Some quick notes that I took away from today.
Team Red
- Lukas Zedjl was the best forward in terms of the "walk on's". He has good size, decent skating ability and a nice shot.
- Klimchuk was not overly noticeable. Wanted to see more.
- Bill Arnold is a work horse. He never stops competing. He was paired with Klimchuk for most of the game and they had a few decent shifts offensively, but on the whole they did not create a ton.
- Adam Chapie was all over the puck today (in a good way). Looks smaller than the 6'1" he is listed at.
- Brandon Vuic is an awful skater. I can't imagine he has done anything to this point to warrant a further look.
- Jason Fram impressed me the most in terms of free agent defensemen. He has good instincts with the puck, solid skating ability and showed some good poise while under pressure defensively.
- Kanzig is actually a fairly decent skater and made a great defensive stop on Gaudreau one on one, but outside of one big hit at the very end of the game I expected more in terms of physicality (although I can't blame him considering its a scrimmage..)
- Bryce Van Brabant is good at most things..great at nothing. I could see him carving out a career as a fourth line energy player.
- John Gilmour was really good today. He appears to have high end mobility, good vision, and a solid first pass. His defensive positioning seemed fine but his size will limit his effectiveness at the next level somewhat.
- Ryan Culkin impressed. Very calm in his own end, solid breakout passes etc...did not see a ton out of him offensively
- Mason McDonald looked alright. I did not really pay all that much attention to the goaltending today.
Team White
- David Wolf was just alright. For someone of his age and experience I definitely wanted to notice him more often than I did, but again because this was a scrimmage I wouldn't exactly expect him to dazzle with his skillset.
- Kenny Agostino played as he usually does. Relentless pressure, good skating, hard work etc.. His offensive upside is limited as he does not have the best vision, but he does like to shoot the puck a ton.
- Johnny Gaudreau was the best player on the ice without question. I know I sound like a broken record but everytime he touches the puck something positive happens. I find it funny how some of his detractors point to his skating ability as a negative but they are out to lunch / trolling. His agility/ability to change direction instantly is unmatched by anyone I have ever seen live, and his top end speed is really impressive aswell. In addition to all of those things offensively what impresses me the most at the moment is his willingness to back check.
- I thought Sam Bennett was fantastic today. He possesses a very explosive first few steps and has the ability to maintain that speed while stick handling. I did not see a ton of grit out there today, and a few times he tried to be a little to cute off of the rush. His goal was a pure snipe which of course came via a gorgeous pass from Johhny Hockey. His shootout goal was also one of the highlights of the day.
- Hunter Smith was completely invisible for me. He had an awful shootout attempt as well. I can't give you much of a report on him at this point.
- Out of Valcourt, Bailey and Downing.. I was most drawn to Downing. Valcourt is a decent player but nothing to write home about.
- Harrison played well today. He can skate really well for someone his size and he showed some silky sweet hands in the shootout. I'm shocked he went 34 games without a goal last year even with a extremely limited role in Colgate.
- Brandon Hickey is an absolutely fantastic skater. He reads the play well on both ends of the rink, rarely makes mistakes defensively, and actually jumped up into the play on a few different occasions offensively.
- Brett Kulak can also skate at a very high level. His offensive talent is undeniable but his defensive game needs some work. He will need to continue to work on getting stronger on the puck.
My top three players today
1. Johhny Gaudreau
2. Sam Bennett
3. John Gilmour
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