Prospect Info: Sharks Prospect Info & Discussion Thread XVIII

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The Nemesis

Semper Tyrannus
Apr 11, 2005
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And right as I say that Lies rocks Laroque with an iffy hit and then jumps him after Ganon retaliates.

Upside is that the arena always plays wrestling themes after scraps so we got some John Cena to go with that action. :laugh:
 
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The Nemesis

Semper Tyrannus
Apr 11, 2005
89,627
34,640
Langley, BC
I mention Lies and he mugs a guy.

I mention Halaburda and he slew-foots someone.

Still a couple of minutes left for Leslie to go full Bertuzzi on someone.
 
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Kcoyote3

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Watched Eklund's first period (he's back!)

He had two shifts that his line maintained pressure in the offensive zone. He had a few good board battles to keep possession. Definitely battled hard and was being a little more physical. He had one opportunity to score on a redirect/back door play and the puck just slid under his stick. He led a offensive zone carry that ultimately got back to his dman for a point shot which was nice. Other than that he spent the whole shift in the D zone. He keeps track of his man well, and battles when he needs to on the boards. I wish his stick was a little more active at picking off passes in the d zone as I saw a few go through his legs. He has a wide stance in general which means he gets beat between his legs a lot. Overall I liked his second half of the period more than the first half, so hopefully he's just shaking out the cobwebs from the headshot so to speak
 
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Kcoyote3

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Sigh. Eklund is never going to score again. Started the period with a great rush with his future teammate Lekkerimaki that ultimately ended up not producing anything. Spent the majority of the period in the defensive zone, and I was happy with his play there, had 2-3 defensive zone stops and breakouts. Then near the end of the period he recognizes a glorious opportunity in the making, streaks by the defense, receives a backhand dish and it’s him in the slot all alone. Goalie comes out, Eklund shoots five hole instead of high and the goalie makes the save look easy. I am defeated.
 

Kcoyote3

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Refs really not interested in actually calling the game today. I’m up to 8 legitimate interference and trips that just aren’t called. Then they call a matching minor for a scrum started by one dude. Anyways Eklund has had some great plays this period, he checked a guy off the puck at the offensive blue line to lead to a Lekkerimaki shot that hit the post. But no points for the Baby Swede with 5 minutes left
 
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Kcoyote3

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Refs finally call a penalty and Eklund's team wins with 9 seconds left. Eklund was on the ice before the PP so he wasn't on the first unit. NO points but a strong game otherwise.
 
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tealzamboni

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Mar 3, 2007
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I like him but he can get some serious tunnel vision sometimes. He'll try and stickhandle through 3 guys and get snuffed out with ease.

"And that's why we never stickhandle nor draft or coach up those who do. If you lose the puck, you can't get to the danger zone. If you can't get to the danger zone, you can't score goals. Point shots, cycling, and barrelling up the boards are much more reliable."
- Sharks Anecdotes Vol I
:sarcasm:
 
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tealzamboni

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Mar 3, 2007
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Sigh. Eklund is never going to score again. Started the period with a great rush with his future teammate Lekkerimaki that ultimately ended up not producing anything. Spent the majority of the period in the defensive zone, and I was happy with his play there, had 2-3 defensive zone stops and breakouts. Then near the end of the period he recognizes a glorious opportunity in the making, streaks by the defense, receives a backhand dish and it’s him in the slot all alone. Goalie comes out, Eklund shoots five hole instead of high and the goalie makes the save look easy. I am defeated.

I feel like a classic Sharks move would be to double down and draft Lekkerimaki to enhance Eklund's scoring. :sarcasm:
 
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Kcoyote3

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Watching Ozzy tonight. Just about done with the second period, no points yet for him.

The good:

Speed. Very good acceleration, and when he wants to get up ice with or without the puck he can really move. I think he might be our fastest of our recent prospects that I've watched at least. He also has a good one touch ability to move pucks out of the zone. In fact I think his whole transition game from defensive zone, carrying into the offensive zone is excellent. He's not afraid to either move the puck himself, or pass off into a teammate. Either way though he's great at executing a zone entry. Shot seems fine. Not excellent but not a failing. Defensively very sound just because he's looking to move it up ice and that makes him dangerous when he wins the puck off a board battle. Physically he's willing to mix it up pretty frequently as well.

The meh:

I don't think he really has the skill level of our other prospects in a few areas. Robins and Gushchin have a better shot. Eklund has much, much better vision and playmaking. Gushchin has better individual puckhandling. Ozzy leads a great transition game but once he gets to the offensive zone it kind of turns into an, "okay, now what?". He doesn't seem to always have the skill to beat defenders one on one at this level. He certainly tries, and sometimes it works, but he's more of a one cut and hope sort of deker. I'd say his vision is okay, and he's trying to get the puck into dangerous areas, but his passing accuracy isn't great, nor is his touch on his passes.

Now his team is really bad, and Ozzy is leading the team in points despite missing time on and off this year. Would he be putting up better points with a better team? Absolutely. He looks dangerous out there when he's on the ice, and I don't think his linemates match his level of play right now. It's certainly problematic that he's not putting up gaudy stats, but I also think it's kind of emblematic of his game. I think based on what I've seen so far, I see him as a high floor, low ceiling player. Fast bottom sixer who can help lead an energy line that can hem opponents in their zone after leading a transition in.

Just my thoughts, just what I've seen from the games I've seen of him this season.
 

Cas

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Watching Ozzy tonight. Just about done with the second period, no points yet for him.

The good:

Speed. Very good acceleration, and when he wants to get up ice with or without the puck he can really move. I think he might be our fastest of our recent prospects that I've watched at least. He also has a good one touch ability to move pucks out of the zone. In fact I think his whole transition game from defensive zone, carrying into the offensive zone is excellent. He's not afraid to either move the puck himself, or pass off into a teammate. Either way though he's great at executing a zone entry. Shot seems fine. Not excellent but not a failing. Defensively very sound just because he's looking to move it up ice and that makes him dangerous when he wins the puck off a board battle. Physically he's willing to mix it up pretty frequently as well.

The meh:

I don't think he really has the skill level of our other prospects in a few areas. Robins and Gushchin have a better shot. Eklund has much, much better vision and playmaking. Gushchin has better individual puckhandling. Ozzy leads a great transition game but once he gets to the offensive zone it kind of turns into an, "okay, now what?". He doesn't seem to always have the skill to beat defenders one on one at this level. He certainly tries, and sometimes it works, but he's more of a one cut and hope sort of deker. I'd say his vision is okay, and he's trying to get the puck into dangerous areas, but his passing accuracy isn't great, nor is his touch on his passes.

Now his team is really bad, and Ozzy is leading the team in points despite missing time on and off this year. Would he be putting up better points with a better team? Absolutely. He looks dangerous out there when he's on the ice, and I don't think his linemates match his level of play right now. It's certainly problematic that he's not putting up gaudy stats, but I also think it's kind of emblematic of his game. I think based on what I've seen so far, I see him as a high floor, low ceiling player. Fast bottom sixer who can help lead an energy line that can hem opponents in their zone after leading a transition in.

Just my thoughts, just what I've seen from the games I've seen of him this season.

Overall, that sounds like a smarter version of Gregor? Fast, energetic, willing to be physical, good at moving the puck up the ice, but doesn't have enough skill in the offensive zone to be really dangerous. Hopefully has (or adds) more skill in the defensive zone and somewhat better idea what to do with the puck once he's in the offensive zone.

That's a useful player - not a star, but with luck a decent third line winger, though more probably a fourth line winger.
 
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