LD Mike Koster - Univ. of Minnesota, NCAA (2019, 146th, TOR)

[Frk It]

Koster has not levelled off, at all.

You have a scouting report on him?

 

[Brock]

I have found myself checking this thread a few times over the course of the season.

I was really impressed with Koster at the Hlinka in the summer. His skating ability and overall mobility was very impressive at the event. Especially how he holds the line and opens up passing/shooting lanes with his quick feet. And he held his own defensively, despite the lack of size. Seemed like the perfect defender for today's NHL.

Here's hoping he finishes the year in the USHL so that we get a few more eyes on him, and a few more opinions.

 

[57special]

Koster is #4.

 

[Jaykay]

I've seen him get Mike Reilly comps and I don't think that's too far off.

 

[ref19]

kid is a stud

 

[Habs76]

I've seen him get Mike Reilly comps and I don't think that's too far off.

I can't say I watched the guy play in his domestic league this year but his skating at the Hlinka didn't look close to Reilly's. Not nearly as explosive.

 

[57special]

Are you comparing Koster to 17yo Reilly, or Reilly as he is now?

 

[MMC]

Welcome to Toronto!

 

[William H Bonney]

I really liked him at the Hlinka. His skating is obviously a highlight but the fact that he's been playing high school hockey and is undersized wasn't going to do him any favors when it came to the draft.

 

[57special]

He isn't looking out of place on a very talented Gophers team. Even when compared to talented skaters on the D corps like Johnson, Lacombe, and Faber, he stands out. His lack of size doesn't seem to be a problem, at all. His agile feet and hands certainly help keep him out of trouble. No sign of bad judgement so far...I'd say the opposite, at this point. Seems smart. Great skater, and is seeing PP time. Defensive play is at least decent...his ability to get back to the puck quickly in his own zone helps him there. Only weakness that I can see so far is his shot form the point.

Composed in his own zone...nice first pass

 

[LeafChief]

He isn't looking out of place on a very talented Gophers team. Even when compared to talented skaters on the D corps like Johnson, Lacombe, and Faber, he stands out. His lack of size doesn't seem to be a problem, at all. His agile feet and hands certainly help keep him out of trouble. No sign of bad judgement so far...I'd say the opposite, at this point. Seems smart. Great skater, and is seeing PP time. Defensive play is at least decent...his ability to get back to the puck quickly in his own zone helps him there. Only weakness that I can see so far is his shot form the point.

Composed in his own zone...nice first pass

Great to hear! Looking forward to seeing more updates on Koster now that his NCAA season has started.

I only watched a few minutes of the game earlier in the week very Mich. State but he looked to be on the 3rd pair with some PP time. Is that accurate?

 

[57special]

Yeah, but that will change soon. Johnson, Faber and Lacombe will all be going away to WJC camp, and I would guess that at least two will make the team, if not all three. Koster will get plenty of TOI, and likely be playing top 4.

He had another mistake free game tonight. Superb skater, with a good feel on when to get involved in a rush. We'll see if he can keep it up.

 

[stickty111]

Scored his 1st today on a perfect shot. He has been tremendous so far. He's a lot better defensively then expected. He's such a calm with the puck and seems to always make the read, and knows when to stay back and when to carry the puck. It's a treat to watch him handle the puck.
These last 2 games he has been playing top pair minutes with some d men at WJC camp, and he has excelled.

 

[Knies iT]

One of the best game iq's of this class. Shot can be improved quickly.

This is the attribute that has stood out to me right away. His IQ and processing speed are top notch. He can go tape-to-tape under pressure with a blind fold on.

“What impresses me is when I watch a game from up top and I can see the entire play develop, Mike can see that at ice level,” said Snuggerud. “When I’m up top and say ‘Mike, you should make that play’, he makes that play. “He has a map view at ice level and that is how he plays the game.”

I've watched every Gophers game so far this season and there's a case to be made that Koster has been the most consistent D on that blue line. Commentators mentioned he's been the biggest surprise and didn't make a single bad puck-touch in his first three games.

Outside of the Hlinka, I never watched him in the USHL, so was expecting more of an offensive defensemen, but he's surprisingly conservative and his transition play/puck moving are among the best in the NCAA IMO.

I see some Spurgeon stylistically.

 

[57special]

He has improved his defense and positioning drastically from when he was drafted. Skating was always good, but it's gotten REALLY good. He used to cheat on defense to get offense, but they must've knocked that out of him in either the USHL or by Motzko at the extended Gophers pre season camp. Spurgeon is a heady comparison, but his skating is there, and the judgement seems to be pretty good, also. I think he might've grown a tad since he was drafted, so he might even be a bit bigger than Spurgeon was when he was 19.

I'm terrible at projecting players, and it's still really early in the season, but he looks pretty good out there. He's playing top 2(out of necessity)on a top NCAA team, and doing well. To me, the question with him was always would he be able to play defense at higher levels, and would he be too weak. His defense looks at least average if not better than that, and his size doesn't seem to be a problem at the college level so far.

He bears watching. Too soon to say whether or not Toronto has a sleeper on their hands.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

He has improved his defense and positioning drastically from when he was drafted. Skating was always good, but it's gotten REALLY good. He used to cheat on defense to get offense, but they must've knocked that out of him in either the USHL or by Motzko at the extended Gophers pre season camp. Spurgeon is a heady comparison, but his skating is there, and the judgement seems to be pretty good, also. I think he might've grown a tad since he was drafted, so he might even be a bit bigger than Spurgeon was when he was 19.

I'm terrible at projecting players, and it's still really early in the season, but he looks pretty good out there. He's playing top 2(out of necessity)on a top NCAA team, and doing well. To me, the question with him was always would he be able to play defense at higher levels, and would he be too weak. His defense looks at least average if not better than that, and his size doesn't seem to be a problem at the college level so far.

He bears watching. Too soon to say whether or not Toronto has a sleeper on their hands.

He is someone that honestly wasn't even on my radar coming into this season. Obviously still a lot of time to get a read on him more accurately but definitely exciting to see him kind of pop up out of nowhere and play so well his first stint with NCAA hockey.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

This is the attribute that has stood out to me right away. His IQ and processing speed are top notch. He can go tape-to-tape under pressure with a blind fold on.



I've watched every Gophers game so far this season and there's a case to be made that Koster has been the most consistent D on that blue line. Commentators mentioned he's been the biggest surprise and didn't make a single bad puck-touch in his first three games.

Outside of the Hlinka, I never watched him in the USHL, so was expecting more of an offensive defensemen, but he's surprisingly conservative and his transition play/puck moving are among the best in the NCAA IMO.

I see some Spurgeon stylistically.

I hardly know anything but I’d have Faber and Johnson ahead, slightly, though they have the benefit of playing with each other.

 

[Knies iT]

I hardly know anything but I’d have Faber and Johnson ahead, slightly, though they have the benefit of playing with each other.

Johnson has not looked overly impressive. He's been a black hole offensively despite being gifted 1PP. Koster was paired with Johnson on the top PP by game #2 and he's outperformed him in that role.

Faber has looked great as a freshman also but Koster's shown a level of play in the Michigan series that I haven't seen from Faber yet in his short stint (#1 all situations top pair). The commentators for tonight's game stated that Koster's looked as good as any on that blue line too.

Unrelated but Koster's also been getting in reps at RD.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Johnson has not looked overly impressive. He's been a black hole offensively despite being gifted 1PP. Koster was paired with Johnson on the top PP by game #2 and he's outperformed him in that role.

Faber has looked great as a freshman also but Koster's shown a level of play in the Michigan series that I haven't seen from Faber yet in his short stint (#1 all situations top pair). The commentators for tonight's game stated that Koster's looked as good as any on that blue line too.

Unrelated but Koster's also been getting in reps at RD.

Koster is a really good OFD, I agree.

 

[57special]

Yeah, I noticed he got beat one time( by Kent Johnson?), and wondered if it was because he was playing on his off side.

 

[Morgs]

The one thing about Johnson I've noticed is the guy flubs the puck when passing constantly. I've watched 5 games (4 with Johnson) this season and he's done it multiple times where he just straight up fans on the pass at his own blueline. At first I was like "oh that's just a mistake, it happens", but like.... it keeps happening. Maybe his stick is too long?

Anyway, Koster is straight up climbing my Leafs prospect rankings, and without production/adv stats to fall back on makes it even more impressive imo as I'm definitely a stats guy. As I said last night watching the game, you can just tell when a player "gets it", and Koster gets it. His IQ is by far his best trait, he understands what he can do, and does it so effectively. He sees he's not the biggest guy, but uses his feet, body, and stick to such an advantage where he defends by skating with the guy and using his body/stick to remove pucks before a chance ever can come. He almost never makes a bad touch. He stylisitcally reminds me Ty Smith (not as good, obviously), and I mean that as a bigger compliment than virtually anyone understands.

 

[57special]

I would say that his skating is his most impressive trait.

 

[Morgs]

I would say that his skating is his most impressive trait.

They're both up there, but the IQ is what really stands out to me.

 

[TheKrebsCycle]

I would say that his skating is his most impressive trait.

Wasnt it thought of as a minus prior to draft ? Has it improved or were the initial scouting reports wrong?

 

[57special]

I saw some saying his skating was a problem, but it just shows how poor some of the "scouting" is. He has always been a good skater. His skating has improved so he is even better now, but the reports were still inaccurate. Another local guy, Brinkman, was described as needing to add strength. The kid was 220 lbs. of muscle at the time. Another kid(who i know very well) was called fast, when he is anything but.

Beware of internet scouts, especially when it comes to guys further down the lists. I can understand being wrong on projections, but not on basic strengths and weaknesses of a players game.