Post-Game Talk: Young Stars Classic Tournament | Canucks go 3-0 at Young Stars

[arttk]

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And I don't get the beat-down on Riley Pattersson.

Don’t need to overreact

Managed to catch most of this tournament in/around camping. Every year I'm more and more of the opinion that this tournament is kind of a waste of time and a vehicle for bad takes, other than getting some general impressions of guys you aren't familiar with, and that's doubly the case this year with so many guys there who were really too old for this and shouldn't have been there.

Not even going to discuss any of the Abbotsford guys who I've seen play 50-100 times. When you've seen guys play a ton in actual games against real competition making any real adjustments to your opinion based on what's essentially a September scrimmage against teenagers is a folly. Only comment I'll really make is how often Klimovich *still* makes blind guess-passes and egregious puck management errors after 3 years of AHL coaching. Guy is dumb as rocks.

Of the 2024 draftees :

- people are complimenting Riley Patterson's skating but I thought his stop/starts, turns, and general agility were really lumbering and poor. Didn't give me a very positive first impression overall.

- Romani can't skate but the high-end pucks skills are obvious. Was certainly one of the most dangerous U20 players in the tournament for any team. But yeah, the skating needs massive work.

- Alcos showed well relative to his draft position and very young age. Kept it simple, looked fairly mobile and competent.

- Sansonnens looked like a total coke machine.

Generally speaking not really a good group of skaters that we picked in this draft, especially given that Fernstrom's biggest weakness is his skating as well.

- EP2 is big, mean, skates pretty well, and has serviceable puck skills and other than Lekkerimaki was obviously the best prospect there other than the AHL vets. Will need 100 AHL games but you can see where a Kaedan Korczak-type development curve is very reasonable.

- Lekkerimaki skated better than in Abbotsford and his puck skills and shot were obviously at another level relative to this tournament. But he still looks so small and weak. Very curious to see how he goes in actual NHL preseason games.

- Mynio's footwork is ++ but like Lekkerimaki he looked small/weak even playing against kids. But his skating did stand out positively.

- I've never been wowed by Kudryatsev. I don't see it. Sloppy set of games from a guy whose calling card is supposed to be reliability. Struggled defending speed on the rush.

- Alriksson was noticeable and got some points but to me he just kinda looks like Nathan Rempe without the fighting. Very awkward-looking player.

- Mueller was quite vanilla and disappointing for a player of his age/pedigree. Should have been the sort to stand out.

- Felton was solid and flashed a bit more skill than you'd expect from his point totals, but also was obviously old for the tournament. Also looked a bit shorter/smaller than listed.

Hoping Lekk and Mynio can get a bit stronger without sacrificing strength.

 

[IComeInPeace]

Don’t need to overreact


Hoping Lekk and Mynio can get a bit stronger without sacrificing strength.

Usually when you get stronger you don’t sacrifice strength

Also, I believe Mynio weighed in at 165 pounds or even less at last summers combine…I’d expect his speed/skating to improve when his legs gets stronger.

On a 6’1” frame he should be able to put on 20-30 pounds and it should help his game a lot.
It might take 3-4+ years though.

 

[arttk]

Usually when you get stronger you don’t sacrifice strength

Also, I believe Mynio weighed in at 165 pounds or even less at last summers combine…I’d expect his speed/skating to improve when his legs gets stronger.

On a 6’1” frame he should be able to put on 20-30 pounds and it should help his game a lot.
It might take 3-4+ years though.

Drinking and texting

 

[VanJack]

Granted it was only a brief snapshot last year in Abbotsford, but Lekkerimaki and Mynio seemed to handle the heavy, physical play in the AHL just fine.

Actually it was Lekkerimaki who surprised me the most. His battle-level along the wall was solid, and he often used body position and a quick stick to exit with the puck. Does he need to get stronger? Sure. But you could say the same thing about any kid who just turned '20' in July.

Rutherford claims that Lekkerimaki has a shot at training camp. And I don't think he's just blowing smoke. Now with Joshua out for awhile there could be an opening for a scoring winger. One thing is for certain, they're going to give Lekkerimaki a ton of ice-time in the exhibition schedule to see where he's at.

 

[MS]

Granted it was only a brief snapshot last year in Abbotsford, but Lekkerimaki and Mynio seemed to handle the heavy, physical play in the AHL just fine.

Actually it was Lekkerimaki who surprised me the most. His battle-level along the wall was solid, and he often used body position and a quick stick to exit with the puck. Does he need to get stronger? Sure. But you could say the same thing about any kid who just turned '20' in July.

Rutherford claims that Lekkerimaki has a shot at training camp. And I don't think he's just blowing smoke. Now with Joshua out for awhile there could be an opening for a scoring winger. One thing is for certain, they're going to give Lekkerimaki a ton of ice-time in the exhibition schedule to see where he's at.

My impressions of Lekkerimaki in the AHL last year were literally the exact opposite of this - he looked as small/timid/overwhelmed as a player could possibly be with the step up in levels and physicality. His last couple games were better than the first couple but the first couple in particular were very weak.

 

[Wry n Ginger]

So many player reviews for these tourneys are pure barf...just conjecture and hockey words mixed with doomsaying. Pretty funny actually.

Hmm...a mix of players of different ages, backgrounds, goals, deficiencies that will be hoping for different roles across multiple leagues aren't looking cohesive? Shit...I hope they think of that for next year...

This tournament is a MEET AND GREET for our non-NHL players...that's it. Hey boys get to know each other in a nice town and in a fun but professional environment. See yah next week and try not to do anything stupid.

A big part of me wishes that it wasn't even covered but that would reduce Penticon's tourism draw etc.

Keep in mind that the majority of these players are simply coming off their own off-season and are just finding their legs again. Watch the team not the players.

 

[VanJack]

I see Arliksson was picked as one of the top-15 players at prospects tournaments around the NHL. And I also note Tocchet is really excited about this guy, when he was asked to give his take on the Penticton Young-Stars tournament.

He should be a fun guy to follow with Guelph in the OHL this season.....and if he lights it up, I wonder if he gets any consideration for Sweden's World Junior Hockey team? But he may have hurt his chances by leaving his homeland to come to NA to play.

 

[HairyKneel]

Classic JPat finding something to whine about

The guy is a hairlip

 

[HairyKneel]

1200 games of mostly doody

So managers and coaches are morons? Gotcha!

He's not a 6 million dollar a year guy. Great take! He is still a pretty decent player in the world's best league. Give your skullet a shake.

 

[HairyKneel]

Was a fun few days to watch some of our prospects. Have to say we look to be doing a good job finding talent given the empty cupboards upon arrival of JR PA and lack of high picks.

Best game today. Much cleaner passing and good pace

As we move to main camp Raty Pettersson Bains Lekkerimaki and Sasson should be fun to track. Think it's all been said about those guys. Look forward to evaluating vs better competition and with more talented teammates.

Of the U20 crowd. Was impressed with Patterson Alriksson Mynio 1-2-3. All need some significant steps but have many attributes that could see them succeed as pros

Pattersson looks like a legit NHL prospect. Strong skater vision skill smarts has pro size. Loved his momentum leading up to the draft feel like we got some excellent value at minimum as teams overlooked his late charge.

Alriksson is such an intriguing speed and size package. Looked really assertive this time around and had impact. If he can get near PPG this year and show some growth in making plays we could really have something. Gonna have to show the ability to play in structure and not just run around.

Mynio is a great skater and smart. Makes a good first pass anticipates well plays with his head up. Huge step last year in development. Gotta get stronger but has all the attributes to be a good pro.

HM = Romani is highly skilled and smart. At 19 he needs to make headway in his skating in a shorter window but of all the last 2 drafts players in Penticton he's the most talented.

Kudryavtsev is a curious one. Liked his tourney not sure if he would be better off in Abbotsford or back in junior. Would rather he play on a OHL contender than toiling in Kalamazoo.

The rest are AHL depth guys or have a long way to go to make an impression

But MS hates the tournament. It's before the training camp, in a great area of the province and the Alberta teams and mostly their fans, LOVE TO COME OUT HERE and support the economy. The wineries, local merchants and the lakes appreciate it. I've been several times. Instead of whining about who missed an assignment or that more time needs to be spent on systems, get your dusty lungs outside and enjoy the Okanagan.

 

[sting101]

But MS hates the tournament. It's before the training camp, in a great area of the province and the Alberta teams and mostly their fans, LOVE TO COME OUT HERE and support the economy. The wineries, local merchants and the lakes appreciate it. I've been several times. Instead of whining about who missed an assignment or that more time needs to be spent on systems, get your dusty lungs outside and enjoy the Okanagan.

Agree i think it's fantastic i've been a couple times. And WTF to the negativity. Anyone with half a brain knows it's weak competition but it's also nice to see where some of the kids development is at and how they look wearing Canuck blue. Plus getting coached up by the Canucks pro staff

Was gonna jump on those comments but left it alone. (till now lol) It was really backhanded to suggest some of us who did write ups (to aid people who missed it or didn't have the time to get some analysis) were wasting our time and/or putting too much stalk into it.

I don't recall thinking much of Hirose last year. Oh the irony.

The bottom line is It's a great event for the city and everyone involved.

 

[Hansen]

So managers and coaches are morons? Gotcha!

He's not a 6 million dollar a year guy. Great take! He is still a pretty decent player in the world's best league. Give your skullet a shake.

I'm not sure where to let the bit go so I will not be giving my skullet a shake!

 

[HairyKneel]

I'm not sure where to let the bit go so I will not be giving my skullet a shake!

If you have the courage to rock a skullet, you are aces in my book.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

"oh he..ummm.....rips the puck like, really good...."

It was just completely baffling that they didn't send him to the QMJHL where his CHL rights landed so that he could work on north american game while not being immediately benched for every mistake.

Just a litany of stupid decisions from the outset.

This coaching method by Cull still blows my mind.

Its a developmental league. Develop the prospects or gtfo.

So managers and coaches are morons? Gotcha!

Its a old boys club in hockey.

The NHL isnt exactly filled with smart sports execs....

He's not a 6 million dollar a year guy. Great take! He is still a pretty decent player in the world's best league. Give your skullet a shake.

 

[MS]

But MS hates the tournament. It's before the training camp, in a great area of the province and the Alberta teams and mostly their fans, LOVE TO COME OUT HERE and support the economy. The wineries, local merchants and the lakes appreciate it. I've been several times. Instead of whining about who missed an assignment or that more time needs to be spent on systems, get your dusty lungs outside and enjoy the Okanagan.

What? Where did I say I ‘hated’ this event?

It’s a nice event for the fans and young fans in particular and good to bring the team to another part of BC.

But after watching about 15 of these things I’ve come to the conclusion it’s basically a waste of time to try and glean much information from them or learn much in the way of player evaluation.

Like, last year’s tournament was dominated by Akito Hirose FFS. I’ve also seen Ben Hutton be the worst player on the ice in this tournament and then make the NHL playing top-4 minutes 3 weeks later.

 

[sting101]

What? Where did I say I ‘hated’ this event?

It’s a nice event for the fans and young fans in particular and good to bring the team to another part of BC.

But after watching about 15 of these things I’ve come to the conclusion it’s basically a waste of time to try and glean much information from them or learn much in the way of player evaluation.

Like, last year’s tournament was dominated by Akito Hirose FFS. I’ve also seen Ben Hutton be the worst player on the ice in this tournament and then make the NHL playing top-4 minutes 3 weeks later.

Except you opened up by saying this....

"Every year I'm more and more of the opinion that this tournament is kind of a waste of time and a vehicle for bad takes"

You didn't paraphrase it by saying "player evaluation" and also it's kinda dismissive to say "vehicle for bad takes" because you don't agree with some peoples summarization of prospects development. You literally did that and then wrote your own mostly criticizing every one of them as if the NHL and being an impact player/skater is all anyone should care about.

Hirose wasn't that dominant. Good skills smart but nothing that really popped and would allow him to create space and time or produce. Could see he wasn't having to engage in physicality and that was his HUGE hurdle as a pro. And he was 24 with that build. Not surprising he ended up hurt.

 

[HairyKneel]

It's selling the team and the game to the province. The other teams brass and fans get to come out and enjoy the Okanagan. Skaha Lake is beautiful, they're not in Kelowna, there are 100 wineries. Pretty much every team in the league participates in a similar tournament. Some of the management and coaches/scouts will hit a golf course and they won't give a shit about a 24 year old prospect dominating . It's a pre amp to the camp. Such a weird thing to complain about.

 

[VanJack]

Looking around the league on HF Boards, there seems to be always one or two kids who get people excited in these rookie tournaments. And what's the harm?

When you're a fan of one of the NHL's bottom-feeders, you have to cling to the hope that better days are ahead. I get the fact that a player dominating a rookie tournament probably means next to nothing in the big picture. But 'hope' is all some of these franchises are selling right now.

 

[MS]

Except you opened up by saying this....

"Every year I'm more and more of the opinion that this tournament is kind of a waste of time and a vehicle for bad takes"

You didn't paraphrase it by saying "player evaluation" and also it's kinda dismissive to say "vehicle for bad takes" because you don't agree with some peoples summarization of prospects development. You literally did that and then wrote your own mostly criticizing every one of them as if the NHL and being an impact player/skater is all anyone should care about.

Hirose wasn't that dominant. Good skills smart but nothing that really popped and would allow him to create space and time or produce. Could see he wasn't having to engage in physicality and that was his HUGE hurdle as a pro. And he was 24 with that build. Not surprising he ended up hurt.

When I said ‘vehicle for bad takes’ I was obviously taking about player evaluation. Which is the thing we’re basically all here talking about in every thread.

As I said, it’s perhaps useful in terms of getting a bit of a general feel for new players but we see a ton of posts that ‘x looks way better’ or ‘y is really disappointing’ and it’s just … not really relevant. We see this every year where there’s basically no connection between performances at this tournament and in regular camp/preseason.

It's selling the team and the game to the province. The other teams brass and fans get to come out and enjoy the Okanagan. Skaha Lake is beautiful, they're not in Kelowna, there are 100 wineries. Pretty much every team in the league participates in a similar tournament. Some of the management and coaches/scouts will hit a golf course and they won't give a shit about a 24 year old prospect dominating . It's a pre amp to the camp. Such a weird thing to complain about.

I wasn’t complaining about the tournament nearly as much as I was complaining about the hot takes coming from a series of really poorly played hockey games with players in summer shape who have a crazy range of ability levels and are totally unfamiliar with each other.

 

[MS]

To further make my point, there were a lot of 'meh' posts about Raty in this thread and then the actual NHL preseason starts and he's the best Canuck forward on the ice.

Lekkerimaki likewise looked better against better competition and conversely EP2 got absolutely worked by the speed of an actual NHL forecheck as opposed to dealing with junior players and looking pretty good at this tournament.

 

[Nucker101]

To further make my point, there were a lot of 'meh' posts about Raty in this thread and then the actual NHL preseason starts and he's the best Canuck forward on the ice.

Lekkerimaki likewise looked better against better competition and conversely EP2 got absolutely worked by the speed of an actual NHL forecheck as opposed to dealing with junior players and looking pretty good at this tournament.

From what most athletes have said, it takes about 12-18 months before they finally start feeling "normal" again so could it not be argued that opting for surgery asap was the better long-term move?

 

[MS]

From what most athletes have said, it takes about 12-18 months before they finally start feeling "normal" again so could it not be argued that opting for surgery asap was the better long-term move?

I'm assuming that this was responding to my post on ACLs in the other thread?

In a vacuum it probably would have been slightly better for the player in the long term. But nothing in sports happens in a vacuum.

'Bad season after ACL surgery' is a pretty consistent thing regardless of how it's handled. I doubt it changes much.

 

[Nucker101]

I'm assuming that this was responding to my post on ACLs in the other thread?

In a vacuum it probably would have been slightly better for the player in the long term. But nothing in sports happens in a vacuum.

'Bad season after ACL surgery' is a pretty consistent thing regardless of how it's handled. I doubt it changes much.

oh yes, oops lol