Prospect Info: #90OA - Hurricanes Select LHD Domenick Fensore

[GoldiFox]

Some of the Black Book quotes from scouts on Fensore are hilarious. Highly recommended.

Let's talk real life for a second. He’s a 5’6" player who is weak and can barely defend now, but sure… let's match him up against Tom Wilson. Now we've gone and killed him

One ridiculed any team that would take him in the 3rd round. Definitely not sourcing from the Canes.

Unless he’s Johnny Hockey or Marchand good at forward it’s irrelevant that he can play forward. You would also think if he was that good at it he would already be playing there.

He’s a dman. The art form of being a really good fourth forward/offensive dman is also a completely different mindset than forward obviously. There’s no reason to think he’d be any good at forward and it’s pretty rare that a guy who plays this style is any good moving up.

Strong chance this is a wasted pick but like others have said its good to swing for the fences, to me especially late in the draft. Picking another good old Canadian boy with character, poor skating and limited offense isn’t any more likely to help us out. You can pick a better version of that guy off waivers anyways.

Bleedgreen = NHL scout confirmed:

Now people are taking about him at forward? Snap out of it. Until a few years ago, a 5’6" player had about as much chance at getting drafted as me dating a supermodel. Now guys are telling me I’m going to draft a 5’6" kid and change him to a position he’s never played before. .It’s laughable

 

[CandyCanes]

 

[Lempo]

This guy has all the best shirts.

 

[spockBokk]

Found this article, cause, well, I’m bored at the moment and wife and daughter are napping:

Domenick Fensore Learns to Use His Size to His Advantage

Scroll down and see which NHL team is his current favorite...NYR...ruh roh...

Standout, small D from NY drafted in the 3rd round and headed to a college in the Boston area...

Adam Fox 2.0?

Prob not, but interesting correlation nonetheless. Fensore seems like a good kid, hope he grows 2 inches, puts on 20lbs of mostly muscle in the next 2 years and actually signs...

 

[Novacane]

Found this article, cause, well, I’m bored at the moment and wife and daughter are napping:

Domenick Fensore Learns to Use His Size to His Advantage

Scroll down and see which NHL team is his current favorite...NYR...ruh roh...

Standout, small D from NY drafted in the 3rd round and headed to a college in the Boston area...

Adam Fox 2.0?

Prob not, but interesting correlation nonetheless. Fensore seems like a good kid, hope he grows 2 inches, puts on 20lbs of mostly muscle in the next 2 years and actually signs...

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Fensore had 2 primary assists in last night's big BU vs Harvard game in TD gardens. Both of the PP As were simple point passes to another player who scored, nothing special. Still counts. He went -1. BU beat Harvard 4-3.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Seems like if he ever makes it, it’ll be kind of in a Torey Krug role?

 

[spockBokk]

#FensoreWatch?

 

[Lempo]

 

[Cardiac Jerks]

Seems like if he ever makes it, it’ll be kind of in a Torey Krug role?

Hopefully he doesn’t get away from us like Krug did, though that was more a case of us not recognizing his talent.

 

[cptjeff]

A guy like him really should finish his classes and get his degree before signing. And then start learning to play forward in the offseason because that's the only way he's gonna be playing in the show.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Hopefully he doesn’t get away from us like Krug did, though that was more a case of us not recognizing his talent.

In fairness, every NHL team didn't really recognize his talent as he went undrafted. Same with Martin St. Louis. Small guys that were talented, but teams had their blinders on when it comes to guys their size. Boston took a chance and it paid off.

 

[cptjeff]

In fairness, every NHL team didn't really recognize his talent as he went undrafted. Same with Martin St. Louis. Small guys that were talented, but teams had their blinders on when it comes to guys their size. Boston took a chance and it paid off.

Worth noting that Krug is 5'9" and Fensore is 5'6". And St. Louis was a forward.

As a small guy myself, I'm a big advocate for small guys being able to play in the league. But I don't think you can be that small as a defenseman.

 

[Canes]

BU is the college team I root for (well actually it's Lake Superior State since my father taught there but they're basically the Coyotes of D-I hockey) ever since watching their insane comeback win in 2009. Fensore is a good college d-man but I'd probably have to agree with @cptjeff Fensore should at least try playing forward if he wants to make the NHL. I wouldn't say he absolutely needs to do it right away but the only d-man I can remember anywhere near his size in the last 2-3 decades is Francis Bouillon and he played a different and more physical type game.

 

[DaveG]

Hopefully he doesn’t get away from us like Krug did, though that was more a case of us not recognizing his talent.

TBF I'm pretty sure we tried like hell to sign Krug after his prospect camp here, but he decided to go back to Sparty and then hit the open market after their season ended.

 

[LakeLivin]

Found this article, cause, well, I’m bored at the moment and wife and daughter are napping:

Domenick Fensore Learns to Use His Size to His Advantage

Scroll down and see which NHL team is his current favorite...NYR...ruh roh...

Standout, small D from NY drafted in the 3rd round and headed to a college in the Boston area...

Adam Fox 2.0?

Prob not, but interesting correlation nonetheless. Fensore seems like a good kid, hope he grows 2 inches, puts on 20lbs of mostly muscle in the next 2 years and actually signs...

Worth noting that Krug is 5'9" and Fensore is 5'6". And St. Louis was a forward.

As a small guy myself, I'm a big advocate for small guys being able to play in the league. But I don't think you can be that small as a defenseman.

The article above is from 5 years ago. Looks like he did grow 3 inches and put on 20 lbs. (the BU Hockey site lists him at 5'9", 170 lbs). Still small, but not Nathan Gerbe small. Actually, I should say not Nathan Gerbe short. At 5'4", 180 lbs Gerbe had the build of a kitchen stove; on the ice I thought he played more solidly than, say, a 6' tall 180 lb player.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Worth noting that Krug is 5'9" and Fensore is 5'6". And St. Louis was a forward.

As a small guy myself, I'm a big advocate for small guys being able to play in the league. But I don't think you can be that small as a defenseman.

I don't know how tall Fensore really is. As @LakeLivin mentioned, BU lists him at 5'9". We didn't know anything about Krug until he graduated from college so who knows how tall he was as a draft eligible player. We all know these guys "stretch" the truth on height as well.

I agree though, it's an uphill battle as a defenseman when you are that size. My point wasn't that he will make it like Krug or MSL, my point was that teams often discount players because of size. My whole comment that started this discussion was "IF HE EVER MAKES IT", it would be in a Krug type role.

 

[Canes]

The article above is from 5 years ago. Looks like he did grow 3 inches and put on 20 lbs. (the BU Hockey site lists him at 5'9", 170 lbs). Still small, but not Nathan Gerbe small. Actually, I should say not Nathan Gerbe short. At 5'4", 180 lbs Gerbe had the build of a kitchen stove; on the ice I thought he played more solidly than, say, a 6' tall 180 lb player.

There are a lot of small players in NCAA hockey and Fensore is regularly the smallest. Yeah, he may be listed at 5'9'' now but so is my 5'6'' buddy on his drivers license.

That said, I don't really care about his height. If we gave Tolchinsky a chance, Fensore deserves one as well.

 

[WingedEye]

By random chance I sat next to his cousin at the semi-final game on Thursday in Tampa. I had a Canes hat on which started the conversation. Dom and the team have been talking but the uncertainty of the Canes' AHL situation is a factor. The biggest concern is neither side knowing exactly where he'd be playing next year and he's hired an advisor to help sort this out. According to his cousin he wants to play for the Canes as their style of play, especially for offensively minded D-men, is attractive but also wants to make the best decision for his career.

 

[FlyingSquirrels]

By random chance I sat next to his cousin at the semi-final game on Thursday in Tampa. I had a Canes hat on which started the conversation. Dom and the team have been talking but the uncertainty of the Canes' AHL situation is a factor. The biggest concern is neither side knowing exactly where he'd be playing next year and he's hired an advisor to help sort this out. According to his cousin he wants to play for the Canes as their style of play, especially for offensively minded D-men, is attractive but also wants to make the best decision for his career.

That doesn't sound too encouraging.

 

[Discipline Daddy]

By random chance I sat next to his cousin at the semi-final game on Thursday in Tampa. I had a Canes hat on which started the conversation. Dom and the team have been talking but the uncertainty of the Canes' AHL situation is a factor. The biggest concern is neither side knowing exactly where he'd be playing next year and he's hired an advisor to help sort this out. According to his cousin he wants to play for the Canes as their style of play, especially for offensively minded D-men, is attractive but also wants to make the best decision for his career.

Nice report, thank you. That's good to hear that prospects talk about how fun it would be for an offensive D to play in our system, and it matches my eye test in that regard.

Hopefully we get it sorted out. Fensore would be great to audition but he's low enough on the totem pole to not be make-or-break whether we sign him or not.

 

[bleedgreen]

Not sure I’m overly concerned about signing Fensmore as I’m not sold on the NHL prospects for the guy, even if he makes it I think he’d have to really work his way up from the minors over years. On the flip side I’d like him to get signed just so we have as many of our prospects playing together as possible. If he’s gonna do those years of work do it for us. I think that sort of familiarity, camaraderie, and on ice chemistry with an AHL team being mostly our guys is a great thing for the organization which touches on why I’m fine with us leaving Chicago. Fans of the AHL team I think connect with a team like that, and I know it leads to more engagement with fans of the pro team to follow the prospects more.

Yes I know we’re likely to end up in a shared situation here, which I know changes all I’ve said a bit. I just like it best when we have our own team that’s purpose us bettering our own players.

 

[spockBokk]

Hopefully we get it sorted out. Fensore would be great to audition but he's low enough on the totem pole to not be make-or-break whether we sign him or not.

This is exactly how I feel.

I’ll be bummed if he doesn’t end up signing, but it won’t be the end of the world. They have Honka signed, who’s not had a bad year at all in Chicago, so they already have a smallish offensive D type in the pipeline.

I do think Fensore is a better skater and perhaps is better defensively than Honka, but Honka is bigger, while still being a Smurf, and has put up respectable numbers against men for at least 2 years, to boot he’s a righty.

Hopefully they get him signed. I feel like they will, but wouldn’t be too surprised if he goes UFA. I’d imagine the Rangers or Bruins would be where he ended up in that case.

 

[bleedgreen]

We also have Heimosalmi coming at some point I assume. He’s not big either.

 

[spockBokk]

We also have Heimosalmi coming at some point I assume. He’s not big either.

True, but at 5’11”, he’s a giant compared to 5’7”. The BU site is the only place I see Fensore listed at 5’9”, so he’s probably a lot closer to 5’7”.