American Prospect Update Thread

[SPORTSMANIAC]

Bailey has just signed with the Kitchener Rangers.

http://www.kitchenerrangers.com/article/rangers-sign-justin-bailey

Likely a three year kid so it must cost the Rangers 300,000 to sign him

 

[Ward Cornell]

Likely a three year kid so it must cost the Rangers 300,000 to sign him

At the minimum but they must be getting close to their salary cap!

 

[SPORTSMANIAC]

At the minimum but they must be getting close to their salary cap!

I think the OHL might loosen the salary cap just for the Rangers

 

[WesternCollegeHockey]

At the minimum but they must be getting close to their salary cap!

Why do you think guys like Boughner and Hunter only last a year or two in the NHL? Salary caps are for suckers.

 

[Joe Zanussi]

Does anybody know anything about a Massachusetts kid named Connor Brassard from Cushing Academy?

 

[PanthersFan1980]

Tied for scoring lead with Bracco is another name that just keeps popping up is Luke Kirwan. Kid crushed the Empire league this year, almost doubled what Eichel put up at the same age. Thought maybe it was because he played with Tuch but doesn't look the case now. Pretty crazy he's only a September birthday, many feel he'll be in Canada as soon as he can play there, possibly #1 overall pick in OHL if he commits to playing there. Playing in the EJHL for the Junior Islanders next year.

Just saw that Kirwan won the scoring title for national camp. I saw him play and he is a similar player to Alex Ovechkin with his size,speed and aggressiveness.

 

[VOB]

Why do you think guys like Boughner and Hunter only last a year or two in the NHL? Salary caps are for suckers.

Heard Michigan State offered him and his family the use of a get-away paradise villa in the U.P. for the 4yrs he would play for them, a 20ft fishing boat, free satalite T.V. and all the milk they wanted from State's famed dairy farms...but that just couldn't match Kitchener's million dollar contract.

 

[Miller4Gold]

Why do you think guys like Boughner and Hunter only last a year or two in the NHL? Salary caps are for suckers.

I'm actually under the impression that they have brought in the NCAA Football salary cap for under the table payments .

They have millions left to spend.

 

[William H Bonney]

Connor Clifton (D) has joined the NTDP U18 squad. Makese sense, he played with the team last year a bit.

 

[WeissFC]

A couple of American features are up on Future Considerations as we gear into the 2012-13 season.

Pre-Ivan Hlinka Feature: Devin Williams http://futureconsiderations.ca/williams-primed-for-hlinka-breakout/

Pre-Junior Evaluation Camp Feature: Ryan Hartman http://futureconsiderations.ca/hartman-spending-summer-camping/

 

[William H Bonney]

The U17 Five Nations squad beat the Czechs 6-2 today in their exhibition game. Shane Gersich named Team USA's player of the game with 2 goals.

http://www.usahockey.com/Template_Usahockey.aspx?NAV=TU_04_03_05&id=318263

 

[MuckOG]

The U17 Five Nations squad beat the Czechs 6-2 today in their exhibition game. Shane Gersich named Team USA's player of the game with 2 goals.

A future star in the making with an excellent bloodline.

 

[William H Bonney]

A future star in the making with an excellent bloodline.

It seems that way. The '96 USA forward group by all accounts is extremely strong at this point, both in depth and in top end talent. The defense/goalies are the big question marks right now.

Another thing I like is that some of the top end '96s are with the NTDP (Eichel, Tuch, etc.) and some are not (Gersich, Schmaltz, Clarke, etc.). Should be a fun forward group to watch develop.

 

[MuckOG]

It seems that way. The '96 USA forward group by all accounts is extremely strong at this point, both in depth and in top end talent. The defense/goalies are the big question marks right now.

Another thing I like is that some of the top end '96s are with the NTDP (Eichel, Tuch, etc.) and some are not (Gersich, Schmaltz, Clarke, etc.). Should be a fun forward group to watch develop.

Another '96 player to keep an eye on is Ryan Norman, playing with Shattuck currently....

 

[herbst20]

Was Birdsall in net? Excited to see him in Cedar Rapids this year

 

[William H Bonney]

Sonny Milano, high scoring forward that's joining the NTDP U17 team, committed to Notre Dame.

In news about the 5 Nations Tournament, the Select U17 team defeated Switzerland 5-0 today. Chris Birdsall had the shutout but Team USA took a big loss as Shane Gersich is out of the tournament with a separated shoulder. The highly touted Minnesota high school player had 1 G and 4 A in their first two games as the team's captain.

http://usahockey.com/Template_Usahockey.aspx?NAV=TU_04_03_05&id=318359

 

[William H Bonney]

The Select U17 team beat Slovakia 4-2 today and finished the Five Nations Tournament undefeated (4-0) to win the tournament.

http://usahockey.com/Template_Usahockey.aspx?NAV=TU_04_03_05&id=318404

 

[William H Bonney]

NTDP rosters have been posted for the 2012-2013 season:

U-18 Roster​

Forwards (x12):

F - Evan Allen
F - J.T. Compher
F - Dawson Cook
F - Shane Eiserman
F - Hudson Fasching
F - John Hayden
F - Tyler Kelleher
F - Kevin Labanc
F - Anthony Louis
F - Sean Malone
F - Michael McCarron
F - Tyler Motte

Defense (x8):

D - Gage Ausmus
D - Will Butcher
D - Connor Clifton
D - Trevor Hamilton
D - Clint Lewis
D - Steven Santini
D - Scott Savage
D - Keaton Thompson

Goalies (x3):

G - Thatcher Demko
G - Curtis Frye
G - Hunter Miska

http://usahockey.com/USANTDP/Roster.aspx

U-17 Roster​

Forwards (x12):

F - Anders Bjork
F - Jack Eichel
F - Jared Fiegl
F - Ryan Hitchcock
F - Dylan Larkin
F - Ryan MacInnis
F - Sonny Milano
F - Dylan Pavelek
F - Nolan Stevens
F - Alex Tuch
F - Joe Wegwerth
F - Chris Wilkie

Defense (x8):

D - Louis Belpedio
D - Nathan Billitier
D - Ryan Bliss
D - Ryan Collins
D - Brandon Fortunato
D - Jack Glover
D - Jonathan MacLeod
D - Joshua Wesley

Goalies (x2):

G- Edwin Minney
G - Blake Weyrick

http://usahockey.com/Under_17_Roster.aspx

 

[William H Bonney]

Was Birdsall in net? Excited to see him in Cedar Rapids this year

He was throughout I believe.

Birdsall just committed to Boston College as well. Great pickup for them.

 

[wings5]

How do you expect the teams to do this season WHB?

 

[DekeLikeYouMeanIt]

Hey William, apart from Eichel and MacInnis' kid. Who should we keep an eye on from the U17 group?

 

[William H Bonney]

How do you expect the teams to do this season WHB?

Both teams have question marks, specifically in goal. The '95 squad is very good and deep at forward and defense but the goalies let them down so much that they've decided to carry 3 this year and added Thatcher Demko. I think Demko will help stabilize the position and Miksa, who hasn't been a goalie long will be better as well, and Frye probably won't see much of any action unless he's drastically improved.

The '96 squad has a great group of forwards led by Eichel who's being touted as one of our best forward prospects in a long time at this stage. The defense and goalie are groups are question marks though. Minney was on the youth olympics squad and apparently looked good but got hurt. The defense has some hard nosed guys and some guys with good upside but no real standouts at this point but there's some potential. I'd venture to say they'll be in a lot of high scoring games this year.

Hey William, apart from Eichel and MacInnis' kid. Who should we keep an eye on from the U17 group?

Apart from Eichel, I'd keep an eye out on Alex Tuch, Dylan Larkin, and Sonny Milano. I'm interested to see how MacInnis does just because from everything I've read he seems to be a kid folks are hoping turns out well because of his name, his size, and his skill but that he's a player that hasn't really put any of it together. I hope he does and there are others here more informed on him than I am but I hope folks temper their expectations for him until he has at least 15-20 games under his belt in the USHL. We'll know a lot more about all these guys at that point.

 

[William H Bonney]

By looking at the box scores (4 games + 1 exhibition) on USA Hockey's site, here's how the following top players did at the Ivan Hlinka:

Adam Erne: 5g, 3a
Anthony DeAngelo: 0g, 7a
Gabe Guertler: 3g, 3a
Justin Bailey: 2g, 1a

While it was a disappointing result, it's not surprising. The US team is always such a hodgepodge group and when you intentionally choose not to include a large majority of your best players you can't expect results unless you're Canada. Taylor Cammarata and Ian McCoshen probably would have changed this team entirely but the World Junior Cup is a great opportunity for them with Waterloo and that just happened to fall this year.

I'm excited that Erne had a strong tournament as I really feel he can get into play for the WJC team. Hopefully DeAngelo can continue to rein in his aggressiveness and round out his defensive game as well.

With that, I really hope USAH stops treating this tournament as a throwaway. I understand they want to evaluate a wider range of players but they're not doing their top players (like Erne) any favors to play here with substandard teammates or the others (like Compher, Motte, etc.) any opportunities to sit at home. I'm not suggesting they send the full NTDP squad but I'd love to see a blended squad where the top prospects from the NTDP (Compher, Motte, Santini, Butcher, etc.) play alongside the standouts from the Select 17 camp. You'd get more consistent results and allow your top players continued development, scouting opportunities, and a chance to play with some of the other top players that they may actually play with down the line such as Erne and DeAngelo. I'd also like to see some underagers brought on when they're high end guys like maybe an Eichel this year or a Noah Hanifin/Zach Werenski next year.

 

[DekeLikeYouMeanIt]

Apart from Eichel, I'd keep an eye out on Alex Tuch, Dylan Larkin, and Sonny Milano. I'm interested to see how MacInnis does just because from everything I've read he seems to be a kid folks are hoping turns out well because of his name, his size, and his skill but that he's a player that hasn't really put any of it together. I hope he does and there are others here more informed on him than I am but I hope folks temper their expectations for him until he has at least 15-20 games under his belt in the USHL. We'll know a lot more about all these guys at that point.

Thanks! Glanced at Larkin's stat sheet. I see a drop in productivity (was much more than a PPG) and also missed a lot of games. Any idea what happened?

 

[cagney]

With that, I really hope USAH stops treating this tournament as a throwaway. I understand they want to evaluate a wider range of players but they're not doing their top players (like Erne) any favors to play here with substandard teammates or the others (like Compher, Motte, etc.) any opportunities to sit at home. I'm not suggesting they send the full NTDP squad but I'd love to see a blended squad where the top prospects from the NTDP (Compher, Motte, Santini, Butcher, etc.) play alongside the standouts from the Select 17 camp. You'd get more consistent results and allow your top players continued development, scouting opportunities, and a chance to play with some of the other top players that they may actually play with down the line such as Erne and DeAngelo. I'd also like to see some underagers brought on when they're high end guys like maybe an Eichel this year or a Noah Hanifin/Zach Werenski next year.

I'd be interested in seeing that happen but I really don't think it ever will. USA Hockey likes keeping the NTDP reputation as strong as possible and if they cut their own to make room for others and risked the possibility of a "top" US team not performing well against the Canadians in "their" tournament it could hurt them. On the other side, people who aren't fans of the NTDP mostly like the fact that players outside of the NTDP get their chance to play at a major tournament. The only people who would really want to push for it are fans of American hockey and the international game but there aren't many of us out there.

Thanks! Glanced at Larkin's stat sheet. I see a drop in productivity (was much more than a PPG) and also missed a lot of games. Any idea what happened?

He was injured most of this year. It's also pretty common in US youth hockey for stats to tail off a bit when making the jump from bantam to midget. Larkin is definitely well regarded though.