Prospect Info: Cam Squires (#122 Pick - 4th round - 2023 Draft)

[Devs3cups]

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

After being snubbed from Canada this summer I think he comes out this year like a bat out of hell.

 

[Eegs]

Big fan of this player and stoked he signed his ELC!

Think you guys got a beauty and a real gamer. Hope he tops out for you!

 

[Guadana]

Big fan of this player and stoked he signed his ELC!

Think you guys got a beauty and a real gamer. Hope he tops out for you!

Can you break down his game and tell why do you think he will translate his game on NHL level?

 

[njdevils1982]

After being snubbed from Canada this summer I think he comes out this year like a bat out of hell.

which one?

the original album,
part two: back into hell or
part three: the monster is loose?

if it's the two latter were in for some serious trouble

 

[Eegs]

Can you break down his game and tell why do you think he will translate his game on NHL level?

I'm not sure...I just appreciate that he already seems to have a pro-type game in that he is very involved at both ends of the ice. I think some untapped offensive upside as well...he was one of the only real threats on a team that played a very defensive system. And did so at 18. He's already got a solid floor because there don't appear to be any big gaps in his game with possibly more offense to give when he is surrounded by more skilled players.

Oh and he's from PEI. Easy to cheer for most of the kids that come from that part of the world.

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

From what I have seen from highlights all of last year is he is a very skilled player. No elite parts to his game but he seems like he a has a really good motor , above average shot , play making & skating. He is a bit undersized but not tiny on the ice. If we are being realistic he has the skill set IMO of a 2nd line player but if he even becomes a good 3rd line winger than its pretty easily a very good 4th round pick. It seems what really matters the most with him is if he will be able to produce against better players in the AHL and hopefully NHL someday. The talent is certainly there though. Him and Filmom were good players to take a gamble on.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Really glad to hear he’ll be at training camp. There’s basically a 0% chance he makes the team but hopefully he pushes the Bastians and Footes of the world a little.

 

[evnted]

early stat line looked a little underwhelming after an electric end to last season/strong showing in camp, so i wanted to check in on squires

• sniped a goal on maybe his 2nd shift of the game lol. nifty little redirect pass from the boards to get a rush going from his own zone. kept good distance as he trailed, easy lane for his linemate to hit in the high slot. nothing too fancy here, just effective
• got the 2nd goal going as well. grabbed the puck along the boards (about the same location as 1st goal) and sent a two line chip pass to his linemate who was posted up just outside the off zone. little bit more of a bouncing/in the right area type pass than it was some beautiful, tape to tape play, but the awareness and willingness to try were appreciated
• had so many plays that showed off his high end anticipation: a D to D intercept that he took in for a dangerous chance, an upright shot block that he was quick to grab out of midair and turn into a counterattack, a shorthanded steal off an errant breakout pass that he converted on. no way i could list all of them. he needs to build up his explosiveness more to really capitalize on some of these plays, but his anticipation is so good that it helps him play faster than he is
• squires was excellent at getting cycles going/keeping play alive today. quick to loose pucks, composed under pressure, competitive, great with his defensive stick placement/stick checks, smart with his puck movement. never afraid to send it down low/around the boards to a teammate to regroup. so many of his shifts were just constant zone pressure
• hes showing some higher intensity forechecking/effort in puck battles as well. stick work has always been good but its more aggressive/proactively challenging possession now. also finishing checks a little harder
• higher motor not as evident defensively. still engaged/positionally focused, but he'll cheat for chances and not show the same earnestness fighting for pucks. doesnt always let breakout attempts reach him before he starts moving up
• took a bit of an undisciplined penalty late in the 3rd with MON starting to roll. thankfully wasnt punished for it. took a rough shot not long before and seemed pissed at the refs for not calling it, so im sure thats what led to it. i like the fire, just dont channel it like that lol
• should note, cape breton is basically using him wherever and whenever they can: played both wings, took a bunch of draws, defended the lead late, shifted on the PK (no PP opportunities)
• 2-2-4 on 5 CB goals (last was an ENG) and generated a bunch of chances. dont think he was out there for a goal against. looked good all game

his playmaking progression the last year and a half has been intriguing. it was pretty vanilla in his DY, opened up more his D+1 (crisper puck movement, quicker decisions, longer stretch passes, etc.), and with this latest stretch i think hes shown way more creativity/willingness to challenge high danger opportunities (one touch plays in transition, cross zone seam passes, varying his own speed to find lanes and not just attack the net head on, etc.). his one preseason game showed a lot of good in this regard. now in saying that, i think hes messing up more/getting a little too cute at times, but to me thats just a byproduct of experimentation. im sure itll clean up over the year

 

[evnted]

checked in again because his numbers continue to look so underwhelming

big thing that stood out was he lacked crispness on the puck. wasnt getting as much on his shot, passing game looked closer to his DY (inconsistent results, less imaginative), and while his off puck anticipation was still great, he wasnt picking up pucks as easily

dont think his forechecking game matched the praise i had for it last time either. not as engaged in puck battles, lacking some intensity, wasnt really an active participant in cycle plays. had a couple unnecessary turnovers trying to overhandle, and even took a goofy penalty away from play late in the game

it wasnt all bad, i suppose. he was still great positionally, still got breakouts started from deep in his zone, still got touches/disrupted pass attempts even if he wasnt getting clean intercepts. had essentially two tertiary assists where he made a legitimate play leading to a goal that he didnt get a point out of. but certainly not at the level i saw last time

obviously, whenever you catch a 4pt game, you got lucky, but i saw a lot of progress building off of his camp showing that i didnt see tonight. not sure whats up here. putting it bluntly, he kinda looked out of it. ill continue to keep an eye on things

 

[evnted]

beauty of a goal for the hatty today. 8pt in his last 4gp, best stretch of the season thus far. hopefully getting on track here. plan to catch another full game viewing by the end of the month

 

[Bad Goalie]

beauty of a goal for the hatty today. 8pt in his last 4gp, best stretch of the season thus far. hopefully getting on track here. plan to catch another full game viewing by the end of the month

Wonder what Valiquette would think about that. LOL

 

[evnted]

additional 13pt in 7gp since i last posted, numbers finally looking good. eager to get this viewing in to confirm the eye test matches

• real solid in puck battles, looked more like first viewing. great at using his body to pin guys along the boards and stick to dig pucks out and get over to linemates. competitive in both zones, wasnt just on the forecheck. better intensity, looked faster getting to pucks
• positional game per usual was great. constantly popping up in dangerous scoring areas (particularly high slot). timing/spacing also very good, always seemed to be an option off the rush/near the puck
• liked the passing game today. wasnt perfect, had his share of turnovers, but generally appreciated the ideas on them: quick strips behind the net being sent out front, stretch passes trying to spring someone for a breakaway, cross zone attempts through traffic, that type of stuff. still good w the simple plays but a bit more imaginative in this one
• better than that were his short range passes, though. quick reads/reactions, made plays under pressure, didnt challenge obvious lanes (ie made passes behind his back, delayed to open space, etc.). kept in motion, too. got pucks off before opposing D could get to him, helped generate chances
• backcheck couldve been better. usually first forward back but wasnt exactly huffing it lol i dont think he actually made that many plays either. got too cute on the OTG as well, quick jump off a faceoff in his own zone that his C didnt win and he ended up dropping coverage on the shooter over it

i have no idea what went wrong the first chunk of the season, whether it was some life event or what going on. apparently he was getting demoted/called out by his coach at times? in retrospect, i think that 10/20 viewing i had was a complete anomaly lol

in any case, this matched what i wouldve expected to see coming out of that great camp showing. not perfect by any means, but better support play on the ice, more dangerous offensive threat, crisper overall play, and so on. ill continue to keep tabs on him, but im optimistic hes in his groove now

 

[Guadana]

additional 13pt in 7gp since i last posted, numbers finally looking good. eager to get this viewing in to confirm the eye test matches

• real solid in puck battles, looked more like first viewing. great at using his body to pin guys along the boards and stick to dig pucks out and get over to linemates. competitive in both zones, wasnt just on the forecheck. better intensity, looked faster getting to pucks
• positional game per usual was great. constantly popping up in dangerous scoring areas (particularly high slot). timing/spacing also very good, always seemed to be an option off the rush/near the puck
• liked the passing game today. wasnt perfect, had his share of turnovers, but generally appreciated the ideas on them: quick strips behind the net being sent out front, stretch passes trying to spring someone for a breakaway, cross zone attempts through traffic, that type of stuff. still good w the simple plays but a bit more imaginative in this one
• better than that were his short range passes, though. quick reads/reactions, made plays under pressure, didnt challenge obvious lanes (ie made passes behind his back, delayed to open space, etc.). kept in motion, too. got pucks off before opposing D could get to him, helped generate chances
• backcheck couldve been better. usually first forward back but wasnt exactly huffing it lol i dont think he actually made that many plays either. got too cute on the OTG as well, quick jump off a faceoff in his own zone that his C didnt win and he ended up dropping coverage on the shooter over it

i have no idea what went wrong the first chunk of the season, whether it was some life event or what going on. apparently he was getting demoted/called out by his coach at times? in retrospect, i think that 10/20 viewing i had was a complete anomaly lol

in any case, this matched what i wouldve expected to see coming out of that great camp showing. not perfect by any means, but better support play on the ice, more dangerous offensive threat, crisper overall play, and so on. ill continue to keep tabs on him, but im optimistic hes in his groove now

It's good to read that he isn't playing on the skill only, or only on the experience or on physicality only, versatile is what we hope our player can do in juniors because even big guy like Filmon didn't look like NHLer because he would be prevented in the league with his one way game(may be he can develop physical part of the game, may be it will help to find his way for the role in NHL).

How fast and accurate Squires is with decision making and timings?
And the most important - in which sense he could be a pain in the balls?

 

[evnted]

It's good to read that he isn't playing on the skill only, or only on the experience or on physicality only, versatile is what we hope our player can do in juniors because even big guy like Filmon didn't look like NHLer because he would be prevented in the league with his one way game(may be he can develop physical part of the game, may be it will help to find his way for the role in NHL).

How fast and accurate Squires is with decision making and timings?
And the most important - in which sense he could be a pain in the balls?

the timing/decision making is quite good (particularly off puck), he has a great feel for the game. always seems to pop up in soft spots at the right time, generally seems to know when pressure is coming/when to get a puck off. i think some of the issue with turnovers right now is just experimenting/testing the limits of his playmaking ability which, if we go back to his draft year, didnt really stand out that much. when he keeps it simple hes been fine

in terms of being a pain to play against...i wouldnt say he is. really good motor, willingness to go to the dirty areas, compete for pucks, so on, but its mainly for the purpose of getting the job done, not necessarily getting under anyones skin. hes had moments of that fire before, and he might even be leaning into it a little more this season (already had a fight, taking greasier penalties, even slew footed a guy at one point), but its probably not consistent enough to read into

 

[Emerz]

Another 3 point evening for Cam, he looks to be himself now - the entire Eagles team underperformed in the first half of the season. I wouldn’t read too much in to it, they were running with a ton of rookies and and a few team members had a pretty serious car accident; I’m sure he had a lot on his mind / plate.

25 points in the past 13 games after the Eagles made a couple trades to push some forwards that shouldn’t have been in the lineup back to Jr A.

 

[Guttersniped]

the timing/decision making is quite good (particularly off puck), he has a great feel for the game. always seems to pop up in soft spots at the right time, generally seems to know when pressure is coming/when to get a puck off. i think some of the issue with turnovers right now is just experimenting/testing the limits of his playmaking ability which, if we go back to his draft year, didnt really stand out that much. when he keeps it simple hes been fine

in terms of being a pain to play against...i wouldnt say he is. really good motor, willingness to go to the dirty areas, compete for pucks, so on, but its mainly for the purpose of getting the job done, not necessarily getting under anyones skin. hes had moments of that fire before, and he might even be leaning into it a little more this season (already had a fight, taking greasier penalties, even slew footed a guy at one point), but its probably not consistent enough to read into

QMJHL tracks hits. Squires got a lot more early on, maybe he was struggling offensively for some reason and was taking it out physically.

His offensive game picked up more and the hits dropped off.

They also track what they call Dangerous Shots (DS).

Squires first 15 games:
15GP 6G 9A 15 pts -2 10 PIM 21 Hits
37 SOG 20 DS 16.2 SH%
Star of the Game: 1st (2)

Next 15 games:
15 GP 8G 14A 22 pt +8 20 PIM* 3 Hits
62 SOG 32 DS 12.9 SH%
Star of the Game: 1st (2) 2nd (2) 3rd (2)

*Doesn’t include the PIM for the Game Misconducts. This when he had his slew foot suspension.
The 20 PIM does include a fight and a couple matching Roughing penalties. So he was still chippy lol.

 

[evnted]

checking back in

• good stick play in this one. got tips on passes, settled pucks/moved them up quickly, etc. went hand in hand with his strong positional ability. not consistently a high tempo player who closes in on puck carriers, instead hes sneaking into lanes/quickly cutting them off
• higher level passing ideas continue to be on display. probably wouldve hoped for better execution rates at this point in the season but hes trying some high risk stuff (ie multi zone pass through traffic to spring a breakaway) so i get they arent reliable hits. id always rather him look for these plays than not
• looked assertive in the offensive zone. fired away on a bunch of attempts, mix of one timers and wristers. good release. im not convinced his long term scoring upside is that high but he puts himself in good locations/keeps the goalie moving, which will help. lotta the time you watch him get the puck and wonder how he has so much time/space to get a shot off. some of it is the Q being the Q but hes quite smart and knows where to go and when
• again liked the ideas in the off zone. thought he was very good at cutting to the middle, both for shot and pass attempts. opp D sometimes had trouble containing him. good handling under pressure/in motion/shrugging off traffic. made some sneaky plays, too, had one where he drove the net off the rush selling short side and last second sent it to the slot (teammate just barely missed getting a handle on it)
• defensive commitment was good in this one. actively pressured the point, which resulted in bobbled pucks/double backs/even a couple rush chances. good commitment to the backcheck as well. during an early game pp he hustled back hard for a shorthanded 2 on 1 chance, didnt actively stop it but pressure caused puck carrier to fumble it

good energy, good ideas from squires. rewarded with an empty netter (not much of a play on it beyond just being in the mix up high). definitely things to clean up here, and i dont think his chances were so good that id describe him as consistently dangerous per se, but really liked the engagement tonight. wanted to make plays across all 200ft of the ice

 

[longislanddevil]

checking back in

• good stick play in this one. got tips on passes, settled pucks/moved them up quickly, etc. went hand in hand with his strong positional ability. not consistently a high tempo player who closes in on puck carriers, instead hes sneaking into lanes/quickly cutting them off
• higher level passing ideas continue to be on display. probably wouldve hoped for better execution rates at this point in the season but hes trying some high risk stuff (ie multi zone pass through traffic to spring a breakaway) so i get they arent reliable hits. id always rather him look for these plays than not
• looked assertive in the offensive zone. fired away on a bunch of attempts, mix of one timers and wristers. good release. im not convinced his long term scoring upside is that high but he puts himself in good locations/keeps the goalie moving, which will help. lotta the time you watch him get the puck and wonder how he has so much time/space to get a shot off. some of it is the Q being the Q but hes quite smart and knows where to go and when
• again liked the ideas in the off zone. thought he was very good at cutting to the middle, both for shot and pass attempts. opp D sometimes had trouble containing him. good handling under pressure/in motion/shrugging off traffic. made some sneaky plays, too, had one where he drove the net off the rush selling short side and last second sent it to the slot (teammate just barely missed getting a handle on it)
• defensive commitment was good in this one. actively pressured the point, which resulted in bobbled pucks/double backs/even a couple rush chances. good commitment to the backcheck as well. during an early game pp he hustled back hard for a shorthanded 2 on 1 chance, didnt actively stop it but pressure caused puck carrier to fumble it

good energy, good ideas from squires. rewarded with an empty netter (not much of a play on it beyond just being in the mix up high). definitely things to clean up here, and i dont think his chances were so good that id describe him as consistently dangerous per se, but really liked the engagement tonight. wanted to make plays across all 200ft of the ice

What do you think Squires can become if he reaches his ceiling?

 

[evnted]

What do you think Squires can become if he reaches his ceiling?

thinking something of a complementary top 9 winger who you prefer on the 3rd line but dont necessarily have an issue with slotting higher. chips in secondary goal scoring, plays pp2 and pk2, occasionally takes draws on the right side. not the fastest or most skilled but succeeds thanks to his smarts, compete, and knack for finding scoring opportunities. able to play with a variety of teammates. not exactly sure what player that corresponds to, maybe like a drew stafford type?