American Prospect Update Thread

DatDude44

Hmmmm?
Feb 23, 2012
6,142
2,899
Who knows about this Musty kid? Couldn't find a thread about him.
He’s a stud. His playmaking ability is my favorite part about his game. And that’s not a slight towards his high end hockey sense, Disgusting release and pretty dam good skating ability for a kid his size.
 

William H Bonney

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
24,495
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Colorado
First round went about as well as you could have expected. 3 top ten picks and 6 first rounders is a strong haul, especially when it seemed grim 12-18 months ago beyond Beniers, Hughes, and Lucius until guys like Coronato, Samoskevich, and Boucher continued to progress as they did.

I wouldn't have been surprised to see another guy like Peart, Pastujov, etc. sneak in to the bottom of the 1st but a good first round for USAH nonetheless. The 2nd and 3rd rounds should see good hauls as well.
 
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KingLB

Registered User
Oct 29, 2008
9,034
1,160
Is there a chance we see Chicago Steel becoming even more dominant? I mean, with tendering, Canadian kids can actually choose to go where they want when coming to the USHL. And with the new NIL rules it might be possible for these kids to make decent money while playing there?
 

William H Bonney

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
24,495
6,319
Colorado
Is there a chance we see Chicago Steel becoming even more dominant? I mean, with tendering, Canadian kids can actually choose to go where they want when coming to the USHL. And with the new NIL rules it might be possible for these kids to make decent money while playing there?

It'd probably be hard to be more dominant than they were these last 2 seasons. They have 2 USHL championships (2017 + 2021) and would almost assuredly have a 3rd if the 2020 Clark Cup wasn't cancelled. Their 2017 team was good but not dominant and then Ryan Hardy turned the franchise into an absolute powerhouse. I'm more interested to see if they can sustain a long run as the dominant franchise now that Hardy is with the Maple Leafs. Their new GM - Mark Garman - is also young (33) like Hardy and he's been with the organization the last 4 years, so I'd imagine they're well positioned to keep it going, especially as they got Fantilli to return next season.
 
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SK94

Registered User
Apr 11, 2016
865
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Least 11 guys from NTDP roster without selection when fifth round is coming soon. It was expected this time but it is not the most perfect look for the program.
 

Pavel Buchnevich

Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Dec 8, 2013
57,228
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New York
Least 11 guys from NTDP roster without selection when fifth round is coming soon. It was expected this time but it is not the most perfect look for the program.

Coaching. Disaster of a season and the talent of the players was not the issue.
 

William H Bonney

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
24,495
6,319
Colorado
Ty Gallagher still being on the board is the biggest shock for me. He had a unjustifiable role reduction from his U17 to U18 season as he was grossly misused by Coach Muse, who needs to go, which is driving his fall. But I figured an NHL team would have already bet on his considerable tools that he showed when he had a bigger role as an U17.
 

SK94

Registered User
Apr 11, 2016
865
429
Ty Gallagher still being on the board is the biggest shock for me. He had a unjustifiable role reduction from his U17 to U18 season as he was grossly misused by Coach Muse, who needs to go, which is driving his fall. But I figured an NHL team would have already bet on his considerable tools that he showed when he had a bigger role as an U17.

Good for Boston.
 

DatDude44

Hmmmm?
Feb 23, 2012
6,142
2,899
It'd probably be hard to be more dominant than they were these last 2 seasons. They have 2 USHL championships (2017 + 2021) and would almost assuredly have a 3rd if the 2020 Clark Cup wasn't cancelled. Their 2017 team was good but not dominant and then Ryan Hardy turned the franchise into an absolute powerhouse. I'm more interested to see if they can sustain a long run as the dominant franchise now that Hardy is with the Maple Leafs. Their new GM - Mark Garman - is also young (33) like Hardy and he's been with the organization the last 4 years, so I'd imagine they're well positioned to keep it going, especially as they got Fantilli to return next season.
They have a billionaire owner….they’ll be nasty until he’s done
 

AmericanDream

Thank you Elon!
Oct 24, 2005
36,959
26,274
Chicago Manitoba
I think I said 7 first rounders for this draft last month...but my 7 were a bit diff - Beniers, Hughes, Coronato, Lucious, Samoskevich, Morrow and Pastujov I believe....Amazing how higher Boucher went, I didn't think he would go before 25 with his injury filled year...love to see it though. Pastujov to the third round was baffling, great pick by the Ducks there. And damn, did the Canes get 2 young studs at d with Morrow and Aiden Hreschuk.

Also agree on Gallagher, that was shocking of his usage and his drop. Kid will be one of those WTF picks as to how he went as low as he did...

Thoughts on next year??? I was happy with this draft, we need another strong one and starting putting them together in a row....I think next years class can outdo this one, just not seeing 2 in the top 5 though for the US...
 

Pavel Buchnevich

Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Dec 8, 2013
57,228
23,101
New York
I think next year could be one of our best drafts ever. Two top five guys could be very difficult though. I think Chesley has a good chance at top 5. McGroarty has a chance. Cooley and Casey might also have a chance. I guess Hutson and Fleming might also have outside chances due to their talent level. But it should be a similar number of first rounder to 2019. I think we knew that 2021 was going to be an underrated draft for us. 2020 was a little weaker. 2019 was a top draft for us. 2022 is looking like it'll at least be the second best draft in that four year span with a chance to surpass 2019.

If you look at the 2021 draft by the team's that they played for, a lot of our success in the first round of 2021 was with guys who weren't playing NTDP this year. Beniers, Coronato, and Samoskevich all weren't NTDP players this year. Boucher and Lucius barely played any games this season. Hughes is the only one that played significant NTDP games this season, but he also missed the end of the season. The other guys talked about as higher picks coming into the year like Pastujov, Duke, Gallagher, Janicke, Schmidt, Behrens all fell significantly, and these were players that played a full NTDP season. I don't think it reflects well on the coaching when you go through the draft results of American players for this draft.
 

Pavel Buchnevich

Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Dec 8, 2013
57,228
23,101
New York
I think 2023 has a pretty high floor for American players in the first round. Stramel, Brzustewicz, and Brinkley will be likely first rounders, like the three late birthdays we had go in the first round this year. That’s before we see the 2005 NTDP age group. If we have a few first rounders from elsewhere, aside from those three, we should have 5+ first rounders without the incoming 17’s being a hyped NTDP age group.
 

wetcoast

Registered User
Nov 20, 2018
22,247
10,126
Do not read ANYTHING into that.

Exactly and even then 3 of the 5 Canadian players could easily go top 6-10.

I think with the OHL not playing and WHL and the Q not competing for the memorial cup really means lots of Canadian players just didn't get alot of exposure last year.
 

Pavel Buchnevich

Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Dec 8, 2013
57,228
23,101
New York
I liked the defensemen on the Hlinka team. Brzustewicz is obviously a big name prospect. He was impressive. Aside from him though, Rinzel and Healey stood out. Healey is more of a steady presence, while Rinzel has flashier tools. I think those two guys are early rounders next year most likely. Most of the other defensemen aren't bad either. Dorrington is an NHL prospect for the next draft. We also know about Livanavage and Borgesi. If Bocharov is the 7th defenseman, thats a pretty good defense.

The forwards were pretty weak though. Finley is the best of them. I think he has first round potential. Really talented player with the puck. Needs to get stronger and play less on the perimeter. DeAngelo and Lund are probably the two next best draft prospects. DeAngelo is 2023, so he has that advantage. Looks like a goal scoring winger with good stick skills, but I wouldn't say I was that impressed. Lund looks like a big two-way center who can skate, but he didn't exactly stand out. The rest of the guys didn't look too good. Plante and Abraham played well and have some talent, but as sub 5'10 guys, I don't think they have the tools to be anything other than late round picks. I'm not even convinced a lot of the other guys even get drafted. There were a lot of offensive passengers on this team through one game.

The goalie looked pretty weak. That was the difference between winning and losing. He couldn't stop the puck the first 10 minutes.
 

Luc Poitras

Registered User
Feb 21, 2019
106
76
I liked the defensemen on the Hlinka team. Brzustewicz is obviously a big name prospect. He was impressive. Aside from him though, Rinzel and Healey stood out. Healey is more of a steady presence, while Rinzel has flashier tools. I think those two guys are early rounders next year most likely. Most of the other defensemen aren't bad either. Dorrington is an NHL prospect for the next draft. We also know about Livanavage and Borgesi. If Bocharov is the 7th defenseman, thats a pretty good defense.

The forwards were pretty weak though. Finley is the best of them. I think he has first round potential. Really talented player with the puck. Needs to get stronger and play less on the perimeter. DeAngelo and Lund are probably the two next best draft prospects. DeAngelo is 2023, so he has that advantage. Looks like a goal scoring winger with good stick skills, but I wouldn't say I was that impressed. Lund looks like a big two-way center who can skate, but he didn't exactly stand out. The rest of the guys didn't look too good. Plante and Abraham played well and have some talent, but as sub 5'10 guys, I don't think they have the tools to be anything other than late round picks. I'm not even convinced a lot of the other guys even get drafted. There were a lot of offensive passengers on this team through one game.

The goalie looked pretty weak. That was the difference between winning and losing. He couldn't stop the puck the first 10 minutes.

Hmmmm... interesting take. I was actually not that impressed with the D at all. Brzustewicz will need to improve his foot speed and defensive play significantly to be a top-round pick in 2023. Healey also had a number of turn-overs that affected the puck possession game they needed o play. I really like Rinzel and thought he was the best of the D yesterday. I thought Lund and Plante stood out the most, however, this team really needs to step it up and distribute the puck better. A lot of end-to-end attempts and selfish play that resulted in a significant amount of turn-overs.
 
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Pavel Buchnevich

Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Dec 8, 2013
57,228
23,101
New York
Hmmmm... interesting take. I was actually not that impressed with the D at all. Brzustewicz will need to improve his foot speed and defensive play significantly to be a top-round pick in 2023. Healey also had a number of turn-overs that affected the puck possession game they needed o play. I really like Rinzel and thought he was the best of the D yesterday. I thought Lund and Plante stood out the most, however, this team really needs to step it up and distribute the puck better. A lot of end-to-end attempts and selfish play that resulted in a significant amount of turn-overs.

Maybe we are coming at from different angles. I’m looking at these players draft profiles. For instance, I agree Plante was one of the better players, but do you see him being anything other than a late pick as a small forward who isn’t dynamic? The stream quality was bad. I could’ve missed a few errors from Healey, but I liked his toolset.

I’ve heard this foot speed question about Brzustewicz before, and I don’t see it. He led the rush and went around multiple defenders a few times. A guy who needs to improve foot speed can’t do that. I’m not sure about the defensive questions either. I don’t see it. I think he’s very reliable on the defensive end.
 
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