The Erie Otters have hired Chris Hartsburg and Vince Laise as the new assistant coaches on coach Kris Knoblauch‘s staff. They were introduced, along with first-round pick Dylan Strome, to the media and a group of season-ticket holders and fans during a welcome reception Thursday at Erie Insurance Arena.
Hartsburg, 33, whose father, Craig Hartsburg, was a defenseman in the NHL and now is associate coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets, spent the past four seasons as an assistant with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. Hartsburg, a native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, will focus on the defense and penalty kill.
Laise, 30, a native of Bramalea, Ontario, will handle off-ice training, video breakdown and assist Knoblauch with the power-play units. He has worked with many professional athletes at the Athletic Training Center, a hockey training facility in Mississauga, Ontario. He also has worked with Strome.
He was an assistant coach this season with the Brampton Bombers, a Junior B club in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. He spent the 2011-12 season, his first in coaching, with the Oakville Blades of the Ontario Junior A Hockey League.
Knoblauch said he has someone in mind for the club’s part-time goaltending coach. But he planned to wait until the OHL releases the schedule for the 2013-14 season before making a decision. Knoblauch said the team’s schedule would need to fit into that undisclosed candidate’s plans.

- Victor Fernandes

Here’s the latest speculation surrounding at least one of the newest members of Erie Otters coach Kris Knoblauch‘s staff … Chris Hartsburg, son of former NHL defenseman and current Columbus Blue Jackets associate coach Craig Hartsburg. The younger Hartsburg spent this season as an assistant coach with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips.
No official confirmation from the Otters. The staff will be announced at tonight’s welcome reception for first-round pick Dylan Strome at Erie Insurance Arena.

- Victor Fernandes

Former Erie Otters Michael Rupp and Nick Palmieri were involved in a trade between the NHL’s New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild.
According to reports Monday, the Rangers sent Rupp, 33, to the Wild for Palmieri, 23, and fellow forward Darroll Powe. Rupp had four goals, five points and 109 points in 68 games since joining the Rangers a season ago. He has 53 goals, 95 points and 765 penalty minutes in 565 games with the Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, New Jersey Devils, Columbus Blue Jackets and Phoenix Coyotes from 2002-13.
Rupp, a Cleveland native, had 51 goals, 110 points and 293 penalty minutes in 137 games with the Otters from 1997-2000. Palmieri totaled 65 goals and 114 points in 174 games for the Otters from 2005-08 before being traded to Belleville. He was playing for the Houston Aeros, the Wild’s AHL affiliate, this season. He had 10 goals and 21 points in 40 games. He has 13 goals and 25 points in 87 career NHL games with New Jersey (2009-11) and Minnesota (2011-12). He reportedly will play with the Connecticut Whale, the Rangers’ AHL affiliate.

The shootout already had ventured into the ninth round. Yet Erie Otters goaltender Oscar Dansk wanted it to last longer.
After eight failed attempts, Dansk hoped to give his teammates another chance against London Saturday night at Erie Insurance Arena. But Knights rookie Kyle Platzer scored the only goal of the nine-round marathon to hand the Otters a 4-3 loss in front of 2,667 fans.
The Otters (2-3-1-1) settled for one point and three out of four during their two-game weekend homestand. Meanwhile, the Knights (4-2-0-0) earned their second straight win despite squandering a two-goal, second-period lead. Dansk finished with 19 saves on 22 shots in regulation and overtime before his stellar effort in the shootout. His counterpart, Kevin Bailie, had 26 saves on 29 shots through 65 minutes of action and several more quality saves in the shootout.
No. 1 pick Connor McDavid, Connor Brown and Stephen Harper scored for the Otters. Brown added an assist for a two-point outing.
Seth Griffith and Bo Horvat had a goal and assist apiece for the Knights, while Max Domi added a goal.
McDavid continued his impressive start to his rookie season by scoring 1 minute, 55 seconds into the opening period – his third goal in two nights and fourth goal in seven games. He slid past the Knights’ defense and slipped a shot past Bailie to hand the Otters a 1-0 lead. But that lead didn’t last long, as Domi tied the score at 1 at the 6:23 mark with his fourth goal of the season.
Domi escaped a crowd of defenders behind the Otters’ net and squeezed a shot between the right post and Dansk’s left pad. Then Griffith, who burned the Otters for three goals in an 8-2 Knights’ win in London Sept. 21, scored his seventh goal in six games to snap the 1-1 tie with 8:28 left in the period. Griffth tied Oshawa’s Boone Jenner for the OHL lead in goals.
The Otters dominated at the start of the second. They held the Knights without a shot on goal for nearly eight minutes. Meanwhile, the Otters’ offense generated several quality scoring opportunities. Yet while Bailie stymied the Otters, including key saves in close on Johnny McGuire and Luke Cairns, Bo Horvat scored on the Knights’ first shot of the period to build a 3-1 lead at the 7:56 mark.
But the Otters converted their first power play of the game, as Brown turned a fortunate bounce off a defender in front of the net into his fourth goal of the season. His rebound to Bailie’s left with 2:48 left in the period sent the Otters into the third trailing 3-2.
Then the Otters capitalized on their second power play of the game 9:27 into the third to complete the comeback. After Nick Betz stole the puck from a Knights defender, linemate Jake Evans found Harper in front for his fourth goal of the season.
Harper appeared to give the Otters a 4-3 lead on a power play late in regulation. But the officials whistled the play dead for offsides, a call Harper disagreed with but Otters coach Robbie Ftorek defended. Scott Harrington nearly sealed the Knights’ win in overtime, but his shot from the point glanced off the post and into the ground. Then the Otters killed off a power play in the final 1:32 of the extra period, sending the game into the shootout. But the Otters couldn’t beat Bailie, while Platzer slipped a shot through Dansk’s pads
* News and notes: Head coach Dan Bylsma and former forward Bill Guerin headlined a group of Pittsburgh Penguins officials at the game. Knights defensemen Harrington and Olli Maatta are Penguins prospects. … Scott Howson, the Columbus Blue Jackets’ executive vice president of hockey operations and general manager, attended both games this weekend to watch Dansk, the NHL club’s second-round draft pick this past June. … The Otters scratched Anthony Cortellessa (flu) and Dane Fox (broken foot). Liam Maaskant, Justin Felker and Mitch Eisenberg were healthy scratches. Maaskant and Eisenberg haven’t dressed for a game this season.

- Victor Fernandes

Toronto – The Ontario Hockey League announced today that forward Ryan Kujawinski of the Kingston Frontenacs is the OHL Player of the Week for the week ending Sept. 30 after recording five points in two games scoring twice with three assists and a plus-minus rating of plus-2.

Kujawinski helped lift the Frontenacs to a pair of victories over the weekend beginning Friday night, where he picked up three assists as second star when the club erased a 5-3 third period deficit to comeback and beat the Erie Otters 6-5 in overtime.
On Sunday afternoon, he received first-star honours with two goals in a 5-4 win over the Niagara IceDogs giving the Frontenacs their best start to a season since 1997-98 with a perfect 3-0-0-0 record as the only undefeated team remaining in the OHL.

Kujawinski, a 17-year-old from Iroqouis Falls, ON, is playing in his second OHL season. Eligible for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Kujawinski was a first-round pick of the Sarnia Sting in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection, but finished his rookie campaign with the Frontenacs where he scored 15 goals and 15 assists for 30 points in 30 games.

Also considered for the award this week was Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Boone Jenner of the Oshawa Generals who scored four goals and four assists for eight points in three games, and Montreal Canadiens prospect Brady Vail of the Windsor Spitfires who picked up three goals and four assists for seven points in three games.
In goal, Detroit Red Wings prospect Jake Paterson of the Saginaw Spirit posted a 1-0-1-0 record including a shutout victory with a goals-against-average of 1.46 and save percentage of .955.

- From OHL news release

Erie Otters GM Sherry Bassin said today that G Oscar Dansk only has a “minor issue” in one knee. In contrast, the Columbus Dispatch has reported today that Dansk has minor sprains in both knees. Dansk, a Columbus Blue Jackets draft pick, was evaluated by doctors from the Blue Jackets on Wednesday.
The Dispatch also reported Dansk won’t need surgery, but won’t be able to skate for the next two or three weeks. Yet Bassin said Dansk can skate 30 minutes per day as long as he feels well, and he can increase the amount of time Dansk spends on the ice as he progresses.
Club officials will remain cautious with Dansk, Bassin said, but he hasn’t ruled Dansk out for the season opener Sept. 20 at Niagara. Bassin is taking a similar approach with forward Dane Fox, who continues to recover from a fractured bone in his left foot. Bassin doesn’t expect Fox will be ready for the opening weekend of games, but Fox hasn’t been ruled out either.
In other news, second-year LW Sondre Olden and rookie D Artem Kuleshov arrived in Erie on Wednesday and participated in their first practice with the team. But neither will play in tonight’s preseason game against the IceDogs.

- Victor Fernandes

The Erie Otters have agreed to terms with goaltending prospect Oscar Dansk, said Sherry Bassin, managing partner and general manager. Dansk, the third overall pick in the 2012 CHL Import Draft, was chosen by the Columbus Blue Jackets with the first pick of the second round in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
Dansk is recovering from a minor knee injury suffered while playing for Sweden’s junior national team recently in Lake Placid, N.Y. Yet Bassin said he should leave Sweden to join the team at camp in the next few days, and he should be ready to play in the next couple of weeks.
Bassin also said he should finalize contracts with other undisclosed prospects in the couple of days.
In other news, defense prospect Riley Robertson and forward prospect Jordan Dunin have joined forward Dane Fox (broken bone in foot) on the Erie Otters’ injured list. Both suffered separated shoulders during the same summer skating session earlier, said Dave Brown, assistant manager of hockey operations. Yet unlike Fox, who isn’t expected to participate in training camp this week, Dunin and Robertson are listed as day-to-day.
Brown also confirmed that Dave Stickney has left the Otters after four seasons as head athletic trainer to take the same position with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The Otters have hired Scott McLay, who spent last year as athletic trainer with the hockey programs and other sports at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

- Victor Fernandes

The Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League selected Swedish goaltender Oscar Dansk (DAHN-sk) from Brynäs of the Elitserien with the third overall selection in the 2012 CHL Import Draft Wednesday morning.

Born February 28, 1994 in Stockholm, the 6-foot-2, 187-pound Dansk was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets with the 31st overall pick of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Dansk was ranked second among European goaltenders by NHL Central Scouting in their final rankings for the draft.

In 28 games in the junior-level Super Elitserien, Dansk had a 2.82 goals-against-average and a save percentage of .910 with Brynäs. He also won a silver medal with Sweden at the 2012 IIHF Under-18 World Championships.

Dansk has previously played in North America with the storied Shattuck-St. Mary’s program in Minnesota, which has produced hockey superstars such as Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby, New Jersey Devils left wing Zach Parise and Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews.

Elite Prospects describes Dansk as “A very agile goalie with a large frame. Plays a hybrid style of play. Solid technical skills and is also strong mentally. Uses his size to his advantage and cuts off angles well. A good competitor.”

The Otters will select their next player in the 63rd spot.

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Moncton Wildcats used the first overall pick to select Russia left wing Ivan Barbashev. The Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League selected German left wing Leon Draisaitl with the second overall pick.

- From Erie Otters news release

NEW YORK — The Edmonton Oilers won the 2012 Scotiabank NHL Draft Lottery today and gained the first drafting position for the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft.

The Oilers own the first overall selection for the third consecutive year. This is the second time the Oilers have won the lottery. In 2010, Edmonton won the lottery, retaining the top pick in the Draft, which they used to select Taylor Hall. Last year, the Oilers again retained the first pick, which they used to select Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, when the New Jersey Devils won the lottery and moved from 8th position to 4th.

The Oilers had the second-greatest percentage likelihood, 18.8%, that one of the numbered sequences assigned to them would be the winning combination. Under the system, only the five teams with the fewest points had the chance to win the first overall selection; no team could move up more than four spots and no team could move backward more than one.

The Columbus Blue Jackets, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs own the second, third, fourth and fifth drafting positions, respectively, in the first round.

The order of selection for the first 14 drafting positions in the first round, only, of the 2012 NHL Draft is as follows:

1. Edmonton Oilers
2. Columbus Blue Jackets
3. Montreal Canadiens
4. New York Islanders
5. Toronto Maple Leafs
6. Anaheim Ducks
7. Minnesota Wild
8. Carolina Hurricanes
9. Winnipeg Jets
10. Tampa Bay Lightning
11. Washington Capitals (from Colorado)
12. Buffalo Sabres
13. Dallas Stars
14. Calgary Flames

The remaining positions are determined by the results of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The drawing was conducted at the NHL’s New York office and the results were televised live on the 2012 Scotiabank NHL Draft Lottery on TSN in Canada and NBC Sports Network in the U.S. The program aired live on TSN Mobile TV and can also be viewed on demand on TSN.ca.

Fourteen balls, numbered 1 to 14, were placed in a lottery machine. The machine expelled four balls, forming a series of numbers. The four-digit series resulting from the expulsion of the balls was matched against a probability chart that divided the possible combinations among the 14 participating clubs. The chart showed that the Oilers had been assigned the numbers (2-10-11-13) that were expelled.

The 2012 Scotiabank NHL Draft Lottery is a weighted system to give the teams that finished with the fewest points during the regular season the greatest chance of having their combination selected. The Columbus Blue Jackets finished the regular season with the fewest points in the League (65) and were assigned the greatest number of combinations, representing a 25% likelihood that their combination would emerge. Oilers were assigned 18.8% of the combinations, followed by Montreal (14.2%), the Islanders (10.7%) and Toronto (8.1%). The remaining teams had the following chances: 6.2%, 4.7%, 3.6%, 2.7%, 2.1%, 1.5%, 1.1%, 0.8% and 0.5%.

The 2012 NHL Draft will take place at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh. The first round is on Friday, June 22 and the subsequent rounds take place Saturday, June 23.

Results of Previous Draft Drawings

Year Selected Effect On Draft Order Player Selected
1995 Los Angeles Moved from 7th to 3rd D Aki Berg
1996 Ottawa Retained 1st selection D Chris Phillips
1997 Boston Retained 1st selection C Joe Thornton
1998 Tampa Bay Moved from 3rd to 1st via trades C Vincent Lecavalier
1999 Chicago Moved from 8th to 4th RW Pavel Brendl *
2000 NY Islanders Moved from 5th to 1st G Rick DiPietro
2001 Atlanta Moved from 3rd to 1st LW Ilya Kovalchuk
2002 Florida Moved from 3rd to 1st LW Rick Nash **
2003 Florida Moved from 4th to 1st G Marc-Andre Fleury ***
2004 Washington Moved from 3rd to 1st LW Alex Ovechkin
2005 Pittsburgh n/a C Sidney Crosby
2006 St. Louis Retained 1st selection D Erik Johnson
2007 Chicago Moved from 5th to 1st RW Patrick Kane
2008 Tampa Bay Retained 1st selection C Steven Stamkos
2009 NY Islanders Retained 1st selection C John Tavares
2010 Edmonton Retained 1st selection LW Taylor Hall
2011 New Jersey Moved from 8th to 4th D Adam Larsson
2012 Edmonton Moved from 2nd to 1st

* NY Rangers obtained Chicago’s pick in a trade (via Vancouver and Tampa Bay). The Rangers selected RW Pavel Brendl fourth overall.

** Columbus obtained Florida’s pick in a trade. The Blue Jackets selected LW Rick Nash first overall.

*** Pittsburgh obtained Florida’s pick in a trade. The Penguins selected G Marc-Andre Fleury first overall.

- From NHL news release

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – Former Erie Otters Shawn Szydlowski and Phil Varone had an assist apiece in the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 win against the New York Rangers in the championship game of the NHL Prospects Tournament at Center Ice Arena on Wednesday.

Varone finished the four-game tournament tied for second on the team with four points (two goals, two assists). Szydlowski had a goal and two points overall.

The Sabres haven’t announced their training camp roster. Former Otters forward Andrew Yogan, who appeared to be injured earlier in the tournament, didn’t play for the second straight game.

Otters overage defenseman David Shields has been invited to camp with the St. Louis Blues, which begins Friday in St. Louis Mills, Mo. Shields had no points and a minus-2 rating in the Blues’ 4-3 OT win against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the third-place game. He finished the tournament with no points and a minus-1 rating.

Otters OA goaltender Ramis Sadikov was the backup in the Detroit Red Wings’ 4-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes in the seventh-place game. He had an 0-1-0 record, 4.00 goals-against average and .846 save percentage in one game. The Red Wings haven’t announced their camp roster.

Former Mercyhurst College standout forward Scott Pitt had no points and a minus-2 rating against the Red Wings. He finished tied for the team lead with two points (one goal, one assist), but didn’t receive an invitation to main camp.