Jeff Tambellini

[McSorley 33]

Jeff Tambellini was taken 27th over all in the 2003 draft by the Kings. He's rated a 7.5b. As a Kings fan I would like to know how good of a player Jeff is and is going to be. I never hear much about him on the boards, if at all. Can I get impressions of him from those that know. What kind of player is he going to be, who's he compared too, does he have potential to be a star like Frolov. I watched him a few times this year in Michigan on Fox College Sports. He looked good, o.k. I guess. He's pretty fast, yet fragile and isn't a hitter. What do you guys think.

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[Blane Youngblood]

Jeff Tambellini was taken 27th over all in the 2003 draft by the Kings. He's rated a 7.5b. As a Kings fan I would like to know how good of a player Jeff is and is going to be. I never hear much about him on the boards, if at all. Can I get impressions of him from those that know. What kind of player is he going to be, who's he compared too, does he have potential to be a star like Frolov. I watched him a few times this year in Michigan on Fox College Sports. He looked good, o.k. I guess. He's pretty fast, yet fragile and isn't a hitter. What do you guys think.

I've only seen him like 5 times but I'm generally unimpressed with his play. I think you already know what kind of player he is, and I would rate him more as a 7C.

 

[Funkymoses]

I have Michigan season tickets, so this is from an educated, biased source:

Tambellini has a great shot, certainly the best shooter I've seen play for Michigan. He prefers a wrister that leaves his stick almost instantaneously and is really hard for the goaltender to read. He's also super, super fast and can play effectively at speed. He doesn't have the super stickwork a lot of top scorers have, but give him the puck and a little bit of room and he'll get off an accurate, heavy shot.

His defense has improved a lot over the past three years; he led Michigan in +/- this year with a +30 and uses his speed to backcheck frequently. There's a good chance that a potential odd-man rush will be nullified if Tambellini's on the ice.

Next year he'll captain Michigan.

Drawbacks: he's small for an NHL player.

I think he's an excellent player who can be a 30 goal NHL scorer. His game translates easily to the NHL--he does not rely upon stickwork like it does for a lot of collegiate scorers, and he'll still have an A+ shot and speed to beat just about anyone he comes up against. I think he's even a little underrated by HF.

 

[McSorley 33]

I have Michigan season tickets, so this is from an educated, biased source:

Tambellini has a great shot, certainly the best shooter I've seen play for Michigan. He prefers a wrister that leaves his stick almost instantaneously and is really hard for the goaltender to read. He's also super, super fast and can play effectively at speed. He doesn't have the super stickwork a lot of top scorers have, but give him the puck and a little bit of room and he'll get off an accurate, heavy shot.

His defense has improved a lot over the past three years; he led Michigan in +/- this year with a +30 and uses his speed to backcheck frequently. There's a good chance that a potential odd-man rush will be nullified if Tambellini's on the ice.

Next year he'll captain Michigan.

Drawbacks: he's small for an NHL player.

I think he's an excellent player who can be a 30 goal NHL scorer. His game translates easily to the NHL--he does not rely upon stickwork like it does for a lot of collegiate scorers, and he'll still have an A+ shot and speed to beat just about anyone he comes up against. I think he's even a little underrated by HF.

Thanks for the information. Tough to get any thing on this kid. Nobody talks about him and he was one of our 1st round picks. Do you think he is worthy of a 1st round pick?

 

[FLYLine27*]

I have Michigan season tickets, so this is from an educated, biased source:

Tambellini has a great shot, certainly the best shooter I've seen play for Michigan. He prefers a wrister that leaves his stick almost instantaneously and is really hard for the goaltender to read. He's also super, super fast and can play effectively at speed. He doesn't have the super stickwork a lot of top scorers have, but give him the puck and a little bit of room and he'll get off an accurate, heavy shot.

His defense has improved a lot over the past three years; he led Michigan in +/- this year with a +30 and uses his speed to backcheck frequently. There's a good chance that a potential odd-man rush will be nullified if Tambellini's on the ice.

Next year he'll captain Michigan.

Drawbacks: he's small for an NHL player.

I think he's an excellent player who can be a 30 goal NHL scorer. His game translates easily to the NHL--he does not rely upon stickwork like it does for a lot of collegiate scorers, and he'll still have an A+ shot and speed to beat just about anyone he comes up against. I think he's even a little underrated by HF.

Agreed, i havnt seen as many games as you but ive seen about half a dozen...I think he can easily be a 2nd liner in the NHL if he get past his size. And like you said...hes has got one HELL of a shot. One of the best ive seen by a prospect.

 

[FLYLine27*]

Thanks for the information. Tough to get any thing on this kid. Nobody talks about him and he was one of our 1st round picks. Do you think he is worthy of a 1st round pick?

27th overall...1st round....worthy of a 1st round pick?...simple answer, yes. By the way he completely RIPPED IT UP in the playoffs this season. So id consider him a big game player as well.

 

[tomerez]

I have Michigan season tickets, so this is from an educated, biased source:

Tambellini has a great shot, certainly the best shooter I've seen play for Michigan. He prefers a wrister that leaves his stick almost instantaneously and is really hard for the goaltender to read. He's also super, super fast and can play effectively at speed. He doesn't have the super stickwork a lot of top scorers have, but give him the puck and a little bit of room and he'll get off an accurate, heavy shot.

His defense has improved a lot over the past three years; he led Michigan in +/- this year with a +30 and uses his speed to backcheck frequently. There's a good chance that a potential odd-man rush will be nullified if Tambellini's on the ice.

Next year he'll captain Michigan.

Drawbacks: he's small for an NHL player.

I think he's an excellent player who can be a 30 goal NHL scorer. His game translates easily to the NHL--he does not rely upon stickwork like it does for a lot of collegiate scorers, and he'll still have an A+ shot and speed to beat just about anyone he comes up against. I think he's even a little underrated by HF.

Funkymoses tells you it as well as anybody will be able to.

Tambellini plays beyond his size and I'm confident he'll be effective in the NHL, though I too am biased. By the way, I've seen Tambellini in the range of 20-30 times.

 

[McSorley 33]

I hope he has a solid year next year and gets some attention for his play!

 

[Legionnaire]

I hope he has a solid year next year and gets some attention for his play!

He doesn't get the hype because he plays in an American Uni. If he were playing juniors, he'd be way up there in the minds of a lot of people.


Not that it means too much, but Sydney Crosby did say that he was the most talented player he'd ever played with.

 

[Legionnaire]

I have Michigan season tickets, so this is from an educated, biased source:

Tambellini has a great shot, certainly the best shooter I've seen play for Michigan. He prefers a wrister that leaves his stick almost instantaneously and is really hard for the goaltender to read. He's also super, super fast and can play effectively at speed. He doesn't have the super stickwork a lot of top scorers have, but give him the puck and a little bit of room and he'll get off an accurate, heavy shot.

His defense has improved a lot over the past three years; he led Michigan in +/- this year with a +30 and uses his speed to backcheck frequently. There's a good chance that a potential odd-man rush will be nullified if Tambellini's on the ice.

Next year he'll captain Michigan.

Drawbacks: he's small for an NHL player.

I think he's an excellent player who can be a 30 goal NHL scorer. His game translates easily to the NHL--he does not rely upon stickwork like it does for a lot of collegiate scorers, and he'll still have an A+ shot and speed to beat just about anyone he comes up against. I think he's even a little underrated by HF.

When he was first drafted, I was a bit hesitant. Then OC told me how great his shot was, after that I actually saw him play, and I was relieved. Most natural talent I've seen.

 

[McSorley 33]

Is Tambellini going to stay for his senior year or for go it an turn pro? I did hear a rumor he might leave early?

 

[bral]

For the Michigan fans...How would you compare the college careers of Cammalleri and Tambs thus far? I know it's a little early to judge but i'm just trying to get an idea of were each player stands in the minds of Mich. fans. When he was drafted Tambellini said he can't wait to get to L.A and play with his fellow Wolverine Cammalleri, I feel the same way.

 

[saba]

The guy is a winner and I see him having success at the NHL level

 

[Old Hickory]

so this thread says we have him overrated and underrated. So does that mean we have him rated correctly?

 

[Levitate]

from what i saw of him, he does indeed have a good shot and seems to have that "scorers instinct" where he ends up in the right place at the right time. but...i often didn't notice him much at all until he actually scored. good thing or bad thing? could be what funkymoses said...he doesn't stick handle a lot and just rips off shots so you don't notice him a lot until he rips a shot and scores, compared to a guy like hensik who skates in circles for half a minute with the puck

i might be hesitant about annointing him a 30 goal scorer in the NHL because honestly there are and have been a lot of prospects with great shots, but since it's not like he's a crappy skater to go along with it or anything...probably at least has a decent chance at making a NHL career

 

[Funkymoses]

Is Tambellini going to stay for his senior year or for go it an turn pro? I did hear a rumor he might leave early?

I'm hesitant to declare that he won't since Michigan's gotten burned a lot over the years, but I would be *really* surprised if Tambellini didn't play for Michigan next year.

In regard to a Cam/Tambellini comparison, they're different players. Cam definitely has more flash to his game but isn't as fast a skater. Tambellini's a better defensive player. I think they're very close as collegiate players. Obviously Cam is closer to the NHL now but if they were the same age I'd be hard pressed to decide which I'd rather have.

Tambellini is an involved guy, plays the point on the PP and led the Wolverines in shots by a wide, wide margin this year. He'll fire it from anywhere. And he did end up with 57 points to lead Michigan and finish third in scoring nationwide this year. He's good.

 

[McSorley 33]

I'm hesitant to declare that he won't since Michigan's gotten burned a lot over the years, but I would be *really* surprised if Tambellini didn't play for Michigan next year.

In regard to a Cam/Tambellini comparison, they're different players. Cam definitely has more flash to his game but isn't as fast a skater. Tambellini's a better defensive player. I think they're very close as collegiate players. Obviously Cam is closer to the NHL now but if they were the same age I'd be hard pressed to decide which I'd rather have.

Tambellini is an involved guy, plays the point on the PP and led the Wolverines in shots by a wide, wide margin this year. He'll fire it from anywhere. And he did end up with 57 points to lead Michigan and finish third in scoring nationwide this year. He's good.

I hope he stays for his senior year and then try to make the Kings, If not, no big deal, he can play in Manchester for a year and learn some their.

 

[RangerBoy]

If the NHL is settled and Al Montoya turns pro,wonder if Jeff Tambellini does turn pro.The Michigan team will be a young team and if they didn't win in 2004-05 with a senior laden team,then they are not going to win in 2005-06

 

[MHNet]

If the NHL is settled and Al Montoya turns pro,wonder if Jeff Tambellini does turn pro.The Michigan team will be a young team and if they didn't win in 2004-05 with a senior laden team,then they are not going to win in 2005-06

See Michigan 1996-97. See Michigan 1997-98. See which team won the national championship. I'll give you a hint... it wasn't the arguably greatest senior laden team in Wolverine history.

 

[King'sPawn]

Hey Funkymoses... Would it be fair to compare Tambellini to Straka? Both good skaters, responsible defensively, smaller than the average NHL player's size, can play the point on the PP? Or is there another player you would compare him to?

 

[machine_head_2002]

...

ive always thought of tambellini as steve sullivan with less grit but ive only seen clips of him and have heard things on the boards.

 

[Funkymoses]

Hey Funkymoses... Would it be fair to compare Tambellini to Straka? Both good skaters, responsible defensively, smaller than the average NHL player's size, can play the point on the PP? Or is there another player you would compare him to?

um... having not seen Straka in action for a long time I can't really say. No current NHL player comes immediately to mind when it comes to comparisons, maybe Teemu Selanne? Not that he'll be scoring 80 goals any time soon.

 

[PMP5030]

Funky summed it up great. I've seen Tambellini in most of his games over his NCAA career and until the 2nd half of this past season he was a mostly one-dimensional player (although a great single dimension). Starting in about January of this year, he started using he speed more effectively on defense and really became a complete player. He hit effectively and backchecked like a demon. Offensively, he made smarter decisions passing the puck and creating opportunities off his tremendous shot, setting a career high in assists and points. He was a monster in the playoffs and I look for him to hopefully maintian that level of play as a leader for a young Michigan team next season. He has the potential to be a 65 point player and make the Kings look like geniuses. I'm looking forward to watching him next season.

I also like the Straka comparision, although Tambellini has a much better shot.

 

[tu]

How about Amonte? Is he a fair comparison? They are both about the same size, with good speed and a great shot.

 

[Sofa King]

Jeez, from the reports it sounds like he is a clone of Michael Cammalleri. It seems like the Kings always have a small talented guy like this. From Tony Granato to Cory Millen to Craig Johnson to Cammy and Tammy. Luckily, they have some beef like Dustin Brown and Brian Boyle to make up for the lack of size of these guys coming up.