The Sunday Top 10 - OHL Import Players

I had a really nasty computer virus attack me recently and as such, updates to the blog have been few in number over the past week or so. But everything appears to be stabilized for now, just in time for the weekly Sunday Top 10.

This week, we look at the Top 10 impact import players (awesome alliteration). Some really solid Imports took to the ice this season in the OHL, and had a significant impact on their team's success. While the Import process is often a bit of a crap shoot, every year OHL General Managers do manage to turn a few selections into gold.

Here is the list...

10. Adam Sedlak - Peterborough Petes
Sedlak had an up and down season. He possesses outstanding skating ability from the back end, and has good offensive instincts, showcasing an ability to jump into the rush effectively. However, he is very raw. He could stand to improve his decision making with and without the puck, and he needs to improve his one on one defensive coverage. However, he ended up finishing 2nd on the team in defenseman points and did make progress as the season went along. As a late 1991, Sedlak isn't eligible for the NHL draft until 2010. Hopefully, he sticks around Peterborough next season where he'll have a chance to be a part of a young and up and coming defense along with the likes of Jeff Braithwaite, Jamie Doornbosch, among others.

9. Marco Insam - Niagara IceDogs
Insam was a pleasant surprise for the Dogs this season. After failing to make the WHL last year, not a whole lot was expected of Insam this season. However, he was an impact player, finishing 3rd on the team in goals. He has an absolute cannon of a shot and really improved his skating as the season went along. He could stand to use his big body more, especially in establishing a physical presence on the ice, however the Italian sniper showcased a lot a grit by playing through the playoffs with a shoulder injury. Should return as an overager next year where he'll likely be among the team leader in goals again.

8. Milan Doczy - Owen Sound Attack
Doczy was a tower of power this year for Owen Sound. At 6'5, 200lbs, Doczy is an intimidating physical presence on the ice, who ended up finishing the year at a + rating, an accomplishment on a mediocre Owen Sound team. He skates alright for a big man too, improving on that in his second OHL season. If he only used his size more physically in order to become a more dominant physical blueliner, he'd likely receive attention from NHL scouts. As a 1990, Doczy will likely return for another year in Owen Sound and help to solidify the blueline.

7. William Wallen - Mississauga St. Michael's Majors
Wallen has quite the year. He nearly lost his life due to an aneurysm but recovered in time to finish out the season in Mississauga. At 5'8, 170lbs, he is not the biggest player on the ice, but he is rather fearless out there. Almost like a little waterbug, bouncing around. He has a ton of skill too, especially in the puckhandling department. Considering how much development and conditioning time he lost this season, I thought he faired pretty well in his first OHL year. I expect he'll return next season, where I also think he'll lead Mississauga in scoring.

6. Sergey Korostin - Peterborough Petes
Korostin has been plagued very badly by inconsistencies in his short time in the OHL. The London Knights got tired of his lackadaisical effort and shipped him to Peterborough after 13 games. He can be an impact player one shift, and invisible the next. He has a ton of skill, and is an exceptional skater. He has the ability to go end to end and at times isn't even afraid to take the puck to the net. However, whether it be a conditioning issue or effort issue, he disappears for large stretches. He'll be moving on to the professional ranking next year in Dallas' organization, in the AHL or ECHL. I'm not sure how much Peterborough is going to miss him.

5. Kaspars Daugavins - Mississauga St. Michael's Majors
Daugavins had the absolute definition of an up and down season. He started the year with Binghampton in the AHL, but due to some conflicts with the coaching staff over his conditioning and ice time, he was returned to St. Mike's for his overage season. He played pretty well for St. Mike's and had a good playoff, but you have to consider this a disappointing season for the diminutive winger. He's had an excellent OHL career and I hope he's able to return to the Sens organization next year, focused and motivated to make an impact, because he's going to have to turn some heads to get back in their good books.

4. Jaroslav Janus - Erie Otters
Janus had quite the outstanding season on all fronts. He lead Erie to the playoffs and lead Slovakia to a solid performance at the World Juniors. All this after being passed over in the NHL draft last season. I think a lot of people expect Janus to get drafted this season as a re-entry, and it would be well deserved. He's got some things he has to work on, but he an incredibly athletic goaltender with natural talent. Should he get drafted, I actually wouldn't be surprised if he was returned to the OHL for his overage season in Erie, where he'll have a chance to lead them further into the playoffs. Should he not get drafted, I wouldn't be surprised if he returns back home.

3. Michal Jordan - Plymouth Whalers
Jordan emerged as a top flight OHL defenseman this season in Plymouth. He nearly doubled his offensive totals this season, and finished the year at an outstanding +28. He made great strides at the defensive end, which subsequently increased his ice time and confidence offensively. He'll be back in Plymouth next season and should continue to increase his totals and become one of the better all around defenseman in the OHL. Seems like a great late round pick by Carolina.

2. Andrei Loktionov - Windsor Spitfires
This guy just kept getting better and better every month. He's an absolutely dynamic offensive player who hustles and battles to make plays. He is absolutely one of the most skilled players in the OHL. He's been an absolute beast with Windsor in the playoffs thus far too, nearly leading the entire playoffs in scoring. It remains to be seen what LA's plans for him are next season. He could return to play in the OHL where he'd likely be among the scoring leaders, or he could head to the AHL for a new challenge in Manchester.

1. Evgeny Grachev - Brampton Battalion
Not many players have the combination of size and skill that Grachev possesses. He is such an outstanding and explosive skater, yet his skill level is also so high. Throughout the second half of the OHL season and through the playoffs, he has been one of the best players in the OHL. The New York Rangers got a good one here. I highly doubt he's back in Brampton next season, as I expect he'll make the Rangers or they'll move him to the AHL for a new challenge.

Next season should be interesting. We already know that 2008 Import pick Richard Panik will be playing for Windsor, where he'll likely be a solid scoring threat for them. Who knows who else will make the jump, but we're bound to see some impact players emerge.

Stay tuned for Next Sunday's Top 10, which will feature the Top 10 American players playing in the OHL.

Thoughts on Peterborough from November 8

Tonight the Peterborough Petes took on the Niagara Ice Dogs, a day after they traded star netminder Trevor Caan to the London Knights. The Petes defeated the Dogs 4-3 in overtime on Tony Romano's second goal of the game.

My Thoughts...

Tony Romano (Drafted 2006 by New Jersey/178th)

Romano looked very good tonight. His play is much improved from last season, looks like a totally different player. He uses his speed very well, especially in creating scoring chances and on the forecheck. He played in all situations tonight and was very effective on the penalty kill. Romano scored his first goal on the powerplay by getting himself in the right position to receive a pass cross crease, and put the puck away with authority. He also scored the game winner in overtime on a beauty where he managed to get by the Dogs defender with a nice move and roofed it top shelf. It's really night and day his play from last season with London, where I was never impressed with him in the times I saw him. Starting to develop into a solid prospect who likely could have a future as at the very least, an energy player in the NHL.

Zack Kassian (2009 NHL Draft Eligible)

Looked very good tonight. You can easily see why he's so highly touted. Wasn't as physical tonight as I've seen him previously, but was involved in all other aspects of the game. Had a couple assists, although none were primary. He played in all situations for the Petes and was tremendous on the penalty kill, using his size to gain possession at the top of the box. The most impressive thing that Kassian did tonight was gain and maintain a partial breakaway against Ice Dogs defenseman Drew Schiestel. As he got closer to the net, he used his body to shield Schiestel from the puck and managed to get a shot off on net. This really showed Kassian's skating ability, which is good for a big man. Schiestel is one of the best skating defenseman in the OHL and the fact that Schiestel wasn't able to gain much ground on him says to me he's really worked to improve his acceleration and overall skating ability.

Sergei Korostin (Drafted 2007 by Dallas/64th)

Korostin was an enigma tonight. In the first period he was great. Showed outstanding speed and puck carrying ability with a couple of near end to end rushes that resulted in scoring chances. He also was involved physically and defensively, making one nice play in particular by coming back to engage his man behind the net before he could get the pass to the open man infront of the net for a scoring chance. But he was completely and utterly invisible in the second and third periods. An endurance issue, or just consistency problems? Who knows. He's got potential though, just needs to put in a better effort from puck drop to game's end.

Jason Missiaen (Drafted 2008 by Montreal/116th)

The first thing anyone always says when they first see Missiaen is, "Holy **** he's big." The crazy thing is he's getting BIGGER. Last year he was listed as 6'6, now he's up to 6'8. On skates, he looks even bigger. Saw Missiaen twice last year. He was outstanding once and couldn't save a beach ball the other. He was outstanding tonight, likely trying to prove the Petes did the right thing in trading Trevor Caan. The Dogs outshot the Petes by a tremendous amount, but Missiaen stood tall, no pun intended. A couple of things that are very impressive about him. For one, he moves very well for a big man. He gets across the crease pretty quickly, making one great save in overtime by doing just that, robbing Chris DeSousa with the glove on a two on one. Secondly, he is aggressive in challenging shooters. When a 6'8 goaltender comes out to challenge the shooter, there isn't much net to shoot at. Generally with big goaltenders you can see them being passive, relying on their size to stop the puck, rather than sound mechanics. I can only say one negative thing about Missiaen. It's the same thing that I saw last year that lead him to be wildly inconsistent. He goes down to the butterfly way to early at times. In a sense, it's the probably the fact that he's trying to take away the lower part of the net, relying on his size to cover the top, but I've seen him get abused up high. All in all, looks to be progressing nicely and the Caan trade is only going to do wonders for him as he starts to see more action.

Ryan Spooner (2010 NHL Draft Eligible)

Spooner was pretty good tonight. He looks really tiny on the ice, but is elusive for the most part and manages to find himself in scoring positions. Although he did cut across the blueline with his head down and got absolutely hammered by Andrew Shaw. At his size, he's going to want to try to limit that from now on. But he scored the first Petes goal with a nice goal infront of the net where he deked out Mark Visentin, then put home his own rebound. He definitely seems to have offensive skills and hockey sense. At this point, even at his size, he's got to be considered one of the better 1992's playing in the OHL.

Chad Lowry (2009 NHL Draft Eligible)

Lowry is a 2009 eligible defenseman for the Petes that I was looking forward to seing tonight. He was alright. He was pretty good defensively and showed an ability to take the man and play well in one on one situations. Offensively, he was unimpressive. Failed to make the breakout pass on several attempts and didn't look incredibly comfortable with the puck on his stick.

Jamie Doornbosch (2009 NHL Draft Eligible, Born in 1990)

The best defenseman on the ice tonight for both sides. Doornbosch was passed over in last year's draft, but has started the 2008-09 season very well. He's got good size, showed a strong skating ability and took the body. He was excellent defensively, making one very nice play against an attacking Ice Dog forward, removing him from the puck with ease and crushing his momentum. Offensively he showed an ability to control play at the point on the powerplay and was able to get his shot through to create scoring chances. Really caught my eye tonight. If he keeps up his level of play, I can't imagine he goes undrafted again.