So I just watched part of the u18 game against the Czechs.
I had a few impressions.
Haydn Fleury is still a beast in my eyes. He literally does everything you need an NHL defenceman to do. He's got size, speed, he blocks shots, he hits, and he broke out of the zone every time he touches the puck. My one criticism is that he doesn't use his god given speed to jump into the play enough.
His speed, skill, size just stood out. The sky is the limit for him. I know most of the teams early in the first round don't need d, but I think he has to be one of the top ten picks regardless of team need.
I liked Roland mckewon too. But he's more a mid to late first. Not as noticeable, just a safe smart player.
Virtanen was the most noticeable Canadian forward. I think he solidified himself as a top ten guy.
You can definitely see why the scouts are excited about next year. Besides Virtanen the two other noticeable Canadian forwards were Barzal, and konecy(sp?), both are eligible for next years draft.
The two forwards that stood out were actually the two draft eligible Czechs, vrana and pastrnak.
Vrana looked dynamic. He's got decent size, but his speed made some of the Canadian d look slow. Also, he had a noticeably quick release and Craig button compared him to mike Cammaleri.
Pastrnak was my favourite player from what I saw. He was always around the puck giving the Canadians all sorts of problems. He must have got 5 steals from the half of the game I watched and most of those became scoring chances.
I would be thrilled if one of these guys was available at 34, but I have a feeling both will be gone by then. (Seems like a Detroit pick to me)
side note-- I've never had a posting with so many impossible names to spell.
Last edited by snipetype; 04-26-2014 at 12:55 PM.
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