regulate
Registered User
As someone who watches pretty much every Reign game in person or on AHL live, I can tell you Kupari is going through those growing pains that most 1st year players struggle with in their rookie season. Very few players come into this league at 19 or 20 and just throw down the gauntlet and show everyone else how it's done. If you're doing that down here at that age as a rookie, you should be in the NHL. Many will argue the AHL is the 2nd most difficult men's league in the world. Others disagree with that, but just know this, from my personal observations the last 5 years watching the Reign closely, the good players start to figure it out around the Christmas/New Year timetable in their rookie campaign as they adjust to the speed of the game (Amadio). For others, the light bulb comes on around late Feb/March (Luff, Wagner, Roy). Players that start somewhat strong are usually older, 22-23 years old (Rempal) but don't progress much. A few that start later such as Walker came in with very high compete, they just had to be reigned in a bit (see what I did there) to be consistent as pros.
Kupari is such a smooth skater, something that will translate well to the next level. He's learning with less space that you will often lose the puck when you try and move through center ice into the offensive zone if you try and do too much. Sometimes dump and chase is the better part of valor, so he needs to cut down on the neutral zone turnover. Something he seems to be struggling with is his decision making when good scoring opportunities presents itself. I think sometimes when he should be selfish and shoot, he tries for the great pass too often. His overall vision so far seems decent but certainly not elite, which tends to potentially make his future as an RW. There is no shame in that, I see him with the potential of a 2nd line RW in the NHL as of right now. If I had to project today, I would say he will not be a regular NHL player in 20-21, but a 2nd year AHLer with the goal of the 21-22 season in the NHL at 21 years old. He was the 20th pick in the draft, not top 10, and that needs to be kept in perspective. He's working on his defense, which so far is not his strong point. I think he mixes it up on the boards a bit more than he is given credit for with some of the comments on the board. He has decent size, and he'll only get stronger.
As far as his role so far on the Reign, while he's had a variety of linemates, most of the season he was the 1st or 2nd line C, only recently put down to the 3rd line because he wasn't generating a lot of opportunities with his linemates. He did score the lone Reign goal last game. The Reign don't have a great deal of center depth, and it certainly makes sense based upon the situation to play him at center right now. That could change with Turcotte, Vilardi and Dudas in the pipeline. Sutter can play C or LW (I much prefer him at LW, he's not that skilled), and JAD is taking a C spot, with either Rymsha (last game) or Bouma playing C on the 4th line.
Kupari is such a smooth skater, something that will translate well to the next level. He's learning with less space that you will often lose the puck when you try and move through center ice into the offensive zone if you try and do too much. Sometimes dump and chase is the better part of valor, so he needs to cut down on the neutral zone turnover. Something he seems to be struggling with is his decision making when good scoring opportunities presents itself. I think sometimes when he should be selfish and shoot, he tries for the great pass too often. His overall vision so far seems decent but certainly not elite, which tends to potentially make his future as an RW. There is no shame in that, I see him with the potential of a 2nd line RW in the NHL as of right now. If I had to project today, I would say he will not be a regular NHL player in 20-21, but a 2nd year AHLer with the goal of the 21-22 season in the NHL at 21 years old. He was the 20th pick in the draft, not top 10, and that needs to be kept in perspective. He's working on his defense, which so far is not his strong point. I think he mixes it up on the boards a bit more than he is given credit for with some of the comments on the board. He has decent size, and he'll only get stronger.
As far as his role so far on the Reign, while he's had a variety of linemates, most of the season he was the 1st or 2nd line C, only recently put down to the 3rd line because he wasn't generating a lot of opportunities with his linemates. He did score the lone Reign goal last game. The Reign don't have a great deal of center depth, and it certainly makes sense based upon the situation to play him at center right now. That could change with Turcotte, Vilardi and Dudas in the pipeline. Sutter can play C or LW (I much prefer him at LW, he's not that skilled), and JAD is taking a C spot, with either Rymsha (last game) or Bouma playing C on the 4th line.
