Prospect Info: CBJ Development Camp 2023 at Chiller North | July 2-6

[Marioesque]

You know that level is franchise 1D?

Yes. I think Mateychuk is actually offensively better but he's smaller. Haven't seen reasons to doubt his progress either. The D depth is real.

 

[JohnnyJacket13]

You know that level is franchise 1D?

Maybe I’m misremembering but I believe a comp of his at the time of last year’s draft was Adam Fox?

 

[majormajor]

Yes. I think Mateychuk is actually offensively better but he's smaller. Haven't seen reasons to doubt his progress either. The D depth is real.

I love the player but it's exactly his progress that we haven't seen yet. I liked him more in his draft year. He just turned 19 though so the runway for him is very long.

Maybe I’m misremembering but I believe a comp of his at the time of last year’s draft was Adam Fox?

I used Adam Fox because Mateychuk is a similarly active on the puck player who can drive play despite not having any high end tools. Maybe some other folks drew that parallel too. We have no idea if that's a practical upside for him though.

Fox wasn't considered an elite prospect, fwiw. In the HF poll before his rookie season, he was ranked 46th among prospects leaguewide. It's really tough to know with guys that aren't especially toolsy.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

It's really tough to know with guys that aren't especially toolsy.

Which one was Toolsy?

 

[majormajor]

I love the player but it's exactly his progress that we haven't seen yet. I liked him more in his draft year. He just turned 19 though so the runway for him is very long.



I used Adam Fox because Mateychuk is a similarly active on the puck player who can drive play despite not having any high end tools. Maybe some other folks drew that parallel too. We have no idea if that's a practical upside for him though.

Fox wasn't considered an elite prospect, fwiw. In the HF poll before his rookie season, he was ranked 46th among prospects leaguewide. It's really tough to know with guys that aren't especially toolsy.

Since folks have brought up Svozil, I'll say the case for Svozil is very simple. He had a better year. He was much better in the WHL playoffs. And he had an opportunity that Mateychuk didn't have at the World Juniors and in his pro debut and was a positive surprise in both. He was right there with Jiricek as best D in the whole WJ tournament.

I can foresee the path for Svozil more easily. Regular gains in strength and conditioning and I think this is a top 4 NHL D. The building blocks in terms of his tools and the way he thinks the game are already there. With Mateychuk I'm not sure. I didn't think he needed to get heavier, I'm more concerned with his speed.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Which one was Toolsy?
View attachment 726248

I think he's one of the schmelts between Yorky and Boomtown.

 

[stevo61]

I love the player but it's exactly his progress that we haven't seen yet. I liked him more in his draft year. He just turned 19 though so the runway for him is very long.



I used Adam Fox because Mateychuk is a similarly active on the puck player who can drive play despite not having any high end tools. Maybe some other folks drew that parallel too. We have no idea if that's a practical upside for him though.

Fox wasn't considered an elite prospect, fwiw. In the HF poll before his rookie season, he was ranked 46th among prospects leaguewide. It's really tough to know with guys that aren't especially toolsy.

Hes actually not even 19 yet

 

[stevo61]

Since folks have brought up Svozil, I'll say the case for Svozil is very simple. He had a better year. He was much better in the WHL playoffs. And he had an opportunity that Mateychuk didn't have at the World Juniors and in his pro debut and was a positive surprise in both. He was right there with Jiricek as best D in the whole WJ tournament.

I can foresee the path for Svozil more easily. Regular gains in strength and conditioning and I think this is a top 4 NHL D. The building blocks in terms of his tools and the way he thinks the game are already there. With Mateychuk I'm not sure. I didn't think he needed to get heavier, I'm more concerned with his speed.

Mateychuk easily see's the ice as well as Svozil and is better defensively from what I watched in the playoffs. They each were asked to play very different roles. Both saw major icetime with Svozil being offensive option 2 and Mateychuk being more of everything on the ice. Svozil put up the numbers but it doesnt mean he was much better, infact I think Mateychuk's postseason is underrated from the games I watched.

I think right now Svozil is more confident and draws from experience vs men which is something Mateychuk cant replicate. I dont think being better now = more upside for the future

 

[JacketFanInFL]

He’s here

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Flynn is such a dork.

 

[I3LI3]

Context: Was standing around some kids looking for autographs, Babcock emerges from one of the locker rooms. The kids noticed him, and called for him. Babcock waived and said “be out in a minute” and went into a different locker room. I assumed he was just flaking (not meant in a bad way). But about 5 minutes later he comes back (nobody noticed him coming), puts his hand on my shoulder so I could notice him and get out of his way so he could go talk to the kid. He taps him on the shoulder and says “heard you yapping for me. (Said smiling) How’re you doing Buddy?” So they talked for a second, and then he turned and asked me if there was any good players out there. I said “you tell me coach.” And he laughed and basically said we’ll see in main camp. Shook my hand and left. Was cool

unforgettable moment.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[MoeBartoli]

 

[CBJx614]

 

[Cowumbus]

For having question marks about his hockey IQ, Fantilli does a great job at creating picks/interference on defenders to give his teammates space with the puck. He does a good job of getting away with it with the “accidentally on purpose” slating routes he takes in the ozone.

 

[GoJackets1]

For having question marks about his hockey IQ, Fantilli does a great job at creating picks/interference on defenders to give his teammates space with the puck. He does a good job of getting away with it with the “accidentally on purpose” slating routes he takes in the ozone.

I noticed this in a tiny clip of him with Brindley a few days ago. I was wondering if it was something he regularly does, cool. That could help a lot with a shooter like Laine to get more open lanes.

 

[ThisIsMyAlibi]

For having question marks about his hockey IQ, Fantilli does a great job at creating picks/interference on defenders to give his teammates space with the puck. He does a good job of getting away with it with the “accidentally on purpose” slating routes he takes in the ozone.

It’s probably my blue colored glasses, but I have a hard time buying into the low IQ thing based on Fantilli’s production in NCAA. He was the most talented, most aggressive player who dictated the pace and action. He was a NASCAR car on a track full of Civics. I wouldn’t use finesse and let the game come to me, either.

I think his IQ could end up being surprisingly high as he tailors his game to the NHL level.

 

[aRussian]

Goalies took some breaking in but think all there need some work. Once committed to a shot they didn’t really adjust well if the play moved away from that. Cascade of goals.

Nothing crazy on the defensive end of things, but we only got to see 4 on 4 and 3 on 3 so things were moving quite a bit. Lots of the forwards would get caught too far up when a DMan was carrying the puck up especially if it got turned over in the neutral zone. Several breaks and partial breaks resulted. Like everyone I was watching Fantilli quite a bit; has a bit of work on d-side of game but he seemed far ahead of the rest of the class of forwards on that end. a

Definitely offense-oriented given the format. Fantilli again stands high there; also noticed those “pick positioning” he was doing. Shot crisp and hard. Didn’t try to do anything too crazy that directly turned the puck over resulting in a rush again.

The players definitely need to work on defensive coverage of players coming off halfwall towards the center as some would get mixed and leave a red carpet lane in the middle. Reminded me of our season early with Lars. Shore that up!

Individual thoughts:

Dumais: Heard a guy behind me talking as he made all days of the camp… Was saying he didn’t appear to be putting the effort in. I’m going to kind of echo that sentiment. Lots of gliding and casually tried to play positionally. Had a pretty good goal in front when left open but the product of that goal was player (not sure who) working along the boards drawing off two defenders to get him that pass.

Brindley: Has his own set of skill but I’ll offer perhaps an unpopular thought. I have to wonder how he’d look removed from Fantilli’s hip? He frequently would have more space because they defense were more drawn that way. Just have to wonder if he can maintain the skill and possession if he’s under more pressure. Maybe he can and that would make him that much more of a solid pick.

Mateychuck: Didn’t really notice major plays surrounding him. Good skater and reliable enough not to really stick out. Noticed Knazko more on the offensive side (although he was more a perimeter mover).

 

[puckgoalnet]

It’s probably my blue colored glasses, but I have a hard time buying into the low IQ thing based on Fantilli’s production in NCAA. He was the most talented, most aggressive player who dictated the pace and action. He was a NASCAR car on a track full of Civics. I wouldn’t use finesse and let the game come to me, either.

I think his IQ could end up being surprisingly high as he tailors his game to the NHL level.

Yeah, I've watched the kid all year long and in person several times, that's a weird knock. I didn't see it in any scouting reports either ... in fact, most scouting reports raved about his hockey IQ.

 

[BluejacketNut]

Can never drink enough beer ina lifetime, but to each their own. I’m happy to toast anyone enjoying a beverage of their choice, even one so vile and wretched as a hard seltzer.

The way I look at it, is I would never drink a non alcoholic beer, ever. I would drink a non alcoholic seltzer. I generally will go with bourbon, but it causes too much heartburn when eating haha

 

[Youngguns80]

Sat in front and of Gavin Brindley’s grandparents. Didn’t know who they were and I was talking to guy from Toronto and we were discussing the players that impressed us. I had attended all 4 days and was saying Gavin Brindley stood out to me. Then they said hey that is my grandson.

I thought Jordon Dumais’s skating really improved but his effort in drills were very lax but gametime he did wire a quite few passes that were very impressive and roofed a goal.

Fantilli was as advertised obviously wayy above everyone else except Hunter McKown. Hunter is going to be hard to keep off the center depth for the big club. He was really good, physical and had quite a few goals that were very impressive. His skating is very good and was fast (he is in front of Sillinger in my book from last year and this camp).

William Whitelaw just has a nose for the puck and finding open spaces to receive the puck. This wasn’t just one time but all game.

Luca’s skating has improved as well and looked bigger. He played well and stood out on a few plays.

James Fisher got better as the game wore on and was fast and physical.

All the goalies started out shaky but settled down after a few minutes.

 

[BluejacketNut]

So it Fantilli that good, or our goalies this bad? Or yes to both haha

 

[stevo61]

So it Fantilli that good, or our goalies this bad? Or yes to both haha

On paper its a whole lotta nothing. I wish Ivanov could or would come to something like this. Hes the only really high upside guy we have at this time

 

[Youngguns80]

So it Fantilli that good, or our goalies this bad? Or yes to both haha

His speed, skill, and pace was above everyone except Hunter McKown. He was that good and goalie’s were overmatched.

 

[Long Live Lyle]

Yeah, I've watched the kid all year long and in person several times, that's a weird knock. I didn't see it in any scouting reports either ... in fact, most scouting reports raved about his hockey IQ.

One video I watched talked about how Fantilli was a bit prone to forcing passes or sometimes making the wrong play with the puck in the offensive zone. But that’s a pretty small part of “hockey IQ”. His defensive zone/neutral zone/off-puck play in the offensive zone seemed to fare pretty well.

Additionally, the guy in this draft he was directly evaluated against the most for pretty much this entire calendar year was Carlsson, who has an extremely high hockey IQ. So I think because Fantilli’s IQ is lower than Carlsson’s, people unfairly have acted like it’s bad/below average. It’s just not elite.

I’m pretty confident Fantilli’s hockey IQ is no worse than average (and perhaps better) which should be just fine.

 

[MoeBartoli]

I thought @Youngguns80 wrote a good composite on the scrimmage, one that reflected most of my thoughts. Here’s a couple of my observations.

Last year Kent Johnson stood out from all others. This year Fantilli was the guy. It wasn’t so much the goals - a couple would have been stopped by an NHL goalie - rather it’s just everythimg about his game.

There’s something about McKown that just looks like a pro player. He plays smart and is where he should be most of the time - not easy in these pond hockey style games.

This style plays well for Mateychuk who Imthought looked good with the puck. On the other hand these games make defensive assessments difficult.

DBB has some puck skills. They didn’t always translate into final results, but he made some good passes and setups. Not bad for a junior player.

I wanted more from Dumais. He has skill but wasn’t as impactful like I anticipated, especially in 3 on 3. I also wanted more from Maletesta - I like the guy - though he looked more engaged and assertive to the puck. Whitelow, too, had a knack for the puck.

A few other guys who looked fine - Fisher and Knazko.I might add Pinelli.

As to the goalies, if it were Exxon’s pipeline they’d say no black gold here - time to cap it.