US NTDP 2016 - 2017 Thread

[NTDP]

So the U-18 group takes on The Boston University Terriers in what could be a blowout game. The NTDP has a way of bringing an extra gear to these college games though, and the college teams just looking at it like it's an exhibition. However there is a gap between the the on paper rosters between these two teams. Former NTDP standouts all over BU's roster. Could be a good game though so we'll see. I won't be able to catch the game live because I'm going out with some buddies to watch the Cleveland Indians playoff game. Have to watch on demand later tomorrow night.

 

[Whalers Fan]

Another rough weekend on the scoreboard for the U17 squad, but they did look better on the ice than the previous weekend. Last night they were in the game until two late goals by Des Moines put the game out of reach. Karki played a fine game in goal, keeping the score 1-0 for a long time, but Team USA could not get a goal, despite several nice chances.

 

[NTDP]

The U-17's last weekend played two games agains the Minnesota Elite League. From what I know this is basically a league for the best high school players in Minny before their school regular season starts. Some of the kids are on the NHL Central Scouting list. They lost both games to the tune of 4-0 and 4-3. I'm sure that hurt as the team now only has 1 win under their belt since the USHL season officially started (I didn't include the two wins against the Tomahawks of the NAHL). As far as the game against the Lancers on Friday they played well. They had good pressure and it was a pretty even game after the first 10 minutes. Bode Wilde is showing more offensive flare. As he improves with his size he can be a really good player. I like the kid from Norway on the Lancers Emilio Petterson, he ripped a really nice one timer for one of their goals in the first.

Look forward to the start of the U17 World Hockey Challenge in the Soo this coming weekend. This is in my opinion the biggest tournament of the year for the U17's because they get to play against Canada as well as the best 16 yo from Sweden, Finland, and Russia. All the top guns in this age group will be there.

 

[wings5]

The U-17's last weekend played two games agains the Minnesota Elite League. From what I know this is basically a league for the best high school players in Minny before their school regular season starts. Some of the kids are on the NHL Central Scouting list. They lost both games to the tune of 4-0 and 4-3. I'm sure that hurt as the team now only has 1 win under their belt since the USHL season officially started (I didn't include the two wins against the Tomahawks of the NAHL). As far as the game against the Lancers on Friday they played well. They had good pressure and it was a pretty even game after the first 10 minutes. Bode Wilde is showing more offensive flare. As he improves with his size he can be a really good player. I like the kid from Norway on the Lancers Emilio Petterson, he ripped a really nice one timer for one of their goals in the first.

Look forward to the start of the U17 World Hockey Challenge in the Soo this coming weekend. This is in my opinion the biggest tournament of the year for the U17's because they get to play against Canada as well as the best 16 yo from Sweden, Finland, and Russia. All the top guns in this age group will be there.

Losing to top high school players from one state, the team must have an awful coach.

 

[Whalers Fan]

Losing to top high school players from one state, the team must have an awful coach.

I do not know what happened in Minnesota, but the U17 team has played well in the games in Plymouth, except for that one ugly weekend against Youngstown. The game Friday night versus Omaha was much closer than the final 4-1 score would indicate -- the Lancers had an empty net goal, and Team USA actually outshot the visitors. They just could not convert those shots into goals, but the play between the two teams was very balanced.

Danton Cole is the U17 coach this season, and "awful" is the last word I would use to describe him. He coached the very talented U18 team last season (and that same team as U17 the season before). He's been a head coach in the program since 2013.

I see the U18 team is playing better against their NCAA opponents the past couple of games after getting bombed by the University of Minnesota 9-0. They lost to Wisconsin 4-3 and then beat the #2 ranked Minnesota-Duluth team 2-1. Hopefully they will continue this improved play when the finally return to Plymouth.

 

[NTDP]

Losing to top high school players from one state, the team must have an awful coach.

I used to underestimate how good high school hockey is in Minnesota, it's actually pretty darn good. And the Elite League has the best players from all over the state. Lots of them could be playing junior hockey. Actually a few players that play in the USHL played in that tournament. I was surprised to see them lose both games, but it's not the coach. He's a pretty good one. You'll see these guys starting this week in The Soo. I can't wait for this tournament, one of my favorites and the first big one for kids just entering juniors. It will also be the first time this U17 group is playing against teams that are all the same age as them, and not against 16-20 year olds.

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

Thanks for the recaps, NTDP. Looking forward to the U17 tournament coming up as well

What's the early impressions on Jake Wise? Is he playing just as well as some of the other highly lauded prospects on that team (Wahlstrom, Weiss, etc)?

 

[NTDP]

Thanks for the recaps, NTDP. Looking forward to the U17 tournament coming up as well

What's the early impressions on Jake Wise? Is he playing just as well as some of the other highly lauded prospects on that team (Wahlstrom, Weiss, etc)?

Whalers Fan and I try to keep up with the happenings. You can look at the young U17 team every year and gauge the first ten games or so and see they don't win much with the adjustment to the speed and skill of the USHL. I remember a quote by Caleb Jones that said when you play Midget U16 AAA there's 2 or 3 really good guys you have to focus on shutting down game by game. When you enter the USHL every player is a good player and it's an adjustment. Just wanted to transition that into Jake Wise. I know there's been a lot of hype around him and others (Wahlstrom, Bode Wilde, etc) and all are under the microscope.

Jake Wise hasn't shown what he could be made of yet. Maybe a player like him could break out at the upcoming U17's. He's made some good plays behind the goal line and has shown off his shot and speed at times. But he hasn't been as electric as advertised, but don't take that to heart. As far as compared to the other players I think he's had a tougher go out of the gate.

This D core is really good. TheLeastOfTheBunch I'd keep an eye on K'andre Miller (#50), he moves the puck well, skates well, hard to knock off the puck and has a good offensive game to match. He might have the best vision on the entire team. Bode Wilde is starting to come to fruition with what we saw of him last year with the Chicago Mission. Starting to skate the puck up more and build confidence in holding the line and getting shots through. Oliver Wahlstrom has been good throughout the early going. Not so much the past 4 games but he came straight out the gate flying. Christian Krygier and Jacob Semik will join the team defensively for this tourney. Both are playing in the USHL for member clubs and have started the year well, especially Semik for Dubuque. Both these kids played with the U.S. at the Youth Olympic Games this past winter and should really boost this already impressive D core. Krygier really impressed me during that tournament and I look forward to seeing him again during this one. Sorry for the long post. Enjoy the games starting on Thursday.

 

[Whalers Fan]

What's the early impressions on Jake Wise? Is he playing just as well as some of the other highly lauded prospects on that team (Wahlstrom, Weiss, etc)?

As NTDP said, Wise appears to still be adjusting to the USHL. However, I've seen flashes of what he could be in the games at Plymouth where he's shown off his skating ability with some fine rushes. Weiss hasn't stood out much so far.

Like NTDP, I've been impressed with defenseman K'andre Miller so far. He's shown some nice offensive capabilities, and is disciplined defensively. I have also been impressed with goaltender Keegan Karki. He's big, positions himself well, has good rebound control, and seems to handle the puck well, too.

The U17 roster for the tournament in the Soo has been announced, and all but two of the 22 players are from the NTDP U17 team.

Along with that, USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth will be hosting the U18 Five Nations Tournament next week. We will be out of town, and I'm bummed that we will miss the entire tourney. Last year's U17 Five Nations was entertaining, and I expect this event will be, too.

 

[wisssh]

Oliver Wahlstrom 12 6 1 7 33 1 0 2 -5 2 0.58
43 Tyler Weiss 12 1 6 7 12 0 0 6 2 0 0.58
37 Jake Wise 12 1 3 4 19 1 0 4 -3 0 0.33

all still finding their way

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

Thanks for the replies NTDP and Whalers Fan. You guys have done a great job covering these teams and its players. Certainly have been keeping a closer eye on K'Andre Miller ever since his name started to pop up around these parts in the past month or so. Seems like most of the top hockey nations have high end 2000-born defensemen developing in their systems.

And yeah, it's still way too early to make conclusions on these young guys. Interesting to see how the top offensive guys' seasons will hold up against the likes of some of the star USDP prospects that have come through in recent years (Eichel, Matthews to Keller, Bellows).

 

[LeafChief]

Didn't know about this thread. Glad it exists. I had been previously following the thread on the Prospects page but this one seems to have far more information.

Is Brady Tkachuk as solid a prospect as his brother?

 

[NTDP]

Didn't know about this thread. Glad it exists. I had been previously following the thread on the Prospects page but this one seems to have far more information.

Is Brady Tkachuk as solid a prospect as his brother?

Short answer imo is no. Matt was more explosive down low and created more offense on his own. Brady is a solid player don't get me wrong, but not on the same level as his older brother.

I made the trip to Youngstown tonight to watch the U-18's vs the Phantoms. Youngstown won but it was a back and forth game. Last year when this group came in as the U17 core I thought David Farrance was going to be the best offensive D type on this team. That now belongs to Quinn Hughes. He's so quick to cut through the neutral zone and uses head fakes and his hands to get around opponents. He isn't afraid to to make plays happen himself. Sticking with the D side of things, I was hoping to see more from Max Gildon. He was compared to Seth Jones coming out of midget and his draft rights are owned by Vancouver in the WHL. Who knows what the next few years holds, because he could very well blossom. Just with a kid that has his athletic ability and size he hasn't brought it to the table like I had thought.

Little Sean Dhooge was the best overall forward tonight. Man can that kid fly. He's like Rocco Grimaldi when he played with the program 5 years ago or so. His size doesn't matter much since he has the speed and hands to get around defensemen. He was set up on a nice tic tac toe play in the 2nd to one time the puck past the netminder. Other than that it is becoming apparent this team has a lack of finishing ability. Goal scoring could hinder this group a bit. We'll see how they do in the upcoming U-18 tournament in Plymouth. On the Phantoms Curtis Hall, a 16 yo is starting to show why he was used as a tender on to the team (for those that don't know when a USHL team used their tender on a prospect it means they burn up their first round pick to essentially draft them early, and they are guaranteed to play at least in 60 percent or whatever of their games). He'll be one along with Max Ellis to keep an eye on for future World Junior possibilities.

 

[Whalers Fan]

Didn't know about this thread. Glad it exists. I had been previously following the thread on the Prospects page but this one seems to have far more information.

Is Brady Tkachuk as solid a prospect as his brother?

I agree with NTDP -- Brady does not look nearly as good as Matt did at the same point in their careers. I do not see him being selected in the first round of the NHL draft like his brother.

 

[LeafChief]

Thanks for the replies. The USNTDP has always really interested me.

I've often wondered if a Canadian equivalent of this could be created but don't have a clue of how it would work logistically.

What were your thoughts on Joseph Woll last year?

 

[NTDP]

Thanks for the replies. The USNTDP has always really interested me.

I've often wondered if a Canadian equivalent of this could be created but don't have a clue of how it would work logistically.

What were your thoughts on Joseph Woll last year?

When we put our program in place it was almost necessary to develop the top kids throughout the country and gain success in international tournaments. Now there is some really good players that aren't on the NTDP that very well could be there. I think it just shows the growth of how there are only a certain number of spots available and based on your team needs there will be kids that don't make it that will still be first round picks.

As far as a Canadian national team I'm not sure if it's necessary because you have a 60 team junior league that kind of evens itself out. I think some CHL clubs would be hurt by not having some top prospects report because they are going to the Canadian NTDP. Erie would never have had the success of the last few years if McDavid and Strome both went the Canadian national team route. Basically it would hurt the CHL but hard for me to comment on. I guess you could house the team in Western Ontario and they play a schedule against other CHL teams and some Canadian CIS schools throughout the year.

Joseph Woll is a good netminder, I liked him since he first came in with the U17 group two years ago. Not saying he's great, but he's a good goalie.

 

[NTDP]

Game day for the World U17 Hockey Challenge. USA takes on the Czech's. Always look forward to this tournament every year. This is imo the biggest tournament for the U17 group because you get to play against our rival Canada and the best players are there from the three Canadian teams as well as Russia, Sweden, and Finland. Just wanted to comment on the 3-1 exhibition loss to Canada Red. That's a good Canadian team that plays well in the D zone and keeps chances to the outside. Ryan Ullan gave up a softie for Canada's second goal. Thought our transition game was good, and we controlled the play from the mid part of the 1st through the 2nd. But couldn't score due to the tough Canadian play in the D zone.

Look forward to watching some of the Czech kids that posters are mentioning in the U17 thread. Who knows what'll happen tonight, but we better come out flying.

 

[NTDP]

Last night the Princeton Tigers came to USA Hockey Arena to play the U-18's. Princeton isn't that good of a team right now in college hockey and aren't expected to be one of the better teams in the ECAC. But they battled hard to an OT win over the States. Scott Reedy had a good game for Team USA tallying twice I believe. Farrance has always been very good at getting pucks through to the net and he did just that on the 2nd goal. Adam Scheel played a good game in net for the U-18's and kept the score 3-1 with a few good saves on some Princeton chances. Team USA at times controlled the play and cycled well in their own zone, I know it was against a team that is a below average team in Div. 1 hockey, but they still have to get out there and play them.

Evan Barratt had a good game on the defensive side of the puck. One of the things you notice about him the more you watch him, he should get drafted, but be the type of depth player that kills penalties and chips in with some goals.

 

[NTDP]

Just wanted to recap the first two games of the U17 tournament. Made a post about this in the actual tournament thread but in game 1 the U.S. took way to many penalties, some sloppy play mixed with a Czech team that has played pretty good thus far. There is some talent on that team for sure. Farabee had a nice goal for the O.T. win. He also had a very good game against Canada White today. He's imo the most under rated player on the team this year. Kind of reminds me of Will Lockwood during this time of the year when he was a member of the Clayton Keller U17 group two years ago. Had the snipe of the tournament in the 3rd for the pp goal.

Bode Wilde has been the best D man for Team USA in this tournament and I think it will continue through the rest of the year. Doesn't make a mistake out there. Makes a great first pass, excellent vision on the power play on both of his assists, and is so hard to beat 1 on 1. He might move up at the end of the year on the U18 team for the tournament in April. He's that good imo.

I can say that Jake Wise looked good this game. Thought it was his best game of the year. There was a play in the 1st where it was Emberson or Wilde that hit him with a pass in the neutral zone and he blasted through the Canadian defense with speed and nearly created a scoring chance. Wahlstrom was invisible tonight. Got the U18 Five Nations starting tomorrow with a game against the Swiss.

 

[NTDP]

Wise looked really good tonight. He put the whole package together. Nice shot on that pp goal. I mentioned Farabee last night, well he ripped a bar down shot from the circle on the power play. I think he's going to be a pretty good player. Team took a loss but Canada Black played a good game. I really liked the play of Ty Smith on defense for Canada. Made good puck decisions and was slick in the offensive zone.

 

[NTDP]

U17's fall to Sweden at the World U17 Hockey Challenge Quarterfinal. We got our ass kicked for the first two periods before the team showed up in the 3rd. Some good players on Sweden and they played a controlled game so credit to them. They played very well throughout the whole game. Solid D core that can move the puck. I liked on D Adam Bokvist, Filip Johansson (played an all around good game, great breakout). On forward Carl Jokobsson, Jacob Olofsson - nice rush to the net fending off Statsney on the way to a goal.

The U17's played an overall sloppy tournament but the other teams were strong too. All of Canada's teams were good and the Czech's played a great tournament too. Two players that really stepped up were Bode Wilde and Joel Farabee. Farabee and Wilde were the most consistent players in the tournament. Farabee really showed me something in this tourney and i'll watch him more closely moving forward. He'll be a really good player. Wilde was the best player on the ice for the U.S. in the loss. He's really showing what he can do out there.

K'andre Miller is going to be a good player but he really had a bad tournament. I've raved about him but he didn't show up for this one. Wahlstrom was invisible half the time. Wise had two really good games but wasn't there during the loss to Sweden. He has to start improving. Semik and Krygier didn't do a whole lot even though they have some potential. Gruden wasn't noticeable either. They play Canada Red tomorrow in the placement game.

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

Agreed NTDP, Bode Wilde looks like a good one, someone who could go very high in the 2018 NHL draft. Farabee is quite the shooter, I imagine these two guys will get looks with the U18 team later on?

 

[NTDP]

Not sure if Farabee will be with the U18's come April, but he's one to keep an eye on moving forward. He had a really really good first game against Muskegon. Trickled off a bit since but really showed against players his age level in this tournament. Wilde just looks like a complete defender and best of all he makes good decisions with the puck and can escape traffic smartly. Add in his size and strength and that's why I think he could play up come April. Maybe before hand. I'd love to see him against some of the college teams they play against, no clue how it'd turn out. It'd be cool to see if Svechnikov went from Muskegon next year to the NHL. I hope he stays in the USHL. He's a fun one to watch. I'm watching a stream of the semi final between Canada Black and Russia now. I'm heading to Plymouth tomorrow to watch both games from the U18 Five Nations Tournament. USA plays Finland in game 2 of the double header.

 

[NTDP]

Saw the U18's play Finland in person last night and USA won in a game that the U.S. controlled most of the game besides the last half of the 2nd period. Was a good Finnish team especially in goal. Bernard Isiguzo I though was the best Finnish D man on the ice last night. He plays like David Farrance. Scott Reedy was all over the place. I took my brother to see the game and he was asking me if he was USA's best player. So it shows the kind of game he had. David Farrance had a really good game. Scored a goal and was getting pucks through to the net all night. He assisted on Reedy's tip. Logan Cockerill showed me a lot last night too. He was flying in the O zone and created some nice chances.

I expected more from Randy Hernandez coming into the program. I thought he could be the next really good player from a non traditional market. He's from Miami and stayed there all the way through his midget season before coming to Michigan. He's been invisible almost every game I've seen of them this year.

 

[Dingo44]

Saw the U18's play Finland in person last night and USA won in a game that the U.S. controlled most of the game besides the last half of the 2nd period. Was a good Finnish team especially in goal. Bernard Isiguzo I though was the best Finnish D man on the ice last night. He plays like David Farrance. Scott Reedy was all over the place. I took my brother to see the game and he was asking me if he was USA's best player. So it shows the kind of game he had. David Farrance had a really good game. Scored a goal and was getting pucks through to the net all night. He assisted on Reedy's tip. Logan Cockerill showed me a lot last night too. He was flying in the O zone and created some nice chances.

I expected more from Randy Hernandez coming into the program. I thought he could be the next really good player from a non traditional market. He's from Miami and stayed there all the way through his midget season before coming to Michigan. He's been invisible almost every game I've seen of them this year.

Went to the games Friday night and last night. Love the rink! Good hockey. Cockerill really stood out to me. I kept calling him jitterbug. Reedy was great. The Finnish goalie deserved a star last night after 50 shots!