Saturday, July 04, 2015

2015 Draft Class Signings (July 4)



Maybe in terms of a "generational" draft, all of these NHL teams feel a big rush to get their prospects under contract. With how fast some of these signings have been coming already, we could see a serious influx of rookie talent in the 2016 season.

Later on Friday, the Philadelphia Flyers announced that they had signed their 1st round pick, 7th overall, defenseman Ivan Provorov, to his 3-year entry-level deal.  Provorov was one of the leading defense prospects in the draft class, some scouts arguing that he even had a better upside than Noah Hannifin, who the Hurricanes selected with the 4th overall pick.

I would be very hesitant to rate Provorov very high at this point, as the numbers suggest that not many drafted defensemen make the jump into the NHL right away, some needing at least a year or two of development.  Until training camp actually happens, I would put too much stock into Provorov right now,.

The Blues have also announced that they have signed a 5th round pick, goaltender Luke Opilka, to his entry-level deal on Friday.  There isn't much of a book on this kid yet, but if the Blues are high enough on him to get him a deal before they sign anyone else, then kudos to him and to them.  The Blues didn't have a 1st round pick, so that's likely why they are dropping down some rounds early on.




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