Prospect Info: Marlies/Prospects Thread

[nobody]

Koster is a future NHLer. The way he skates, the way he reads the plays, the way he makes small shifty plays and always puts the puck on the teammates stick, the way he keeps his cool, the way he reacts to high-pressure situations/ forecheckers and always makes the right outlet pass. This kid is something special. I'm not sure if his offense will ever come around to be a standout quality, but his game is built to make him a fantastic shutdown d-man who can skate and uses his positioning and stick effectively. Isn't afraid to play the body either. If he can grow an inch or two, that's bonus for us but I think he needs to gain man strength by the time he turns pro and he should be in an NHL uniform (hopefully a Leafs uniform) in the not too distant future.

 

[stickty111]

Koster is a future NHLer. The way he skates, the way he reads the plays, the way he makes small shifty plays and always puts the puck on the teammates stick, the way he keeps his cool, the way he reacts to high-pressure situations/ forecheckers and always makes the right outlet pass. This kid is something special. I'm not sure if his offense will ever come around to be a standout quality, but his game is built to make him a fantastic shutdown d-man who can skate and uses his positioning and stick effectively. Isn't afraid to play the body either. If he can grow an inch or two, that's bonus for us but I think he needs to gain man strength by the time he turns pro and he should be in an NHL uniform (hopefully a Leafs uniform) in the not too distant future.

I'm impressed how calm he is with the puck all over the ice. Even with pressure on him, he makes a short simple pass as if nobody was there. It's how the play on the disallowed goal started. He made a nice interception and then a short pass past 2 forecheckers that started the rush. He's also a lot better defensively then I expected. As you mentioned, needs man strength and more acceleration. He has the tools you want in a puck moving 2 way D.
I actually see a bit of Liljegren in him the way he moves side to side.

 

[stickty111]

 

[nobody]

I'm impressed how calm he is with the puck all over the ice. Even with pressure on him, he makes a short simple pass as if nobody was there. It's how the play on the disallowed goal started. He made a nice interception and then a short pass past 2 forecheckers that started the rush. He's also a lot better defensively then I expected. As you mentioned, needs man strength and more acceleration. He has the tools you want in a puck moving 2 way D.
I actually see a bit of Liljegren in him the way he moves side to side.

I see a little bit of Lilly too. The way they both seem to glide around effortlessly and then take a couple of explosive strides to beat their man to the pucks. Koster's skating has always been pretty damn good and even on the rush up the ice with the puck that he had midway through the period, you can see him turn it up a notch while carrying the puck up the ice. I love how he's not scared to make plays out there. He seems to know when he can go and when he needs to shut it down. His hockey IQ really excites me. I think that's going to be his biggest calling card.

Off topic but related, Owen Power (projected top 2 pick next draft) hasn't really impressed me. He's a safe player who doesn't often make mistakes but I'm not sure if that's something you spend a top 5 pick on. Similar to Jake Sanderson this past draft. Maybe he's focusing on his defensive game first and isn't trying to push the play too much. I would expect a topic pick to be pushing the play every chance he gets though. He's a fantastic skater for 6'5.

 

[Knies iT]

It makes no sense to me how Koster has flown under the radar this much. He deserves to be in the convo with just about any other D prospect in the Leafs system, outside of the Swedes.

His transition play and puck smarts aren't just good, they're special. How quickly he makes decisions, never puts his teammates in bad positions with passes, perfectly times pinches, etc.. His versatility has also stood out. You can play him as a sheltered 3rd pair PP specialist or an all-situations top pair guy and he adapts seamlessly. Easily the biggest surprise of the season for me and it's not close.

He has top 4 D potential written all over him. A lot of potential defensively because of his IQ.

 

[stickty111]

I see a little bit of Lilly too. The way they both seem to glide around effortlessly and then take a couple of explosive strides to beat their man to the pucks. Koster's skating has always been pretty damn good and even on the rush up the ice with the puck that he had midway through the period, you can see him turn it up a notch while carrying the puck up the ice. I love how he's not scared to make plays out there. He seems to know when he can go and when he needs to shut it down. His hockey IQ really excites me. I think that's going to be his biggest calling card.

Off topic but related, Owen Power (projected top 2 pick next draft) hasn't really impressed me. He's a safe player who doesn't often make mistakes but I'm not sure if that's something you spend a top 5 pick on. Similar to Jake Sanderson this past draft. Maybe he's focusing on his defensive game first and isn't trying to push the play too much. I would expect a topic pick to be pushing the play every chance he gets though. He's a fantastic skater for 6'5.

Yeah I haven't noticed him make a bad read yet. He seems to make the right pass and calculated in what he needs to do. He just had a nice board battle where he cut off his man, his team got the puck and then he made a solid outlet pass which lead to a good chance.

I haven't seen Power to something flashy yet but no errors either, but it's early.

 

[X66]

It makes no sense to me how Koster has flown under the radar this much. He deserves to be in the convo with just about any other D prospect in the Leafs system, outside of the Swedes.

His transition play and puck smarts aren't just good, they're special. How quickly he makes decisions, never puts his teammates in bad positions with passes, perfectly times pinches, etc.. His versatility has also stood out. You can play him as a sheltered 3rd pair PP specialist or an all-situations top pair guy and he adapts seamlessly. Easily the biggest surprise of the season for me and it's not close.

He has top 4 D potential written all over him. A lot of potential defensively because of his IQ.

It's because he's 5'9 and those players never make good Dmen, ever. We should only draft giants on the back end.

Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go re-watch the and 2017&2018 Bruins series, I bet that Krug guy did nothing to us.

 

[stickty111]

Man Koster's transitional defense is fantastic.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

a defenseman who can play at a high level defensively and move the puck well is a player every team wishes they had more of. Koster makes things so easy for his team when he's out there

 

[stickty111]

Man Koster's transitional defense is fantastic.

Just now, Michigan tried 2 times to get past Koster on the rush in his zone, and Koster stuffed them out each time and rather easily.
The scouting reports during the draft suggested an offensive d man with defensive issues. Were those reports ever off.

 

[4thline]

They'd be knocking but I don't think any of them would be keen on trading 31st overall for 1-2 years of his rights before UFA. As a free wallet, sure.

3 years after this season. Won't be 27 as of July 1st until after 2023-2024.

 

[Canada4Gold]

It's because he's 5'9 and those players never make good Dmen, ever. We should only draft giants on the back end.

Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go re-watch the and 2017&2018 Bruins series, I bet that Krug guy did nothing to us.

Considering 5'10 Hollowell got voted into our top 20 prospects and Koster didn't even get a single vote for the #20 spot I would say it would have more to do with being a 5th round pick and having an underwhelming D+1 than anything. For anyone who doesn't watch these guys on a regular basis, before this season there wasn't much positive on the surface to put him with the Niemela, Kokkonen, Hollowell, Kral, Villeneuve group. Everyone in that list minus Kral was picked higher(Kral was 3 picks lower) and had more post draft results to help their stock rise.

With Koster having a solid start to his NCAA career he'll likely be viewed as more interesting moving forward.

Sure there's probably a patch of posters here who will say he's 5'9 he'll never be good. But there were far more reason than that to be skeptical before this season.

 

[stickty111]

Really nice game by Koster. Probably one of the better players on the ic. I'm certainly impressed with his play this season. Doesn't panic with the puck and makes the right reads with the puck in all areas. Transitionally he is terrific with the puck and defensively.

 

[stickty111]

 

[Isaac Nootin]

Veeti going again today at 3:35 CST (4:35 EST) against Western Michigan. Hopefully his momentum carries over from the last game in terms of results. Even the 2 games prior to his 3 point breakout he was playing great, just no puck luck.

 

[Fogelhund]

Really nice game by Koster. Probably one of the better players on the ic. I'm certainly impressed with his play this season. Doesn't panic with the puck and makes the right reads with the puck in all areas. Transitionally he is terrific with the puck and defensively.

Thanks to you, and all the other people watching some of these games. It's great to hear. Jared Spurgeon is a 5'9" guy, widely acknowledged as being great defensively around the league, and Koster has a bigger frame than Jared. It would really benefit this team, if more lower picks can succeed for us. Does Koster not get much offensive opportunity, or should we just not expect much out of him offensively, if he does eventually make it?

Scary thought... Detroit could end up drafting Owen Power, and while he might not be a clear cut number one... a pairing of Power and Seider into the future, is a bit scary to think of.

 

[LeafChief]

 

[stickty111]

 

[stickty111]

Thanks to you, and all the other people watching some of these games. It's great to hear. Jared Spurgeon is a 5'9" guy, widely acknowledged as being great defensively around the league, and Koster has a bigger frame than Jared. It would really benefit this team, if more lower picks can succeed for us. Does Koster not get much offensive opportunity, or should we just not expect much out of him offensively, if he does eventually make it?

Scary thought... Detroit could end up drafting Owen Power, and while he might not be a clear cut number one... a pairing of Power and Seider into the future, is a bit scary to think of.

No worries. It's a lot more fun watching prospects when you know there is a legit chance they become players unlike previous regimes. Yeah Spurgeon was used as a comparison by a user the day other day, and he could be that kind of player.
Koster is playing on the 1st PP unit and that was even when Minnesota had all their d men. I haven't seen much flash from him yet but he should become a decent contributer. He makes a good first pass and will carry it when required. His shot is pretty strong just needs a bit more accuracy. I don't know how productive he can be at the NHL but he could play on a 2nd unit when all it set and done. His calling card will be his IQ.

 

[BoredBrandonPridham]

Does Koster not get much offensive opportunity, or should we just not expect much out of him offensively, if he does eventually make it?

I can't speak to before a few players went to WJC, but I know he was behind some good players before last night.

As for last night, it looked like he was getting first pairing 5v5, PP1 and was on the PK as well (didn't catch if he was a starter on the PK, but looked like they were pulling him off at the end so they could put him back on as soon as the PK ended, which is solid offensive opportunity while the opposing PP unit just finished a heavy shift). Will be interesting to see how he produces with these minutes for the duration of the WJC.

 

[Fogelhund]

No worries. It's a lot more fun watching prospects when you know there is a legit chance they become players unlike previous regimes. Yeah Spurgeon was used as a comparison by a user the day other day, and he could be that kind of player.
Koster is playing on the 1st PP unit and that was even when Minnesota had all their d men. I haven't seen much flash from him yet but he should become a decent contributer. He makes a good first pass and will carry it when required. His shot is pretty strong just needs a bit more accuracy. I don't know how productive he can be at the NHL but he could play on a 2nd unit when all it set and done. His calling card will be his IQ.

I was stats watching, and checking out the team... they have a good record, but then not much production from any D... and just average production from the team... then I look at goaltending... 0.959 SV %, 1.14 GAA... has LaFontaine been that good, or is the team that good in front of him? Hopefully over the next couple of years, Koster rounds his game out with some offense too, but that his IQ and D side looks so good, is huge.

 

[stickty111]

I was stats watching, and checking out the team... they have a good record, but then not much production from any D... and just average production from the team... then I look at goaltending... 0.959 SV %, 1.14 GAA... has LaFontaine been that good, or is the team that good in front of him? Hopefully over the next couple of years, Koster rounds his game out with some offense too, but that his IQ and D side looks so good, is huge.

Honestly I haven't been that impressed with them. They have been bailed out a few times despite a stacked roster. Yesterday they were good but not great.

 

[genk]

It feels so good to have a pipeline of like 6-8 prospects that have a legitimate chance to make an impact at the NHL level. Dubas has done an amazing job of finding talent in the two years he has had complete control over this process.

I remember the days when we had to hope that prospects like Andrew MacWilliam and Fabrice Herzog were going to pan out.

 

[Martin Skoula]

It feels so good to have a pipeline of like 6-8 prospects that have a legitimate chance to make an impact at the NHL level. Dubas has done an amazing job of finding talent in the two years he has had complete control over this process.

I remember the days when we had to hope that prospects like Andrew MacWilliam and Fabrice Herzog were going to pan out.

Say what you will about his personal choice for the roster, but his drafting and development system is outstanding. If we do end up needing to pivot to a Burke style trader to give the team an identity, he's going to be set up with a ton of cheap assets to trade and fill out the lineup.

 

[stickty111]

Odd