Pavel Buchnevich
"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
Now won five in a row against USHL teams.
Team isn’t so bad after all.
Team isn’t so bad after all.
2024-25 USNTDP U18 Discussion
- Thread starter Pavel Buchnevich
- Start date
I’ve bashed this team but they have been lot better in last 4-6 weeks . Even Moore playing with more urgency and looking lot better. I want see them against better ushl teams coming up but they are playing good .
Pavel Buchnevich
"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
I think Murtagh and McKinney are by far the two best players on this team. One 3rd or 4th round player I like is Belle. Moore, Tretheway, and Amico I just don’t understand. Especially Tretheway, the poor guy can’t break a puck out.
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yesterday all star game i thought ushl kids look lot better than ntdp kids - just one game but ntdp lacks any real high end skill at forward and dmen are not great . i think murtaugh is a poor man’s leonard and will go mid - late first round . Mckinney is just really solid but not great at anything or high end but he will go late first - early second . No dmen will go in the first round in my view
Pavel Buchnevich
"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
Finally lost. A lot of guys out of the lineup though.
Schairer and Nelson got their first game with the 18’s. Berchild continued to play with the 18’s, as he seemingly has for weeks.
Schairer and Nelson got their first game with the 18’s. Berchild continued to play with the 18’s, as he seemingly has for weeks.
I watched the game on flo and they are looking better pace wise . I thought Mckinney is looking great lately and could slip into first round . Mooney was flying out there and has looked dangerous . The defense is nothing to get excited about and starting think mid second - third round for trethaway and phillips because huge will be third round . Amico is like Schaefer in that he hasn’t played and by default scouts will take him second round because it’s weak dmen class . lol
Hockeyville USA
Registered User
Hockeyville USA
Registered User
Apparently they're playing at the 2025 U18 Five Nations, and they're getting killed by Sweden right now.
In addition to Mikey Berchild (2008, NTDP u17, Minnetonka, MN, Denver commit) playing up, they've added Sam Spehar (2007, Sioux Falls Stampede, Chaska, MN, Denver commit) & Kade Stengrim (2007, Youngstown Phantoms, Brainerd, MN, St Cloud State commit) to the roster.
In addition to Mikey Berchild (2008, NTDP u17, Minnetonka, MN, Denver commit) playing up, they've added Sam Spehar (2007, Sioux Falls Stampede, Chaska, MN, Denver commit) & Kade Stengrim (2007, Youngstown Phantoms, Brainerd, MN, St Cloud State commit) to the roster.
Pavel Buchnevich
"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
They probably would’ve added one or two of the younger players they’d want to audition for the team in normal circumstances, but they have a tournament in Finland while the U18’s have one in Sweden. Tells us Berchild is a lock for this team right now, and the other ones aren’t. I don’t see how Spehar or Stengrim stick beyond this tournament. This is probably to give them some additional draft exposure.
I’ve read couple reports from this team at the five nations tourny :
1, Mckinney was one if not the best player from this team in tournament . Murtaugh as usual had a great tournament and was right up there with him . Gallant has been coming on strong lately too and stood out . Moore had his up and downs but had moments of high skill plays . I think Mckinney , Murtaugh , Moore , 2 out the three will be late first round . Mooney and rest of forwards were fine but didn’t really stand out . Berchild was compared to Mooney as a smaller perimeter player . The defense was a mix bag where Tretheway has moved to second round as his skill , decision making is not close to first round potential . Phillips is huge but details of his games ( passing - reads - IQ) has gotten better but it’s simply not there at all . With his size I think somebody will draft him third round . Rest of defense and forwards are a mix bag .
1, Mckinney was one if not the best player from this team in tournament . Murtaugh as usual had a great tournament and was right up there with him . Gallant has been coming on strong lately too and stood out . Moore had his up and downs but had moments of high skill plays . I think Mckinney , Murtaugh , Moore , 2 out the three will be late first round . Mooney and rest of forwards were fine but didn’t really stand out . Berchild was compared to Mooney as a smaller perimeter player . The defense was a mix bag where Tretheway has moved to second round as his skill , decision making is not close to first round potential . Phillips is huge but details of his games ( passing - reads - IQ) has gotten better but it’s simply not there at all . With his size I think somebody will draft him third round . Rest of defense and forwards are a mix bag .
Pavel Buchnevich
"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
Can we talk about how bad the Hlinka selections were?
They need to make some real reform to the process. Just a quick ballpark, they left off roughly half of the best players from the roster (11/24 I have here), including multiple of the best players (Reid, Nycz, Wyttenbach, West, Jardine, Brzustewicz).
Wyttenbach-Moe-Kevan
Simpson-West-Jardine
Spehar-Mutryn-Gorzynski
Knutson-Lansing-Benson
Hayes
Nycz-Reid
Rombach-Fiddler
Engle-Brzustewicz
Grimes-Barnhill
Cameron
Bronas
Menard
This team should’ve at least gotten second place (and I think that defense could at least compete with Canada’s, maybe not goaltending and forwards) as opposed to whatever they selected that had us get fourth place. I honestly feel this group is very comparable to the NTDP 2007 group, which is a completely different discussion, but also doesn’t look good on the USA Hockey decision makers.
They need to make some real reform to the process. Just a quick ballpark, they left off roughly half of the best players from the roster (11/24 I have here), including multiple of the best players (Reid, Nycz, Wyttenbach, West, Jardine, Brzustewicz).
Wyttenbach-Moe-Kevan
Simpson-West-Jardine
Spehar-Mutryn-Gorzynski
Knutson-Lansing-Benson
Hayes
Nycz-Reid
Rombach-Fiddler
Engle-Brzustewicz
Grimes-Barnhill
Cameron
Bronas
Menard
This team should’ve at least gotten second place (and I think that defense could at least compete with Canada’s, maybe not goaltending and forwards) as opposed to whatever they selected that had us get fourth place. I honestly feel this group is very comparable to the NTDP 2007 group, which is a completely different discussion, but also doesn’t look good on the USA Hockey decision makers.
It was ridiculous selection mainly because leave out min 2 guys playing in heavy league’s in Nycz and henry B ( london knights ) and you take tom bleyl who plays at a low level prep school and they didn’t even play him . In addition, if it was based on the camp , team NY where bleyl and grimes played finished like 5 th place so it was a joke . The guy who made those picks should be fired.
Pavel Buchnevich
"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
Update on the draftable players from this team. This is my projection of where they should go.
Round 1: Amico, Murtagh, McKinney
Round 2: Trethewey, Moore, Phillips, Barnett
Round 3: Fondrk, Belle
Round 4: O'Neill
Round 5: Mooney, Kvasnicka, Quinlan
Round 6: Schock
2026:
Round 3: Kuehne
Round 4: Boettiger
Round 6: Hafele
17 draftable players I think. NTDP 2006 age group has 18 that were already drafted or are pretty certain to be this year. NTDP 2005 age group had 16 drafted. NTDP 2004 age group had 16.
I don't think this group is as bad as people think. They aren't the most skilled, which likely results in worse junior results, but they are very big, skate well, good defensively, and are competitive. I see a bunch of future role players in the NHL and probably someone will pop off and exceed their projection and become an NHL all-star level player. Almost always happens that way (look at Faber and Sanderson, for instance).
Round 1: Amico, Murtagh, McKinney
Round 2: Trethewey, Moore, Phillips, Barnett
Round 3: Fondrk, Belle
Round 4: O'Neill
Round 5: Mooney, Kvasnicka, Quinlan
Round 6: Schock
2026:
Round 3: Kuehne
Round 4: Boettiger
Round 6: Hafele
17 draftable players I think. NTDP 2006 age group has 18 that were already drafted or are pretty certain to be this year. NTDP 2005 age group had 16 drafted. NTDP 2004 age group had 16.
I don't think this group is as bad as people think. They aren't the most skilled, which likely results in worse junior results, but they are very big, skate well, good defensively, and are competitive. I see a bunch of future role players in the NHL and probably someone will pop off and exceed their projection and become an NHL all-star level player. Almost always happens that way (look at Faber and Sanderson, for instance).
Amico has ZERO shot for the first round in my opinion . It’s extremely weak draft for dmen this year but i see :
tretheway , phillips , amico 2 out of three will slip to the third round . All three are completely underwhelming but reality dmen class is brutal this year .
I wonder how many of this group spends another year of juniors
