Came down from Red Deer to watch the two sessions today, just my 2 cents:
Group A:
The best:
Berra-looked excellent, in fact, he is above what the skaters can offer him in terms of quality of shots. A few times where he did let out some bad rebounds, he made spectacular 2nd and 3rd saves. He will push Ramo and McDonald for a spot with the big team, imo.
Gaudreau-the kid can dangle. He had a couple of real nice plays where he turned defensemen inside out.
Knight-he was up close for the first set of drills and works hard (skates back as what was being asked of him), has an excellent shot and got himself into good positions in front of the net.
Padakin-on a tryout and the Hitmen forward didn’t disappoint. Sat beside a couple of guys who didn’t pick up a roster sheet and they asked me 4 or 5 times who he was. Worked hard, really did well for himself today.
Gillies-I think Gillies might be the best true prospect the Flames have. Always in position, very few rebounds.
A note on Monahan, I thought he was just okay. He had a couple of excellent passes and good shots but I was expecting more and I think as the week goes on, he will show all his skills.
The bad:
Ferland-didn’t impress me at all. He has a shot and that’s about it.
Howse-same as Ferland.
Martin-poor James Martin, got turned inside out by Gaudreau. It was the only time I noticed him.
Group B:
The Good:
Agostino-he was the best player in this group by a far margin. Very tenacious. He must be a real pain in the ass to play against. Wins a lot of puck battles.
Jooris-everytime he got into a play I was double checking to see who he was. I think he did himself well today, worked really hard at all the drills, very noticeable.
Wasn’t overly pleased with Sven or Poirier, expected a lot more out of both of them. Neither Brossoit or Ortio were really good, just okay. If Ortio wants to push for an NHL job, he better start showing something the rest of this camp.
On Jankowski, he has some raw natural talent but he really needs to fill out and bulk up, he was easily knocked off the puck on several puck drills.
Overall, Group A was the better of the two groups imo but group b had a lot of physical play during the puck drills. Had quick chats with both Jay, Weisbrod and Connie. I really like how accessible the whole management team and coaching staff are during these sessions. Overheard a conversation with Bob and Jacques, Bob wasn’t pleased with a couple of kids from group b, didn’t catch any names.
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