WJC: Tournament standouts and dissapointments so far?

[57special]

Johansson, Peterka, Faber, Levi, Warneschitz, Chinakhov...all good, among many others. Don't want to mention the big names like Cozens, Zegras, and Soderstrom. will be interested to see if Podkolzin can be effective against the big teams.

Byram has been mildly disappointing. He was so dominant at the Canadian camp, but he seems like he is trying to do too much. Hopefully he makes an adjustment for the medal round. Maybe what he needs is better competition that the big boys will give him, which will replicate what the inter squad Canadian scrimmages were like.
Caufield has been up and down.
As a Wild fan, Firstov has been invisible...does he even play? Still, expectations were always low for him, so not too let down.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

US standouts:
Zegras
Faber
Beniers
Berard
Boldy

Disappointments:
Caufield
Sanderson
Kaliyev

Brink and Knight were awful vs Russia but were better vs Czech Republic, so I'll give them a pass for now.

 

[Rexor]

The 2022 eligible defenceman David Jiříček has been very impressive for the Czech Republic in my book. I've got to admit he's been outplaying Stanislav Svozil so far. Which makes sense because he's a more direct, physical, no-nonsense kind of player while Svozil needs a more offensive structure to really thrive. That said, I have no complaints about Jiříček's passing and puckhlandling either, he's indeed a very talented defenceman.

 

[ponder]

As a Leafs fan, looking at our prospects, Amirov has been OK, but I was hoping for a bit more. Still lots of tournament left though.

For surprises, Niemela has been way better than I expected. So impressed by his work on breakouts especially - it seems like almost every time he gets the puck in the defensive zone it’s a very clean d-zone exit leading to a controlled o-zone entry. Also just a very steady, smart game all over the ice.

 

[Kent Nilsson]

This is an interesting comment to me. I think Sanderson > Drysdale is a fair take, but I'm curious how you feel this tournament has enforced that opinion. I feel like Drysdale's had the stronger tournament so far.

I meant that more in the way that there was a perception the Sens had blundered it initially (Ive seen that comment a lot on HF) whereas the pick just ‘feels right’ now.

You can hardly evaluate any canadian from whats been played so far whereas Sanderson has stood out playing a very pro game against two solid teams. As a Dman he checks all the boxes.

 

[tsujimoto74]

Standouts - more like surprises: Levi, Tomassino,Faber, York

Disappoitments: Quinn(expecially that Sabres picked him over Rossi), Cole Caufield (needs to get to the dirty areas)

*Byram\Drysdale: Great tourney but offensivly so far not producing results

Quinn's been good, not mind-blowing, but good, and playing a well-rounded pro-style game. His work on the fore- and backcheck was a big part of Byfield's point explosion yesterday.

 

[Mats26]

Quinn's been good, not mind-blowing, but good, and playing a well-rounded pro-style game. His work on the fore- and backcheck was a big part of Byfield's point explosion yesterday.

I expect more scoring from him as a 19 year old drafted so high. Dosen't look like a scoring threat in this tourney yet.

 

[Odie Cleghorn]

I expect more scoring from him as a 19 year old drafted so high. Dosen't look like a scoring threat in this tourney yet.

He is 19 but he has only been playing hockey for 3 years.

 

[super6646]

Pelletier has looked good for the flames despite not putting up a ton of points. Kid is a beast on the forecheck and his motor never stops. Zary has been alright; nothing really special I’ve seen from him but he isn’t in a scoring role anyways. Kuznetsov with some good and bad I guess.

 

[MNRube]

The entire first line for Russia has been disappointing. They seem to be playing far too conservatively. Podkolzin is the most disappointing. He looks like he should be the best player on the ice but it seems like wherever he goes the production doesn't match the eye test. Plenty of time to right the ship for him, but I would be a bit worried if I am a Canucks fan. He feels more like a middle 6 winger than a top line power forward. We will see.

Turcotte never jumps out at me as a future star in the NHL. He will be a useful player but I don't see a 1st line player. He can really skate but it seems clear to me he is a step behind guys like Newhook, Boldy, Zegras etc when it comes to raw skill. I do like his two-way game however. He feels like more like a complimentary player than a franchise building block.

Caufield is not a guy I would want to go to war with in the NHL. He is just too small and too ineffective without the puck. He doesn't have the skill that Kane & Gaudreau have nor does he have the tenacity or defensive acumen of other diminutive players like Granlund or Pageau. He will score some goals, but I think he will be easily neutralized in NHL playoff games. I don't expect him to move the needle much in Montreal. But I've definitely been wrong before.

 

[Bedards Dad]

He is 19 but he has only been playing hockey for 3 years.

You don't start hockey in Jr A, he obviously played before that.

 

[Fatass]

Caufield has been a pleasant surprise for his puck control and play making; his finish though has been a bit off.

 

[zbubble]

He is 19 but he has only been playing hockey for 3 years.

He's been playing a lot longer than three years; he's only been seriously training for that time. Was a multi-sport athlete before that and never really dedicated to perfecting any one thing.

 

[GOALOFSSON]

I expect more scoring from him as a 19 year old drafted so high. Dosen't look like a scoring threat in this tourney yet.

Definitely not a disappointment so far

 

[Kent Nilsson]

I expect more scoring from him as a 19 year old drafted so high. Dosen't look like a scoring threat in this tourney yet.

What more are you expecting in blowout games ?

 

[Hale The Villain]

Standouts:

Zegras, Boldy, Tomasino, Stuetzle, Harley, Faber

Disappointments:

Caufield, Jarventie, Holloway, Rossi, LaCombe

Haven't watched Sweden or Russia much, so I didn't include their guys.

 

[DeysArena]

Stützle has been the standout for me.

 

[EdJovanovski]

Brett Berard

 

[Garyboy]

Stutzle, Levi, and Zegras.

 

[Voodoo Glow Skulls]

The 2022 eligible defenceman David Jiříček has been very impressive for the Czech Republic in my book. I've got to admit he's been outplaying Stanislav Svozil so far. Which makes sense because he's a more direct, physical, no-nonsense kind of player while Svozil needs a more offensive structure to really thrive. That said, I have no complaints about Jiříček's passing and puckhlandling either, he's indeed a very talented defenceman.

Thank you for the report.

 

[Tube Skates]

Senna Peeters for Austria is playing far and beyond what I ever expected of him. His two way game in Halifax last year was hard to watch. Nice to see him do well.
On the down side I was expecting Cole Perfetti to control the game more. I don’t like his game much

 

[EXTRAS]

He is 19 but he has only been playing hockey for 3 years.

This isn't true.

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

Too many blowout games.

 

[snowkiddin]

Byram, Askarov and Caufield have all disappointed compared to the media’s man crushes on them.

 

[mazmin]

Someone who doesn’t get much mention is 2003 born Austrian dman Lukáš Nečesaný

Not the biggest right handed dman but he plays with tenacity and competes hard every shift, even during a blowout. Also seems to have some decent hands and makes the smart choice with the puck.

If he keeps improving he’ll put on a show in the next two tourneys if Austria keeps qualifying

Lukas Necesany at eliteprospects.com