Monday notes

Big news out of the U.S. division this morning where the Everett Silvertips announced they have traded the negotiating rights to '94 defenceman Seth Jones to the Portland Winterhawks for a conditional 2013 draft pick.

Jones was Everett's first round pick, 11th overall, in the 2009 WHL bantam draft. Since then he has established himself as one of the top prospects for the 2013 NHL draft (he is a late birthdate so he's not eligible for the 2012 draft like most 1994-borns are) while playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program and keeping his options open between the WHL and the NCAA.

Jones said a short while back that he would make his decision between junior and college after the just-concluded World U-18 Championships, so his decision should be forthcoming pretty soon. I'm guessing that the reason for Everett making this trade (the only reason they WOULD trade a prospect like this) is that they have come to realize, for whatever reasons, that Jones is not going to report to them. So the trade of his rights is an attempt to get some value for an asset which is going to go to zero if he picks the NCAA over Everett.

Since the trade announcement specifies that it is Jones' "negotiating rights" that were traded, I assume that means not the rights to the player himself. In other words, Portland just gave up a pick in return for the ability to talk to Jones, nothing more. I assume there is an unannounced additional portion of the deal which states that Everett gets something else (a BIG something else) if Portland actually signs Jones. What that something else could be, is interesting to speculate on. A player of Jones' calibre is surely worth at least a first round bantam pick and probably more than one. Except that Portland does not have 2012 or 2013 first round bantam picks, having traded those to Seattle for Marcel Noebels back in January. So unless Everett is prepared to take 2014 (or even later) first round picks for Jones, then the deal probably has to involve lots of lower picks (2nd/3rd round kind of thing) and/or prospects/players off Portland's protected list.

For Portland, this would be a huge coup if they were able to sign Jones. Portland has become something of an NHL prospect factory in the last few years and being able to boast of another (probable) top five NHL pick in 2013 would only enhance their reputation when it comes to attracting more players down the road. And of course I haven't even mentioned the obvious on-ice benefits to them of having a guy like that. The only risk to Portland is the chance that Jones plays just one year in the WHL and then jumps to the NHL at 19 after being a high NHL pick. But it's still a worthwhile risk.

All in all it's been a good last 4 days for Portland. The Winterhawks went into Tri-Cities and swept the first two games of the WHL Western Conference final on Friday/Saturday, so they have a 2-0 lead coming home for games 3 & 4. The games were close (both decided in OT) but its the wins that count in the end and Portland got them.

In the East, goaltending has been the chief difference as the Edmonton Oil Kings won both the first two games on home ice over the Moose Jaw Warriors, by identical 6-1 scores. Through the first two games Edmonton goaltender Laurent Brossoit has a 1.00 GAA and an insane .975 save percentage. At the other end of the ice, Warriors starter Luke Siemens has a 5.54 GAA and .863 save percentage in the series. Not to say that the series is all Brossoit vs Siemens but clearly the Warriors need to find a way to beat Brossoit, and soon, or their season won't last much longer.

And one last note today, the 2012 Telus Cup - the Canadian AAA midget national championship - gets underway today in Leduc, Alberta. As always the western Canadian teams have an excellent chance to win the title and the western Canadian teams that make it this far always have a solid number of WHL prospects, many of whom will play in the WHL the next year.

This year there are three western Canadian teams at the Telus Cup - the Red Deer Rebels, champions of the B.C. & Alberta midget leagues; the Saskatoon Contacts, champions of the Saskatchewan and Manitoba midget leagues; and the Leduc Oil Kings, the host team.

If you're interested, you can follow the Telus Cup (with stats and live scores) here.