nice report, J-E.
My grades:
Goalies
Sparks - looked OK. Made saves, but he looked messy in terms of rebounds and positioning. I still don't see much NHL upside here, but he seems to be big and fairly athletic, so he has a chance.
Gibson - didn't like him much until the shootout, where he looked quite good. In general he was fighting the puck a ton and didn't seem to know where his rebounds were going at all. Not a big fan.
Bibeau - Even though he was exposed in this one, IMO he showed the most upside in terms of positioning and rebound control. He did look too easy to score on in the third, though, even though it was a bit of a shooting gallery and the kid was clearly rattled. Still, I see some upside here.
Overall - not a great crop of goalies here. Probably no future NHL starters here.
Defensemen
Rielly - dominant. Too good for this quality of competition. He did get burnt around the outside once, though, and I've seen that happen to him whenever he plays on his off side - he tends to play too much in the middle, maybe too confident that he can catch anyone trying to go around him. Doesn't seem to have this problem when he plays on the left side, though.
Percy - really, really good. Does everything well, and his puckmoving and offensive skills are extremely underrated. His junior numbers are pretty damn good, even if they pale beside the likes of Rielly and Finn. Hockey sense is through the roof, makes the right play pretty much every time. Very confident that this guy is an NHL dman, and soon.
Finn - looked very good as expected, though he didn't stand out as much as the two guys above. Another guy who does everything well, but with a little more offensive oomph than Percy.
Granberg - unfortunately the worst Dman in in the tourney for the leafs. He's got some work to do. He didn't seem to be able to deal with the much quicker forecheck on the smaller ice. He's got upside, but he'll need a year or two in the AHL imo.
MacWilliam - big strong physical and not an awful skater. Has some bottom pair potential. Better than I expected.
Yuen/Murphy/Raine - showed some good signs but overall I wouldn't bother signing any of them, unless we really need some defensemen in Orlando. Yuen and Murphy were pretty awful in the finale.
Overall - looks like a pretty great group of dmen here. Rielly looks amazing, Finn and Percy look very good with very real top-4 potential, while Granberg and MacWilliam both show some bottom pair NHL potential.
Forwards
McKegg - impressed with his all-around game. Showed his usual skill, but also showed good speed, defense, and physical play. Could be poised for a big year in the AHL.
Leivo - looked great in game 1, looked like a perimeter player in game 3. Has skill, size, and smarts, though. Has the upside, at least.
Gauthier - super raw but a crapload of upside here. Had some shifts where he showed some rare ability to move and control the puck through traffic, and in general showed good hands. And the raves about his defensive abilities turned out to be justified - kid was a beast in his own end.
Biggs - whenever you watch the kid, you can see why he was a first round pick. Huge, very good skater, and good hands to boot. Unfortunately he just seems to lack the finish / high end offensive hockey sense to be a producer. Maybe that will come in time, I dunno. Still, what gets confirmed every time I watch him is that he's not lazy at all - he's diligent on the backcheck, in the corners, and in front of the net. Even though his number s still worry me, it's hard not to see some legit NHL 3rd line potential here at least.
Ross - another pleasant surprise. Most especially to me he looked bigger and faster than I expected - I was sure size and skating would hold him back from being a good pro despite his great grit and work ethic, but I'm not so sure anymore. And he still shows nice finishing ability.
Verhaeghe - you can see why they think he has upside. has good skill and size. he's on the slow side, though, and first impression is that he seems a bit on the soft side.
R.Rupert - as advertised. works his butt off, physical as hell, and a good bit of skill too. I liked him when we drafted him and still do. You can see why team canada invited him to camp.
M.Rupert - sign him up. he's a lot like his brother, except with more natural scoring ability. He's the Daniel to Ryan's Henrik. If Daniel and Henrik were bottom line players, of course.
Broll - he will be an NHLer. A goon who can skate and play a bit. Just a 4th liner, but he'll make it.
Crescenzi - I have dismissed this kid from day one....except the thing is he doesn't suck. He's not fast but he moves well enough for a guy that big, his work on faceoffs and defensively were very good, and he even showed some ability on the cycle and in front. He's on my radar for the first time.
Carrick - like Crescenzi, I've dismissed this guy for the most part. But he works his ass of, can skate and be physical, and has bottom line potential.
Herzog - bigger than I expected, and more confident than I expected. He wanted the puck and wanted to make plays. Wasn't afraid of going into the corners or in front, either. Good first impression.
Brown - I like the way he played, he showed skill, some grit, and backchecking - but his lack of size and speed was an issue even here in this tourney, and that doesn't bode well.
Devane - goon.
Overall - as expected, the group looked solid but lacked high-end finish. McKegg and Leivo showed some 2nd line scoring potential but not consistently. Gauthier showed the most intriguing all-around package. The notion that the Leafs have a bunch of legit quality 3rd line prospects here (and not just failed top-6 prospects) seems to be true. They have a whole bunch of guys with size, skating, good workrate, and a natural affinity for defensive play. This year I'm most interested in seeing whether McKegg, Leivo, and Gauthier can show consistent upper level offense at their levels. Could go a long way in rounding out this group of forwards prospects if they do.