Reports from training camp.

[izzy]

Sam Steel looks like he could be ready, at least to fill in until Kesler is back. Lundestrom should be ready by next year, plays such a mature game.

Speaking of mature, Josh Mahura is looking poised beyond his years for a rookie pro D. The final spot was supposed to be a competition between Pettersson and Larsson, but have to wonder if Mahura is pushing his way into consideration.

Troy Terry may get the chance to start the year on RW with Rakell and Getzlaf, he's been stapled to the latter throughout camp so far.

what a nuts pick by anaheim w mahura considering what his jr career was at that point

 

[WhatTheDuck]

what a nuts pick by anaheim w mahura considering what his jr career was at that point

He was back for the playoffs that year after missing all but two games. They met Steel and the Regina Pats in the second round, it would seem the Ducks were watching closely and were correctly enamored with both Steel and Mahura.

 

[HanSolo]

Erik Brannstrom could very well grab a spot on Vegas with no Theodore contract in place. He'd certainly have to be third pair sheltered to get more comfortable defending NHL level players but on the offensive side of the puck he's already not far off of where Theodore is right now. His instincts, natural attributes, anticipation, and puck management are NHL level now. I'd like to see a bit more zip on his slap shot but he's 19. He's got time. In any case he's played every preseason game thus far and Gallant used him on the first line in OT last night. Promising sign for him.

Nic Hague shows he's a sure fire nhl player down the line but his foot speed is not quite there yet. I'd like to see him play physically more often. He uses his size effectively to close guys off but he could be so much more useful if he tried to emulate a Pronger type. Probably one more year till he's an NHL regular.

Cody Glass still shows why he was drafted 6th overall but I don't think he's quite involved enough to make the roster. Even if there was room. I hope he goes back to juniors with the mindset of being a more proactive player rather than a reactive one.

Jake Bischoff is my biggest surprise of the camp. While I thought the battle for the currently open blue line spots was between Brannstrom, Merrill, Hague, and Whitecloud, Bischoff came out against San Jose and played a very strong, pro level game. His positioning was always good, shot suppression was mostly on point, and he got a lot of shots through from the blue line. In my estimation, the kid came out of nowhere and is looking likely to grab a roster spot.

Zach Whitecloud will be an NHLer one day. I found it interesting he got sent down but I guess he wasn't doing enough offensively. But the kid is a model stay out home low mistake defenseman. He'll make it someday with some team (if not Vegas) at some point or another.

The top line of Marchessault-Karlsson-Smith already look to be in mid-season form and nothing has haltered the chemistry these guys have.

Stastny/Pacioretty look excited and energized and have already developed some chemistry together. Where Stastny truly shines over Haula as a 2c is he is a body that is tough to knock off the puck and he's not afraid to get into the thick of things in the offensive zone. Patches looks like he's gonna be a guy that gives opposing goalies a lot of trouble. Gallant is a coach that can really capitalize on chemistry so if these two continue to build it, they should have a great year.

Tuch and Haula seem to be in a battle for the spot alongside Stastny and Patches. Both players have played with them and both guys were successful. The difference right now is Haula is hustling his ass off while Tuch is sort of coasting but still creating great plays. So on one hand, that Tuch is able to play make or challenge goalies at 70% effort at best goes to his growth and talent, but he's doing himself no favors by saving energy while Haula is trying to skate through brick walls. The best thing in Tuch's favor is he's shown a new panache for brilliant set up passes in the preseason and that might end up making him a better fit with Pacioretty and his size and strength on the puck makes him a good forechecking partner with Stastny. But, if Gallant was making a reward relative to effort call, Haula is in the lead.

Goalies should remain unchanged. Vegas has some solid goalie prospects but none are knocking off Subban Atm.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I know it's unavoidable, but the NHL preseason's such a meat market haha. "Player X has gained X pounds of muscle", "Player Y has shed Y pounds of excess weight".

Check the marbling on his ribeye! That's a nice cut!

 

[lifelonghockeyfan]

Seabrook is reported to be lighter. Still an anchor though

It's almost a bad sign. He has to lose weight to keep to the speed of play. How much can he lose in the six years of his contract. Just can't be done.

 

[WesMcCauley]

Chytil looks fantastic

 

[Laineux]

Puljujärvi looks faster and above all more comftorable with his body than before.

McDavid is apparently faster and better.

 

[Disappointed EP40]

Canucks standouts are Pettersson, Palmu, and to a lesser extent Gaudette. DiPietro has only played 1 period but did not give up a goal.

To a much lesser extent. Hasn't stood out at all.

Pettersson looks as advertised; he'll be put into a position to succeed this year. Tyler Motte may have played himself onto the team being the only person hustling. Palmu, despite being a tiny tree trunk of a human, has had great zone entries and puck possession.

Most everyone else has sucked. Gaudette hasn't looked terrible, but certainly not a stand-out, certainly AHL bound.

 

[Dr John Carlson]

Everybody on Washington looks bad. Everybody.

Some people expected Ovechkin to come into camp totally out of shape, but he's fine. Turns out that the one who partied too hard was Smith-Pelly, who is being kept out of preseason games until he gets into game shape. The coaching staff is vocally displeased with his conditioning.

Sergei Shumakov probably won't make the roster. He kind of got shafted due to visa issues, so he couldn't get any preseason games in until Friday, but I don't know if he's good enough regardless. More games are needed to judge him, for sure.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Puljujärvi looks faster and above all more comftorable with his body than before.

McDavid is apparently faster and better.

Accurate. Also Ty Rattie looks really good and - early yet - but Klefbom’s shot looks like its back in 16-17 form.

Khaira looks faster and determined to grab a top 9 spot. Lucic looks a bit improved. Nuge looks like he’ll be shooting a lot, and dangerously. Ryan McLeod has been playing like he went top ten, not 40th. Bouchard has been excellent. Tyler Benson was good. Brodziak is absurdly aggressive in the offensive zone for a fourth liner and I love it. Rieder is fast again. Draisaitl is still a tank.

On the flip side Yamamoto and Bear have both been just okay, Kassian looks disinterested, Caggiula still needs a solid boot in the ass to do anything useful, Strome still can’t hit the net, and Koskinen was terrible in the one game he started. Largely only one game showings so far. Tonight will tell us a lot - our third and fourth lines, 2nd D pair, backup goalie and AHLers vs most of the Jets top six, Byfuglien, and Hellebuyck.

 

[Dr Quincy]

Sounds like every single NHLer looks better and is in better shape than last year, and every single prospect is ready to be big contributors.

Won't fall for it this year.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Marked improvement in Rasmus Andersson's game. Looks very poised with the puck and his skating has gotten quite a bit more fluid. Valimaki and Kylington look to need some time in AHL. Pretty happy with the new additions, especially Czarnik and Ryan. Going to be some difficult choices at the bottom of the forwards with Dube, Mangiapane, Foo, and Gawdin all looking like they might have a shot. More likely the LHS Dube and Mangiapane.

Brodie just looks so much better on the right side with Giordano.

 

[Son of Petter]

I expected dahlen to be better but he’s going to Utica where he belongs.

Canucks standouts are Pettersson, Palmu, and to a lesser extent Gaudette. DiPietro has only played 1 period but did not give up a goal.

 

[Son of Petter]

Maybe a chance for one of the young guys like AJF or Gersich to get in?

Everybody on Washington looks bad. Everybody.

Some people expected Ovechkin to come into camp totally out of shape, but he's fine. Turns out that the one who partied too hard was Smith-Pelly, who is being kept out of preseason games until he gets into game shape. The coaching staff is vocally displeased with his conditioning.

Sergei Shumakov probably won't make the roster. He kind of got shafted due to visa issues, so he couldn't get any preseason games in until Friday, but I don't know if he's good enough regardless. More games are needed to judge him, for sure.

 

[Dr John Carlson]

Maybe a chance for one of the young guys like AJF or Gersich to get in?

Probably not, unless DSP is in bad enough condition that he sits out a few regular season games. AJF has a better chance because he fits more with the style that Reirden wants on the 4th line and is a PKer but neither have been standouts in preseason so far. Gersich in particular has disappointed, there was a bit of hype for him coming into this season but he hasn't really done anything. The 4th line will likely be Chandler Stephenson-Nic Dowd-DSP, unless again DSP is in poor shape, and in that scenario probably Travis Boyd fills in at 4RW for a bit.

Things would be a lot more flexible if Stephenson was a righty, since they really want the 4C to be a right handed shot as Backstrom/Kuznetsov/Eller are all lefties and previous 4C Jay Beagle was used for critical faceoffs because of his right handedness. But since Stephenson is a LHS he will likely slot at 4LW and the team will be pretty much forced to shoehorn Dowd or Boyd in at 4C, regardless of whether or not they're good enough for the job, simply because they want that right handed faceoff guy.

 

[DFC]

I think the main takeaway from TB is guys look like they showed up in game shape. ...Well, with one obvious exception.

 

[HanSolo]

After sending Hague to Chicago, Vegas is down to 8 defensemen which was their plan for how many they were gonna carry in the regular season. So...Vegas has pretty much postured itself with a locked in D-core. Shea Theodore has almost no leverage left at this point in his contract holdout.

 

[DownIsTheNewUp]

Sounds like every single NHLer looks better and is in better shape than last year, and every single prospect is ready to be big contributors.

Won't fall for it this year.

Yep, exactly this. This is the time of year where they only sell optimism.

There seems to be no correlation between training camp reports and actual results.

Teams aren't going to let negative player info out and no writer wants to write articles saying someone came in looking like crap. Only reason we heard about Dotchin is because they terminated his contract.

 

[NeverForget06]

Ryan McLeod is getting a very long look with the Oilers. Has been very impressive in his own zone and is pushing our regulars (Kassian, Cagguila etc).

Yamamoto has had a very strong camp and has been finding the net in nearly every game.

 

[Mulletman]

Who's changed, gotten better, worse, developed new skills, or shown up in a terrible way?
What are you're teams training camp reports?
Tweets and links would be appreciated!

14 Pounds? That's a lot for a guy that wasn't built like a stud to begin with. Could be why Laine has looked absolutely terrible in the games so far...

 

[Advanced stats]

14 Pounds? That's a lot for a guy that wasn't built like a stud to begin with. Could be why Laine has looked absolutely terrible in the games so far...

How has he looked terrible? Slow?

 

[Gargyn]

How has he looked terrible? Slow?

Invisible

 

[BB88]

14 Pounds? That's a lot for a guy that wasn't built like a stud to begin with. Could be why Laine has looked absolutely terrible in the games so far...

If you believe him he was 230lbs last year, which is too much for 19y and really showed in his skating.

How has he looked terrible? Slow?

The skating looks lighter right now.

He's just not putting anywhere close to max effort in games.

 

[Mulletman]

If you believe him he was 230lbs last year, which is too much for 19y and really showed in his skating.



The skating looks lighter right now.

He's just not putting anywhere close to max effort in games.

Nhl.com has Laine listed at 206 lbs so that would mean he's lost 24 lbs then. And 230 lbs is not too much, Lemieux was listed at 230 lbs and he made it work. And Lemieux was a inch smaller than Laine too.

 

[Aladyyn]

Sounds like every single NHLer looks better and is in better shape than last year, and every single prospect is ready to be big contributors.

Won't fall for it this year.

Mittelstadt has looked awful if that makes you feel any better.