Prospect Ramblings: Gauthier and Hischier WJC Standouts (Jan 05)
Paul Zwambag
2017-01-05
The WJC Gold Medal game is upon us. Thursday night’s tilt is a rematch of the New Year’s Eve battle between the United States and Canada. One particular player that has raised his level of play over the course of the tournament is Julien Gauthier (CAR). He has played the last few games with Pierre-Luc Dubois (CBJ) and Nicolas Roy (CAR).
Gauthier has recorded two goals in the past two games to move him into the top 10 in scoring at the World Junior tournament. Since the group play has ended, Gauthier has turned up his game immensely showing that he is going to be a dynamic force when he makes it into the NHL. He already has the NHL size and by the looks of the last two games he is starting to use his size to his advantage.
There are reports out that Guathier will be headed to a new city on the far east coast after the tournament is finished. It has not been made official, but should be announced Friday after the tournament wraps up. QMJHL players are not permitted to be traded during the tournament, hence waiting until Friday to make it official. Gauthier played his first four years with Val-d’Or but will be headed to St. John to finish his final junior year with the Sea Dogs, who are loading up to make a deep run in the QMJHL Championship. The Sea Dogs have a lot of talent already up front, so adding Gauthier will help his numbers as well as his teammates. Gauthier will join fellow WJ Canadian teammates Mathieu Joseph (TB) and Thomas Chabot (OTT) in Saint John.
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Another player who has my full attention is Nico Hischier (2017 Eligible), in our Preview episode of DobberProspects Radio we discussed Hischier being a kid to watch in the tournament. Nico did not disappoint, everybody now knows who Nico Hischier is and will be watching where his name will be called come June 2017 at the NHL Draft. I will be tuning in to many more Halifax Mooseheads' games on QMJHL Live. In his first season in "The Q" he has recorded 48 points (23-25) in 31 games played. He is a dynamic forward who currently sits in the top-10 of the WJC scoring. He didn't crack under the WJC spotlight. Keep an eye on him in your fantasy drafts this summer.
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As for disappointments at the tournament, you will have to tune in to the next episode of Dobber Prospects Radio to find out who caught my eye with their ‘suspect’ game play. There were a few who had me shaking my head many times throughout their games.
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Now it is time for me to tune in to the Bronze Medal game to see if Team Sweden will finally play Rasmus Dahlin (2018 Eligible) more than a single period. (hence the confused tweet after Canada vs Sweden semifinal Game!)
Cont…just setting him up to fail? Threw Dahlin into the fire. Don't judge his game on one period of play you saw last night. #2018NHLDraft
— ?Paul Zwambag? (@zwambag) January 5, 2017
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This coming episode of DobberProspects Radio is going to be covering all things WJC, from Peter’s live viewings of the Preliminary games to my thoughts on some players from across all the countries. Tune in for that at the beginning of next week, we are recording episode 9 on Tuesday evening, so it will be published Wednesday afternoon. Keep your eyes on our DPR show twitter account (@DPR_Show) for your latest podcast information. You can find our latest show notes here, where we previewed ‘Players to Watch’ at the World Juniors. Give us a five star review on iTunes, it will really help us continue to get top guests and keep producing high quality shows. Thanks in advance!
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Feel free to leave comments, questions or concerns below, have fun playing the game of Fantasy Hockey.
Paul Zwambag
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