Development Camp 2018

[ello]

Hard to believe the guy just drafted attending his first D camp isnt as good as Stanley attending his what? 3rd?

I think he's talking specifically regarding DG's skating ability, which is a skill that seems to be difficult to coach. I believe you'd be hard-pressed to find many players in the NHL today who are regarded as strong skaters who were slow/awkward skaters when they were drafted.

Gustafsson projects as a third line guy anyhow, so hopefully his defensive awareness and other skills can eventually make up for his lack of explosiveness if he ever makes it to the NHL full time.

 

[Daximus]

I think he's talking specifically regarding DG's skating ability, which is a skill that seems to be difficult to coach. I believe you'd be hard-pressed to find many players in the NHL today who are regarded as strong skaters who were slow/awkward skaters when they were drafted.

Gustafsson projects as a third line guy anyhow, so hopefully his defensive awareness and other skills can eventually make up for his lack of explosiveness if he ever makes it to the NHL full time.

Actually technique is the easy part to coach. It's adding explosiveness, top end speed and lateral movement that seem to be the hardest. But if you have a choppy stride and are willing to work on it, that is something that can be fixed. He may never be fast or have great explosiveness but if he fixes his stride it can do wonders for his game. Won't make him a 1st line player or anything but will help fix some of the little things in the way he approaches his positioning and transition among a plethora of other things.

 

[Whileee]

Lowry has greatly improved his skating since being drafted. His lack of quickness and speed was a liability, but not really any more. He is quick enough to be effective in all zones, and his top-end speed is actually not bad.

 

[Daximus]

Lowry has greatly improved his skating since being drafted. His lack of quickness and speed was a liability, but not really any more. He is quick enough to be effective in all zones, and his top-end speed is actually not bad.

He always had an okay stride just had to work on everything else. The only way to fix your mechanics is to want to. So hopefully DG wants to and I imagine he does.

 

[Joe Hallenback]

Some quick thoughts because I couldn't stay the entire time

Vesalainen - Looks good but raw still. I think he needs more time hopefully in the AHL next year
Stanley - I thought he might have been on of the better defenders overall
Samberg - Dominate in the D zone. Ok in the O zone but overall he looks really good
Green - Guy can skate and move the puck hopefully he can handle pro level players
Appleton - Too good for this level now
Spacek - Same
Gustafssson- Not as slow as Lowry was but he needs to work on his speed for sure but he looks man strong already
Kovecvic - Looked good as well moves the puck really well
Chisholm and Vallarti - They were ok out there but not as polished
Wong - Came as advertised a real pit bull of a player
Suess - Was really good out there just a level below Appleton
Gawanke - Was better then last year. Look forward to seeing if he can be more dominate at the Junior level

I thought the goalies all looked the same lol. Big and square to the puck. Berdin was more adventurous of the 3

I like Saterno out of the non Jet Picks

 

[Whileee]

Thanks to those who took the time to review the camp. Much appreciated.

 

[JetsFan815]

I came back home hoping to see the scrimmage on youtube like last season but nothing. Sad.

 

[Moon Man]

Hard to believe the guy just drafted attending his first D camp isnt as good as Stanley attending his what? 3rd?

I’m in the Stanley hopeful crowd, always was, even when most here were so negative toward us picking him. I posted so in his draft thread here if I’m remembering right. He did not look good at skating though, especially his pivots in the D zone whenever I saw him. It’s great that he’s made such strides, I remember Chevy saying something like that he “really liked his brains and his work ethic/drive” when we drafted him, and his improved skating/agility is most likely due to that.

I’m genuinely surprised (pleasantly) though, hearing that he’s improved so much that his skating looks like Coffey’s when compared with our recent 2nd rounder. Particularly since to me that was the one thing that I thought he had to work the most on.

On a side note, I remember there were so many here wishing that we didn’t pick him on draft day, there was an article written for him (Stanley) on some Jets website before the draft and it got many even more worried. Someone even posted a meme/joke picture of a slip saying Chevy was determined to draft him haha. I listened to the draft on the radio in the car and they were saying we made a trade to move up... to draft Logan Stanley! I’ve never laughed so hard on draft day knowing for sure what was happening on here. Hahaha

 

[untouchable21]

That's what I heard as well. Just wondering if we offered him a spot too (I should have worded that post better). Maybe better opportunity to get to play in Vancouver.

It’s only fair, we have one Tanev, they have the other so while we have one Poolman, they get the other.

 

[kittiecarlyle]

I think he's talking specifically regarding DG's skating ability, which is a skill that seems to be difficult to coach. I believe you'd be hard-pressed to find many players in the NHL today who are regarded as strong skaters who were slow/awkward skaters when they were drafted.

Gustafsson projects as a third line guy anyhow, so hopefully his defensive awareness and other skills can eventually make up for his lack of explosiveness if he ever makes it to the NHL full time.

Skating is a skill easily enhanced, all players can improve in that area. John Tavares was a definite below average skater at the JR. level, Lowry also was. Players may not elevate their skating to elite from sub standard but if the desire is there they can and will be ok skaters at the next level if not better.

 

[mazmin]

assuming myers and buff would be big motivators to help with his skating, not sure if they had similar issues when they were younger. this is where a good development system can really help.

Buff was really overweight as a Jr but he could still skate. A legit physical freak. Myers was also a gifted skater as far back as anyone can remember. That said, they can still offer Stanley a lot in all areas of the game. Stanley has a big year ahead of himself on the Moose. Since the return to Winnipeg the Moose have taken a huge leap in player development.

 

[JetsUK]

Buff was really overweight as a Jr but he could still skate. A legit physical freak. Myers was also a gifted skater as far back as anyone can remember. That said, they can still offer Stanley a lot in all areas of the game. Stanley has a big year ahead of himself on the Moose. Since the return to Winnipeg the Moose have taken a huge leap in player development.

Yep. And they'll afford Stanley every opportunity. I don't think he's ever going to be a Myers-level skater, but he's noticeably better than even a few months ago in terms of first step, transitioning, lateral mobility and edge-work, and he always had a decent stride once he got going. If he can keep it up, then he's going to have less difficulty with being beaten outside by speed, and use his reach to better advantage, among other improvements.

 

[Mud Turtle]

Yep. And they'll afford Stanley every opportunity. I don't think he's ever going to be a Myers-level skater, but he's noticeably better than even a few months ago in terms of first step, transitioning, lateral mobility and edge-work, and he always had a decent stride once he got going. If he can keep it up, then he's going to have less difficulty with being beaten outside by speed, and use his reach to better advantage, among other improvements.

How does a player improve that much in a couple months? Not saying it isn’t possible. I would love it to be but it seems very unlikely that improvements would be that noticeable in a couple months?

 

[Petr Cejka]

What about McKenzie in the camp?

 

[surixon]

What about McKenzie in the camp?

He had an injury so he wasn't on the ice.

 

[Maukkis]

Skating is a skill easily enhanced, all players can improve in that area. John Tavares was a definite below average skater at the JR. level, Lowry also was. Players may not elevate their skating to elite from sub standard but if the desire is there they can and will be ok skaters at the next level if not better.

Yeah. Just the transition from your skating being a liability to it being dead average can make a world of difference. Just ask Lowry.

 

[kellhunter]

I came back home hoping to see the scrimmage on youtube like last season but nothing. Sad.

Yeah, pretty disappointing for those of us who could not attend. Seeing by the video highlights, it really doesn't make any sense that they couldn't post the unedited footage to youtube.

It may not be of interest to some fans, but I always looked forward to seeing the young players in action at a time when there isn't much of a hockey fix available.

 

[HannuJ]

my takeaway?
Vesalainen left without signing a contract.

 

[DannyGallivan]

Always been a little surprised at just how down so many people are with Stanley. He produced well in junior, you can't teach someone to be 6'7'', he has a mean streak, and he was a big contributor to a very successful team. I'm very excited to see him turn pro.

 

[Gm0ney]

Always been a little surprised at just how down so many people are with Stanley. He produced well in junior, you can't teach someone to be 6'7'', he has a mean streak, and he was a big contributor to a very successful team. I'm very excited to see him turn pro.

I thought he had a pretty promising season this year. Worries about him being a pylon will persist until proven otherwise, I guess.

 

[MardyBum]

my takeaway?
Vesalainen left without signing a contract.

Probably negotiating ELC bonuses. We're going to be pretty tight to the cap so every dollar matters

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Always been a little surprised at just how down so many people are with Stanley. He produced well in junior, you can't teach someone to be 6'7'', he has a mean streak, and he was a big contributor to a very successful team. I'm very excited to see him turn pro.

No, he didn't produce well in Jr. That's why so many are so down on him. That, and seeing his D zone weakness.

In his d+2 year he began to show some offense - continued very poor in the D zone - largely due to lack of mobility.

 

[Sweech]

Always been a little surprised at just how down so many people are with Stanley. He produced well in junior, you can't teach someone to be 6'7'', he has a mean streak, and he was a big contributor to a very successful team. I'm very excited to see him turn pro.

Well part of it is that because he’s 6’7” with a mean streak people assume he’s good in his own end...except he’s not. The point production improved...but still isn’t actually that good in the scheme of things. Then there’s the fact people are saying he looks faster with skating but again that’s not really the issue, he needs to be more mobile in his 4-way skating. The straightline speed doesn’t really matter because if a forward is getting behind him it’s likely bad news bears already.

That said could he still become an NHLer? Sure. It just looks so incredibly unlikely that he becomes an impact player of any sort. So it’s obviously dissapointing to think we used a first and a second on the guy.

When the pick was made it looked like we were taking the next Samuel Morin or Duncan Siemens and he hasn’t done anything yet to dispel that. He’s now going into the pros though so this is a big chance to prove the doubters like myself wrong.

 

[Whileee]

Well part of it is that because he’s 6’7” with a mean streak people assume he’s good in his own end...except he’s not. The point production improved...but still isn’t actually that good in the scheme of things. Then there’s the fact people are saying he looks faster with skating but again that’s not really the issue, he needs to be more mobile in his 4-way skating. The straightline speed doesn’t really matter because if a forward is getting behind him it’s likely bad news bears already.

That said could he still become an NHLer? Sure. It just looks so incredibly unlikely that he becomes an impact player of any sort. So it’s obviously dissapointing to think we used a first and a second on the guy.

When the pick was made it looked like we were taking the next Samuel Morin or Duncan Siemens and he hasn’t done anything yet to dispel that. He’s now going into the pros though so this is a big chance to prove the doubters like myself wrong.

As I've noted before, Stanley has been highly placed in even strength scoring among OHL scoring. His point total is constrained because a small percentage of his points are on the PP. An analogy would be the notion that Trouba is "low scoring" because he doesn't get many PP points, whereas he is actually high scoring at even strength.

 

[Whileee]

Well part of it is that because he’s 6’7” with a mean streak people assume he’s good in his own end...except he’s not. The point production improved...but still isn’t actually that good in the scheme of things. Then there’s the fact people are saying he looks faster with skating but again that’s not really the issue, he needs to be more mobile in his 4-way skating. The straightline speed doesn’t really matter because if a forward is getting behind him it’s likely bad news bears already.

That said could he still become an NHLer? Sure. It just looks so incredibly unlikely that he becomes an impact player of any sort. So it’s obviously dissapointing to think we used a first and a second on the guy.

When the pick was made it looked like we were taking the next Samuel Morin or Duncan Siemens and he hasn’t done anything yet to dispel that. He’s now going into the pros though so this is a big chance to prove the doubters like myself wrong.

How would you rate the 4-way mobility of Chara or Coburn? Stanley needs to improve his mobility and quickness, but his size and reach will give him some additional leeway if he learns to use it effectively.

I think he remains a disappointing pick, but I'd wait another couple of years before writing him off completely.