In case you missed it, I posted a slightly more formal ‘what I’m watching’ style preview for the Traverse City prospects tourney which starts on Friday. You can find that HERE.
Today’s Daily Cup of Joe takes on a similar theme offering an informal wish list for the tourney.
Svechnecas dominates!
Andrei Svechnikov and Martin Necas arguably represent the two players not officially on the current NHL roster with the greatest potential to boost the team’s fortunes. Playing against a much younger group that is a couple notches below the NHL level, I would like to see the duo play together and utterly dominate. How about 8 point each in 4 games?
Julien Gauthier adds every-shift noticeability to his repertoire
Invariably over a couple days of hockey, Julien Gauthier is going to have those handful of plays that show why he was drafted in the first round and why he has the potential to become good NHL power forward. But that is not what has ever been missing in his game. What has been missing is his ability to remove the invisibility cloak for long stretches in between his ‘wow’ plays. In Traverse City, I would like to see Gauthier be a noticeable physical force on a regular basis.
Jake Bean plays like a first pairing defenseman DEFENSIVELY
Somewhat like Gauthier, Bean’s game has never been light on his ability to generate his share of ‘wow’ plays with the puck on his stick. With the puck on his stick and enough space to get started, Bean’s game is probably NHL-ready right now. And I said more than a year ago that he had enough calm with the puck, puck skills and vision to play on the second unit of an NHL power play. But defensively, for me, Bean has never been much better than average in his age group, and that will not cut it even for a specialist role in the NHL. So So while I will ooohhh and ahhhhh the same as everyone else when Bean picks his way up the ice and generates offense off the rush in the process, to impress me Bean will need to do it on the defensive side of the puck.
Jeremy Helvig makes me say ‘hmmmm’
Important to note upfront is that there is a ton of uncertainty with the Hurricanes blue line which is built primarily from invitees. Because of that the potential exists for Helvig to get snowed under based on what is in front of him. But at the same time, the situation could present an opportunity for Helvig to stand out and enter the three-way prospect goalie battle with a head of steam and at least a suggestion that he should be considered for AHL ice time. By no means were Alex Nedeljkovic and Callum Booth bad in previous Traverse City tourneys, but neither really made a statement in this tourney either. An ideal tourney would see Helvig do exactly that.
A blue line invitee rises up and wins an entry-level contract
It is a long shot, but with a gap in the Hurricanes defenseman prospect pool and only 45 out of a possible 50 contracts on the books right now (per CapFriendly), just maybe a strong performance by one of the four defense invitees wins a contract. The Hurricanes need to be cautious handing out contracts given the volume of unsigned players playing NCAA and European hockey, but just maybe they can spare one for the right defenseman. Michael Fora’s free agent signing and Adam Fox’s acquisition via trade added reinforcements, but the team is still a bit light at the position. And who does not like a Cinderella story of a player busting his butt to earn what was not given to him at the draft?
Bypassed players draw back into the conversation
With the rise Martin Necas and the draft lottery win of Andrei Svechnikov, a few players who used to have a buzz around them became old news. Probably partly because the team has so many prospects who are in the NCAA or Europe and unable to attend, the Hurricanes have a two forwards from the 2015 participating in the event in Nicolas Roy and Aleksi Saarela. In addition, Janne Kuokkanen who is a 2016 draftee but played in the AHL last year is also returning. Now playing against younger player and with a year of AHL experience under their belts, I would hope that these players stand out as top in class for this level of play and stake a claim to near-term NHL consideration in the process.
A championship
As long as there is a championship to be had, you might as well win it. Especially for an organization struggling to build a winning culture right now, having the group of prospects play together and win is significant. The team won the tourney a couple years back. To win it his year will require dominant play by the strong forward group, at least adequate play by a blue line with four invitees and likely strong play from Helvig to cover up any ‘oopses’.
Good health
Also important especially with so many players who could garner 2018-19 NHL roster consideration in the lineup, getting in and out of Traverse City healthy is important.
What say you Canes fans?
1) What else do you have for your wish list that I missed?
2) If you could pick only two or three from my wish list, what would they be?
3) What is your one big prediction for the tourney?
Go Canes!
1. I think that covers it.
2. Necas/Sve3chnikov dominates, And Helvig stands on his head. The two things the Canes really need.
3.?
Matt, you’ve covered everything. After the success of Necas and Svechnikov, my biggest single hope for this tournament is for Gauthier to look like an NHL player. With his size, speed and shot, he could be a major asset.
I think we should keep in mind that some experts, including Corey Pronman, consider the Blues’ prospect pipeline better than the Canes’ pipeline. Like the Canes’ roster, the Blues are loaded with high-end forwards, including Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou and Klim Kostin. Pronman rates Thomas as better than Necas. Some people consider Kyrou among the very fastest prospects. The Canes have a big, skilled Russian prospect in Svechnikov and the Blues have one in Klim Kostin. Svechnikov is considered better but Kostin is older. I have no idea how Helvig compares to Evan Fitzpatrick, the Blues’ goalie.
The young Canes will have to be on their game this afternoon to live up to all the talk about dominating at this level. I think it’s more realistic to expect a competitive game than a Canes’ blowout.
I have a meeting this afternoon that may conflict with the game. If you are able to watch, please provide detailed observations. Does anybody know if a recording will be available?
1. Vellucci proves himself (again) as a great coach of young talent.
2. I really want to see Gauthier be a star and make his presence felt in each game and on every shift. This is his make-or-break year, I think, and he has too much going for him to not be a star. Plus he will largely be playing against his juniors – he should eat ’em up.
3. My prediction – we won’t make it out of the round robin to the championship game.
Just re-read Pronman’s article on the Blues’ prospect pipeline. Where he thinks the Blues kill the Canes is at forward. He considers Thomas elite, Kyrou and Bokk (this year’s first pick) high-end and Kostin very good. Pronman considers Svechnikov elite, Necas high-end and no Canes’ prospect very good. I don’t know if Pronman is right but if he is, the Blues’ prospect pool is stronger than the Canes in the area that we consider the greatest strength for Canes’ prospects – highly talented forwards. Not what I expected to find.
Pron is an excellent evaluator, but as he’s based in Michigan, he tends to rank European skaters slightly lower, and he uses a lot of statistics in his rankings which hurt Necas. He also is in love with Geekie, which might be spot on, I just have questions about Geekie’s skating ceiling after prospect camp. I think it will be a very even matchup and one that I’m greatly looking forward to.
My first wish is a win against the Blues. It may be our greatest test of the tournament, right out of the gate. The same can be said for the Blues, though, so this one will likely be all about momentum.
With young players and nerves, the confidence of momentum could create very large unnatural swings.
Observations after the game:
1) Having the best goalie is a beautiful thing.
2) Fora looked like a veteran with international experience. He didn’t “dominate,” but he never looked out of position or overwhelmed.
3) Necas and Svechnikov looked good in game 1, let’s see what happens next.
4) Kuokkanen is a great addition with those two.
5) Of the other younger players, I think Mattheos has the most upside.
Agreed CT, I felt the defense, although we limited them to 9 shots, really gave up quality opportunities and Helvig really came through. Many of those opportunities had me holding my breath. Those were high quality stops.
Necas and Svechnikov looked good, Koukk looked good also with an assist. It was good to see Gauthier not be invisible. I hope he keeps it up. He really need to if he want the next step.
Mattheos had two assists, so agreed, he could have the most upside.
It will be a couple more games before we can say anyone is dominating.
icecobra. The statistics on the Canes’ website are not correct. It was difficult to read the scoreboard on the video stream, but I think the shots were something like 25-22 in favor of St. Louis. Helvig definitely stopped quite a few more than 8 shots. Also, the fourth goal was either Kuoakkaen on a beautiful feed from Svechnikov or it went off the defender’s skate–so Svech’s goal. In any event, it was the chemistry between the wingers. Koukkanen/Necas/Svechnikov is definitely an option in two years or so in Raleigh.
Yah, that sure did not feel like what I was watching. I was thinking that was not right. I thought maybe they had some stingy stat keeper or something. All I know is several times I thought we were in trouble and Helvig made a great save.
They took a lot of time debating if the 4th goals was a goal or not. I could not see it real clearly but they gave it to Svech on the broadcast. Svech had an earlier assist also. Looking good.
Koukk darn near made it last year. Training camp will be interesting, there are a lot of guys knocking on the door.