Kreider's season doesn't make a whole lot of sense as college guys generally transition quite well. As you're seeing with Schultz. They are older and used to playing with guys all the way up to their mid 20's and for all intensive purposes men. I don't think he should be looked at like other rookies especially since he played an extra year of college already against the wishes of the Rangers.
There really isn't a hard and fast rule like that for college players. They may be playing with people their age, but it's just not the same level of talent. It isn't common at all for rookies out of college to hit a PPG pace out of the gate, even if they spend more time there. Schultz is not the norm. Age of competition is just an advantage that they have over players from juniors.
The Marlies got a huge boost to their lineup this past weekend with the return of Matt Frattin. It was his first games back since he tore his knee up crashing heavily into the net after scoring an empty net goal to secure the series against OKC in last years semis. He played 2 games this weekend and scored 3 goals, one of which was a beautiful snipe on the powerplay. Gives him 27 goals in 38 AHL games for the Marlies. He also looks to be stronger so far this year and was throwing a ton of solid hits. Gonna be a great addition to an already good Marlies team
The Marlies got a huge boost to their lineup this past weekend with the return of Matt Frattin. It was his first games back since he tore his knee up crashing heavily into the net after scoring an empty net goal to secure the series against OKC in last years semis. He played 2 games this weekend and scored 3 goals, one of which was a beautiful snipe on the powerplay. Gives him 27 goals in 38 AHL games for the Marlies. He also looks to be stronger so far this year and was throwing a ton of solid hits. Gonna be a great addition to an already good Marlies team
Watched him in college, kids just a shark out there. Very opportunistic. Sneaky even. He'll do some damage, in more way than one
Surprisingly our goalie Scrivens hasn't been upto speed for what he is capable of. However last season he had the same start so maybe this is just his way of getting started into the season.
Surprisingly our goalie Scrivens hasn't been upto speed for what he is capable of. However last season he had the same start so maybe this is just his way of getting started into the season.
Or maybe his second half of the season was the outlier and he's regressing back to his average?
Kreider has been a massive disappointment this year. Like this is colossal failure of a season, but it's early.
There was so much hype as in the preseason, he had multiple hat tricks and was in general dominating the opposition.
Hartford might be the worst place for him to play development wise. I think speedy forwards would do better under Torts, see Hagelin with the Whale vs. the Rangers.
There really aren't many bright spots on this team, but Hrvik is a nice sleeper prospect that has been very good in pro hockey thus far. He's only 21. Team is obviously going to miss JT Miller, who was on a tear before heading to WJC camp.
I thought that Coyle showed good passing ability in the Aeros last win against the Barons, he seems to be able to beat you in a number of ways and should be a solid NHLer in the future. Zucker was buzzing as well, that kid loves to shoot the puck although I noticed that some of his passes were a tad off at least in particular in one shift. I'm not sure what Wild fans see as a comp for him, but I imagine his style of play and player type to be similar to Jason Blake earlier in his career.
__________________ Treat Others As You Would Like To Be Treated
I realize it's early but I was wondering how the following prospects have looked so far:
Luke Adam
Jordan Caron Dmitry Korobov
Travis Oleksuk
Tyler Toffoli
Thanks in advance
Korobov has been playing very well in the AHL. Good defensive anticipation, usually succeeds at neutralizing his man. He's a defence first type D-man who helps out on O when he can. He has led the AHL in +\- most of the season.
Figured this would be a good idea for a general thread on here
Basically just ask about a prospect or two or how every many you want and hopefully some posters who have seen them play this season will provide some insight.
Anyways I'll get it going:
I realize it's early but I was wondering how the following prospects have looked so far:
Luke Adam
Jordan Caron
Dmitry Korobov
Travis Oleksuk
Tyler Toffoli
Thanks in advance
Coming back to this now that a bit more time has passed...
Luke Adam had a horrible start to the season. Was just slow. Slow skating, slow making decisions, not confident with his shot, trying to dangle and turning the puck over, etc. He's finally warmed up in the past several games, putting up a 4 game goal streak. Hopefully it will stick, because Rochester does not have a good enough defense/goaltending situation to carry as many underperforming forwards as they have so far this season (I'm looking at you, Mancari).
Watching Nathan Beaulieu tonight and wow I've got to say I'm extremely impressed, looks like the best skater on the ice by far. He reminds me of Bouwmeester in his prime in Florida,and Beaulieu is doing a great job at picking his spots when to jump in the play. Very dynamic player with great puck-handling ability. I feel he has a really high ceiling, top 4 NHL defenceman potential.
Someone no one is talking about is Reilly Smith. After doing everything right but being absolutely snake bit early in the season, he now has 8 goals in his last 11 games.
Watching Nathan Beaulieu tonight and wow I've got to say I'm extremely impressed, looks like the best skater on the ice by far. He reminds me of Bouwmeester in his prime in Florida,and Beaulieu is doing a great job at picking his spots when to jump in the play. Very dynamic player with great puck-handling ability. I feel he has a really high ceiling, top 4 NHL defenceman potential.
While I won't say he doesn't have top 4 upside really any first round pick should, I came away with the opposite impression last week when I saw him in person in Milwaukee. He fought the puck at times and if you took time and space from him or didn't let him get wound up he was a negative player on most shifts. He can skate, very impressed with that but I think his transition to the big leagues will be rough because they get on him a lot quicker and some of the high risk moves he tries will backfire in a big way.
Someone no one is talking about is Reilly Smith. After doing everything right but being absolutely snake bit early in the season, he now has 8 goals in his last 11 games.
I thought that Coyle showed good passing ability in the Aeros last win against the Barons, he seems to be able to beat you in a number of ways and should be a solid NHLer in the future. Zucker was buzzing as well, that kid loves to shoot the puck although I noticed that some of his passes were a tad off at least in particular in one shift. I'm not sure what Wild fans see as a comp for him, but I imagine his style of play and player type to be similar to Jason Blake earlier in his career.
It is Nice to see an Olier fan see that in Coyle's game, at times he displays some great skills, very similar to Bobby Ryan when he drives the net, however he is very inconsistent atleast at the AHL level, Zucker has been very solid but like your evaluation and even though he has dominated at the AHL level I don't think he will be nearly as effective in the NHL. Solid second liner and I like his defensive play too which is very nice and somewhat expected of an NCAA player.
In that game though I really loved Hall's play, I loved him as a prospect but to be honest he played like crap against the Wild's stifling defense the past few years. It was nice to see a very solid game out of him and his puck control and decision making seemed way better, I'll be happy to leave the division if he plays like that all the time.
Marcus Foligno impresses me every time I watch Rochester. Do-it-all player.. To think HF has this guy rated 6.5 B. His offense has come a long way.
Detroit/Grand Rapids are starting to get their own do-it-all prospect for real with Ferraro aswell. His offense seems sustainable since he's not getting the prime offensive minutes or play with the most skilled guys on the team. He's just getting it done.
