I warned you guys I was worried about this team. I didn’t actually think they’d lose in this tournament because Russia was banned, but I guess I overestimated them.
1. The problems start with the initial roster construction. The defensemen do not mesh well together. There were points last season where I liked how they worked, but this season it got a lot worse. I won’t say the problems were created by USAH. 4 of the 5 best defensemen on this team are right shots. That in itself creates initial problems. I don’t even know what a guy like Hunter Brzustewicz did his whole time at the NTDP. He was injured half the time, so that’s bad luck, but he contributed nothing and my whole point about him is proven how his best stretch of hockey the last few years was at the Hlinka without all the other NTDP guys. He showed his worth there, but didn’t fit with this team. Should’ve been left off.
2. If he wasn’t left off, they should’ve left Casey off. Casey is another who didn’t fit. They tried to force him into the top four because he’s been one of the biggest names in this age group for a long time, has some interesting parts to his game, and will be a higher pick, but his presence in that top four makes the pairings way too difficult. Pairings should’ve been Hutson with Leddy and Chesley with Duke. Instead, they tried to force Casey into the top four, and it makes the mix way too difficult. I would’ve even been okay with a third pairing of Casey (or Brzustewicz) with Powell, but it was a defensive group with too many hyped players that didn’t fit together, especially how they were utilized.
3. I thought the forward group had a different problem, but one I’ve been harping on for a long time. Simply put, they tried to develop the wrong guys at center. In this tournament, it really showed up with a lot of the main players this pertains to having weak tournaments (Stramel, Nazar, Gauthier, Snuggerud). Aside from Cooley, I don’t think their decisions are looking likely to pay off. Frank Nazar is not a center. No way you’re convincing me that guys is an NHL center. I don’t want to say one bad game defines him, but this is what we’ve seen for two years. Very talented scorer. On his day he can win a game on his own, but inconsistent and a lot of areas of his game that are question marks. I at least see the thinking with Stramel, but that kid is still too raw to be relied upon to be a center. He doesn’t process the game on either end quick enough yet.
4. Then you had a few of the opposite situations. Gauthier and Snuggerud had very bad tournaments, in my opinion. I don’t think either guy looks comfortable on the wing. Gauthier’s best hockey at the NTDP came in the middle. He needs to play in the middle of the ice. That’s harder to do when you are lined up on the outside. He needs to play a simple game. On the outside he tries to over-complicate the game and play a game he doesn’t have the talent to play. Snuggerud will be drafted higher due to how he’s been used this season, but I don’t think he actually improved as a hockey player. He was a lockdown center last year. This year they try to make him a sniper. I thought his defensive play even started suffering in this one-dimensional sniper role they turned him into. I doubt it works in the NHL, so I hope Minnesota takes him back to last year. This year was a step back for his hockey development, in my opinion. And then there’s McGroarty, who I don’t think actually had his play suffer because he’s clearly a great player that can elevate despite less than ideal circumstances, but I cannot understand why that kid never got a chance in the middle. He’s a natural center and your best forward. What’s so difficult? Clearly there were also some of these same center/wing issues at the heart of Fleming leaving.
5. With the forwards, I think they need to put some more thought into these choices of who to pick at the beginning of the selection process and for this tournament. Fleming wasn’t a fit and leaves before two years. You can’t put that all on him. You have to take some responsibility. I don’t know if he was snubbed or it was a conscious decision, but could you imagine how it would’ve went for Brindley with two years at the NTDP? He was the most used non-NTDP player through the two years, and I thought he was a really bad fit nearly every time he played with this group. Good prospect. Never fit with the NTDP. There were too many small forwards on this team. Cooley, Nazar, Howard, Brindley, Spicer all 5’10 or smaller, and four of the 5 cannot play fourth line. Even players like Fleming and Lucius are only 6’0, and very perimeter. Needed some better planning with this group, if you want to build a team to win.
6. This team had so many key long-term injury issues throughout the two years. Brzustewicz missed half the two years. Lucius probably missed similar. Silverstein didn’t miss that much less. Stramel missed more than 25% of the two years. It hasn’t only been this age group. You could go down the list over the years with players like Wise, Turcotte, Smilianic, Boucher, Chaz Lucius, and now these kids. It’s every year. At least one major player misses half a season or more. Are all these injuries normal? It seems a little abnormal to me. I’d consider sacking the medical staff. That’s what pro sports teams do when they suffer a rash of injuries over the course of multiple years that keep repeating themselves. And make no mistake, I think we win this tournament with Silverstein in net. Augustine is a good prospect, but you can’t expect a non-generational D-2 goalie prospect to play a full tournament with D-1’s and not have a game where he can’t stop a shot. Goalies at that age are just way too inconsistent.
