Kanzig for me again.
He is a behemoth of a prospect, and he can skate. He skates fast. Just needs to increase his agility and lateral movement a bit. However, with his size and reach, he can be a very effective defencemen even with compromised lateral ability.
The guy is apparently one of the (if not THE) hardest working and most determined amongst the prospects. Apparently a very smart guy too. I don't think he will ever be a top 4 guy, but he may have the ability to impact a game more than any other prospect left on the board - especially when you factor in what division the Flames play in. He also doesn't handle the puck like a grenade either. I think he handles the puck and passes better than Regehr did - though I am eager to see how he does in the pros with less time and space out there before calling him competent in that regard. Against his peers, he was better than I thought. It isn't like he can't get better as he gets exposed to better competition and more coaching either.
I really like Sieloff. I thought he was a legitimate 'safe' player to end up being a contributing bottom-pairing (or maybe even a bit higher if things went really well) defencemen who can add a bit of a nasty streak that the Flames really need from their back-end. Decent skater, good mobility, great shot, and good first pass. I just see a kid who doesn't have quiet the skill-set to deviate from that hard-nosed style, but gets injured when he does. Bourque - and to a lesser degree - Jones, were the poster boys for this. Bourque was a very difficult player to play against and was very effective I thought (remember when the talk was how Iginla would be passing the torch to him?). His tough and effective style resulted in injuries, and he returned playing that peripheral no-good game of his. He would then start going on a bit of a tear playing more physical again, only to get another injury and come back once more as that frustrating player. So far, Sieloff seems to be a victim of the same thing here. Can he rebound and become that player? Yes, I think he could. I just think the risk now, coupled with his lack of playing and POSSIBLE impaired development, has me thinking it won't happen.
Kanzig could be a very dominating defencemen - as dominating as any bottom-pairing defender can be anyways - and he has enough determination to make me think he may actually get there.
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