Little write up on the team USA defenders during the WJSS from Chris Peters at Flo hockey:
Paul Fischer, LHD (STL)
Fischer had a strong camp. He’s a high-end skater and smart defender, but doesn’t have much to offer offensively beyond a good first pass. He was more active in this camp jumping into plays and making himself a more credible threat. I think he could be a shutdown guy for this team very easily, likely as a five or six, killing penalties and getting some tougher matchups. To me, he's probably on the bubble to make it, but I think he'll have a strong case to be invited to December camp.
Lukas Fischer, LHD (STL)
There’s a lot to like about Fischer’s game, which is so clearly still in development. He has a rawness to him, but there were some flashes of good offense and physical defending. He shoots the puck hard and showed some better hands than I thought. He’s a big guy with good mobility and while I think the best is yet to come, I don’t foresee him being on this roster in December.
Colin Ralph, LHD (STL)
Ralph is a massive human and I can see a lot of the potential there in him. I don’t think it will materialize quickly enough for him to be on USA’s roster this year. He has some really intriguing physical elements, but I didn’t like a lot of his puck decisions and thought he struggled with the pace of this tournament at times. That said, he had his best game against Canada and was able to effectively ramp up his physicality. I don't think he's quite ready to be trusted at the World Junior level, but the flashes he showed against Canada gave me a little more optimism for how his freshman season will go at St. Cloud State.
