Scrimmage highlights and low-lights
This is going to be a little long so settle in.
doing the lines from memory, so I may make an error or 2
Red Team Lines
Flash-Weiss-Steeg
Kopecky-Mathias-Upshall
Rheault-Shore-???
Weaver-Ellerby
Petrovic-robak?
Clemmer
White Team Lines
Huber-Mueller-Kovalev
Skille-Smithson-Parros
Svatos-Santorelli-Wright
Campbell-Kuba
Strachan-Caruso
Theo
Overall Thoughts
it ended in a 0-0 tie.
The homer bias version is that it looks like our D/goaltending is strong, but that was not reality. Play was EXTREMELY sloppy. Way to many turnovers in the neutral zone. This was a scrimmage with light to no contact, it should have opened up the ice and led to a decent amount of scoring. Not only was there not a single goal scored, there were less than a handful of scoring chances. You can tell that they have been skating together for less than a week. If the rest of the teams are having similar growing pains, other than a couple of weeks of sloppy hockey around the NHL, the team should be fine. If other teams have their stuff together, the Panthers could see themselves in a very early hole.
Penalties were called but there was NO special teams work tonight.
Forwards
1st line thoughts
Pretty much a non-entity on the ice. That natural chemistry they enjoyed last year did not show up at all. Maybe got 2 shots on net the entire scrimmage.
2nd line thoughts
They were the most consistent line on the ice. It seems pretty obvious that Kovalev has made the roster. There is definitely some chemistry between the three skaters. While they didn't score, they had the best puck possession of any line on the ice.
Huberdeau
He definitely belongs in the NHL. Very good hands and sees the ice extremely well. Made some great plays in space and behind the net to set up a couple chances. Against the boards he is definitely tentative. Coughed up the puck a few times and let the puck get caught up in his feet while he was looking around for the nearest defender. He also has a bit of Eric Staal in him. Goes down very easily after contact. I don't know how the rest of you feel about diving, but I am NOT a fan.
Mueller
The skill is definitely there. Hopefully he stays healthy.
Kovalev
Like I previously said, I would be shocked if he wasn't on the opening day roster. The hands are still there. He still has NHL level skill even if he is a LOT slower than he used to be. Unfortunately the negatives of Kovalev were present as well. He hogged the puck at times and relied way too much on his stickhandling instead of moving the puck around. One notable instance had him dangling near 2 defenders at the blue line in the offensive end which led to an easy turnover and odd man rush. He also wasn't very interested in defense other than the bare minimum of keeping himself between his man and the net. Due to injuries and a desperate need for scoring, I see him starting the season with the team. It remains to be seen how long he stays.
3rd line
Kopecky-Matthias-Upshall
The only person who stood out to me was Matthias. He looked very sharp and probably had the most scoring chances of any player on the ice. Kopecky and Upshall were not impressive at all. IMO Upshall's start to the season will determine how long Kovalev is needed. Right now, Upshall would not be a good fit for the 2nd line.
4th line
Pretty much what you would expect from these 3. Parros has a modicum of skill. He won't ever be confused for a decent hockey player, but he seems responsible defensively. Its hard to evaluate an enforcer in a scrimmage with light contact.
The rest of the forwards
Santorelli:
only a string of injuries puts him in the lineup.
Svatos: had to try and find him on the ice. Not good.
Shore: played decent during the scrimmage, really shined in the 4-4 OT. He has definitely improved, but needs one more year in the AHL. Could see him being called up if there is a long term injury to Weiss or Mueller.
Wright/Rheault: JAGs
Defense
Campbell-Kuba
Campbell was his usual self. Don't need to go into too much detail on him.
Kuba on the other hand IMO was a huge flop. Pretty sure that the team is hoping he can play a similar role to Garrison but it did not go well. He is extremely slow, doesn't read the play well, and didn't get himself open for a one-timer even once. Don't be surprised to see Gudbranson on the top line when he gets healthy.
Weaver-Ellerby
Weaver got hurt towards the middle of the scrimmage, but other than that nothing jumped out at me either way.
The rest.
Strachan: Looked solid,will be needed early on with the depleted D.
Petrovic: HUGE size, but is clearly not ready for the NHL. Doubt we see him this season.
Robak: didnt notice him either way, but overall was solid.
Caruso: MEH
The absence of Kulikov, Gudbranson, and even Jovo was very aparent. Our D is a strength of this team. They need Kulikov and Gudbranson on the ice ASAP. Going into the season with Weaver and Ellerby as your 2nd pairing is a very scary thought.
Goalies
Nothing much to report here. Other than a couple solid saves, neither was truly tested all night. Theo made a nice save on a Matthias deflection right in front of the net, but other than that, most of his saves were pretty routine.
OT
Looks like we are going to be much more aggressive in OT 4-4. both the 1st and second lines went with 3 forwards and 1 defender while the rest went the standard 2-2.
The Shootout
Pretty much the lone bright spot of the whole scrimmage. Mueller and Huberdeau both scored on very nice/creative moves. Kovalev beat Clemmer with a nice move but just barely missed the net on the backhand.
Weiss-Flash-Steeg used the same uncreative moves that helped us to being the worst SO team in the NHL. Wouldn't be surprised to see Huber-Mueller-Kovalev handle the SO to start the season. And can definitely count on a much better SO success rate this season. It is about time we got some creativity in the SO. While conventional wisdom says, less is more, when it comes to a SO, you need to get creative to score more often then not. That is why guys like Datsyuk and St. Louis are so good in the SO. They go outside of the box and catch goalies off guard even when they know what move is coming.
Final Thoughts I really hope other teams are experiencing the same rust that we are, if not the Panthers will definitely struggle early on. Don't let anyone spin a 0-0 scrimmage into a positive. 0-0 worries me a ton more than if it had been 10-9.
Hope this gives everyone a clear picture of what happened tonight
