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2024-25 NCAA, CHL and OHL prospects thread

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FWIW - Former Devils draft pick Mitch Hoelscher (now 25) is leading his team in scoring in Slovakia.

Not all that significant since he was a sixth round pick. But he was one of three players the Devils drafted from the Ottawa 67's that were 50-11-1 when they shutdown hockey for the pandemic. The Devils also traded for Kevin Bahl.

None of those players are still with the Devils.
 
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www.allaboutthejersey.com

New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: Matyas Melovsky, Fourth in the Q

After a seven point game, Matyas Melovsky was fourth in the QMJHL in points per game heading into this past weekend, a fraction of a point behind teammate Justin Poirier. This post highlights a player who may turn out to be a very big steal from the 2024 draft.
www.allaboutthejersey.com www.allaboutthejersey.com
 
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Has anyone posted Wherler’s recent write up? I was trying to catch up on the main thread until I started reading it lol. (People going through some things.)

6. Shane Lachance, LW, 21 (Boston University)​


After spending two seasons post-draft in the USHL while he figured out how to use his big, heavy, 6-foot-5 body, Lachance became Youngstown’s captain and led the team to a Clark Cup. Now he’s a captain again as a sophomore at BU and it’s really starting to come together for him at the NCAA level. He had a respectable freshman year at BU last year but he has been the Terriers’ most consistent forward this year. He’s a physically daunting player with a good feel around the net, a willingness to go plant himself there, and a knack for getting his stick on tips, redirects and rebounds. He’s showing more comfort on the puck and confidence on the attack as he tries to diversify his game beyond the stereotypical wall/net-front guy. He’s got a late-August birthday, which speaks to some of the runway he was given in junior to develop before going off to college as well. Lachance works hard, he supports play well, he plays off skill guys effectively, he’s good along the wall on the cycle, and there are some who believe he might become a classic big-man role player at the next level eventually. He has shown a little more of the pace/sense I wanted to see out of him this year and there’s a mold to work with there, for sure. He’s a well-liked player who plays with an identity and it’s not hard to imagine him as a bottom-six NHLer.
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Dobber has a mid-season guide, here’s the write up. Maybe we sign this off-season.

Fantasy Prospects: Who’s Close?

Shane Lachance, LW

One of the more exciting prospects in the Edmonton Oilers’ pool, Lachance has a massive frame (6-5, 218) and underrated offensive skills that make him a realistic possibility to be signed out of the NCAA this year. As captain of Boston University, he has crossed the point-per-game mark at only 21 years old, and his value proposition is exciting for a team that has often searched for toughness and size ahead of the playoffs. The Oilers will need to take a hard look at their options as they move forward this season, and Lachance is an easy choice to slot in to a bottom line or 13th forward role.

DobberHockey Prospect Ranking: 369 (Forwards)
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EPRinkside’s off-season write-up (August 20 2024)

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Shane Lachance has been something of a revelation for our staff, going from a player we didn't rate at all to something of an Elite Prospects favourite as a freshman at Boston Univ. Now, we see him as a player with legitimate NHL upside, albeit not the most ambitious type; think an NHL fourth line, that kind of thing.

There aren't many details with LaChance's game. The beauty rests in the simplicity. He's a hard-working winger with a defensive conscience, good hands, and a knack for finding space and creating shooting opportunities around the net-front. And he plied those tools to relatively productive ends last season on Macklin Celebrini's wing.

If you're looking for a familiar NHL comparable, think Alex Chiasson. For LaChance to get there, he'll have to add a step and become a more sophisticated player, particularly in open ice.
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Guttersniped said:
Has anyone posted Wherler’s recent write up? I was trying to catch up on the main thread until I started reading it lol. (People going through some things.)



View attachment 986693

Dobber has a mid-season guide, here’s the write up. Maybe we sign this off-season.




EPRinkside’s off-season write-up (August 20 2024)

View attachment 986692
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These assessments read like he should sign at the end of this season and get his act going in Utica. He sounds like a much better prospect than Stillman and the Comets had to live with his ineptitude for 2 seasons. This guy has a habit of going where few Comets have had the courage to go, the NET FRONT!!!!!! Apparently my feelings regarding Stillman were in agreement with Interim Head Coach Parent.

Speaking of Parent, he should get a promotion from "Interim" to actual Utica Comets Head Coach. He is responsible for turning a very poorly assembled team into a competitive group who are pushing to get their season record above .500 from the hole Dineen helped them dig. The players like and even more respect him. He doesn't play around. He has demands for how they play and they appear to have bought into those demands and are working to make their plumber's skills work to win games. They are far from pretty, but their work ethic is there and overall it's produced wins more often than losses.
 
Guttersniped said:
Has anyone posted Wherler’s recent write up? I was trying to catch up on the main thread until I started reading it lol. (People going through some things.)



View attachment 986693

Dobber has a mid-season guide, here’s the write up. Maybe we sign this off-season.




EPRinkside’s off-season write-up (August 20 2024)

View attachment 986692
Click to expand...
Seems to me based upon these assessments he should sign after this season ends and get himself into the Utica Comets lineup at least to start next season. He already appears to be a better prospect than the inept Stillman. He also has a history of doing what Comets' players have lacked the courage to_______GO TO THE NET FRONT!!!

Based upon recent events it appears that "Interim" Head Coach Parent had a similar opinion to mine regarding Stillman.

Speaking of Parent he has earned the right to be named the Utica Comets Head Coach for next season. He has turned the Comets from a stumbling, bumbling, poorly constructed hockey team (that was NJ's fault) that Dineen sunk into a deep abyss into a hard working group of players that work together combining their mostly plumber's skills into a team that has won more than they have lost under his helm.

Dineen left the Comets 5-12-1-2 after losing their first 13 consecutive games.

Parent revamped the system and obviously laid down rules to play by. After a slow start while his system and rules were taking effect the Comets have recorded a far more respectable record of
18-13-3-0. That makes their season record 23-25-4-2. 2 games below .500. The .500 mark was the one I set in my mind for a successful recovery from what was a horrendous, embarrassing beginning.

Parent is responsible for making his players recognize their was a way for them to know success if they were willing to put in the work and play the game they were capable of putting together as a unit. They bought into his game and even while undergoing losses of players to NJ and injuries at home they put makeshift lineups on the ice and ground away and finding more success than failure. They stumbled now and then, but he wouldn't accept poor effort and took them back to the practice surface and ironed out the flaws. They have crept closer to competing for the bottom playoff spot, but they have two teams to climb over and only have 18 games to overcome an
8-point deficit to both Syracuse and Belleville with 1 game in hand on both of them. It seems daunting, but they keep playing like they believe and that's all one can ask. Even if it ends up only finishing the season showing a remarkable recovery from the horrible start while establishing a sense of accomplishment and self-respect in the end, the season will have ended on a successful note. It won't be glory, but they will know what they have done.

They are not idiots. They know what they have been competing against and in the end they will know what could have been if they had started the way they finished. They are now very competitive. At the moment Syracuse only has 2 more wins and Belleville 3. The loser points the other 2 have accrued are where most of those 8 points are buried.

*** With the screwups I am enduring with this site I ended up replying to this post twice because the first reply did not register. I came back and saw that so made a second more involved response. I'm leaving them both here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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