More from Upside's E-Mac on why he loved this young gun - this was pre-draft commentary on differences between his and Bob McKenzie's rankings:
(well, we got him in the 3rd!)
"#26 (Bob – 66) – Aidar Suniev - I get that Suniev could be 2nd round but 3rd – no way. Suniev just has too many high-end qualities to not be at least 2nd round if not late 1st – Results, shot, one-timer, finish, creativity, passing, puck protection, forecheck and compete level. Critics point to his skating as his major flaw. While I agree that his acceleration could use some work, his top speed is satisfactory enough for a guy that is 6’2, 192 to succeed in the NHL."
Conroy says he tried to trade up to the end of the 2nd round to select Suniev but lucky that he still fell to them at 80.
Just goes to show, you never know how things will turn out. We might have given up an asset to pick him at 64 but instead we still get him 16 picks later. Glad it worked out, now I just hope the players pans out.
"Critics point to his skating as his major flaw. While I agree that his acceleration could use some work, his top speed is satisfactory enough for a guy that is 6’2, 192 to succeed in the NHL."
Good thing we have an amazing skating coach in Danielle Fujita!
__________________ I wish I could delete all the stupid sht I have posted here as a 14year old
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How is this kid not a first round talent? The skills are off the chart.
His skating looks fine. Shot looks elite. Passing and puck handling look great.
And he's big too?
He looks like Iggy the way scores those goals with his one timers and quick releases. Some good hands, vision in close and those quick passes in tight spaces.
More from Upside's E-Mac on why he loved this young gun - this was pre-draft commentary on differences between his and Bob McKenzie's rankings:
(well, we got him in the 3rd!)
"#26 (Bob – 66) – Aidar Suniev - I get that Suniev could be 2nd round but 3rd – no way. Suniev just has too many high-end qualities to not be at least 2nd round if not late 1st – Results, shot, one-timer, finish, creativity, passing, puck protection, forecheck and compete level. Critics point to his skating as his major flaw. While I agree that his acceleration could use some work, his top speed is satisfactory enough for a guy that is 6’2, 192 to succeed in the NHL."
Watching his skating on highlights I agree with the assessment. To me his inefficiencies appear to be more about his default posture, and raw power, both feed into his acceleration.
Otherwise his mechanics, quickness, and edge-work look excellent. As he grows into his body and gets man strength the power in his stride should take care of itself.
In my opinion his skating reminds me of Patrick Marleau’s at the same age. Not elite turnover, but excellent mechanics that can leverage more power as he builds leg strength.
On the High Performance Hockey Podcast, Sharks strength & conditioning coach Mike Potenza discussed how Patrick also didn’t have great stride turnover by the force into the ice the raw power his legs were capable of generating is what gave him elite speed.
The question is if Aydar can grow/build similar raw power like Patrick, then he could be a hell of a pick.
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Good thing we have an amazing skating coach in Danielle Fujita!
Not to dismiss this, but what Flame has improved their skating under her? I’ve seen plenty of NHLers improve their skating under coaching (Point for example), but it seems like some take a few sessions but don’t follow up with the training enough to actually effect a change. Tkachuk took summer lessons from the same coach as Point a few years ago. Nothing changed.
This may be a little sacrilegious but based solely on watching the highlights, Suniev reminds me a little bit of the last #19 we had, minus the swag and #### disturbing.
Not to dismiss this, but what Flame has improved their skating under her? I’ve seen plenty of NHLers improve their skating under coaching (Point for example), but it seems like some take a few sessions but don’t follow up with the training enough to actually effect a change. Tkachuk took summer lessons from the same coach as Point a few years ago. Nothing changed.
Not to dismiss you, but this "working on skating" thing is total horsecrap. If you are at the age of getting drafted, you cannot "work on your skating" unless you get hip surgery. It is locked in at that point. I'd say he needs to go to Belfry and work with what he is, that's the coach I want him with.
Not to dismiss you, but this "working on skating" thing is total horsecrap. If you are at the age of getting drafted, you cannot "work on your skating" unless you get hip surgery. It is locked in at that point. I'd say he needs to go to Belfry and work with what he is, that's the coach I want him with.
Tkachuk is a brutal skater but it doesn't matter.
Its like saying he needs to work on his height.
I wouldn’t say that. Knock on Bo Horvat when he was drafted was skating, he developed into a very powerful skater.
It depends on the player, you can improve and adding strength to your legs is just one way.
From the videos of Suniev, I don’t think skating is going to be that big an issue. He looks very fluid out there and I’m guessing it’s going to be about strengthening his legs.
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Calgary Flames, PLEASE GO TO THE NET! AND SHOOT THE PUCK! GENERATING OFFENSE IS NOT DIFFICULT! SKATE HARD, SHOOT HARD, CRASH THE NET HARD!
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