Sakic has knack for signing NCAA leaders
Joe Sakic is highly predictable. He covets leadership above all else. The Avalanche general manager proved it again in consecutive days this week by signing Minnesota State captain Wyatt Aamodt on Tuesday and University of Minnesota captain Ben Meyers on Wednesday.
Both were undrafted free agents who led their teams to last week’s NCAA Frozen Four in Boston.
Meyers, 23, was a Hobey Baker Award top- three finalist who had plenty of offers to turn pro after his junior year. He couldn’t turn down Sakic.
“To speak to someone like that, it was an incredible experience for me,” Meyers said on Thursday night at Ball Arena, before the Avs extended their winning streak to eight games with a 3- 1 victory over the New Jersey Devils.
Sakic, who donned the “C” on his chest in his 13- year Hockey Hall of Fame playing career, is committed to surrounding his organization with leaders — particularly older guys from the college route.
They may not play regularly for the Avs, and many have been traded or not re- signed, but most have been useful pieces in establishing the culture Sakic is looking for with the Avs and the AHL’S Colorado Eagles. They fit in well with the superstars because they are mature enough to accept their roles.
The movement began on June 26, 2015, when Sakic acquired forward J. T. Compher — thencaptain of the University of Michigan — from the Buffalo Sabres in the big Ryan O’reilly deal.
Compher became a full- time member of the Avs in 2017- 18, shortly after Sakic lured college senior captains Alex Kerfoot ( Harvard) and Dominic Toninato ( Minnesota- Duluth) to sign with the club. Kerfoot and Toninato both used a college loophole to become free agents and sign with a team outside the one that selected them in the NHL draft four years earlier.
Then in 2018, Sakic signed University of Denver incoming senior Logan O’connor, an undrafted free agent who had just been named the Pioneers’ captain. O’connor is currently the poster boy for Sakic’s NCAA/ captain venture as the only Av to have played in all 74 games this season.
Sakic also signed forwards Sheldon Dries and T. J. Tynan in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
Dries was a former captain at Western Michigan and Tynan wore the C for Notre Dame. They both mostly played for the Eagles but also had call- up stints with the Avs during a time when the NHL club became a powerhouse in the league.
Every NHL team scouts for good undrafted college players, or those seniors looking for the loophole to sign with a team that didn’t draft them. But Sakic appears to only go after the proven leaders, the captains. His pitch on Meyers worked.
“I just felt like I had a chance to join a great team and a great organization,” Meyers said. “I felt like this was the best opportunity for me to just keep developing both on and off the ice.”
Developing off the ice includes the culture, the character of the player. Upon signing with the Avs, Meyers received a call from Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog, who may be the perfect leader.
“It was pretty special,” Meyers said of speaking to Sakic and Landeskog. “I remember telling my dad that and he thought it was pretty cool. So, just the whole experience for me was
pretty surreal.”