings selections: 18th, 48th, 79th, 109th, 139th, 169th, 199th.

Michigan Live LOADED: 06.28.2013

682706 Detroit Red Wings

Will Red Wings woo Vincent Lecavalier?

By CHUCK PLEINESS

Posted: Thursday, 06/27/13 06:44 pm

DETROIT – With the NHL free agency period a week away, the pool of players the Wings may be interested grew by one.

And it was one they’re going to be very interested in once July 5 rolls around.

The Tampa Bay Lightning used one of their compliance buyout on center Vincent Lecavalier.

“I’m so motivated to go somewhere else and prove I can play at a high level,” Lecavalier said in a conference call Thursday afternoon. “I believe in myself and what I can bring to a team. I want to win.”

Even with the free agency period a week away Lecavalier said he hasn’t put much thought into where he’d like to play next season, but that the Wings will get some consideration.

“I haven’t really thought about that,” Lecavalier said. “(Detroit’s) actually a team I grew up idolizing. Them and Montreal were my favorite teams. Steve Yzerman was my favorite player.”

Yzerman is the Lightning’s general manager and spent his entire career with the Wings.

“My door’s open to everything, but I haven’t made a list yet,” Lecavalier said. “I’m really open to anything. I haven’t pinpointed anything.”

The Wings seem to be a good fit for both parties since they could be in need of a second-line center if they’re unable to come to terms with unrestricted free agent Valtteri Filppula.

When Filppula was asked if he thought he’d be back with the team when the Wings conducted their locker cleanout he said, “I don’t know. It’s too early to say right now. I just have to wait a little longer and see what happens.

“I haven’t thought about that too much, but obviously it’s a possibility that could happen,” Filppula added. “It’d be tough. It’s been a really great place to be. I’ve been so happy here. We’ll see if we go … if that’s what’s going to happen.”

Wings general manager Ken Holland said at the time the Wings made Filppula an offer in August and September before talks broke down.

Filppula made $3 million last season and is believed to be asking for about a $2 million raise a year.

Lecavalier’s addition would more than likely allow the Wings to rejoin Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg on the top line alongside Justin Abdelkader.

“They’re probably one of the best duos in the league,” Lecavalier said of the Wings tandem. “They made the playoffs the last 20 years. It’s a great team, a great organization. It’s definitely a place I would consider.”

Lecavalier could center Johan Franzen and either Gustav Nyquist or another free agent, possibly Damien Brunner if he re-signs with Detroit.

“As a hockey player you want to win,” Lecavalier said. “I want to be happy.”

Lecavalier, 33, spent his entire 15-year career with Tampa Bay, scoring 383 goals and 874 points in 1,037 regular season games and helped lead the Lightning to their first-ever Stanley Cup victory in 2004.

Lecavalier, who helped lead the Lightning to the Stanley Cup in 2004, had 10 goals and 22 assists in 39 games last season.

The Lightning bought out the final 11 years of his $85 million contract, paying him two-thirds of the remaining value on the deal. That frees up $7.727 million in salary-cap space for Tampa Bay.

“It is,” Lecavalier said when asked if it’s going to be odd playing for another team next season. “(Playing for Tampa Bay) is all I’ve known. The thought of wearing a different jersey is weird in my head. It’s a challenge. I’m very motivated.

“I will work very hard to be in top shape, get to training camp and work with different players in a different environment,” Lecavalier continued. “It is weird to know I’m going to be playing somewhere else. The different environment is something I’m going to have to adapt to. I have to move on.”

Macomb Daily LOADED: 06.28.2013

682707 Edmonton Oilers

Impatient MacTavish showing his stuff by NOT rushing to make a trade

June 27, 2013. 8:21 am

David Staples

In his influential 30 thoughts column, Hockey Night in Canada contributor Elliotte Friedman amped up the pressure on Oilers GM Craig MacTavish just a little bit more, if that were possible, writing this week: ”As we approach what could be a wild draft week, GMs to watch include MacTavish: ‘He’s got his fingers in everything,’ said one compatriot.”

The pressure on MacTavish comes from a fanbase tired of losing — losing more than any other NHL team in the past few years.

It’s a fanbase that also grew tired with previous GM Steve Tambellini’s seemingly lackadaisical approach, one that saw Tambellini repeatedly stating he needed time to assess, which earned him a “Mr. Dithers” nickname.

The pressure also comes from MacTavish, who sounded so very bold at the press conference to take the Oilers job.

“I’m an impatient guy and I bring that impatience to this situation. We’re at the stage… that we have to do some bold things,” MacTavish told reporters. “We have to expose ourselves to some semblance of risk to try and move the team forward in a rapid fashion.”

Since that time Oilers fans have been itching to see MacTavish pull off a major trade, possibly one where he moved the 7th overall pick, something the Oilers GM said he was open to doing.

So far, though, save for the firing of coach Ralph Krueger and hiring of Dallas Eakins, there’s been little in the way of movement. And now, in his most recent pre-draft press conference this week, MacTavish gave out a different message: as much as he’s trying, he’s finding it not so easy to make moves to improve the Oilers.

Just now, moving the 7th overall pick doesn’t sound so likely at all, even as MacTavish says he’s talked to every other GM about it.

“I have had offers for that pick, but nothing that would remotely sway me to move that pick,” he said. “You get varying degrees of realism when you talk to some of the managers.”

(Note to MacT: make a mental note of the most unrealistic ones. It’s those unstable guys who in moments of crises and intense pressure will be most open to selling the future to try and save the day and their own jobs.)

All the effort MacTavish has put in on the phone lines may yet bring a reasonable deal for the Oilers, but MacTavish is finding out just how hard that is to pull off.

Here’s what he said during his recent press conference:

“A lot of the experienced guys weren’t putting too much effort into making deals a couple of weeks ago or a month ago. I was trying to do something, but I think the experienced guys recognize that there’s always a need for a timeline for these deals to somehow get done, and they knew the timeline better than I did, so I put in a lot of calls maybe needlessly, but it’s good to get a pulse of what everybody is trying to do.

“I am motivated to do something. As one of my counterparts said, ‘Sometimes you can feel like you’re trying to push a stone uphill.’ But we’re really motivated to do something to help this current roster.

“You go through phases in this position where you’re really optimistic. One day you’re at the office and you think you’re going to get something that excites you. The next day you come in and it’s shot down and you go with a more pessimistic view.

“In a lot of ways these deals are really the culmination of a partnership where the deal has to work for both teams. I think the default position on deals now is to not do the deal if you’re in question at all. Some of that may be due to the amount of scrutiny. It’s better not to do a deal than to do a bad deal. I think the default position is normally to not do the deal unless it’s mutually beneficial to both parties.”

My take?

It’s good news, in that regard, that MacTavish hasn’t pulled the trigger on anything. His hunger to act has not outweighed his good sense about what is right for the team.

That MacTavish has good sense isn’t in doubt. He showed it as a coach and he’s displayed it every time he’s opened his mouth as a GM. He comes across as a thoughtful, analytical, and a sharp dealer.

I also suspect that in coming weeks, when deals are going to start happening fast and furiously, that MacTavish will do just fine.

He’s not going to trade down too far in the draft, which is good news, as there’s about 10 really good players in this draft, but after that things get much riskier.

He’s not going to sign a bunch of fourth line guys over the age of 30 as free agents, another good notion on hi spart, given how quickly the skill set of a 30-plus third liner can render him obsolete.

Tthe Oilers have enough cap space and enough prospects, especially on defence, to make a few moves.

The team also has an abundance of smalled skilled forwards, including Toni Rajala and Mark Arcobello on the farm, who might be dealt in a mutually beneficial deal for what the Oilers need.

Outside of a top defenceman, someone to pair up with Justin Schultz on the top pairing, this team has candidates to fill the key spots on the club. It has a top line and a decent top goalie in Devan Dubnyk. It has some decent defencemen in Jeff Petry and Ladi Smid (plus, as mentioned, the exceptionally promising Schultz).

It has secondary scoring with Sam Gagner, and whichever one of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall and Nail Yakupov isn’t on the top line. It just needs a few more centres and wingers who can get the job done on defence and help cycle the puck more effectively, either by winning the puck physically or by keeping it with superior stick skills. These aren’t top line players needed. These are role players. A cagey GM should be able to find them.

The team also needs better structure on the power play and in its own zone, better line combinations, and better defensive fundamentals, but that’s something Dallas Eakins should be able to direct. He’s got the credentials to make a mark in the NHL as a coach.

And MacTavish, by not jumping to make a deal so far, is showing he’s doing a fine job of learning on the job as a GM.

There’s no rush to make the wrong move. There’s patience needed to make the right ones.

Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 06.28.2013

682708 Edmonton Oilers

NHL Draft: Trade to Vancouver Giants big career boost for Sherwood Park’s Mason Geertsen

By Joanne Ireland, Edmonton Journal June 27, 2013 7:06 PM

EDMONTON - The move from the Edmonton Oil Kings to the Vancouver Giants was a beneficial one, not only for the Oil Kings, who acquired defenceman David Musil, but for Mason Geertsen, who took on a more prominent role with his new Western Hockey League team.

Geertsen, traded to the Giants on Oct. 31, finished the year with two goals, 12 assists and 130 penalty minutes. He’ll go into Sunday’s NHL’s entry draft ranked 59th by Central Scouting.

The defensive defenceman, who is currently carrying 199 pounds on an imposing six-foot-three frame, was more than satisfied with his testing at the combine, and pronounced that the interviews went better than he expected, given that he had been more nervous about that part of the proceedings.

Geertsen interviewed with 13 teams, then joined a group of prospects invited to Buffalo, by the Sabres, for a skate and more testing. He then returned to Toronto to undergo more testing with the Maple Leafs before heading back home.

“I really don’t want to get too overwhelmed by it all, but as the draft gets closer it’s hard not to think about it,” he said from his off-season home in Sherwood Park. He’ll fly to New Jersey in the next couple of days with his parents and his sister.

“The combine was definitely something I’ve never been through before. You go from room to room, talking to so many people, then on the testing day, you walk out in your spandex and there’s a roomful of people watching you. It was pretty crazy.”

With the Giants, Geertsen was logging upwards of 30 minutes a game, compared to 10 with the Oil Kings. Additionally, he was on the first penalty-killing unit and the second-line power play.

He admitted there was an adjustment period, but his increased playing time allowed him to eventually play his physical game.

‘It was definitely a big change, and it was a good experience for me. It definitely helped me improve,” he said. “All the scouts got to see me a lot more and in different situations.”

A product of the Leduc Oil Kings, Geertsen was a first-round pick (18th overall) by the Oil Kings in the 2010 WHL bantam draft. The Oil Kings also gave up a first-round pick in the 2013 draft to get Musil.

They did not want to move the rugged defenceman, but the Giants were not going to do the deal if Geertsen wasn’t heading west in the transaction.

“It really felt good knowing they had faith in me and wanted me to be a big part of their organization,” Geertsen said.

“It was a little bit harder playing a lot more, it was definitely harder to keep the intensity up, but as the season went on, I learned how to conserve my energy and still play as physical as I could.”

Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 06.28.2013

682709 Edmonton Oilers

Sacrifices about to pay off for Geertsen family

By Iain MacIntyre, Postmedia News June 28, 2013 12:05 AM

VANCOUVER -- For the Geertsen family, the long road to the National Hockey League draft has flown by, much of it in 110-kilometre strips of Highway 39 in central Alberta. But eventually, long commutes to hockey for mother and son left their beloved farm in the rear-view mirror.

For as long as she can remember, Kathy Geertsen has watched the draft on television, mostly from a dot on the map called Rocky Rapids, near Drayton Valley in the oil country west of Edmonton. Mostly in tears, too.

"I always cry watching the boys go up and get their jerseys," the mother of three says on the phone. "So now, thinking that's going to be my son and he's going to be sitting in that arena, all of us can't believe it's happening. I will be a wreck. He has worked so hard. He has given up a lot to do this."

Mason Geertsen is not the only one.

Most clichés are based on truth, like the one that behind every great hockey player are the parents who helped him get there.

Mason, a defenceman and the top-rated Vancouver Giant junior in this Sunday's draft in New Jersey, has worked toward this day for most of his 18 years.

From the time Mason was six, the Geertsens billeted players from the Junior-A team in Drayton Valley, so there were always talented, ambitious hockey players around the family's farm. Mason's dad, Larry, played in the Western Hockey League in the late 1970s.

The Geertsens, who include Mason's two sisters, built a rink behind the farmhouse. And since Larry was frequently away from home working the oilpatch, Mason was the ice crew.

He learned early on to drive the family Zamboni — only in Canada — that had been purchased used from the WHL's Medicine Hat Tigers.

Mason's grandpa, Roger Geertsen, also taught him to drive a tractor. They looked after the crops of oats and other grains, but in winter it was the rink where Mason spent the most hours.

"It was half the size of a normal rink," he says. "It was all paved, and we had boards and plastic and the Zamboni. It was an old Zamboni but it still worked pretty good."

Ice hockey all winter, ball hockey all summer.

While Mason drove the Zamboni and the tractor, he wasn't old enough to drive a car. So when he outgrew Drayton Valley's minor hockey system and wanted to play bantam in Leduc, about a 75-minute drive over the eastern horizon, Kathy made it possible.

Each day after school, Kathy and Mason would leave the farm about 3:30 p.m., allowing enough time to arrive an hour early for 6 p.m. practices in Leduc.

About 8 p.m., they'd start the return trip. Nights when the road was icy and snow was blowing and Kathy couldn't see past the headlights, the drive home took much longer.

"There were a couple of times I had to wake Mason up and say, 'OK, you've got to watch the ditch for me,' because you know how you get that bad feeling?" Kathy explains. "It was really dark.

"He was a great kid. Often times, he'd have the car started and warmed up, a cup of tea for me in the cup holder and his hockey bag in the back. He wasn't one of those kids that just plugged in his iPod and listened to music. We'd usually talk. I wouldn't change it for anything now. It was probably the best thing Mason could have done for him and for me. We got really close."

But while the time together strengthened their bond, the drives were the beginning of the end of the Geertsens' farm.

After two years commuting for games and practices and with Mason needing to make a decision on midget hockey, the family moved to the Edmonton suburb of Sherwood Park, where Kathy has relatives.

"My husband wanted us to move a year earlier, but I just really fought it," she says. "I really enjoyed being at the farm. But we'd had a couple of close calls driving and that second year (of bantam hockey) we had some really bad weather. I just couldn't do it another year. We bought a small house in Sherwood Park just to see if we'd like it, but having two homes was too much and we sold our farm."

Kathy and Larry were elated when Mason was drafted three years ago by the WHL's Edmonton Oil Kings and devastated when their boy was traded last Halloween to Vancouver for David Musil, one of the Giants' best players.

"Hardest day I ever had," Kathy says. "We billeted another boy (from the Oil Kings) and I knew I would be losing both boys because I would want to go to Vancouver to see Mason lots. It was hard but, honestly, it was the best thing that could have happened to Mason."

The other boy was Oil Kings star Curtis Lazar, the centre from Vernon who is the top-rated B.C. player in Sunday's draft. Lazar is projected to be chosen in the top half of the first round, while Geertsen is expected to be called in or near the third round. The Hockey News ranks Geertsen 74th. Giants teammate Jackson Houck, a winger from North Vancouver, is 79th.

Under Vancouver coach Don Hay, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Geertsen became more than just a bruiser on the blue-line.

Mason learned to be disciplined positionally and started developing puck skills. He had 14 points and 130 penalty minutes in 73 games between Edmonton and Vancouver.

"He went from being a player who wasn't counted on to be a key guy to a player who became real important to us," Hay says. "He always competed. But he became a real solid top-four defenceman for us."

Mason says: "I didn't really know much about the Giants. I had heard Don was a really good coach but really hard on kids. He was pretty tough on me, but he definitely pushes me to my full potential. This draft means the world to me. It's all I've ever wanted. I've always watched the draft and seen guys getting drafted, and it doesn't seem real that that might be me."

It doesn't seem real to any of the Geertsens, who sold their farm to get here.

"I think we all miss the farm," Kathy says. "We farmed about 60 of the 120 acres and had tree stands in the other parts. My husband and son hunted a lot. We all have great memories."

And more to come.

Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 06.28.2013

682710 Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers — Building a dynasty through the draft

By Robert Tychkowski ,Edmonton Sun

First posted: Thursday, June 27, 2013 03:16 PM MDT | Updated: Thursday, June 27, 2013 04:35 PM MDT

For Edmontonians, the NHL Entry Draft is something to be loved and hated in the same breath, an exercise of wild extremes that Oilers fans still credit for the glory years and still blame for the lean years that followed.

Draft day delivered the cornerstones for hockey’s last great dynasty, it led them into a barren wasteland of mediocrity and is now providing the kind of talent and hope that Edmontonians haven’t seen here in 20 years.

In a three-part series leading up to selection day 2013, The Sun looks back at 35 years of Oilers drafts, beginning with one of the greatest hauls in history, the five-year gold mine from 1979 to 1983.

The Oilers were little more than a name and a logo when they made the jump from the World Hockey Association in 1979. They were gutted before they even hit the ice, with 17 players from their 1978 Avco Cup finalist immediately reclaimed by teams that held their NHL rights.

They had an 18-year-old Wayne Gretzky, but nothing else that even resembled a competitive team, let alone the makings of a Stanley Cup champion.

THREE YEARS TO GREATNESS

In three short years, the draft would change everything.

In an uncanny run of fortune, foresight or both, four of their first nine picks would end up in the Hall of Fame and seven of their first 19 selections would win three or more Stanley Cups in Edmonton.

“Good work and probably a little bit of luck,” said Oilers head amateur scout Stu MacGregor, adding his predecessors simply got the jump on everyone else. “I think the business has changed a bit since then - all teams are probably a lot better at what they do in the scouting game - but you have to take your hat off to gentlemen like Lorne Davis, Eddie Chadwick, Barry Fraser and Ace bailey, they did an awesome job. They knew what to do and where to go and what players to watch.