I figured I'll repost here some notes I had from the U17s last year:
"By Zeus' beard, that Carson Lambos is a fun player to watch. Smooth as peanut butter skater, and he brings the jam. Makes plays all over the ice. Some turnovers off weird decisions, but I'll take it as a sign he's creative.
That Canada White top line was incredible. Matthew Savoie has got burners on his skates and card-dealers hands to match. Underaged and 5'9, he was losing battles all over the ice though. But his linemates are both bigger kids, Dylan Guenther is 6'1, and he's fast too. McTavish isn't as quick or as skilled but he's like what Tyler Bertuzzi is on the Detroit top line, winning every battle and being unmovable in front of the net. At 198 in this age group he just bullies his way around the ice.
And then Sillinger on the second line. Defensively, he interrupts plays with machine-like efficiency and scientific precision. Offensively he's a little more raw. Very high IQ, and a fast skater, but he doesn't wow me with his hands or passing ability. Great shot though.
The one guy I really liked from Canada Red was Connor Lockhart. That's right, the 90s teen sitcom star. For real though, he's got moves and was one of the few players on that weak Red team who ever had the gall to hold on to the puck and try to make something happen. They play like Switzerland circa 2010."
"So that Brad Lambert is really good. Wow. Talk about a player who's not afraid to carry the puck and make plays. In the game I watched them against Russia, there were a couple situations where he picked up the puck in his own zone, made moves around multiple forcheckers and carried it through the neutral and into the offensive zone. The one major issue is he avoids the front of the net like it's got leprosy. A lot of curlbacks and dipsy doodling. But he set up the tying goal with the extra attacker and scored in the shootout.
Going into the game, Samu Salminen was a player to watch for, but he wasn't overly impressive. Big body, good on the boards, but he didn't have the puck a whole lot, and didn't impress much when he did have it. He scored the tying goal by crashing the front of the net though.
There's this little defenseman for Finland, Jimi Suomi, a really intriguing prospect. Listed at 5'10 and that seemed generous; 143 pounds. But what a skater. Not smooth like Lambos, but incredible shifty and explosive. He also runs Finland's powerplay from the point. I noticed a few flaws and mistakes, but there's a ton to like there.
For Russia, Daniil Lazutin was the clear best player. At 6'2 he's got a bit of a power game, mixed with high end skill.
Fyodor Svechkov was the other player I particularly liked - decent size at 6' and maybe the most purely skilled player on the team. His best competition for that distinction might be Prokhor Poltapov, who is only 5'10 but really stood out with his stick skills.
The one other guy who stood out for Russia was Vsevolod Gaidamak - really good hockey sense. He didn't look as purely skilled as some other guys, but he just kept finding ways to create scoring chances."
