Quote:
Originally Posted by Caged Great
One of the drills at the July camp had the players start at the icing line, skate to the blue line and back, the red line and back, the far blue line and back and the far goal line and back.
Conroy said that you need to be near 43 seconds to have enough speed to be in the NHL. Kanzig was over 47. Even Hanowski who is considered slow finished in the 44-45 second range.
He isn't bad for a big guy, but it definitely needs a lot of work.
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That's all well and good as a general rule.
But what matters for a big man, and particularly a big defenseman, is the first few steps.
It's much like linemen in the NFL - they couldn't sprint 100 yards to save their lives. But that is irrelevant. What matters is how quickly they can move 10 yards.
Kanzig is never going to be Karlsson, but we don't need him to be. What we need is for him to be able to turn and take two steps quickly.
And from what I saw in the summer, he isn't bad. More work is needed of course (as with any 18 year old). But anyone suggesting that his skating currently suggests that he isn't a legitimate prospect, is completely wrong IMO.