I was able to get out of work at 1:30 to go and check out the prospects for a while. Sadly there's not as much talent as years past or the excitement of watching recently drafted players but the good news is I got to see Pushkarev and Tukonen for the first time.
Obviously it's hard for me to judge players on their first day of camp, I could see a lot of them were rusty, and some were nervous but I'll give you guys my 2 cents on some of the prospects.
Tukonen #25: He's a good size kid, at 6'2 and one of the best skaters out there, he's a better skater than Pushkarev and seems physically mature. He sure looks like the 2 way foward type who can do everything well. I'd like to see a bit more of what he can do in offensive situations, he set up Push with a couple of nice finishes.
Pushkarev #9: Energetic winger who's a bit thin. He's one of those players who wants the puck and likes to take matters into his own hands. He's not shy about shooting and while he may be seen by some as a puck hog I like his confidence and skill package.
Karlsson #7: Bid dude, I think right now he would benefit from playing in the AHL more than anyone in this camp. While I'm not sure he'll be a top 6 foward I think he has great potential to be a 3rd line winger who can do the dirty work. I'm thinking Thomas Holmstrom all the way. I would really like to see him on a line with Avery.
Fukufuji #36: Best goalie out there today in my opinion, He played big and didn't give shooters many options. I'm sure he'll see time with Manchester soon.
Richard Petiot #14: One of the bigger kids out there, he's paired with Paul Baier who should make it hard for any opposing fowards in the camp. Petiot looks strong and was skating well. I hope he'll be in Manchester next year.
Paul Baier # 2: Another big kid out there who skates well for being 6'4, he didn't do any thing special out there but defenseman are supposed to be that way.
So I guess that's about as much as I can remember right now I hope I was of some use to you guys.
Push must have been trying to impress today, because one of the biggest critisisms of him last year would that he didn't shoot enough. The part about taking matters into his own hands sounds exactly right though.
I haven't seen a ton of Jens, but that's the exact comparison I have been hoping for. Nice.
Thanks again.
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I'm not high, but I don't know what day it is.
Ned Lukacevic #34 seems to be one of if not the fastest skaters out there, he has all the tools to become a great prospect it just seems he needs to finish up on his opportunities.
Eric Neilson #15 we all know his game is not scoring, one thing I noticed every since last camp is that he likes to crash the net and agitate opposing goalies. I'm sure he's being looked at for a positition with Manchester or the Royals.
Here's a list of players and numbers:
Bernakavich, Brendan #11
Desjardins, Andrew #23
Fortunus, Maxime #27
Guerin, Marty #20
Harrison, Tyler #29
James, Conner #17
Karlsson, Jens # 7
Lukacevic, Ned #34
Murphy, Ryan #33
Neilson, Eric #15
Pushkarev, Konstantin #9
Ryan, Matt #21
Saurette, Kevin #28
Steckel, David #24
Sullivan, Mike #26
Tukonen, Lauri #25
Baier, Paul #2
Burke, Gerry #3
Dest, Jason #5
Kerr, Stuart #4
Metcalf, Nate #6
Salcido, Brian #8
Petiot, Richard #14
Tremblay, Luis #10
Werner, Eric #12
Brust, Barry #35
Fukufuji, Yutaka #36
Munce, Ryan #45
Taylor, Daniel #32
Zaba, Matt #1
Good to hear Fukufuji is looking good. He had a nice little year down in the ECHL. If the NHL is back he should have a run at being the starter for the Monarchs.
I think that he is the only goalie prospect that we have right now.
Good to hear Fukufuji is looking good. He had a nice little year down in the ECHL. If the NHL is back he should have a run at being the starter for the Monarchs.
I think that he is the only goalie prospect that we have right now.
Brust had a great year as did Munce and Zaba. We are starting to finally look good betwen the pipes
