2014 Draft Class Signings (July 16)

The Dallas Stars nailed down their 1st round pick on Sunday, as Finnish defenseman Julius Honka signed his rookie maximum deal, which will give him a base salary of $925,000, if he was to jump into the league right away. Honka was widely considered to be the most offensively talented blueliner of the draft class, despite being somewhat undersized.  The Stars' depth chart along the blueline does have a few openings, so it will be interesting to see what kind of maturity level Honka has to possibly make that jump into the big leagues.

The Boston Bruins appear to be very high on their 1st round pick, David Pastrnak, an 18-year old Czech forward, who was taken with the 25th overall pick. The Bruins signed him to the 3-year entry-level deal, but salary wasn't disclosed, although it would come to no surprise if Pastrnak received the full benefit.  There is a chance that Pastrnak could get a long look at training camp, as the Bruins will have to be wise with their remaining cap space, which they don't have very much of.  If this kid, who was playing in Sweden with the men already, has a good camp, he could find himself with a job, thanks to his entry-level deal.

The Nashville Predators were really busy on Tuesday, after signing a couple of cagey veterans, the team signed a couple of 2014 draft picks, including their 1st round pick, Kevin Fiala, and their 4th round pick, Viktor Arvidsson.  Both Fiala and Arvidsson, despite being three rounds apart, have some very similar scouting reports.  Both are creative offensive players that can do some wonderful things with the puck, but both are considered to be undersized and may have a tougher time breaking into the NHL.  The Predators don't have many roster spots open, regardless, as their projected roster filled up with those veterans, so it does seem unlikely that these two will figure in during the 2015 season.

Another offensively skilled European kid taken by the Washington Capitals?  Go figure.  The 13th overall pick for the Caps was Czech forward Jakub Vrana, who was playing in Sweden last season with the men, so he should have a good jump on training camp already.  There is a lot of top end offense on this Washington team, so how could they go wrong with just a little bit more?  The Capitals don't have many spots left on their projected roster, nor do they have a lot of cap space to work with, so I have my doubts that Vrana will figure into the 2015 season too, but he should get a good look in camp to see what they'll have in the future.