Like I said, other than Chytil, forwards are nonexistent. Like Kovy said, Jones might be the best prospect and he's not even under contract to us.
There's still good defensive depth, though. Lindgren, Keane, Rykov eventually, even Sean Day has looked pretty solid. Team defense is obviously the strength.
Still, a guy like Gettinger, I'm really disappointed. Has not progressed so far. Lettieri still looks like a 4A guy. Fontaine had a chance to be a 4C in the NHL, but I don't really see it now. He's an AHL Blair Betts. Meskanen I really liked last year, he can't even get into games. Nothing there.
We don't have many legitimate forward prospects behind Chytil and Kravtsov. Barron, I guess. He'll see the AHL this year. Henriksson is far away. The rest of the guys are fringe, and generally not close. We need to focus on forwards in the next couple years, I suppose.
Agreed. Though I think we will get at least one young NHL forward or prospect by the deadline in Kreider deal.
The powerplay is especially hard to watch. Chytil made a few great cross ice passes that were right on the money but they couldn't be converted because whoever received the pass didn't have quick enough hands to one-time or immediately shoot. There's also almost no movement on the PP. The PP is far too static considering the lack of skill.
Chytil was pressing too hard. But, similar to the Rangers, when the Pack play a faster team, they have a hard time supporting the puck. And tend to look more disjointed. I think it's the fault of the organizations systems than anything else.
Positives.
- Shesterkin was almost unbeatable. The goal he gave up was a point shot that deflected in mid-air, within a few feet of the crease. Seemed fluky. I would argue he's ready for NHL action right now. He'd be up if we didn't already have 2 NHL calibre goalies.
- Keane looked really comfortable. Made some nice plays out there.
- Even on an off-night Chytil is noticeable every time out there.
- The entire D core is pretty solid.
- Continue to love Geertsen's size. Not sure he processes the game fast enough. Or can make a good first pass. But he's a tank out there. If he can just work on his first pass, he's an ideal 7th D.
- Fogarty has a quick, active stick when defending.
- For as hard as it was for the Pack to create offense, the Rocket weren't much better. It was a fairly even game.
- O'Regan is just solid.
Negatives.
- Unable to Establish Forecheck: reminiscent of the big club during losing streak offensively. Just have a real hard time sustaining O zone time against a fast (for the AHL), skilled team. The puck support just isn't there. I wonder if it's a systemic thing.
- PP is dreadful.
- Nieves seems to have regressed a bit. He was one of the best Wolf Pack players in the past. He has the speed and the size. But he just seems not engaged or a bit lost. (though he did make a great pass in OT with tons of space)
- Chytil, early in the game, took some really big circles when transitioning from O to D. Circles that took him completely out of the play. He needs to clean up his game just a bit more. As the game went on, he took more straight lines and his coverage in the D zone was mostly on point. He's doing OK face-off wise. This is still a major work in progress.
- The D system is prone to giving up some big chances every game. it's not as clamped down a system as it could be. Especially if/when Chytil is called up. D system is very reminiscent of the big club. Whereas, the Rocket, really didn't give up anything close to the quality of chances the Pack gave up. This system choice feels even more befuddling when you consider just how many Pack forwards are bottom 6 types. Like, why are we playing a system that isn't more stout on D?
- Sadly, Meskanen was making poor decisions all over the ice.
- Yikes, Gettinger. Size, has a decent top speed, can defend at this level. But that's about it.
