2017/18 World Junior Championship U20

[My3Sons]

Even if you just straight up used NHLe to predict his point totals in the NHL for next season (D+2), which is highly suspect anyways, in 40 games he'd have 31 points but only 15 even strength points. Hischier has 21 even strength points in 40 games in his D+1 season, and even strength production has always been a better metric for looking at current and future success as you spend most of the game at even strength, and power plays are not always consistently strong from year to year.

Pettersson has a lot of talent, but he also has a lot of refining to do before he can be a well rounded NHL player like Hischier already is today.

It’s Nicos’ commitment to the two way game that landed him the 1C spot. He is doing his scoring damage at 5 on 5. If Pettersson can’t compete physically next year on those terms the melt should he get sent to the AHL to work on those parts of his game would be pretty funny. I’m sure he will be an excellent player at some point but he may become the cautionary tale for simple stat watching.

 

[Ech0]

Not sure if anyone saw this, but I thought this was a nice insightful look from Castron.

 

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Not sure if anyone saw this, but I thought this was a nice insightful look from Castron.

Here are, for instance, his words about Marian Studenic:

Marian Studenic - Slovakia - 5GP, minus-1
"I love the way he's playing. He doesn't have a lot to play with on that team. They just don't have a lot of depth, but I think he's their best player. His skating is really good. His hockey sense, playmaking, he takes it to the net all the time, uses his feet a lot … they just don't have enough depth for him to be able to be a consistent offensive threat, but I think he's been their best player, even though I don't think he had a point in the tournament.
"He takes the puck hard to the net a lot, so I'd like to see him convert more on those opportunities, but he's unbelievable with his speed and skill and played in all situations and created a lot of opportunities for a team that didn't score a lot here. I really like the way he played."

 

[Devils Dominion]

Not sure if anyone saw this, but I thought this was a nice insightful look from Castron.

So McLeod's job will be to not get scored on?

Isn't a 12th overall forward's job to create scoring chances and score goals, not a checker?

Besides his straight line skating, which is very good, I didn't see much else in the WJC.
He coughed up the puck too much and wasn't physical anywhere on the ice.
He didn't play like a top prospect, although he was given such limited ice time.

Thoughts?

 

[TheUnseenHand]

So McLeod's job will be to not get scored on?

Isn't a 12th overall forward's job to create scoring chances and score goals, not a checker?

Besides his straight line skating, which is very good, I didn't see much else in the WJC.
He coughed up the puck too much and wasn't physical anywhere on the ice.
He didn't play like a top prospect, although he was given such limited ice time.

Thoughts?

I'm frankly a bit worried about Mikey. Wayyy too early to call anything one way or another, but he does seem like a guy that relies on physical tools to succeed, and he won't have that advantage in the NHL.

 

[NJDevils17]

Castron was almost brutally honest about guys. You never see that. Pretty interesting read.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Castron was almost brutally honest about guys. You never see that. Pretty interesting read.

He was basically talking to each player, what they need to work on.

 

[Zippy316]

I'm frankly a bit worried about Mikey. Wayyy too early to call anything one way or another, but he does seem like a guy that relies on physical tools to succeed, and he won't have that advantage in the NHL.

There is room to be concerned, but on the flip side, he seems like a guy that's willing to do whatever it takes to win and works his ass off.

Those are the types of guys you want to bet on to succeed -- just look at Wood this year versus last.

 

[devilsblood]

There is room to be concerned, but on the flip side, he seems like a guy that's willing to do whatever it takes to win and works his ass off.

Those are the types of guys you want to bet on to succeed -- just look at Wood this year versus last.

Especially when those players have excellent size and speed.

 

[devilsblood]

found Castron's thoughts on Zetterlund were funny. Kid needs to stay out of the gym.

 

[Emperoreddy]

He also said a checker role is how he will carve out an immediate NHL role, now that he is always going to be a checker.

Many hockey folks want to see their young guys commit to the defensive game before they give them regular minutes. It is something this staff has wanted out of Zacha, and it is a big reason they love Nico so much.

Basically he doesn’t need to light the world on fire offensively for them to feel he had a successful rookie season.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

found Castron's thoughts on Zetterlund were funny. Kid needs to stay out of the gym.

Second time that was said about him in a week. The Swedish coach said the same thing.

 

[Lou is God]

Second time that was said about him in a week. The Swedish coach said the same thing.

Wonder if they think he's not going to be "loose" enough to play hockey. I dunno, why else ask him to stop going to gym, or cut back is what I'm sure they're saying.

 

[Darkauron]

He does look very stocky and very well built. I guess he doesn't really need any more muscle but to instead just work on his on ice game I guess. That is pretty interesting.

 

[Devils Dominion]

Second time that was said about him in a week. The Swedish coach said the same thing.

McLeod could use some time in the gym though

 

[Tretyak 20]

So McLeod's job will be to not get scored on?

Isn't a 12th overall forward's job to create scoring chances and score goals, not a checker?

Besides his straight line skating, which is very good, I didn't see much else in the WJC.
He coughed up the puck too much and wasn't physical anywhere on the ice.
He didn't play like a top prospect, although he was given such limited ice time.

Thoughts?

I think you need to sit down with an Excel spreadsheet and figure out how much patience and how much acceptance you have for each of our prospects and young players.

Then you need to multiply the results by three, have a beer and chill out.

 

[Tretyak 20]

Wonder if they think he's not going to be "loose" enough to play hockey. I dunno, why else ask him to stop going to gym, or cut back is what I'm sure they're saying.

Kinda reminds me of when Jagr said he changed his off season routine and actually tried to loose like 20 lbs. Said it improved his speed and that the NHL is now a speed league and not a strength league.

 

[Emperoreddy]