We're not going to spend a great deal of time on the goaltenders in this post, because this blog has covered the key netminders in detail just last month.
The Gibsons- John and Christopher- top the list, with the American who compares to Jack Campbell getting the edge. He's big, quick and has the composure under fire that NHL teams love. His fundamentals are sound, and he's put up impressive numbers in the USHL this season and in international tournaments. The Under18 tournament is going to be a major factor in where he goes- whether he can slip into the first round, or is a solid early second-round pick in our view.
"(John) Gibson's the most talented goalie in this class," one NHL scout told B2011DW recently. "But I think he'll take a hit in terms of where he goes because of the struggles (Jack) Campbell had making the jump to the OHL. There are a lot of top goalies in the NHL who weren't first- or second-round picks, and I think you're going to see a trend where clubs spend the early picks on skill position players and find some project guys later on."
We've talked before about how teams are figuring out that they don't need to spend high draft picks on goalies given the risk these players pose as teens and how they develop later.
Christopher Gibson also put up excellent numbers with a pretty average to below average team in Chicoutimi, but Red Line Report had him in the April "overrated" section and picked apart his game, namely his lack of smooth, economical lateral movement and a weak glove hand. It will be interesting to see if NHL teams share this view and the Finnish native drops a bit lower than expected.
The Owen Sound (OHL) Attack's Jordan Binnington rounds out the top-three for North American goalies. He's been fairly mediocre in the OHL playoffs thus far, posting a 2-2 record, 3.91 GAA and .864 save percentage. Scott Stajcer is back in action from injury and playing well for the Attack who lead their second-round series over Plymouth, 3-0.
J. Gibson's backup at the NTDP, Matt McNeely is No. 4 on Central's list and this makes sense. Even though he doesn't see a ton of playing time, he's big, athletic and has a lot of raw potential in time. The University of Minnesota-Duluth recruit isn't as refined a product as Gibson is at this stage, but brings similar attributes to the table. Not quite the technician, he nevertheless should develop into a pretty nice prospect in the next several years.
B2011DW favorite Steve Michalek rounds out the top-five. He confirmed to us Monday that he has been invited to the NHL's draft combine and is looking forward to the challenge of proving to NHL teams that he's an excellent athlete and goaltender at the testing portion. He saw more rubber than just about anyone last season, averaging nearly 50 shots on goal per contest, and still managed to stop nearly 92 percent of them. He's tall, has quick pads and takes up a lot of the net. He played very well for Team USA in August, leading them to a silver medal at the Ivan Hlinka. Some criticize his tendency to overcommit on shots and leave the backdoor open, but he has some serious mental toughness and is a highly competitive and intelligent kid. He'll be at Harvard next season.
Liam Liston (9) Matej Matovsky (11) and David Honzik (13) took big dives down the Central rankings- Matovsky from 3, Liston from 4 and Honzik from 5 at mid-season- and we're not sure why. Honzik has been terrific in the QMJHL playoffs and had a solid season after struggling a bit early with the transition, while Matovsky is seen as a pretty underrated goalie with all the physical tools. He reversed his fortunes after getting traded to Brampton and finished strong.
Edmonton goalie Laurent Brossoit moved up six spots from 13 at halfway point and is another big, athletic netminder with upside. Though we'll admit we're not sure how he leapfrogged the aforementioned Liston, Matovsky and Honzik. And based on what we've been told from NHL scouts out west, they're not sure about Central's reasoning either.
One curious omission from the final list: Robert Steeves of the QMJHL who didn't see a lot of action, but probably should be on there based on his raw upside and potential, even though he didn't see a lot of action playing for the Bathurst Titan this year.
Sleepers
We'll come back with a few more later once we've covered Europe and had some time to digest the list in more detail, but here are a few sleepers we think Central has pretty low who might get a call in June.
Jim Vesey, LW Belmont Hill (High-MA)- We've done some research, and Vesey's numbers are more like: 28 goals, 49 points in 32 games and not the 23, 35 points Central has for him. The problem is that the team made a decision not to turn in scoresheets after games so that guys weren't focused on their stats, but the downside is that the team's most productive player is getting shorted and given the view on competition level, that hurts Vesey a bit. He has nice size, hands and excellent hockey sense. His dad, Jim Sr., is from Charlestown, Mass. and was a legend at Merrimack College in the mid-80's when he racked up goals and points in bunches. His son is a better skater than he was, and the senior Vesey tallied 126 goals in three seasons with the IHL's Peoria Rivermen when he was a Blues farmhand in the late 80's. Jimmy is proving that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and has some real potential for an NHL team that can look past the competition level and envision him as a long-term prospect worth investing a pick on. We think 150 is too low for this player, but also recognize that Vesey is not a sure bet to be drafted.
Troy Vance, D Victoriaville (QMJHL)- Gigantic 6-6 defenseman joined les Tigres at mid-season and was a revelation as a hard-nosed shutdown defender with some decent mobility and better skills than his statistics might indicate. The New York native who grew up in Pennsylvania needs to improve his footwork and get a little stronger on his skates, but he has some potential as a sleeper and poor man's Jamie Oleksiak at least. His size can't be taught, and while extremely raw, has the kind of projectable tools NHL clubs are willing to take a chance on.
Dylan Willick, LW Kamloops (WHL)- After getting snubbed on Central's mid-term rankings, Willick makes his debut at 164. We talked about him recently as a guy you should know, and after doing more looking into him, feel he is a promising mid-round draft option because he is more than the sum of his parts. He may not be all that big at 5-10, but he's a solid 191-pounds can really skate, has a nonstop motor and is an intelligent player. We like the way he closed out the season and is a character player- we have yet to find anyone who will say a bad word about his attitude or compete level. When we look at Willick, we keep thinking of the old scouting adage that says those who want to be a player badly enough, usually get there.
Joakim Ryan, D Dubuque (USHL)- New Jersey-born and raised defender has some raw potential and excellent bloodlines as son of Swedish tennish pro Catherine Lindqvist. He's small at 5-10, but skates very well and moves the puck effectively. He tallied 3 goals and 32 points in 53 points with the Fighting Saints as a rookie. He needs to get stronger and work on adding velocity to his shot, but he's a smart, hard-working player. He was snubbed by Team USA, so accepted an invite from Team Sweden to play for them in the Ivan Hlinka in August.
*(Not affiliated with the Boston Bruins or the New England Hockey Journal)
Showing posts with label Robert Steeves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert Steeves. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
2011 draft goalie roundup Pt 2
About 10 days ago, we took a look at a lot of goaltenders available for the 2011 NHL Draft, but faithful readers pointed out how many we missed. So, here's a follow-up post that will help to acquaint you with more of the netminders.
This isn't a great crop of high-end guys, but there are plenty of interesting developmental project types who could turn out nicely in time. Just go back to 1994 and look at all the late-round picks in net who ended up panning out as NHL stars (Tim Thomas, Evgeni Nabokov, Tomas Vokoun- all 9th rounders, Marty Turco went in the 5th), while 1st-round guys like Jamie Storr and Eric Fichaud never really met expectations. And of course, we don't want to bring up Evgeni Ryabchikov's name, taken 21st overall in '94 by the Bruins that year and couldn't even hack it as an AHL starter before going back to Russia never to be seen again. Oh, wait- I guess we just did.
Point being- teams are spending fewer high picks on goalies these days after seeing so much empirical evidence that says good scouting can unearth late-round gems given the kind of disparity in the individual development curves for players at the position. This is one reason we didn't take Samu Perhonen in the 2nd round of the mock draft covered recently (although he could very well be a solid value pick at the end of that round) and when you look at a prospect like Zane Gothberg, tabbed in the 6th round a year ago and developing nicely in the USHL even as a backup.
So, without further ado- here are more goalies from the 2011 class (not an ordered list, just the way it happened to shake out as I consulted various rankings and databases for this post):
Liam Liston, Brandon (WHL)- If you watched him in the CHL Top Prospects Game, you would think this guy had second round written all over him. He was dialed in and stopped all 18 shots he faced in the first 30 minutes of Team Orr's victory, stemming the tide when his squad was outplayed by Team Cherry early. Although he had some shaky moments (his glove was a bit of an adventure), the puck never went in on him. Unfortunately, his up-and-down performance for the Wheat Kings this season has scouts a tad perplexed. He's got the 6-2, 200+ pound size NHL teams covet, and the physical tools to be a big league goalie. However, the focus and consistency has not been there. He's sporting an outrageously bad .879 save percentage with an 18-16-1 record (and inflated 3.79 GAA), and it's not like he plays on a lousy team either. You can only blame the defense and team in front of the goalie so much- at the end of the day, you have to make the saves and according to reports, he's been a gongshow at times. Compare his numbers to that of Eric Williams of the lesser-talented Prince Albert Raiders, and you begin to understand why opinions are so divided on Liston.
Jordan Binnington, Owen Sound (OHL)- At 6-2, 160, he's another Tuukka Rask in terms of his body type, but has those long arms and legs, quickness that is always at a premium in the NHL. Got his chance this season when Scott Stajcer went down. Played well in the CHL Top Prospects Game after Shane Prince scored on the first shot Binnington faced, the only goal surrendered by the Liston/Binnington duo for Team Orr. His 24-12-1-4 record is pretty good, but the .896 is part of what keeps him out of the discussion with the Gibsons (John, Christopher) and Perhonen as the top 'tenders in class. Consistency is something goalies can do to sell themselves and even the most ardent Binnington supporter can admit that he's had some pretty mediocre outings. Binnington takes up a lot of the net with his limbs but we hear his lateral quickness is not great.
Mike Morrison, Kitchener (OHL)- Late '92 is in his first year of eligibility and has played very well for the Rangers as Brandon Maxwell's second. He's a composed netminder who doesn't get rattled easily from most accounts. His size is pretty average (6-0, 175), but he's got good lateral quickness. He's only seen 25 games of action this season, but is a solid 15-5-2 with a .914 save percentage. Not a lot of flash or hype with this guy, but we've heard nice things about him from Ontario-based scouts and think that there are more than a few NHL teams who are targeting him for a later-round flier.
Robert Steeves, Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL)- Olivier Roy's backup hasn't seen a lot of action this season (20 games) but has played well when called upon. He's only about 5-11 and about 150 pounds soaking wet- he needs another couple inches and 30 pounds on his frame to give NHL teams confidence in his ability to be a stopper at the highest level, but the early returns are good. He's got a lot of raw talent, quickness and the mental toughness to be a gamer. However, this is a classic long road player who is going to require a leap of faith on draft day, and then loads of patience from the team that invests in him. Sleeper- could go as high as the fourth round or drop out of the draft completely. If a team thinks he's going to grow a bit more, then someone will take him.
Maxime Lagace, PEI (QMJHL)- Another backup who has had a hard time seeing action, Lagace's stats are nothing to write home about (8-4, 3.59 GAA, .884 save percentage), but he's got the prototypical size and superb quickness and athleticism that teams demand from their draft picks at the position. He has extremely quick pads and a good glove hand. Lateral agility is pretty good. Evan Mosher is a workhorse for the Rocket, which is a shame because viewings on Lagace have come so few and far between for scouts. That's one of the reasons Lagace is only making his B2011DW debut here tonight in this post with the QMJHL nearly in the books.
Steve Michalek, Loomis-Chaffee (HS- CT)- We. Love. This. Kid. OK, full disclosure- he's a high school goalie, which makes it extremely difficult for scouts to discern whether a player has the goods, but we think Michalek is one of the legit sleeper prospects in the 2011 draft. He was under siege for much of the season on the worst prep team, but still managed to post a .919 save percentage while making more than 1,000 saves on the year. Does anyone understand how many shots he stopped given the small amount of games prep schools play when compared to their junior counterparts? What we don't like about the Harvard recruit's game is that he tends to overcommit on shots, leaving himself open for backdoor plays, but he's very athletic, mentally tough and one of these guys with intriguing potential. You can't use the standard, "he's a HS goalie" argument with him either, because he played so well at the Ivan Hlinka in August. Interesting guy to watch for sure.
Tadeas Galansky, Saginaw (OHL)- Another Czech Republic product who came over to North America to try his hand in the CHL. Unfortunately for the 6-3, 190-pound right-catching goalie, he's only seen 15 games in action for the Spirit all year and is yet another player who will require a leap of faith in limited viewings for teams to draft him. He's got the requisite size and athleticism for the position and stays pretty square to the shooter. His overall game is pretty refined at this point, but again, with Mavric Parks getting most of the starts, scouts could go to a bushel of Saginaw games and never see this kid if unlucky enough. That's a bit of a stretch, but like most backups, teams want to see more of a sample size and they simply didn't get it with Galansky this year.
Matt McNeely, U.S. NTDP (USHL)- The Minnesotan and UMD recruit has played second fiddle to John Gibson this year and isn't as refined at this stage as his partner is, but there is a lot of raw material and potential with this one who brings the size, quickness you want. I'll let Chris Peters of the excellent United States of Hockey blog take it from here, but this is a pretty good writeup on McNeely based on the January release of Central's mid-term rankings.
Benjamin Conz, Langnau (SUI)-We've said it before- short and dumpy simply does not play well to the NHL scouting community as far as goalies are concerned and so when you're about 5-10 and 210 pounds, good luck with the draft. Yet, for two consecutive WJCs now, the roly poly Swiss netminder has excelled at keeping the puck out of his net. He's a popular favorite amongst draftniks at sites like Hockey's Future Boards, but the reality is- Conz is never going to be high on team lists because of his body type. Now, will the third time be the charm and see him drafted after previous snubs? He's played well enough to earn it. But we've seen people suggesting him as a second-round pick and that's just crazy talk. You'll probably see an NHL team take a flier on him this time around, but his physical traits are non-standard, and unless they think he's going to be the next coming of Tim Thomas, it will be as more of an afterthought than being seen in the upper tier of this group. At the same time, straight-killers like Conz who make all the big stops when the stakes are highest are the ones you least want to bet against making it.
Andrei Makarov, Lewiston (QMJHL)- At one time, a highly-regarded goalie prospect for this draft, but played so poorly in the early part of the season that it's taken some strong performances in the last month to get him back into the picture. Even then, it may not be enough for a player who was not even ranked by Central at midterm. We'll see if he gets a nod in their final listing. He's got good height, but is a beanpole. Has the quickness and athleticism for the game, but like many Russian goalies was lacking in technique and discipline when he first came over and paid for it. To his credit, he worked on it and is showing improvement. Might be enough to get him drafted, but with teams being skittish about Russians, his production hasn't exactly given clubs a reason to throw caution to the wind for him. Should be interesting to see if he gets picked based on what he did in international comp last year and his second-half performance for the MAINE-iacs.
Matt Mahalak, Plymouth (OHL)- Yet another backup who hasn't gotten much quality time behind a workhorse. In Mahalak's case, Devils prospect Scott Wedgewood has had much of the action 19 games- 7-7-4, 3.11, .911 save pct. for the Whalers this season, and the former USHL standout's shaky start to the season certainly didn't help his cause. He's another prototype with the size and athleticism, but is a draft wildcard who will get drafted only by a team that saw enough in a limited sample size to roll the dice a bit and gamble that the flashes they saw are worth one of 5-7 picks (in most cases). You could very well see a team with a bevvy of extra picks use one on him because of the potential upside.
Eric Williams, Prince Albert (WHL)- Tall and lean goaltender has played well for a mediocre Prince Albert squad. He doesn't get a lot of attention, but with a solid 17-17-2 record with .900 save percentage despite making more than 1,100 saves in just 39 games of action. That's a lot of rubber- kid's a gamer and with his size, athleticism and competitiveness, is going to get drafted and make one of those under-the-radar projects who could make noise in time (and with continued action and work on technique).
Colin Stevens, Boston Jr. Bruins (EJHL)- Another tall, lean goalie who is athletic and competitive. Played a very good season for Jr. B's and is strong in his crease in terms of getting the forceful four-way movements needed to play the position effectively. What drops Stevens in the eyes of some scouts is the inconsistency he displayed and a lack of focus at times that led to soft goals. There's a lot of raw talent to work with on this guy, but the operative word is "work" and it might not be enough to see him even get called. We loved Brian Billett a year ago after he had a great season in the EJHL, but nary a team called his name. Teams have specific criteria for their goalie picks these days, and we don't know if that includes game, but up-and-down Jr. B goalies like Stevens.
Pete Traber, Shattuck St. Mary's (HS- MN)- Yet another physical, but raw specimen whose 6-2 frame takes up a lot of net. Like Gothberg last year, Minnesota goalies tend to drop in the draft because that state has never been a great producer of NHL talent between the pipes. If Traber gets the call, it will be later rather than sooner, even playing for such an accomplished team like Shattuck. He needs some refinement in his technique and is a clear-cut long-term project player, but has shown some potential.
That about does it for the 2011 netminder reivew. We know we've left a few goalies out of the mix, but this is good enough for the time being. From reading the capsules, you can see that there are more than a few intriguing project types in this group and we'll continue to champion those who rise to the top like good cream does.
This isn't a great crop of high-end guys, but there are plenty of interesting developmental project types who could turn out nicely in time. Just go back to 1994 and look at all the late-round picks in net who ended up panning out as NHL stars (Tim Thomas, Evgeni Nabokov, Tomas Vokoun- all 9th rounders, Marty Turco went in the 5th), while 1st-round guys like Jamie Storr and Eric Fichaud never really met expectations. And of course, we don't want to bring up Evgeni Ryabchikov's name, taken 21st overall in '94 by the Bruins that year and couldn't even hack it as an AHL starter before going back to Russia never to be seen again. Oh, wait- I guess we just did.
Point being- teams are spending fewer high picks on goalies these days after seeing so much empirical evidence that says good scouting can unearth late-round gems given the kind of disparity in the individual development curves for players at the position. This is one reason we didn't take Samu Perhonen in the 2nd round of the mock draft covered recently (although he could very well be a solid value pick at the end of that round) and when you look at a prospect like Zane Gothberg, tabbed in the 6th round a year ago and developing nicely in the USHL even as a backup.
So, without further ado- here are more goalies from the 2011 class (not an ordered list, just the way it happened to shake out as I consulted various rankings and databases for this post):
Liam Liston, Brandon (WHL)- If you watched him in the CHL Top Prospects Game, you would think this guy had second round written all over him. He was dialed in and stopped all 18 shots he faced in the first 30 minutes of Team Orr's victory, stemming the tide when his squad was outplayed by Team Cherry early. Although he had some shaky moments (his glove was a bit of an adventure), the puck never went in on him. Unfortunately, his up-and-down performance for the Wheat Kings this season has scouts a tad perplexed. He's got the 6-2, 200+ pound size NHL teams covet, and the physical tools to be a big league goalie. However, the focus and consistency has not been there. He's sporting an outrageously bad .879 save percentage with an 18-16-1 record (and inflated 3.79 GAA), and it's not like he plays on a lousy team either. You can only blame the defense and team in front of the goalie so much- at the end of the day, you have to make the saves and according to reports, he's been a gongshow at times. Compare his numbers to that of Eric Williams of the lesser-talented Prince Albert Raiders, and you begin to understand why opinions are so divided on Liston.
Jordan Binnington, Owen Sound (OHL)- At 6-2, 160, he's another Tuukka Rask in terms of his body type, but has those long arms and legs, quickness that is always at a premium in the NHL. Got his chance this season when Scott Stajcer went down. Played well in the CHL Top Prospects Game after Shane Prince scored on the first shot Binnington faced, the only goal surrendered by the Liston/Binnington duo for Team Orr. His 24-12-1-4 record is pretty good, but the .896 is part of what keeps him out of the discussion with the Gibsons (John, Christopher) and Perhonen as the top 'tenders in class. Consistency is something goalies can do to sell themselves and even the most ardent Binnington supporter can admit that he's had some pretty mediocre outings. Binnington takes up a lot of the net with his limbs but we hear his lateral quickness is not great.
Mike Morrison, Kitchener (OHL)- Late '92 is in his first year of eligibility and has played very well for the Rangers as Brandon Maxwell's second. He's a composed netminder who doesn't get rattled easily from most accounts. His size is pretty average (6-0, 175), but he's got good lateral quickness. He's only seen 25 games of action this season, but is a solid 15-5-2 with a .914 save percentage. Not a lot of flash or hype with this guy, but we've heard nice things about him from Ontario-based scouts and think that there are more than a few NHL teams who are targeting him for a later-round flier.
Robert Steeves, Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL)- Olivier Roy's backup hasn't seen a lot of action this season (20 games) but has played well when called upon. He's only about 5-11 and about 150 pounds soaking wet- he needs another couple inches and 30 pounds on his frame to give NHL teams confidence in his ability to be a stopper at the highest level, but the early returns are good. He's got a lot of raw talent, quickness and the mental toughness to be a gamer. However, this is a classic long road player who is going to require a leap of faith on draft day, and then loads of patience from the team that invests in him. Sleeper- could go as high as the fourth round or drop out of the draft completely. If a team thinks he's going to grow a bit more, then someone will take him.
Maxime Lagace, PEI (QMJHL)- Another backup who has had a hard time seeing action, Lagace's stats are nothing to write home about (8-4, 3.59 GAA, .884 save percentage), but he's got the prototypical size and superb quickness and athleticism that teams demand from their draft picks at the position. He has extremely quick pads and a good glove hand. Lateral agility is pretty good. Evan Mosher is a workhorse for the Rocket, which is a shame because viewings on Lagace have come so few and far between for scouts. That's one of the reasons Lagace is only making his B2011DW debut here tonight in this post with the QMJHL nearly in the books.
Steve Michalek, Loomis-Chaffee (HS- CT)- We. Love. This. Kid. OK, full disclosure- he's a high school goalie, which makes it extremely difficult for scouts to discern whether a player has the goods, but we think Michalek is one of the legit sleeper prospects in the 2011 draft. He was under siege for much of the season on the worst prep team, but still managed to post a .919 save percentage while making more than 1,000 saves on the year. Does anyone understand how many shots he stopped given the small amount of games prep schools play when compared to their junior counterparts? What we don't like about the Harvard recruit's game is that he tends to overcommit on shots, leaving himself open for backdoor plays, but he's very athletic, mentally tough and one of these guys with intriguing potential. You can't use the standard, "he's a HS goalie" argument with him either, because he played so well at the Ivan Hlinka in August. Interesting guy to watch for sure.
Tadeas Galansky, Saginaw (OHL)- Another Czech Republic product who came over to North America to try his hand in the CHL. Unfortunately for the 6-3, 190-pound right-catching goalie, he's only seen 15 games in action for the Spirit all year and is yet another player who will require a leap of faith in limited viewings for teams to draft him. He's got the requisite size and athleticism for the position and stays pretty square to the shooter. His overall game is pretty refined at this point, but again, with Mavric Parks getting most of the starts, scouts could go to a bushel of Saginaw games and never see this kid if unlucky enough. That's a bit of a stretch, but like most backups, teams want to see more of a sample size and they simply didn't get it with Galansky this year.
Matt McNeely, U.S. NTDP (USHL)- The Minnesotan and UMD recruit has played second fiddle to John Gibson this year and isn't as refined at this stage as his partner is, but there is a lot of raw material and potential with this one who brings the size, quickness you want. I'll let Chris Peters of the excellent United States of Hockey blog take it from here, but this is a pretty good writeup on McNeely based on the January release of Central's mid-term rankings.
Benjamin Conz, Langnau (SUI)-We've said it before- short and dumpy simply does not play well to the NHL scouting community as far as goalies are concerned and so when you're about 5-10 and 210 pounds, good luck with the draft. Yet, for two consecutive WJCs now, the roly poly Swiss netminder has excelled at keeping the puck out of his net. He's a popular favorite amongst draftniks at sites like Hockey's Future Boards, but the reality is- Conz is never going to be high on team lists because of his body type. Now, will the third time be the charm and see him drafted after previous snubs? He's played well enough to earn it. But we've seen people suggesting him as a second-round pick and that's just crazy talk. You'll probably see an NHL team take a flier on him this time around, but his physical traits are non-standard, and unless they think he's going to be the next coming of Tim Thomas, it will be as more of an afterthought than being seen in the upper tier of this group. At the same time, straight-killers like Conz who make all the big stops when the stakes are highest are the ones you least want to bet against making it.
Andrei Makarov, Lewiston (QMJHL)- At one time, a highly-regarded goalie prospect for this draft, but played so poorly in the early part of the season that it's taken some strong performances in the last month to get him back into the picture. Even then, it may not be enough for a player who was not even ranked by Central at midterm. We'll see if he gets a nod in their final listing. He's got good height, but is a beanpole. Has the quickness and athleticism for the game, but like many Russian goalies was lacking in technique and discipline when he first came over and paid for it. To his credit, he worked on it and is showing improvement. Might be enough to get him drafted, but with teams being skittish about Russians, his production hasn't exactly given clubs a reason to throw caution to the wind for him. Should be interesting to see if he gets picked based on what he did in international comp last year and his second-half performance for the MAINE-iacs.
Matt Mahalak, Plymouth (OHL)- Yet another backup who hasn't gotten much quality time behind a workhorse. In Mahalak's case, Devils prospect Scott Wedgewood has had much of the action 19 games- 7-7-4, 3.11, .911 save pct. for the Whalers this season, and the former USHL standout's shaky start to the season certainly didn't help his cause. He's another prototype with the size and athleticism, but is a draft wildcard who will get drafted only by a team that saw enough in a limited sample size to roll the dice a bit and gamble that the flashes they saw are worth one of 5-7 picks (in most cases). You could very well see a team with a bevvy of extra picks use one on him because of the potential upside.
Eric Williams, Prince Albert (WHL)- Tall and lean goaltender has played well for a mediocre Prince Albert squad. He doesn't get a lot of attention, but with a solid 17-17-2 record with .900 save percentage despite making more than 1,100 saves in just 39 games of action. That's a lot of rubber- kid's a gamer and with his size, athleticism and competitiveness, is going to get drafted and make one of those under-the-radar projects who could make noise in time (and with continued action and work on technique).
Colin Stevens, Boston Jr. Bruins (EJHL)- Another tall, lean goalie who is athletic and competitive. Played a very good season for Jr. B's and is strong in his crease in terms of getting the forceful four-way movements needed to play the position effectively. What drops Stevens in the eyes of some scouts is the inconsistency he displayed and a lack of focus at times that led to soft goals. There's a lot of raw talent to work with on this guy, but the operative word is "work" and it might not be enough to see him even get called. We loved Brian Billett a year ago after he had a great season in the EJHL, but nary a team called his name. Teams have specific criteria for their goalie picks these days, and we don't know if that includes game, but up-and-down Jr. B goalies like Stevens.
Pete Traber, Shattuck St. Mary's (HS- MN)- Yet another physical, but raw specimen whose 6-2 frame takes up a lot of net. Like Gothberg last year, Minnesota goalies tend to drop in the draft because that state has never been a great producer of NHL talent between the pipes. If Traber gets the call, it will be later rather than sooner, even playing for such an accomplished team like Shattuck. He needs some refinement in his technique and is a clear-cut long-term project player, but has shown some potential.
That about does it for the 2011 netminder reivew. We know we've left a few goalies out of the mix, but this is good enough for the time being. From reading the capsules, you can see that there are more than a few intriguing project types in this group and we'll continue to champion those who rise to the top like good cream does.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Huberdeau and Jurco shine in win over Acadie-Bathurst
The Saint John Sea Dogs added to their sublime 2010-11 hockey season with a win Wednesday night over the Acadie-Bathurst Titan by a 7-2 score.
2011 draft eligibles Jonathan Huberdeau and Tomas Jurco each fired home a pair of goals.
Huberdeau's tallies pushed him over the 30-goal plateau, and he now has 31 markers and 75 points in just 49 games. Not bad for a 17-year-old! If he goes back to the'Q' next season and beyond, he could really tear it up as he continues to develop. Of course, playing on such an outstanding offensive club has boosted Huberdeau's production, but he appears to have the goods and will almost certainly be a top-10 pick in June.
Jurco's season has been a bit of a disappointment given the expectations coming in, but there is no denying the Slovak's puck wizardry. He now has 22 goals and 42 points in 41 games and even though he got some very limited ice time, I thought he looked every bit the skill winger he's been touted as at the WJC in Buffalo. I would imagine that an NHL club will jump on him somewhere in the 1st round given his enormous potential offensively.
One player who has gotten nary a mention, but is quietly working his way into draft discussions was Bathurst goalie Robert Steeves, a Moncton native who is a Jan. 1993 birthdate and eligible for 2011. He's not gotten a ton of playing time this season (18 games) but his numbers are respectable, even after last night's drubbing. He gave up seven goals on 43 shots by the Sea Dogs, but is sitting at a .915 save percentage and 2.65 GAA with a 10-3 record. It's not easy playing behind Olivier Roy, but Steeves has made the most of his opportunities and it was an interesting call to have him in the net against the CHL juggernaut last night-- a vote of confidence from coach Real Paiment. Steeves is under 6-feet and extremely slight in build, but he's looking like a legit mid-round draft pick at this stage of the game and could be an interesting developmental project for any team who takes him.
2011 draft eligibles Jonathan Huberdeau and Tomas Jurco each fired home a pair of goals.
Huberdeau's tallies pushed him over the 30-goal plateau, and he now has 31 markers and 75 points in just 49 games. Not bad for a 17-year-old! If he goes back to the'Q' next season and beyond, he could really tear it up as he continues to develop. Of course, playing on such an outstanding offensive club has boosted Huberdeau's production, but he appears to have the goods and will almost certainly be a top-10 pick in June.
Jurco's season has been a bit of a disappointment given the expectations coming in, but there is no denying the Slovak's puck wizardry. He now has 22 goals and 42 points in 41 games and even though he got some very limited ice time, I thought he looked every bit the skill winger he's been touted as at the WJC in Buffalo. I would imagine that an NHL club will jump on him somewhere in the 1st round given his enormous potential offensively.
One player who has gotten nary a mention, but is quietly working his way into draft discussions was Bathurst goalie Robert Steeves, a Moncton native who is a Jan. 1993 birthdate and eligible for 2011. He's not gotten a ton of playing time this season (18 games) but his numbers are respectable, even after last night's drubbing. He gave up seven goals on 43 shots by the Sea Dogs, but is sitting at a .915 save percentage and 2.65 GAA with a 10-3 record. It's not easy playing behind Olivier Roy, but Steeves has made the most of his opportunities and it was an interesting call to have him in the net against the CHL juggernaut last night-- a vote of confidence from coach Real Paiment. Steeves is under 6-feet and extremely slight in build, but he's looking like a legit mid-round draft pick at this stage of the game and could be an interesting developmental project for any team who takes him.
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