Is this real?
Ask yourself this simple question: would he lie on the Web?
Is this real?
Ask yourself this simple question: would he lie on the Web?
There are no girls on the Web
If you follow the Habs and expect left winger Mads Eller to be a mini-version of his brother, there will be disappointment.
“He’s really good with the puck and a playmaker,” the 6-foot-1, 196-pound Mads said. “I’m more a speedy, physical guy.”
He stopped following in Lars’ footsteps when he moved to Edmonton after two years with the Frolunda club in Sweden.
“Sweden, I felt like I didn’t get anywhere,” Mads said. “It was for my brother but not for me. I have a different style of game. I talked to my brother, agent and dad (Olaf) and we agreed I had to get into the junior leagues over here.
“So far, it’s been the best choice I ever made.”
Strengths – Mads Eller is one of the hardest working, most responsible players in this draft class. He loves to get in on the forecheck, finishes his checks and he hits hard. Even if he’s unable to make contact, his closing speed forces opposing teams to turn back and reset their offense regularly. He has big, powerful, explosive strides and reaches high speeds in a hurry. His neutral zone positioning is excellent, as he always contests oncoming players and never allows easy entries into the zone. This leads to a lot of turnovers where he can grab the puck and drive it up ice the other way. Eller knows where to be on the ice, and always back checks hard, even at the end of long shifts. He’s always in position to be an outlet for his teammates in the defensive zone. With the puck on his stick, he’s a good passer and does a good job finding lanes to get pucks to his teammates. Eller is excellent along the boards and in the cycle game. He’s very strong on his skates and does a good job of protecting the puck. Eller’s not afraid to drive the net hard, and is tough to move once he’s there. He’s a very smart player who rarely turns the puck over. Though he plays a physical game, he rarely gets sucked into bad penalties and doesn’t retaliate when opposing players try and initiate after the whistle. He’ll never be a big scorer, but I think he has some untapped offensive potential and in a larger role next season he should be able to produce more.
Weaknesses – Eller is pretty well rounded, but there’s not a ton of offense in his game. There’s no stand out skills to rely on offensively, so I don’t think he’ll be a big point producer at the NHL level. If he accepts his role and sticks to the things that make him effective, he’ll be fine.
Career Projection – Eller projects to be a bottom-6 forward who can chip in offensively here and there, drive possession and take a regular shift on a penalty killing unit.
Mads is undrafted and it took time for him to adjust to the North American game in his rookie WHL season.
The six-foot-one 196-pound winger had eight goals and 15 assists in 54 regular-season games. Mads stepped up his contributions in the post-season with 12 points in 21 games, including a goal and an assist in the 4-2 win over Portland in Game 7.
"He's taken a lot of strides," Oil Kings head coach Derek Laxdal says. "Before Christmas he was finding himself out of the lineup and then he went to the world juniors for Denmark and played very well.
"The growth of his game, the energy, I don't think you ever see that kid take a shift off. He's got amazing power and sometimes he's got to rein himself in a bit, but he's really taken a step.
"He's been huge for us in the playoffs, scored a big goal for us in Game 7 and he's a big part of our penalty kill."
Daley's been traded to the Isles. Nylander is centering our top line.
Looks like Collin Shirley has earned an invite to Traverse City. He was at development camp.
He's one I was interested to see if he earned this opportunity. Where did you see it? I did some digging since you posted this, and couldn't find anything.
I just wonder with Dallas not taking very many forwards at all this summer in the draft if there's a reasonable chance Shirley or Eller, assuming they perform well, could walk away with a contract. It's a big risk. You could be stuck 5 years with a schlub like King or Lagace. On the other hand, you now have an age group where potentially only one forward could be coming along which might cause a small lack of depth.
I don't think it's a huge need, and they have to consider the contract limit. Just seems like Shirley and Eller could be fighting for one contract ... or none if neither shows up. Eller seems like a better, safer signing. What I've seen said about him and the few games I've seen make him sound like the potential ideal Dallas Stars Bottom 6 type. He could even potentially replace a guy like Paul in the depth chart.
I have to admit I am very surprised Brett Ritchie will play in Traverse City.
Last year, Oleksiak and Campbell went as pro hockey players the season before.
Makes me wonder if McKenzie, Stransky, Ranford, and Peters go this year again as well.
I'm pretty sure Klingberg would be a lock again. They typically take 8 D (only 7 last year) which is going to be hard to limit that too. Usually the draft picks playing in the CHL are a lock, and you'd assume Vance would o as well.
That could mean: Bystrom, Klingberg, Haydon, Honka, Lindell, Peters, Sanvido, Vance
Goalies I guess would be Desrosiers, Kiviaho, and Moran.
Forwards are harder to guess.
Will Bystrom, Lindell, and Molin be in Traverse?
Forwards: Matt Carter, Oliver D'Aoust, Matt Fraser, Scott Glennie, Cole Grbavac, Tristan King, Nick Layton, Scott Oke, Brett Ritchie, Ondrej Roman, Stephen Schultz, Matej Stransky, and Matt Tassone
Defense: Jace Coyle, Curtis Crombeen, Brenden Dillon, Hubert Labrie, Jamie Oleksiak, Alex Theriau, Troy Vance
Goaltenders: Jack Campbell & Tyler Beskorowany
It's only a guess, but Dallas has in the past brought Euro prospects over one year early before they made the full time jump to North America. They did it with Klingberg last year.
But he went to the main camp and that was the reason. The only one I see maybe doing that this year would be Bystrom.
“We both want him,” Stars assistant general manager Les Jackson said. “So we worked it out with him and allowed him to decide what was best for him. I truly believe he’ll find a way to be great no matter where he plays.”
“He has a real feel for the game, a sense of where players are and what he should do,” Stars general manager Jim Nill said. “He’s just thinking a couple of moves ahead of everyone else.”
“He sees the game in a different way. I mean, he’s very unique,” Jackson said. “He has some areas where he can improve, and that’s exciting, because he has other areas where he really has something that very few players have. He reminds me of Zubov the way he sees the game.”
“He has some mannerisms of Karlsson, the way he skates and moves the puck,” Ruff said. “He made some D-zone plays that only special players can make.”
But he went to the main camp and that was the reason. The only one I see maybe doing that this year would be Bystrom.
Any chance Bystrom or Lindell come over like Klingberg last year? Both seem like they will be in TX by April
Still waiting to see a final roster, but there's a chance.
Will be interesting to see what happens. It is always a guessing game who gets chosen... can't say it is much of a science.
Like you, I was surprised to see Ritchie is going to Traverse again. So, two years in the AHL seems to be the cutoff
Yeah ... exactly. Ritchie goes ... Klingberg might not. I guess the advantage of getting him up and running before camp isn't worth the risk of injury.
It's an idiotic exercise guessing, but I've been really impatient about the roster. Traverse is one of my favorite events of the year.