Aulins Eleven

The imminent signing of Toronto prospect Brad Boyes, expected to be formally announced this week, will reduce the number of 2000 first-round picks that must be signed by the June 1st deadline to one. Only Vancouver’s Nathan Smith, taken one pick ahead of Boyes at No. 23, will go back into the 2002 NHL Draft if unsigned.

There are actually 13 first-round selections who have yet to ink pro contracts, however, 11 of those players remain in Europe or U.S. colleges (NCAA), and subsequently are immune to the signing deadline, remaining property of their respective NHL clubs. Included in the 11 are six Russians, all selected within 11 spots of each other starting with Pavel Vorobiev at No. 11.

In total, over two-thirds of the 294 players taken in 2000 remain unsigned, with approximately 140 whose rights will be retained after the deadline. That leaves some 60 players that NHL clubs must make decisions on over the next two months.

A number of promising non-first-rounders still need to be signed, including five players who cracked the McKeen’s Top 100 Prospects list in Jared Aulin (LA), Filip Novak (Fla), Jozef Balej (Mtl), Yanick Lehoux (LA) and Jarret Stoll (Cgy).

With the upcoming 2002 Draft widely considered to be much lighter on high-end talent as compared to the previous year, it’s almost a certainty that a player of Aulin’s class will be re-selected in the first round. Aulin has made huge gains since being taken 47th overall by Colorado and subsequently traded to the Kings in the Rob Blake trade (March, 2001).

It’s even conceivable that Aulin could slip into the top 10 as there is a clear drop in talent after the first six or seven players available. But it’s unlikely Los Angeles will let things get that far.

Every year, a handful of players hold out until the eleventh hour before signing, despite having two years to negotiate a contract. This year, all eyes will be on the Kings.

The Aulin Watch is officially on.

Here is an unofficial list of unsigned North American-based players (excluding those in U.S. colleges):

Atl - Blake Robson, Carl Mallette

Bos - Chris Berti

Buf - Paul Gaustad, Gerard Dicaire, Ghyslain Rousseau, Sean McMorrow

Cgy - Jarret Stoll, Wade Davis, Travis Moen

Car - Jared Newman

Chi - Igor Radulov, Scott Balan, Peter Flache

Col - Kurt Sauer, Sergei Klyazmin, Agris Saviels, Darryl Bootland, Blake Ward

CBJ - Scott Heffernan, Ben Knopp, Louis Mandeville

Det - Aaron Van Leusen

Edm - Paul Flache, Matthew Lombardi, Lou Dickenson, Shaun Norrie

Fla - Filip Novak, Davis Parley, Chris Eade, Janis Sprukts, Matt Sommerfeld

LA - Jared Aulin, Yanick Lehoux, Craig Olynick

Min - Eric Johansson

Mtl - Jozef Balej, Christian Larrivee

NJ - Phil Cole, Warren McCutcheon, Deryk Engelland

Ott - Antoine Vermette

Phx - Nate Kiser

Pit - Peter Hamerlik, Michel Ouellet, Steven Crampton

StL - Craig Weller, Antoine Bergeron

TB - Aaron Gionet

Tor - Brad Boyes, Miguel Delisle, Kris Vernarsky, J-F Racine, J-P Cote, Lubos Velebny

Van - Nathan Smith, Nathan Barrett, Tim Branham, Thatcher Bell, Tim Smith

Unsigned 2000 first-rounders (listed by order of selection)

7. Lars Jonsson, Bos

11. Pavel Vorobiev, Chi

12. Alexei Smirnov, Ana

15. Artem Kryukov, Buf

17. Alexei Mikhnov, Edm

20. Alexander Frolov, LA

21. Anton Volchenkov, Ott

22. David Hale, NJ

23. Nathan Smith, Van

24. Brad Boyes, Tor

27. Martin Samuelsson, Bos

29. Niklas Kronwall, Det

30. Jeff Taffe, Phx