Some unknowns for 2005

[Hiishawk]

Those of you looking for darkhorses for the 2005 draft might be interested in the following. The three following players are among the best at the level 2 WU18s. Since they are playing against players a year older, they look like reasonable prospects. It was at such a tournament 4 years agothat I first nticed (and mentioned to Redline) about a guy names Andrei Kastsitsyn so...

Oskars Bartulis Latvia DF 6'2 190 late '86 B-day. Best DF in the tourney.

Jannik Steinmann Swiss FW 6'1 185 Best '87 for the dominant Swiss team. 2nd best player on that squad overall.

Anze Kopitar Slovenia FW 6'3 195. Also an '87. Possibly the best player in the tournament. Made the so-so Slovenia team a contender. 6 goals in 4 games so far. watch out for this guy.

Germany's hot '87 prospect Chris Gawlick is playing in a concurrent U18 tournament. Gawlick is flashy but a little small though: 5'9 170.

By far the best 2004 eligible player at this tourney is Swiss winger Julien Sprunger who is 6'5 195 and is leading the tourney in soring- aman among boys. Should be 1st day material at the 2004 draft.

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[AvengerK]

By far the best 2004 eligible player at this tourney is Swiss winger Julien Sprunger who is 6'5 195 and is leading the tourney in soring- aman among boys. Should be 1st day material at the 2004 draft.

Damn, I'm starting to feel old. This kid is just 16 years old and he's already 6'5"?!?! Though sometimes, all the hype about kids kinda pisses me off. They're barely old enough to drive, and can't even smoke. Maybe they should raise draft age back up to 20.

 

[montreal]

Did Sprunger play for the U-20 Swiss team this year?

 

[ilvins]

Oskars Bartulis actually is born 21.01.1987, and he plays forward in this tournay.

 

[Hiishawk]

Thanks for the info on Bartulis. I got my info from a scout at the tournament. He said Bartulis looked excellent on the point and at moving the puck out of his own zone. IIHF also has him listed as a DF so I thought...

Can you tell me any more about him? Is the cHL likely next year?

 

[ilvins]

Bartulis has played forward in the previous seasons (played on the same line with Karsums in 02/03), but this season he played for CSKA-2 team in Russia, as defenceman. Plays forward again for Latvian U-18 team. He has good size, good speed , ok skating, good stickhandler, isn't overly physical, but can take or give the hit if needed. Definetley would be interested to go CHL route.

 

[s7ark]

Just wondering if anyone has info on this Churilov (sp?) guy who plays for Metallurg II in Russia? He's an '87 kid, so I expect him in the 2005 draft. The guy has over 80 pts in less than 30 games for the Metallurg juniors. I don't think he has spent time with the div. 1 club yet. He's close to 6'1", and about 175 right now. Seems like wicked potential given the usual defensive nature of the russian leagues, but I know nothing other than stats.