Which prospects impress and disappoint at Rookie and NHL camps?

[Svedu]

TBH not a single player came all that close to wowing me from the Young Stars Penticton tournament. Watched bits & pieces of the other ones but not enough to get a good read. Michkov and Nazar seemed to be making things happen nearly every time they were on the ice. Bolduc looked good for the Blues. Kulich should make the Sabres. Cowan, Minten, Hutson, Mailloux all looked like future NHLers from the Habs v Leafs games.



The best players for each team in my view from Penticton:

Calgary - Brzustewicz only played two games but was the best player on the ice IMO for 5/7 periods. Just makes correct decisions 90% of the time. Stromgren and Morton both furthered their cases for being late cuts at camp. Wouldn't be surprised if those two got some NHL games this season. Ciona looked a lot faster than he was last year, will be interesting to see if he can take a step or two in the AHL this season. Gridin, Parekh, and Basha clearly all talented but all tried to do too much themselves. Was a very young group that flashed some nice individual skill but lots and I do mean lots of work to do yet.

Edmonton - Their goalies maybe? The Oil scored 1 goal in the tourney. Never been a big Savoie fan but I've seen quite a few slagging him for his performance which seems unfair. None of their defenseman could make a pass and the best guy he played with projects to be a bottom 6 defensive C at best. He's not a guy to carry an offense. Him and O'Reilly the only guys that looked like they had NHL potential, maybe that Nicholls kid who played smart and effective. Corbet fought everyone that came in arms reach so good for him.

Vancouver - Lekkerimaki was dangerous. Could have had 4-5 goals if he could hit the net. Decent speed and some nice hands. Some other energy fwds that could be NHLers. Elias Pettersson the second was surprisingly good with the puck and a handful physically. Thought Raty looked a lot faster than I remembered. Alriksson(sp?) is very big and had a good game against the Flames today.

Winnipeg - Lambert is one of the most fluid skaters I've watched. Probably doesn't have the IQ to be a top of the lineup guy but I was miffed he dropped so far being a natural center with his size and stride. As a big Yager fan I didn't think he was particularly good in the tourney, needs a year or two in the AHL for sure. Barlow and Chibrikov were both just OK. That big defenseman Salomensson or something you could see the tools and he looked composed for being so young.

Thank you for this, loved reading this. Can you write a bit more about Aatu Räty and Lambert perhaps? Räty has looked really poor in his intensity and dynamics before. If I remember correctly that is. But did he impress in any other way? Decision making, playmaking etc?

Tristan Broz had a fantastic weekend for the Pens rookies this past weekend in Buffalo!! He played really well along side McGroarty.

Other stand outs for the Pens were Ponomarev and Koivunen both pick up in the Guentzel trade last season.

On D, the most consistent player over the games was 5th rounder Isaac Beliveau. He had a decent season last year and should get a good 1st AHL season under his belt this season.

And finally Murashov since coming over to NA a few weeks ago has been just phenomenal

A long way to go, but quite a few promising young players coming up

Do you believe Koivunen or Blomqvist will get a opportunity in the NHL this year already?

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

Thank you for this, loved reading this. Can you write a bit more about Aatu Räty and Lambert perhaps? Räty has looked really poor in his intensity and dynamics before. If I remember correctly that is. But did he impress in any other way? Decision making, playmaking etc?


Do you believe Koivunen or Blomqvist will get a opportunity in the NHL this year already?

Blomqvist maybe as he should be #3, so if an injury occurs he will step in IMO

As for Koivunen no, not this season. We have a surplus of forwards already, so a lot of movement needs to happen before he gets a shot and to be honest the first in line and ready to go again in my opinion is Ponomarev. If multiple spots open, then I guess it all depends how things are going but I would say Broz is making a lot of noise right now. Let's see how camp goes for all of them in the coming 2 weeks here

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I think relative to expectations
-Greentree plays a mature game, strong protection and vision, was in on a lot of key moments, one of those big kids who actually uses his size
-Ziemmer is a f***in bully and I'm here for it, plays like a young angry dustin brown (before he learned he couldn't and shouldn't fight)
-Pinelli showed more than he has in the past, he tends to raise or lower his game to the level of his linemates and competition though, but always good vision and presence
-Aatu Jamsen might just be the latest Kings late-round pick to become an NHLer, he always shows well when he crosses the pond and eager to see how his game translates to NA
-Angus Booth looks like a solid all-situations guy, there's a minute-munching guy in there maybe #2-#3 upside
-Goalies both looked as advertised or better--George is so reminiscent of the movements and attitude of Quick, that mindset is great to see. Portillo did a great job covering his usual inconsistencies/leakiness that I hate.

-Chromiak just doesn't appear to have the brain
-Dvorak was awful. He's so, so raw, but it's hard to see upside when getting tooled by peers

 

[Bounces R Way]

Thank you for this, loved reading this. Can you write a bit more about Aatu Räty and Lambert perhaps? Räty has looked really poor in his intensity and dynamics before. If I remember correctly that is. But did he impress in any other way? Decision making, playmaking etc?

Raty just looked a lot more mature. Patience in both the OZ and DZ. Not forcing things and always on the right side of the puck. Intensity and dynamic not really no but the pro style game of not making mistakes and keeping possessions going looked to be there where it wasn't before.

Lambert is a great puck transporter. He always has been but it looks like he's getting more comfortable with what to do once he gets into the OZ. Less skating himself into trouble, more direct and taking the ice given to him. Still maybe in a rush too often, reminds me a little of Sam Bennett that way.

 

[Frosty415]

Anyone watch the Sharks? I saw a bunch of players get 5 points but was it just a fluke

 

[Juxtaposer]

Anyone watch the Sharks? I saw a bunch of players get 5 points but was it just a fluke

Nope, Sharks rolled through this showcase, basically dominant from start to finish. Only game that was even close was the Utah game where their goaltender was very good and kept it close.

Only player that was slightly disappointing was Halttunen, and he still popped a couple nice goals. Smith was fantastic, Musty was a little inconsistent but his talent showed through, Cagnoni looked great, Dickinson was incredible relative to what I expected out of an 18 year old at this showcase, Graf stood out, Bystedt was very solid, and even the AHL-only guys looked good. Celebrini only played one game, but he was a clear step above anyone else there even though he didn't dominate the score sheet.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Nope, Sharks rolled through this showcase, basically dominant from start to finish. Only game that was even close was the Utah game where their goaltender was very good and kept it close.

Only player that was slightly disappointing was Halttunen, and he still popped a couple nice goals. Smith was fantastic, Musty was a little inconsistent but his talent showed through, Cagnoni looked great, Dickinson was incredible relative to what I expected out of an 18 year old at this showcase, Graf stood out, Bystedt was very solid, and even the AHL-only guys looked good. Celebrini only played one game, but he was a clear step above anyone else there even though he didn't dominate the score sheet.

Yeah, saw a couple of the Sharks games and can echo this. Where most teams had a line or two of good prospects, the Sharks had everyone beat on high-end AND depth, and as a consequence they were just rocking everyone. Amongst themselves I def thought the obvious names stood out, smith dickinson and celebrini, but musty also looked really really good.

 

[bringbacktheskate604]

Raty just looked a lot more mature. Patience in both the OZ and DZ. Not forcing things and always on the right side of the puck. Intensity and dynamic not really no but the pro style game of not making mistakes and keepi1qq1qqng possessions going looked to be there where it wasn't before.

Lambert is a great puck transporter. He always has been but it looks like he's getting more comfortable with what to do oncehimself rrrrr 1qq he gets into the OZ. Less skating into trouble, more direct and taking the ice given to him. Still maybe in a rush too often, reminds me a little of Sam Bennett that way.

Do you see Raty sticking at C?
He looked good at wing but Centre is clearly his quickest path to the big club with the depth on wing.

A lot of nuck fans don't see him as anything more than a bottom six, where I see a more top nine 3C that will put up decent numbers while playing really solid defense. You think that's possible?

 

[Bounces R Way]

Do you see Raty sticking at C?
He looked good at wing but Centre is clearly his quickest path to the big club with the depth on wing.

A lot of nuck fans don't see him as anything more than a bottom six, where I see a more top nine 3C that will put up decent numbers while playing really solid defense. You think that's possible?

Hard to say. If he continues to improve his skating and gets more physical on the boards then I wouldn't rule him being a decent middle 6 C out. He looked a cut above in the prospect tournament because he should, he has over 100 games of AHL experience and about the same in Liiga. Watching him in the AHL he didn't often stand out good or bad but NHL teams are always looking for dependable and versatile fwds that don't take shifts off. Very tough to break into the league right away as a center and as you said the Canucks have plenty of wing depth.

Little like Markus Granlund who was a jack of all trades master of none, but if he can land in the right situation and get some chemistry with the linemates then I would say decent numbers 2way 3C is possible. Granlund was never able to add that extra bit of quickness he needed to to be effective, haven't seen enough out of Raty to say for sure either way.

the f*** do I know really tho

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Lekkerimaki looked really good, could have had 4 or so goals last night

Then why didn’t he?

 

[Three On Zero]

Then why didn’t he?

Was pretty snake bitten, some grade A chances where he was hitting the posts

 

[Grinner]

I think relative to expectations
-Greentree plays a mature game, strong protection and vision, was in on a lot of key moments, one of those big kids who actually uses his size
-Ziemmer is a f***in bully and I'm here for it, plays like a young angry dustin brown (before he learned he couldn't and shouldn't fight)
-Pinelli showed more than he has in the past, he tends to raise or lower his game to the level of his linemates and competition though, but always good vision and presence
-Aatu Jamsen might just be the latest Kings late-round pick to become an NHLer, he always shows well when he crosses the pond and eager to see how his game translates to NA
-Angus Booth looks like a solid all-situations guy, there's a minute-munching guy in there maybe #2-#3 upside
-Goalies both looked as advertised or better--George is so reminiscent of the movements and attitude of Quick, that mindset is great to see. Portillo did a great job covering his usual inconsistencies/leakiness that I hate.

-Chromiak just doesn't appear to have the brain
-Dvorak was awful. He's so, so raw, but it's hard to see upside when getting tooled by peers

Zimmer looks like a young Dustin Brown?
So, greasy and dirty? ; )

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Zimmer looks like a young Dustin Brown?
So, greasy and dirty? ; )

SUPER greasy, lives for the hunt, never met a hit he didn't finish

but also a damn good hockey player

 

[FlyguyOX]

Was Dvorak that bad?