Ryan Spooner - #23 - C - YOB: 1992 - 5‘10” - 175lbs.
NHL: Eligible in 2010
Report: Nov/26/09: Spooner displays great speed, good agility and is very shifty and hard to stop once he gets going. His size my become the biggest obstacle he has but I believe I saw the two sides of Ryan Spooner. With the puck he is arguably in the same league as Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin skill wise. By this I’m referring to his puck possession and movement. With the puck he could make defencemen miss, can draw opponents in, and unlike most players with this ability it seems like he looks to find the open pass before anything else, and is very accurate in doing so. I didn’t get much of a judgement on his shot due to this, but it did look pretty solid for an NHL prospect. His play without the puck however was less than encouraging. He would coast along whenever he didn’t have the puck. He wasn’t cherry picking, and would work for the puck when it came near him, and when he did get the puck that switch would turn on where he became that prospect everyone has been talking about, but he doesn‘t show hustle when getting back on the play, and really appears to have no urgency on his side of the red line, or even in the offensive zone to get open at times. He has elite skating and playmaking abilities but his size combined with his relaxed play without the puck will push Spooner into the second half of the 1st round, and may push me to say he may wind up being a boom or bust prospcet. Wherever he goes he will put up big points, but he needs to work on his play without the puck so that he can be putting up those big points in the NHL, not the AHL/Europe.
(Spooner had 4A, +1 tonight)
Adam Sedlak - #24 - D - YOB: 1991 - 6‘2” - 210lbs.
NHL: Eligible in 2010
Report: Nov/26/09: I trashed him last year for his lack of ability to move the puck. This year he’s improved greatly. He moved the puck well and was a very decent skater. His defensive zone coverage was alright but could be improved upon. There’s some serious range in where people project Sedlak. (I’ve heard between late 1st and 5th round) but between him and Rogalski personally it would be tough to separate the two skill wise and could be a coin flip in terms of which the better prospect is. Both have very similar size and skill sets. But simply Sedlak‘s production needs to improve this year.
(Sedlak had 1A, +1, 2 PIM tonight)
Matt Puempel - #17 - LW - YOB: 1993 - 6‘0” - 190lbs.
NHL: Eligible in 2011
Report: Nov/26/09: Puempel was pretty impressive out there tonight for Peterborough. He scored a nice goal in this game, and he threw his body around well. He’s a solid skater and someone to watch closely for next year.
(Puempel had 1G, +1, 2 PIM tonight)
Zack Kassian - #9 - LW - YOB: 1993 - 6‘3” - 215lbs.
NHL: 1st Round - 13th Overall by Buffalo in 2009
Report: Nov/26/09: I was pretty impressed with him last year, not so much this year. He was a little inconsistent in whether or not he worked at different points of the game. His skating is good for someone his size, and he threw some good hits as expected. He took a 10min misconduct for not wearing his mouth guard, and then attempted to knee Kyle Neuber, which incidentally lead to Neuber getting 2 for kneeing, even though it appeared Kassian was the one to stick his leg out last second after Neuber attempted to fight Kassian on multiple occasions. This seemed to play a part in Kassian being off his game. Kassian has a lot of skill but apparently has a long way to go before he’s NHL ready.
(Kassian had 2A, -1, 12 PIM tonight)
Barron Smith - #55 - D - YOB: 1991 - 6‘5” - 210lbs.
NHL: 7th Round - 188th Overall by Toronto in 2009
Report: Nov/26/09: It’s a good thing Smith is as physically imposing as he is, because he had 3 clear shots from the point and missed the net in comical fashion as 2 of the 3 were atleast 10ft. Off the net. However on his side of the red line he was unrelenting physically and made life difficult for Sarnia forwards most of the game, but he began to fade out as the game progressed and stamina became a factor. Smith has got a lot to work on, but has the attitude that matches his skill set, and has NHL ready size to impose his will on the opposition.
(Smith had -2 and 2 PIM)
Jason Missiaen - #1 - G - YOB: 1991 - 6‘8” - 220lbs.
NHL: 4th Round - 116th Overall by Montreal in 2008
Report: Nov/26/09: He did a good job staying square to the shooter. He did a good job consuming most rebounds and not giving too many second chances. However when the pressure was on he looked like he was prepared to fold a few times. Picking the corners seems to be the most effective way to score on Missiaen, his lateral movement was almost non existent. Overall he’s a good goaltender at the junior level but I honestly question his effectiveness at the pro level.
(Missiaen stopped 33 of 36 shots tonight)
Some interesting stuff from Ryan there. In particular his comments about Ryan Spooner struck a chord with me. In the limited viewings I've had of him, I've been impressed with his play without the puck in the offensive zone and his ability to generate offense from energy on the forecheck. This was something Ryan brings up as being absent from his game last night. Perhaps it was proof that his consistency without the puck is something that's held him back from being more of an impact player. Either way, 4 point night ain't half bad!
Comments for Mr. Yessie?
No comments:
Post a Comment