Staal is still very raw--scouts are tantalized by his size and the Staal genes--but right at this moment he is very far from the NHL --he;ll need at least 2 more years of Jr. to see how he develops--his shot is nowhere near as good as Eric's was in his draft year,his release isn't as quick,his hockey sense not as developed,his finishing not as good,his 3 period game not as consistent--their are flashes but it is not all there yet IMO---he pases well but really is not that creative yet--but he is BIG,he already is stronger than ERIC was in his draft year--and will only get even stronger--he's a "baby" of the draft--5 days removed from missing it and having to wait till the 2007 draft--so scouts are "projecting" on the Staal genes,projecting he will improve over each of the next two years and emerge as the dominant player in the OHL by age 19...it may happen BUT it could also not happen in the sense that say a Rich or Ron Sutter never equalled the scoring prowess of brother Brian or he may be a tweener between these extremes like Darryl,Duane and Brent....
AT THE MOMENT--he is not as well advanced as Nicklas Backstrom is in puck skills and hockey sense...but there are those tantalizing flashes and he already has an NHL big body...
I've seen him play 5 times this year (4 OHL games and the Top Prospects Game)--he really did not show me much in any of those games (his goal in the Top Prospects Game was an easy tap into a gaping open net with a Team Cherry goalie
drawn out of position by a 5x2 due to a terrible line change leading to the 3 man advantage) --UNTIL the 3rd period of last night's 3-2 OT loss to Brampton where he had --FINALLY--a very good period with 2 geat passes leading to scoring chances--the first of which resulted in a shot and goal by Reddox and the other was a blown shot on goal that missed the net (it might have been tardif? that blew the chance by shooting it over the net after Staal set him up) --and he played well back-checking to break up some brampton scoring chances--THEN in OT he made a beautiful rush from behind his own net all the way up the right side boards up into the Brampton zone then a long horizontal pass into the crease area almost tipped in for a goal--HOWEVER in watching him over these 5 games one period +an OT of stellar play does not make a great prospect--it only tantalizes as what he MIGHT
become IF he develops... Right now --most times--he doesn't look like a top ten pick--so he is a long-off "projection" in the very raw stage but with upside...for all his good play in the latter part of the game,he also muffed 4 other good scoring chances making one question if he can develop ERIC's "hands", puck skill,and shot or not--2 of these were passes at his feet which he couldn't convert to his stick to get off a shot in the slot--so puck handling is questionable--he also muffed a one-timer--again you question does he have a good shot? Therefore--AT THIS TIME--his game is "RAW" --you he improves his skills as he matures--because added to his size+ physical game --that could be some package...