C Curtis Lazar (2013, 17th overall, Ottawa)

[HabLover]

Unless you have been under a rock for the last week, Curtis Lazar absolutely just annihalated the competition at the Canada Winter Games! The amazing part is he destroyed Team Ontario and Team Quebec when it mattered the most; the semi-final and FINAL!!

Last spring he was selected #2 overall in the WHL Bantam Draft by the Edmonton Oil Kings. The kid could be a stud come October for Edmonton as a 16 yr old. Lazar currently leads is Prep Academy Club in goals and points.

Height - 5'11
Weight - 178 lbs

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[YEGJuniorFan]

played well in his call up with edmonton, i was surprised most by his physical play. i remember one shift where he absolutely laid out a guy mid ice. excited to see him play next year

 

[R S]

Oil Kings future captain

 

[scoutman1]

trust me I was there for the whole week...Nathan Mackinnon was the best 95 there and Lazar was 2nd...speaking with Lazar before the game two days ago, he thought with a better supporting cast Mackinnon would have destoryed the touraments in scoring. Lazar is awsome though, I love the kid, if the draft was redone he would be 1st overall...deadly accurate hard shot, great movement without the puck to get open, tough, gritty, hard hitting, fast skater and smooth, strong on the puck, excellent puck handling, good vision, he is the first forward back...the guy is going to be a real deal for sure.

 

[jablueblue]

I was also there and as far as I'm concerned Mackinnon was the best, if he wasn't a one man show out there then he would've lit it up.

 

[PinchedNerve]

Curtis "The Czar" Lazar is the man. Top-five pick in the 2013 draft. Book it.

(sick nickname courtesy of http://twitter.com/victorianickers)

 

[scoutman1]

I was also there and as far as I'm concerned Mackinnon was the best, if he wasn't a one man show out there then he would've lit it up.

ya Lazar told me Nathan was just amazing, said all they did was put two guys on him and the rest of the team wasn't gonig to do much, said sometimes they had to put three guys on him just to contain him, he thought MacKinnon was the best player he had ever played against and said if he was on a team like us or alberta even quebec the kid would hands down be out scoring everyone by far, and I would have to agree with him, though not saying any bad against Lazar he is amazing in his own sense.

 

[zjh]

First time I got to see Lazar play and he was outstanding. Very good all around player, behind St. Croix next year will probably mean big things for the Oil Kings. But I don't know if I'm doing this just for the sake of arguement but I'm having a hard time seeing him dominate physically in the WHL like he did in this tourney. His physicality seems to be a big part of his game and I think there might be a bit of growing pains next year. But I honestly hope he puts up big numbers, he seems like a good kid.

 

[HabLover]

trust me I was there for the whole week...Nathan Mackinnon was the best 95 there and Lazar was 2nd...speaking with Lazar before the game two days ago, he thought with a better supporting cast Mackinnon would have destoryed the touraments in scoring. Lazar is awsome though, I love the kid, if the draft was redone he would be 1st overall...deadly accurate hard shot, great movement without the puck to get open, tough, gritty, hard hitting, fast skater and smooth, strong on the puck, excellent puck handling, good vision, he is the first forward back...the guy is going to be a real deal for sure.

Im not so sure, take out the NS vs NL game and Mackinnon doesnt even come close to matching up with Lazar! BC never had the chance to play the weak NL or who knows how much Lazar would have lit it up? I read quite a few early posts of Mackinnon viewings without any of the hype. The kid looks good but Im not so sure he's at the top right now.

 

[Alberta tough]

trust me I was there for the whole week...Nathan Mackinnon was the best 95 there and Lazar was 2nd...speaking with Lazar before the game two days ago, he thought with a better supporting cast Mackinnon would have destoryed the touraments in scoring. Lazar is awsome though, I love the kid, if the draft was redone he would be 1st overall...deadly accurate hard shot, great movement without the puck to get open, tough, gritty, hard hitting, fast skater and smooth, strong on the puck, excellent puck handling, good vision, he is the first forward back...the guy is going to be a real deal for sure.

While I always value your opinon over pretty much everyone on here I think it is a bit harsh to say that "Mackinnon was the best 95 there". If Lazar was not on team BC they do not win gold he was the mvp imop regardless of what team he played for. I hope you do not take this the wrong way but you might have a bias towards Mackinnon see the "Nathan Mackinnon WOW" under your user name.

 

[Garyboy]

ya Lazar told me Nathan was just amazing, said all they did was put two guys on him and the rest of the team wasn't gonig to do much, said sometimes they had to put three guys on him just to contain him, he thought MacKinnon was the best player he had ever played against and said if he was on a team like us or alberta even quebec the kid would hands down be out scoring everyone by far, and I would have to agree with him, though not saying any bad against Lazar he is amazing in his own sense.

Your bias for Mackinnon is painfully obvious in this one. Lazar clearly was the breakout star/best all around player of this showcase. Disappointing that you can't admit and accept that. "If's" are wonderful, aren't they?

As far as him being the best 1995 in North America, who are we to say? I'm sure there's some elite Americans we haven't seen that could possibly have a say.

He's established himself as being right there with Mackinnon, if not surpassing him. The guy really is the complete package. That hit he laid on Drouin showed just how powerful he is.

 

[arsmaster*]

Lazar's game is remiscent of a Brayden Schenn type guy, whereas Mackinnon seems more of an offensively skilled guy....dont know who I'd compare too though.

High end skill goest to Nathan, All-around game goes to Curtis....its pretty easy!

 

[LaLaLaprise]

Why are people jumping all over scoutman1???

MacKinnon is better than Lazar...thats my opinion, thats his opinion, thats a lot of people's opinions.

Its classic HF...over react to a 5-6 game tourny.

You can say im bias, I dont really care...I really liked what I saw of Lazar...but he played with Petan and Rienhart...you have to take that into consideration. MacKinnon played with 2 guys who will be lucky to be drafted in the Q draft...perspective is needed, and its not always used on here.

Jump on me if you wish, but my rep on here for knowing what im talking about and being unbiased speaks for itself.

 

[scoutman1]

im only going to roll my eyes here...people are saying Lazar is not as good as Nathan Mackinnon...I compare Nathan to Steven Stamkos and Lazar is a more offensive Kesler.....

Not only do i love Lazar I think he is one of the best prospects in all of hockey....BUT that being said, when you have a world junior coach who was there watching the games who i know say Nathan is a special player that only comes around so often....guess you have to really know the game to understand why....

points of interest...i would admit if Lazar was better I am not biased to Nathan because to me a good prospect is a good prospect but here are some points to look at:

1. Nathan Mackinnon was playing on a team with NO linemates who could even compare to Petan, Reinhart.

2. Nathan had to do every thing himself, in a regular game Nathan is not the hog he was in the games, he is a fantastic playmaker.

3. When a team can triple team you and not worry about the rest of the players than it makes it hard for you to really do anything and yet Nathan was top of the scoring even still.

I was there too see, Nathan wows you every time he has the puck, he creates so much on the ice it is sick...Lazar is more safe on offense he moves well without the puck and takes advantage of open ice, but he had guys like Petan or Reinhart that the other team had to worry about and it opened up ice for him, nathan had to create everything, but im not going to defend my take any more here, Nathan is the more special player than lazar my take, lazar is amazing but Nathan is special, time will show you guys, look what Mackinnon did in the U17s with decent linemates case closed, im done defending my take on it.

 

[bretzky29ca*]

Best 1995 player in the world???????

Best 1995 player in Western Canada? Morgan Klimchuk says hello.

 

[scoutman1]

Best 1995 player in the world???????

Best 1995 player in Western Canada? Morgan Klimchuk says hello.

sorry i like klimchuk but lazar is way beyond klimchuk

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Why does either need to be determined to be better as of right now?

Lazar proved he's among the very best in his age group in Canada (the world?), everybody already knew that about Mackinnon, neither has proven anything at the junior level yet. This argument isn't going to be interesting for at least another year/if ever?.

 

[Alberta tough]

Why are people jumping all over scoutman1???

MacKinnon is better than Lazar...thats my opinion, thats his opinion, thats a lot of people's opinions.

Its classic HF...over react to a 5-6 game tourny.

You can say im bias, I dont really care...I really liked what I saw of Lazar...but he played with Petan and Rienhart...you have to take that into consideration. MacKinnon played with 2 guys who will be lucky to be drafted in the Q draft...perspective is needed, and its not always used on here.

Jump on me if you wish, but my rep on here for knowing what im talking about and being unbiased speaks for itself.

I am not jumping on scoutman1 at all. I just think his post where he said Mackinnon was the best 95 is off. If Lazar was not the best player at the CWG BC does not win gold. I thought Lazar was better that is my opinion aswell as many others. As to who will be better down the road who knows? I just feel that Lazar was not getting his dues for being the best player at the tournment.

 

[LaLaLaprise]

Best 1995 player in the world???????

Best 1995 player in Western Canada? Morgan Klimchuk says hello.

I actually really like Klimchuk...but he may not even be the best forward born in 1995 in Alberta...

 

[LaLaLaprise]

I am not jumping on scoutman1 at all. I just think his post where he said Mackinnon was the best 95 is off. If Lazar was not the best player at the CWG BC does not win gold. I thought Lazar was better that is my opinion aswell as many others. As to who will be better down the road who knows? I just feel that Lazar was not getting his dues for being the best player at the tournment.

Why is it off? Because you dont agree with it?? My point is...scoutman1 thinks MacKinnon is better than Lazar...why does that shock people? Why is that any different than you thinking Lazar is better??

Lazar is getting lots of dues...its too bad you think he isnt. Lazar was the focus of conversation for a lot of hockey fans in the city this past week...maybe you werent here to experience that, but the kid is getting his dues.

 

[scoutman1]

I am not jumping on scoutman1 at all. I just think his post where he said Mackinnon was the best 95 is off. If Lazar was not the best player at the CWG BC does not win gold. I thought Lazar was better that is my opinion aswell as many others. As to who will be better down the road who knows? I just feel that Lazar was not getting his dues for being the best player at the tournment.

so Petan, Reinhart who is amazing himself, whistle, nikkel and other solid players on the team had nothing to do with it, Lazar was a big part of the win, just like Mackinnon would have been had he had guys like Reinhart and Petan and good defense....

nova scotias other top scorer who was Murphy is not a great offensive player, he is ranked for 5th round or not drafted at all in the QMJHL draft, only reason he got points is because everyone was on nathan mackinnon and he has good speed and work ethic...

so Petan running around deeking people out and showing great offensive skill and Reinhart driving to the net where he is super skilled won;t open up ice for Lazar to have a lane to drive in or have more room to work with....people don't look at what a player has to work with just what he did...though if nathan mackinnon wasn't on nova scotia you can say they would have only had 25% of the goals they had but i guess you have to be here to see it live rather than sit on the arm rest and say omg look at the points and they won lol.

 

[goodfellas]

Nathan Mackinnon is the most talented player I saw in this tournament. What really takes him appart I think is his skating. He's so fast and has the hability to stickhandle and shoot at high speed that you don't see on many players. He drives the net like no other on this tournament too.

It will be very interesting to see what he can do in the Q next year! For me, is he the most special 95's I saw so far for sure.

 

[Alberta tough]

Why is it off? Because you dont agree with it?? My point is...scoutman1 thinks MacKinnon is better than Lazar...why does that shock people? Why is that any different than you thinking Lazar is better??

Lazar is getting lots of dues...its too bad you think he isnt. Lazar was the focus of conversation for a lot of hockey fans in the city this past week...maybe you werent here to experience that, but the kid is getting his dues.

I guess we will agree to disagree. BTW did they give out mvp award?

 

[Alberta tough]

so Petan, Reinhart who is amazing himself, whistle, nikkel and other solid players on the team had nothing to do with it, Lazar was a big part of the win, just like Mackinnon would have been had he had guys like Reinhart and Petan and good defense....

nova scotias other top scorer who was Murphy is not a great offensive player, he is ranked for 5th round or not drafted at all in the QMJHL draft, only reason he got points is because everyone was on nathan mackinnon and he has good speed and work ethic...

No where did I say the players around him did not help. But he created alot by himself.

 

[LaLaLaprise]

I guess we will agree to disagree. BTW did they give out mvp award?

Well we already disagree...you prefer Lazar and I prefer MacKinnon...so saying we agree to disagree goes without saying, my point is why is it such a big deal that someone thinks MacKinnon is better?? Im not picking on you, you're just the only one out of the 4-5 people who posted who has responded.

And about the MVP...not too sure, im sure Lazar got it...he led the Toruny in scoring and his team won.