Photo courtesy of https://www.farjestadbk.se/ February is almost over, and the regular season in the SHL is slowly coming to an end as well. A lot has happened throughout the past month, so here is a quick recap of all the important news, updates, and prospect reports with my observations and some interesting [...]
"Out of an abundance of caution, we have canceled our upcoming session due to potential exposure of COVID-19". Get used to this statement. We are likely to it hear often. We are roughly two weeks removed from NHL training camps opening their doors, and we have had four teams cancel practice, with one postponing their [...]
The New York Islanders underwent some pretty heavy plastic surgery over the course of the offseason. They made three big swaps: Shipping inconsistent young forward Ryan Strome to Edmonton in exchange for offensive winger Jordan Eberle; donating a first and a second round pick to Vegas in exchange for them taking Mikhail Grabovski’s contract as [...]
The Islanders continue to boast one of the best prospect pools in the league. The talent they have up front is unparalleled, with the possible exception of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The impressive part about the Islanders is that they have, for the most part, been able to accumulate this talent using mid to late [...]
It has been an eventful offseason in Brooklyn, and the Islanders will ice a very different roster in 2016-17. While free agent signings Andrew Ladd, Jason Chimera and Pierre-Alexander Parenteau will help the Islanders in competing next season, the team has also done a lot to set themselves up for longer term success. Draft Recap [...]
Tuesday, August 19th
Congratulations to Team Canada on winning it’s seven consecutive Ivan Hlinka Memorial gold medal after defeating the Czech’s 6-2 last weekend! The Canadians remain a dominant force at the Hlinka tournament sending it’s best (well, nearly their best) to this event every year. With Hockey Canada’s established rules, Connor McDavid was not in the lineup despite being eligible because he has already played with the U20 squad. Imagine how silly he’d make the opposition look? Regardless, this event provides scouts with its first scouting outing of the 2015 NHL Draft season and there were certainly some standouts that came to the surface.
Matthew Barzal – Playing on a line with 2013 OHL 1st overall pick and Rookie of the Year, Travis Konecny, Barzal racked up two goals and six points to place second in Team Canada in scoring. The Seattle Thunderbird is a 2012 1st overall pick of the WHL’s Bantam Draft and has been a highly touted prospect for several years now. He’s in the discussion as a potential Top 5 pick for the upcoming 2015 draft because of his quick hands, creativity and lethal playmaking abilities.
Mitchell Marner – Anyone who follows my work, knows how much I raved about this undersized forward last year during his outstanding OHL rookie campaign. It took Marner some time to find the game sheet with consistency at the Hlinka tournament but he was a threat everytime he touched the ice and eventually launched himself to the top of Canada’s scoring charts (5-2-5-7). Slippery and creative, he enters the 2015 draft as one of the elite playmakers and his ability to create chances with astonishing consistency is very rare.
Travis Konecny – As mentioned about, Konecny is known for his dynamic skating abilities and weapon of a shot, that he unleashes in top flight. With five goals and six points, Konecny was among the leading scorers and should challenge for the 2nd OHL player selected at the draft (McDavid has #1 locked up).
