Prospect Info: Mario Lucia

[awstaf]

I had the chance to interview Mario Lucia and asked him about where he sees his future with the Minnesota Wild amongst other things. You can check out the entire thing below.

http://alongtheboards.com/2015/02/one-us-mario-lucias-rise-minnesota-high-school-star-wild-prospect/

With all of the speculation surrounding whether he'll leave Notre Dame after his junior season and whether he'll actually sign with the Wild, I ask you, do you think there is room for him in Minnesota in the future or will he likely be moved?

Click to read more...

 

[Al Lagoon]

There is definitely room for him in Iowa. Time to build the rebuild from within, and he can certainly help.

 

[J22*]

I would be surprised if Lucia tried to bail on the Wild organization. Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if Lucia went back to Notre Dame for his senior season.

 

[DANOZ28]

i dont have a crystal ball but i think he'll stay one more year at ND then one year with the iowa wild after that i believe wild will make room by trading coyle (my best guess). goodluck super mario!

 

[Minnesota]

Definitely room for him going forward.

 

[Nino Noderreiter]

He's a minnesota boy from Wayzata, MN...the organization will give him a lot of chances to live up to his potential.

 

[TaLoN]

He's developing well, and Iowa sure could use him! Get a couple years with the baby-wild before making the jump to the big club.

 

[gphr513]

Watched him play at Mariucci his last year at Wayzata and he had a real nice shot then. Don't know if he still has as good of a shot by college standards, but I'll be interested to see him translate to the next level after a pretty solid career with Notre Dame.

 

[MN_Gopher]

I think Lucia has an NHL future.

Not sure if it will be with the wild. He is a Vanek light type. Average in his own end and good enough on the forecheck. Big bodied but not overly physical. Slip up and he makes you pay. More goals than assists so far all three years at ND. A shoot first player.

Under Yeo being a rookie he will have a hard time cracking this line up. It took Zucker a few years and Zuckers game was more well rounded leaving college.

Looking at another big Minnesotian, Wheeler never wowed anyone in college either. Talent and ability were there but ne never dominated the NCAA either. He went right to the NHL and never looked back. Different games and syles but you never know.

Combine Tony's tenacity and Marios ability and you have an All Star.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I had never been too impressed with his skating, in the times I've watched ND. I don't think it's debilitating or anything, but might be an issue.

 

[Jarick]

Just finished that interview, very good.

 

[DrPP]

I think Lucia has an NHL future.

Not sure if it will be with the wild. He is a Vanek light type. Average in his own end and good enough on the forecheck. Big bodied but not overly physical. Slip up and he makes you pay. More goals than assists so far all three years at ND. A shoot first player.

Under Yeo being a rookie he will have a hard time cracking this line up. It took Zucker a few years and Zuckers game was more well rounded leaving college.

Looking at another big Minnesotian, Wheeler never wowed anyone in college either. Talent and ability were there but ne never dominated the NCAA either. He went right to the NHL and never looked back. Different games and syles but you never know.

Combine Tony's tenacity and Marios ability and you have an All Star.

Wheeler did not put up huge points in college but he always had an elite combination of size, speed and skill. Not sure if that is true for Lucia.

 

[awstaf]

I feel like Lucia is perfect for Yeo because he is a less skilled version of Niederreiter. Yeo is always preaching to Nino to play simple, but he is so skilled that it kind of kills an important aspect of his game when he is forced to play that way.

Lucia is fairly talented, but he seems to be built for the game along the boards and getting in the dirty areas. As long as he can increase his mobility to an NHL level, Id say he is at least a very good 3rd line winger.

 

[Nino Noderreiter]

What's Graovac going to be like? Any good comparisions to playing style and such?

 

[awstaf]

What's Graovac going to be like? Any good comparisions to playing style and such?

I'm hesitant to make any comparisons for Graovac because I haven't really seen him play a lot. I know that he is projected to be a bottom six forward, which is a great value considering he was a 7th round pick.

He's leading Iowa in points with 35 (16 goals, 19 assists) but I'd think his future role in Minnesota would be a Brodziak replacement with the ability to hit the net on more than 1% of his shots.