2022 World Junior rescheduled championship

[andora]

I mean, you are a kid working hard in the summer, to build your game... shouldn't your skating and conditioning be at it's peak in the offseason?

Would always hope

Looking slow could also be a result of looking out of sync in your environment.. the us team looked terrible for the first half of the game .. i didnt see the third

Lots to like about him.. but even back to prospect camp in the scrimmages he looked a bit slow.. also realizing thay he has great size and has to grow into that and bring his skating along with that

 

[ULF_55]

Would always hope

Looking slow could also be a result of looking out of sync in your environment.. the us team looked terrible for the first half of the game .. i didnt see the third

Lots to like about him.. but even back to prospect camp in the scrimmages he looked a bit slow.. also realizing thay he has great size and has to grow into that and bring his skating along with that

Has he spent more time on bulking up?

Horrible flashback to Luke Schenn ...

 

[andora]

Has he spent more time on bulking up?

Horrible flashback to Luke Schenn ...

No idea about bulking up.. sorry for your flashback haha

 

[francis246]

No, disappointing development camp, and disappointing start to the WJC. You can see there’s definite talent and upside there, but I think he’s clearly not as far along as many thought he was. Agreed with the comments that he needs to work on his skating and conditioning - he looks a bit slow out there.

I remember there was some talk about him joining the Leafs for the playoffs last year, but IMO he’s definitely not NHL ready. Needs another year in college, then a year or 2 in the AHL, taking that time to especially focus on skating, conditioning, strength and explosiveness.

Love how he steals and protects the puck, just one of those guys where once he’s close to the puck, it’s his. However, he needs to combine that with the speed and conditioning to be flying around the ice every shift, that’s lacking right now. Good enough for college, but it stands out as not good enough when playing with/against higher end talent, like Leafs development camp and the WJC.

Disappointing camp because he didn’t score goals in a camp scrimmage that means shit all? Thank God some of you are not making decisions for the Leafs. It’s August, it’s actually been a long year for him from a development standpoint without any breaks. He’s basically played a full year of hockey with less than 3 months off. While trying to fill out and maintain an NHL type body. Of course he’s going to be fatigued.

Full Season of NCAA hockey, first WJC, Olympics, NCAA Championship, Leafs Development Camp, now Second WJC before going right back to Minnesota. That’s a lot of hockey.

 

[ACC1224]

Disappointing camp because he didn’t score goals in a camp scrimmage that means shit all? Thank God some of you are not making decisions for the Leafs. It’s August, it’s actually been a long year for him from a development standpoint without any breaks. He’s basically played a full year of hockey with less than 3 months off. While trying to fill out and maintain an NHL type body. Of course he’s going to be fatigued.

Full Season of NCAA hockey, first WJC, Olympics, NCAA Championship, Leafs Development Camp, now Second WJC before going right back to Minnesota. That’s a lot of hockey.

Need to change 'some of you' for 'all of us'.

 

[TheDoldrums]

I remember there was some talk about him joining the Leafs for the playoffs last year, but IMO he’s definitely not NHL ready. Needs another year in college, then a year or 2 in the AHL, taking that time to especially focus on skating, conditioning, strength and explosiveness.

There wasn't just some talk. The Leafs wanted him to join for the playoffs, full stop. They thought he could help immediately. You think he needs an additional 2-3 years of development before he'll be NHL ready. I guess we'll see but my instinct is to trust the team over the takes following these limited summer viewings.

I also don't understand why people are saying he had a bad development camp. I guess I remember it differently but Knies clips were constantly being posted here and a lot of people seemed to be raving about him, both posters here and staff/prospects at camp.

 

[PROUD PAPA]

Knies deployment on the PP is interesting. I'm not sure i've seen him venture out 10 feet beyond the red line.
Maybe it's a good spot for him but it's not where i expected to find him.

 

[francis246]

Need to change 'some of you' for 'all of us'.

Hahaha right! But I’m sure there are leafs scouts and other people on these boards just like there is 100% media on here.

 

[francis246]

There wasn't just some talk. The Leafs wanted him to join for the playoffs, full stop. They thought he could help immediately. You think he needs an additional 2-3 years of development before he'll be NHL ready. I guess we'll see but my instinct is to trust the team over the takes following these limited summer viewings.

I also don't understand why people are saying he had a bad development camp. I guess I remember it differently but Knies clips were constantly being posted here and a lot of people seemed to be raving about him, both posters here and staff/prospects at camp.

That’s because he didn’t have a disappointing camp. We know Knies has offensive potential. But what scouts wanted to see I’m guessing is how he uses his body. Can he still be engaged in play without the puck. I thought he showed that he could but he still has some work to do in terms of being more consistent in that area.

All in All, I think Knies would have helped last year in the playoffs. He’s big and his net front presence may have helped us get more goals past Vasi, especially if flanked beside Tavares.

 

[andora]

That’s because he didn’t have a disappointing camp. We know Knies has offensive potential. But what scouts wanted to see I’m guessing is how he uses his body. Can he still be engaged in play without the puck. I thought he showed that he could but he still has some work to do in terms of being more consistent in that area.

All in All, I think Knies would have helped last year in the playoffs. He’s big and his net front presence may have helped us get more goals past Vasi, especially if flanked beside Tavares.

Very true

And if he is ready to go start of 23/24 i think his style matches with tavares primarily

 

[Fonzieleaf]

Haven't watched too much USA in the tournament. Has Knies been off so far? Pointless in two games.

 

[andora]

Haven't watched too much USA in the tournament. Has Knies been off so far? Pointless in two games.

he hasn't been done any favors with his linemates either - Cooley is trying to do a lot of it himself with Knies lurking (in good areas) but doesn't use him

 

[rocketman588]

The iihf keeping prices at like 150 a ticket despite the garbage attendance is insane

he hasn't been done any favors with his linemates either - Cooley is trying to do a lot of it himself with Knies lurking (in good areas) but doesn't use him

He's basically being used like Cory Perry which is a pretty tough role for a kid in a 2 week tournament

 

[fahad203]

he hasn't been done any favors with his linemates either - Cooley is trying to do a lot of it himself with Knies lurking (in good areas) but doesn't use him

I think he's role with the team is very functional. Just get the puck to Cooley and be around the net
I thought he looked good driving the net on the PP last night. Something leafs been lacking for years. Someone how just drives the net from the boards

 

[rocketman588]

I wouldn't be as worried with any lack of production in this tournament

It's an absolute gong show that's going to hurt you reputation wise unless your name is Connor Bedard or you're on a line with him

The development camp is a bit of an issue imo because he should be dominating our prospects especially as the guy who is supposed to the the upper tier power forward of the group

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

There wasn't just some talk. The Leafs wanted him to join for the playoffs, full stop. They thought he could help immediately. You think he needs an additional 2-3 years of development before he'll be NHL ready. I guess we'll see but my instinct is to trust the team over the takes following these limited summer viewings.

I also don't understand why people are saying he had a bad development camp. I guess I remember it differently but Knies clips were constantly being posted here and a lot of people seemed to be raving about him, both posters here and staff/prospects at camp.

He just didn't have any points in the scrimmages. In an ideal world it would have been nice if he was lighting up the WJC and torched the camp.

But overall he looks exactly what everyone wants in a prospect. He's huge and plays like it, but also backs it up with high end skill and creativity. That's what really matters at the end of the day

 

[Menzinger]

Wjc in general is pretty overrated as a prospect evaluation tool (some absolutely fun hockey though), especially when it comes to production. A hot or cold streak over a few games isn't going to define who these guys aren

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Wjc in general is pretty overrated as a prospect evaluation tool (some absolutely fun hockey though), especially when it comes to production. A hot or cold streak over a few games isn't going to define who these guys aren

It matters more for the guys playing at lower levels (i.e. Junior European leagues or Jr. A in North America). If you are playing decent competition in the CHL, NCAA, or pro European leagues, it matters less because you are playing better or older guys on a consistent basis.

For Knies, Hirvonen, and Niemela, they've already proven that they are higher end prospects. You would hope they do well, but they don't need to prove anything either.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

WJC is too short and too volatile a tournament to glean any real information from it. Sure, you'd rather Knies have a couple of goals and points by now, but it's not like he hasn't gotten chances and hasn't set up some good looks as well. I like how dogged he is trying to strip pucks away from opposing players on the backcheck, reminds me of Matthews. The hands are obviously there and he's got the size to play, agreed that his speed needs to be improved but there's plenty of time for that.

 

[andora]

It matters more for the guys playing at lower levels (i.e. Junior European leagues or Jr. A in North America). If you are playing decent competition in the CHL, NCAA, or pro European leagues, it matters less because you are playing better or older guys on a consistent basis.

For Knies, Hirvonen, and Niemela, they've already proven that they are higher end prospects. You would hope they do well, but they don't need to prove anything either.

I agree with the sentiment but disagree with the simplicity

I believe there is still some factor of "prove it" involved with top prospects.. they do need to kind of show some reason why they are top prospects. Doesnt need to be scoring..hirvonen could be pointless right now and still very impressive

 

[rocketman588]

It matters more for the guys playing at lower levels (i.e. Junior European leagues or Jr. A in North America). If you are playing decent competition in the CHL, NCAA, or pro European leagues, it matters less because you are playing better or older guys on a consistent basis.

For Knies, Hirvonen, and Niemela, they've already proven that they are higher end prospects. You would hope they do well, but they don't need to prove anything either.

I say in a usual year it's pretty useful you're playing against the best players of your age.

If you're in a men's league it should technically be a step down and you should be dominating. Just like Knies should be in development camp if we're expecting him to be a second line or first line guy on a playoff team

This year is a completely different nature due to disrupted lead ups etc.

I also think you're overrating the NCAA a little. It's probably more on par with ohl especially with the less taxing schedule then it is with the Finnish or swedish first leagues. That might change with the money being given out for NIL however

There's some ass teams in the NCAA.

 

[ULF_55]

I watched about 20 minutes the other night, not long enough to get a full game look and Knies was completely coasting.

Stood in front of the net and knocked a puck down, but then just float!

He might as well have been in civvies ...

I should add just those 20 minutes they were reviewing a goal

 

[Morbo]

guess any fantasies anyone might have had about this guy riding in at the deadline and being some kind of savior can be safely parked for now.

 

[SoftDumpNtheCorner88]

Knies looks fine to me, but he needs to definitely work on shots in tight. He's had a bunch of prime shooting chances in the slot but gets too excited and either fans on the shot or completely whiffs it. If he works on quick accurate shots in tight he well be just fine.

 

[rdogg]

guess any fantasies anyone might have had about this guy riding in at the deadline and being some kind of savior can be safely parked for now.

It's only August. Maybe just wait and see how he does this year.