First off, the standouts:
Top Forwards:
Dillon Dube
Spencer Foo
Emile Poirier
Top Defencemen:
Oliver Kylington
Kayle Doetzel
Rasmus Andersson
Top Goalie:
Tyler Parsons
Collected my initial notes for convenience:
28 Poirier, Emile RW: it's fair to say that he looked better than last year and similarly promising to his first couple of development camps. He's a dangerous player who has an extra-gear. He also controls the puck well, keeps it on his forehand and makes smart, hard passes to guys in better position than him. He won a lot of battles and generated chances more consistently than any other player.
51 Veronneau, Max RW: has some promising qualities. He skates well even compared to some higher end prospects and has good puck skills. Made a great play during the PP segment where he walked out of the corner and found Kylington alone for a one-timer.
53 Smith, Alex RW: no comment... but none of the players looked out of place.
56 Lomberg, Ryan LW: he looked pretty good, which is to be expected as he has played more professional hockey than most. Skates well, plays hard, takes passes well. From what I've seen of him in the AHL, I don't think that scrimmages are great for showing his game since he isn't trying to get under people's skin or laying out hard checks. I like his game... really curious to see if he gets a sniff of the NHL eventually.
58 Kylington, Oliver LD: was the best player on the ice in the second half of the scrimmage in my opinion. Probably the best skater and possibly the best stickhandler. Still had a few giveaways, but to be fair, he's trying to do more than everyone else. Wow did his skill ever shine through on the powerplay.
59 Dube, Dillon C: as mentioned, I think he's a fantastic player. He controls the puck incredibly well, has breakaway speed, causes turnovers on the forecheck. Looks like he can do it all out there. He's done nothing but impress since being drafted... looks like a good one.
60 Pollock, Brett LW: bit of a mixed bag today. He's not a great skater, but he can take hard passes and controls the puck well. He had a great shift where he carried it in, almost scored on a hard shot and then scored a beauty shortly after, going bar-down on Parsons. I'm not sure what it is though... I still have doubts that he'll be full-time with the Heat this year.
75 Tuulola, Eetu RW: night and day from last year where he was the star. He just didn't have the same relentlessness as last year. It's just one icetime, but so was last year.
78 Malott, Jeff LW: took a pass in the slot and sniped a nice goal top corner. Didn't notice him too much other than that... among a lot of guys that played okay but were unremarkable.
80 Gawdin, Glenn C: has a fantastic shot. Really noticed how hard he was shooting and how quick the release was during the warm-ups. He scored a nice goal in the shootout but I don't remember him getting any chances during the scrimmage.
91 Mattson, Mitchell C: not a great scrimmage from him. He did some good things though, like battling for pucks in the corner. I'm not sure that he was quite up to the pace of most of the other guys.
96 Busch, Tyler C: can't comment.
97 Hawerchuk, Ben LW: looked pretty good. Above average skater who can carry the puck well. Didn't create a lot out there offensively, but he was working hard and battling. Interested to see more from him.
70 Schneider, Nick G: played pretty well. Didn't see him let in any weak ones and he made a few beauty saves. Was moving side to side well.
15 Foo, Spencer RW: he looked like a pretty confident player. He was trying to make a lot happen offensively and guys were playing hard against him. After seeing that icetime, I would be surprised if he made the NHL right out of camp, but I'd be shocked if he didn't carve out a top 6 role in the AHL early on. He's a smart player and it looks like he's got the skills to make it. His skating looks fine but there were faster players out there so I don't think he's going to be burning guys in the NHL. Obviously the shootout goal was incredible, but he made some other high skill plays too.
47 Phillips, Matthew RW: I thought he looked better as the icetime went on. He's a great stickhandler and he's quick. He wasn't getting as many scoring chances as I'm sure he would like to, the other team was doing a pretty good job of keeping him to the outside.
48 Fischer, Zach RW: mentioned him before but I thought he had the best showing of any of the first timers. Hard on the puck, showed some skill, scored a nice goal on a snap shot.
50 Rassell, Mark C: had an okay game, but had a gorgeous shootout goal where he did the Forsberg one hand move but slid it five-hole.
52 Joly, D'Artagnan RW: no comment
54 Andersson, Rasmus RD: had a pretty solid game. Thought he looked like a pro out there. Talks a lot on the ice. Carried the puck in on the rush a few times and found the trailer once for what should have been a great chance, but the recipient blew it. I'm a pretty big fan and thought he was good. Gorgeous shootout goal too.
63 Ruzicka, Adam C: liked his game in the first 20 minutes. He protected the puck well and seemed to have good instincts. Slowed down a bit as it went and I noticed him less and less. Looks like he has a lot of potential and I'm sure being at this camp and learning what to work on will do wonders for him.
68 Ollas Mattson, Adam LD: pretty unremarkable icetime. Seemed to carry the puck less than last year's scrimmage. Steady, not many mistakes. Looks big.
71 Smith, Hunter RW: I feel like I am too negative about him, but I seriously don't see the upside that some others do. The most noticeable things he did today were take penalties and make loud noises when he missed trying for big hits. He caught Kylington once, but then got in a battle with him a few seconds later and fell down as Kylington broke out of the zone.
81 Lindstrom, Linus C: no comment
84 Morrison Brad C: no comment
85 Healey, Josh LD: thought he looked pretty good. Plays a physical brand that seems to piss a few guys off. I like his skating and think his puck handling looks pretty good too. There's some upside I think.
86 Reinke, Mitch RD: no comment
88 Mangiapane, Andrew LW: made some plays, didn't struggle at all, but this was a less exciting showing than last year. I'm not worried or anything as sometimes the plays just don't come to you.
89 Dove-McFalls, Sam C: no comment
90 Vidmar, Sebastian LW: I don't think he showed enough to earn a contract. Looked a bit nervous at times and didn't really do anything to capture the attention of the crowd.
92 Wolff, Nick LD: lol... took a slapshot in the shootout and was stopped easily. Played okay other than that.
94 Mackey, Connor LD: no comment
72 McDonald, Mason G: thought he was getting lit up in the warm ups, but he played pretty good. Made the saves you expect the goalie to make and I didn't notice him giving up huge rebounds or anything like that.