I've been both days so far but I lose focus easily and am not the best at evaluating players, so I don't have a ton of insight but here are a few of my thoughts:
–Sam has looked strong, seemed to find ways to get the puck on his stick. A little like how Johnny does, but not to the same extent.
–My friend said she saw Korpikoski with group A on Friday (I was late getting there and missed part of their practice), but I'm pretty sure I didn't see him today. Not sure what's up with him, or if I'm just blind.
–Bouma's timing seems off to me. Looks to be in the right places, but has missed a pass or a shot more than once.
–Phillips is
quick. Friday he was skating circles around Falkovsky and it was hilarious (there's at least a foot in height difference), and it definitely wasn't only because Falkovsky was on the slow side, that kid straight-up motors.
–Speaking of Falkovsky: he's huge. Dude's a monster, and stands out as big to me more than Smith and Kanzig, even though they're listed at the same height. Might just be that I'm unfamiliar with him so it's more striking, but he even makes 6'1" TJ Brodie look small. And he's still a teenager.
–Brodie and Kylington are both a delight to watch skate and I get hypnotized watching their feet move, but that's no surprise. Also Gio's being Gio, so hopefully no slow start for him this year.
–Hathaway's looked good to me, doing pretty well at keeping up with some of our main players.
–Eetu's broken two sticks in two days lol. Looked a bit frustrated with himself today for missing certain chances, but I didn't think he looked half bad either. Seems to be doing the right things but is just missing the luck/bounces/accuracy.
Oh, and Tkachuk could challenge Gaudreau's title for having the most-chewed-on-mouthguard. Not sure it spent more than a second actually in his mouth, hahaha.