[GreenLantern2814]

Observations:

-I don’t know if Zayne Parekh is Erik Karlsson, but after three viewings I’m confident he’s closer to Erik Karlsson than Erik Gustafsson. Insane vision, puck control, elusiveness, shot - all of it. Defensive shortcomings are not made up, but they look correctable. I’ll push back on Parekh telling Steinberg “you didn’t draft me for my defense” - no, we drafted you because you’re going to be a top-10 player in the world if you simply decide to be.

-Stromgren was the best forward for me - excellent puck protection, high skill and patience. Game showed a lot of maturity. Two goals, set up another couple, all were pretty. He and Misa have something cooking.

-Luke Misa doesn’t have that top end speed, but it’s a solid 82-85 on the ol’ NHL 11 scale. Anticipation, vision, hands and passing were excellent in practice, and excellent in the game. Finished off a pretty three way passing play for a goal, and drove cross crease for a deft tuck around McCallum as well. Skating is closer to Lee Stempniak that Johnny Gaudreau. His head is always up and he looks visibly dialed in. He made a number of plays in the practices and the scrimmage that were the result of understanding where the play was gonna be before the people making it. There is zero hesitation in his game. But he is undersized. So who knows. What I will say is, Some Marty St Louis thunder thighs wouldn’t hurt your cause, kid. Good luck to you.

-Isa Parekh stood out for the third day in a row. I said a few days ago he doesn’t have Zayne’s elite puck skills, and he doesn’t - but he’s no slouch, and his skating is pretty near to his baby brother’s. We would do well to sign him now - #### college, kid - you can do that in the summer, you’ve already got a job.

-Basha, Gridin and Battaglia (No relation) need a couple years to fix different elements of their games, but there’s real NHL potential in all three.

Basha overhandles the puck. He’s a good stick handler, but he’s not that good a stick handler. Make the simple plays more easily, and his skill will take care of the rest. Skating is terrific for an 18-year old, by the time he’s 22 it could be elite. His Shot is legit.

Gridin has the elite skill you’re all thinking of when you picture a Russian teen leading his league in scoring. He also has the other thing you’re all thinking of with a Russian teen who led his league in scoring. His game lacks urgency at times. He had a particularly notable controller disconnect that caused a 2-on-0 and even when it was bleeding obvious what was going on, he still didn’t pick up his feet to back check. He’s 18, he’ll learn. His ceiling is Kuzmenko.

Battaglia (No relation) needs to get with the skating coach and figure it out, as they say. His shot is heavy, and he can dish it a bit as well.

My guess is 2 out of 3 become full time players at some point. If all three make it…

-Sam Morton was impressive as well. Made a lot of smart plays, and showed good finish. He’ll probably get a cup of coffee this year. He is undersized and his skating was just okay.

-Grushnikov snuffed out everything that came his way. He’s a top-6 blue liner at the NHL level right now, IMO.

-Brzustewicz had his best performance of the week. Spun off a few guys, made em miss, generated shots and chances. He’s no Parekh.

-Suniev and Silye moved well but didn’t produce much.

-Yegorov and Tung were the standouts in goal for me - Tung in particular and a nice sequence of saves off a giveaway that involved a poke check, rebound and glove save. Could be something there.

-Matt Coronato was better the first period than the second. I know it’s a dev camp, but he wasn’t in my top-5 most impressive players, and that should serve as a warning to him heading into camp. There might be lots of opportunity here, but the competition is fierce, and he could easily be surpassed if he doesn’t knuckle down.

-Honzek is big, skilled and fast. Concerns about this selection are wildly overblown unless injuries completely derail him.

-Carter King had a nice goal off the rush - shout out, Tacoman.

Congratulations to all the prospects who attended this week. Whatever happens moving forward, these aren’t Treliving’s Flames, and we should all get excited about that.