Prospect Info: Marlies/Prospects Thread - 2021/22 PART II

[Twine Tickler]

well somebody's ears were burning I guess...

 

[Prominence]

I don’t know how I feel about that. One problem with the ecac is that there is not enough physicality. Miller needs to learn how to play when he doesn’t have enough space. It’s too easy to find space in that conference. He’s someone that needs to struggle for the first 2-3 years of college, learn from that struggle, and then explode in his last year.

wth is with the chicago steel/harvard connection. I guess he’ll get a good education.

wow harvard is receiving a lot of commitments for 23-24 season.
College Commitments - College Hockey, Inc.

 

[nuck]

He's done everything you could ask for at the NCAA level, but there's legitimate red flags for a pro career. His skating is poor in a straight line and he's very weak on the puck. Pacing for even fewer goals than two years ago and has a muffin shot.

I see a lot of similarities to Bracco, but if Bracco had the same intangibles and smarts, maybe he gets an NHL look. He's very boom/bust.

Definitely doesn't look like his D+1 but the surgery and long layoff could be most of that. He should have been working back to game speed last March, not this October. He is a puny guy who relies 100% on his elusiveness so anything other than a knee would likely have been better. I'm probably less worried about his game than Miettinen who has no medical excuse. Off years do happen and if they are ready to make a pro debut in 23-24 that works just fine. Don't you think Bracco's issues were maybe more in his head?

 

[SeaOfBlue]

I don’t know how I feel about that. One problem with the ecac is that there is not enough physicality. Miller needs to learn how to play when he doesn’t have enough space. It’s too easy to find space in that conference. He’s someone that needs to struggle for the first 2-3 years of college, learn from that struggle, and then explode in his last year.

wth is with the chicago steel/harvard connection. I guess he’ll get a good education.

wow harvard is receiving a lot of commitments for 23-24 season.
College Commitments - College Hockey, Inc.

It is not that many, especially when all of their top guys will likely be gone by then.

Miller may be the best player on that roster by 2023-2024 short of a top prospect committing to them between now and then.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Petruzzelli was sent back down to the Growlers today. That may mean Scott is ready to return.

 

[Morgs]

Miller wasn't getting enough Abruzzese comparisons, so he had to take the exact same path.

 

[SprDaVE]

 

[Coaches Coroner]

He's done everything you could ask for at the NCAA level, but there's legitimate red flags for a pro career. His skating is poor in a straight line and he's very weak on the puck. Pacing for even fewer goals than two years ago and has a muffin shot.

I see a lot of similarities to Bracco, but if Bracco had the same intangibles and smarts, maybe he gets an NHL look. He's very boom/bust.

One important thing to note is that he doesn't seem to have the off-ice issues of alleged sexual harassment, forcing a 16 year old teammate to do blow, and allegedly conning people out of money (I know of at least one person involved in a court case with him over money, and they said there are others) that Bracco did.

 

[Zookeeper]

Did the leafs have any influence in this decision? Did they tell him to switch to Harvard ?

 

[Prominence]

Did the leafs have any influence in this decision? Did they tell him to switch to Harvard ?

Nothing has been reported. It’s a good hedge if hockey does not work out. This is the reverse of what tverberg did where he was committed to harvard, but switched to uconn.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Nothing has been reported. It’s a good hedge if hockey does not work out. This is the reverse of what tverberg did where he was committed to harvard, but switched to uconn.

Only reason Tverberg did that was because he wanted to play right away. If there was no Covid, Tverberg likely stays at Harvard.

 

[SprDaVE]

Knies makes it over Boucher

 

[kb]

Knies makes it over Boucher

Very Knies!!

 

[Stigma]

Knies makes it over Boucher

 

[Twine Tickler]

Knies makes it over Boucher

so I guess the Tverberg rumors on the USA team may have been false? or maybe he told them to take a hike because he made Canada's preliminary roster...

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Knies makes it over Boucher

I question why Braden Holt wasn't brought on but anyways. Mbereko is not very good, but he did decent in the U18's last year. Silverstein is a top goalie prospect for this year but he is an 04', and I think he is only there because they don't have many great options behind Commesso.

Dominic James is the only undrafted guy on the roster, and he made it over 10th overall Tyler Boucher (plus Perreault and Doan). That has got to hurt a bit for those teams, but I can see why Perreault wouldn't make it. Pure offense and I guess they like the younger guys better. Don't see why Anaheim wouldn't let him go if he was only in the AHL.

 

[Legion34]

Knies makes it over Boucher

why in the world would they not take a player in Perrault who is PPG in the AHL? Because of the ohl thing? Hasn’t stopped them before

 

[stickty111]

Speaking of rising prospects, Holmberg with a goal and assist today. He has points in 7 straight games. If it weren't for Niemela, he might be getting more recognition. His progression the last half year has been outstanding.

 

[SprDaVE]

why in the world would they not take a player in Perrault who is PPG in the AHL? Because of the ohl thing? Hasn’t stopped them before

Maybe he doesn't want to play for team USA?

Also, maybe Anaheim doesn't want to release him for it? Maybe Perreault would prefer to stay in the AHL and get a shot at the NHL sooner? I dunno.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

why in the world would they not take a player in Perrault who is PPG in the AHL? Because of the ohl thing? Hasn’t stopped them before

McDonnell and Pastujov are both from the OHL.

There is going to be a lot of elite offensive talent on the top teams this year. They probably figured they have enough guys who can score and they are going for guys who can play two-way hockey at a high level. Perreault cannot play two-way hockey at a high level.

It is fairly similar on their defense as well. Peart is more of an offensive-defenseman, and he didn't make it despite a strong showing in the NCAA this year.

All speculation on my part though. I think it is going to be tough for any team to keep up with Russia and Canada this year. Sweden, USA, and Finland will have strong teams, but I don't think they can compete with those two.

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

Speaking of rising prospects, Holmberg with a goal and assist today. He has points in 7 straight games. If it weren't for Niemela, he might be getting more recognition. His progression the last half year has been outstanding.

Will be interesting to see how he is in the AHL. Another Tommie Bergman special?

 

[Teeder Keon]

Very Knies!!

Hopefully SprDaVE and you will be Kniestradamus like on this call ….

 

[LeafChief]

A poster mentioned in the US WJC thread that Tverberg didn't end up being eligible because he hadn't played full seasons in the US.

They seemed pretty confident that he would have made the team if eligible.

 

[Morgs]

Because I'll be busy tomorrow I did the November update of the Leafs affiliated prospects tonight (not sure if anyone plays tonight):

Player Name	Age	Pos	League	GP	Goals	Points	PPG	NHLe	rel.CF%	Rel.FF%	ATOI	OZS%	oiSH%
Abramov, Mikhail	20.7	C	AHL	16	1	5	0.31	10.6	-	-	-	-	-
Abruzzese, Nick	22.5	W	NCAA	9	2	12	1.33	18.1	-	-	-	-	-
Amirov, Rodion	20.2	W	KHL	3	0	1	0.33	16.9	-	-	10:50	-	-
Anderson, Joey	23.5	W	AHL	15	5	7	0.47	15.8	-	-	-	-	-
Bobylyov, Vladimir	24.6	W	VHL	28	2	7	0.25	5.5	-	-	11:09	-	-
Chebykin, Nikolai	24.3	W	KHL	27	7	10	0.37	18.7	-	-	12:14	-	-
Der-Arguchintsev, Semyon	21.2	C	AHL	16	4	12	0.75	25.3	-	-	-	-	-
Duszak, Joseph	24.4	RHD	AHL	13	0	14	1.08	36.4	-	-	-	-	-
Fusco, John	20.5	RHD	NCAA	6	1	1	0.17	2.3	-	-	-	-	-
Gogolev, Pavel	21.8	W	AHL	11	2	5	0.45	15.4	-	-	-	-	-
Hirvonen, Roni	19.9	C/W	Liiga	24	4	11	0.46	13.6	7.2%	-	13:44	62.7%	8.3%
Herzog, Fabrice	27.0	W	NLA	18	4	9	0.50	15.4	-	-	-	-	-
Hollowell, Mac	23.2	RHD	AHL	6	1	2	0.33	11.3	-	-	-	-	-
Holmberg, Pontus	22.7	W	SHL	23	7	20	0.87	34.9	4.0%	3.9%	18:07	-
Kizimov, Semyon	21.9	W	VHL	27	9	17	0.63	13.9	-	-	16:00	-	-
Kokkonen, Mikko	20.9	LHD	Liiga	23	0	6	0.26	7.7	0.6%	-	19:15	42.1%	7.5%
Koster, Mike	20.6	LHD	NCAA	13	1	4	0.31	5.8	-	-	-	-	-
Knies, Matthew	19.1	C/W	NCAA	16	7	15	0.94	17.8	-	-	-	-	-
Kral, Filip	22.1	LHD	AHL	14	0	2	0.14	4.8	-	-	-	-	-
Kressler, Braeden	18.9	C	OHL	14	3	8	0.57	7.3	-	-	-	-	-
Loponen, Kalle	20.7	RHD	Liiga	27	1	4	0.15	4.4	-5.9%	-	13:40	45.4%	6.1%
Menell, Brennan	24.5	RHD	AHL	8	1	2	0.25	8.4	-	-	-	-	-
Miettinen, Veeti	20.2	W	NCAA	14	3	8	0.57	8.3	-	-	-	-	-
Miller, Joe	19.2	C/W	USHL	21	8	26	1.24	12.0	-	-	-	-	-
Niemela, Topi	19.7	RHD	Liiga	25	5	22	0.88	26.1	4.2%	-	20:30	50.2%	12.8%
O'Connell, Ryan	22.6	LHD	NCAA	10	0	2	0.20	3.8	-	-	-	-	-
Ovchinnikov, Dimitri	19.3	C/W	KHL	15	1	3	0.20	10.1	-	-	05:25	-	-
Rindell, Axel	21.6	RHD	Liiga	23	1	14	0.61	18.1	1.4%	-	21:19	51.5%	10.3%
Robertson, Nick	20.2	W	AHL	2	0	2	1.00	33.8	-	-	-	-	-
Rubins, Kristians	24.0	LHD	AHL	15	1	4	0.27	9.0	-	-	-	-	-
Schingoethe, Wyatt	19.3	C	NCAA	8	0	0	0.00	0.0	-	-	-	-	-
Steeves, Alex	22.0	C/W	AHL	11	7	12	1.09	36.9	-	-	-	-	-
Tverberg, Ryan	19.8	C/W	NCAA	14	9	16	1.14	19.1	-	-	-	-	-
Villeneuve, William	19.7	RHD	QMJHL	20	2	17	0.85	11.1	-	-	-	-	-
Voit, Ty	18.5	C/W	OHL	18	7	23	1.28	16.2	-	-	-	-	-

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Player Name	Age	Position	League	GP	SV%
Ahktyamov, Artur	20.1	G	VHL	23	0.902
Kallgren, Erik	25.1	G	AHL	8	0.924
Peksa, Vyacheslav	19.3	G	MHL	28	0.938
Scott, Ian	22.9	G	AHL	0	-
Woll, Joseph	23.4	G	AHL	3	0.895

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[Morgs]

Trending up:

Pontus Holmberg - He already has the SHL MVP in the playoffs trophy under his belt last season proving last season's production increase was not joke. At this point I'm not sure there are 5 prospects in our system that are better than him. 3rd best league in the world, playing as a mixture of 1C/1W with .87 PPG dominating possession. If he was an UDFA 22 year old playing in the SHL right now, 32 teams would be lining up to put him in their NHL lineup next season.

Matthew Knies - You watch the guy, you fall in love. Stats guys, old school guys, doesn't matter. His skating issues were massively overblown, he looks like the best forward on one of the best teams in the NCAA and he went from barely on Team USA's radar in the summer to being a lock for the WJC. The production is great for a freshman and it seems like he's getting more comfortable every game I watch.

Topi Niemela - What else can be said? The points keep flowing, the minutes have increased, the OZS has decreased and the rel.CF% has increased. He's continuing on his historic pace. If you don't count Liljegren and Sandin anymore, I'm not sure it's even a debate for who is our best prospect. Cannot wait to see what he does as the #1D for Finland at the WJC.

Axel Rindell - I think it's well known I'm not the biggest fan of his due to his lack of defensive ability, and his massive fall off at the end of last season, and early this season. Credit where credit is due though: He's been outstanding with Karpat. Positive rel number, 9 points in 7 games, being trusted WAY more in the defensive zone (7.2% increase in DZS), and by all accounts looking very good. Still not sure he's anything, but after being almost relegated to my "non-prospect" tier, he's moved back into my late Tier-3.

Alex Steeves - I mean, the guy turns 22 in ten days and he's crushing the AHL. I knew he had some ability, but he's exceeding my expectations in every way. I don't see why he shouldn't play some games this season if we get hit by an injury bug. Deserves it more than basically anyone besides maybe Ho-Sang and Semyonov. He should be on the roster next year no doubt.

Other Notables: Nick Abruzzese, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, Erik Kallgren, Semyon Kizimov, Joe Miller, Ryan Tverberg, Joseph Woll.

Trending Down:

John Fusco, Pavel Gogolev, Mikko Kokkonen, Veeti Miettinen,

Non-Prospects:

Vladimir Bobylyov, Nickolai Chebykin, Kalle Loponen, Ryan O'Connell.