The Carolina Hurricanes prospect team started strong in the Traverse City tourney on Friday afternoon. Facing a Blues team that also rates high for its prospect pool, the Hurricanes jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, survived a sluggish second period and ultimately prevailed 4-1 in their tourney opener.
Carolina Hurricanes scoring
(someone chime in if I missed an assist as their is no official score sheet that I am aware of)
Goal 1: Morgan Geekie from Stelio Mattheos and Luke Henman
Henman made a nifty play to get the puck to Mattheos in space on the rush. Mattheos fed Geekie who beat the goalie while steaming in just right of center.
Goal 2: Julien Gauthier from Andrei Svechnikov and Stelio Mattheos (I believe)
The play started with Bean at the top of the umbrella feeding Mattheos on left side who made a nice pass through the seam to find Svechnikov for a quick wrist shot. Gauthier was parked in front and deposited the loose change into the net.
Goal 3: Martin Necas from Janne Kuokkanen and Stelio Mattheos
Kuokkanen made a nice play to quickly carry the puck into shooting position from the end line. When the rebound spit out, Necas swooped in to finish.
Goal 4: Janne Kuokkanen from Andrei Svechnikov
Streaking down the right side on the rush, Svechnikov created a passing lane and then passed across to Kuokkanen who filled the middle lane and finished.
Check in on ‘what I’m watching’ points
In case you missed it, my tourney preview is HERE. Many of my watch points featured in Friday’s win.
1) Rising above (Andrei Svechnikov, Martin Necas)
Andrei Svechnikov and Martin Necas were productive with a goal and two assists between them. All in all they had a good night and made plays, but I would not say that they were dominant.
2) A chance to reclaim depth chart ranking (Janne Kuokkanen, Julien Gauthier, Nicolas Roy, Aleksi Saarela)
Of the group, I listed Janne Kuokkanen stood out most, but I also thought that Julien Gauthier and Nicolas Roy played well. By my account, Aleksi Saarela was quiet in a negative way in the first game.
3) Seeking a launching pad for the crease (Jeremy Helvig)
In front of an invitee-heavy blue line that fairly well, Helvig had a solid game. He was especially good in the second period when the team in front of him sagged. He had a couple of high-end saves to preserve the 2-0 lead and help the team stay above despite sub-par play. In total, his 28 saves on 29 shots (someone check the total) was exactly what I had hoped for from him in this tourney.
4) Which side of the fence (Jake Bean, Julien Gauthier)
In my preview, I looked for the pair of 2016 first-rounders in their third season in the tourney to use this tourney to make a statement. He still leaves a bit to desire in terms of being a physical force every shift, but overall I liked Gauthier’s game. Not surprisingly, he was a force with the puck on his stick and a head of steam forging toward the net, he spent his share of time in/around the crease and he avoided going full invisibility cloak in between shining plays. I gave Bean high marks for the first period, but he had a couple ‘oopses’ later in the game. But I would still rate Bean’s game as more positive than negative.
My three stars
With a 4-1 win, there were more than three options, but I am going to a little off the predictable and less based on score sheet marks and more based on who I thought just played great hockey shift in and shift out.
First star — Janne Kuokkanen
In an understated way, I really liked his game on Friday afternoon. He looked very comfortable playing and being effective without the puck on his stick much. He impressed me as a very good read/react third forward for a line with skill and puck carriers/distributors. The Necas rebound goal was the result of a heady play by Kuokkanen to quickly create a shooting lane and get the puck to the net, and his goal was a nice finish off the rush and a perfect example of thinking and playing the game well without the puck on his stick.
Second star — Jeremy Helvig
He really shined in the second period when the team in front of him sank a little bit. As a good goalie often does, he held the fort until the team in front of him rebounded a bit. He had a couple really good saves when the team was under duress in the second period but also just deserves credit for being steady and error free throughout. It will be interesting to see if he can build on this game throughout the tourney and push himself into consideration for AHL starts sooner rather than later.
Third star — Stelio Mattheos
Necas and Svechnikov were heard from on the score sheet before all was said and done, but I actually thought the team’s best forward line was Henman/Geekie/Mattheos. The trio attacked with speed and generated offense most consistently all night. Geekie had the line’s goal, but I am giving the slight edge to Mattheos for winning a star. He had a nice feed on Geekie’s goal and two other assists if my math is right. But more significantly, he was a going concern every shift whether he was attacking with his line mates with the puck or if he was defending it.
Honorable mentions
Leaving them out of the three starts is not intended to be a slight of headliners Martin Necas and Andrei Svechnikov; I just thought a couple players were even better. Julien Gauthier played well. And I think one could easily substitute Morgan Geekie for Stelio Mattheos as those two played well together (as did Luke Henman).
Other player notes
Janne Kuokkanen
I already raved about him a bit above, but he really impressed me. Oftentimes, finding third forwards for scoring lines can be challenging. If the first two players are higher-end players, they often are the type to like to play with the puck on their stick. That makes good crease crashing power forwards like Wayne Simmonds a great fit, and it also makes pure receive/finish forwards like James Neal a great fit. But players who can match pace and just always seem to know what to do and where to be are arguably the type of player that most boosts a scoring duo. Interesting is that when one projects the (near) future for the Hurricanes, I think the peak version of that lineup would include Aho/Teravainen and Necas/Svechnikov anchoring two separate scoring lines. That leaves both looking for a critical third. I included Kuokkanen in an August 29 article highlighting three players who I was higher on than most and continue to think he is in interesting dark horse in the battle of multiple rookies trying to win NHL jobs for October.
Luke Henman/Morgan Geekie/Stelio Mattheos
I think this trio was the team’s best line. They were easily the team’s best in the first period driving the puck into the offensive zone and generating a high number of good scoring chances. They maybe slowed a tiny bit as the game wore on, but in terms of consistent play throughout without any real lows, I put them even above the headline line.
Nicolas Roy
Whereas many of the Hurricanes prospects have the potential to ‘regularly’, Roy’s game is a bit quieter but still strong. On Twitter during the game, I compared Roy to the ‘good defense’ part of Victor Rask’s game. Roy has the same uncanny ability to read situations quickly and skate into angles to take things away from the opponent when defending. Just like Rask, without being incredibly speedy, Roy is very effective at slowing the other team using a combination of his size and sound positioning and decision-making.
What say you Canes fans?
1) Who stood out most positively to you in Friday’s win?
2) Heading into game 2 on Saturday, what trends are you watching most closely?
Go Canes!
Thank you for the summary Matt. I was trying to steal looks at the feed while working, so only caught bits and pieces. With no play-by-play, I had to keep a roster on my desk to figure out who was who.
That said, Stelio Mathios is the player I noticed the most. The first three times I thought whoa, who is that, and looked at the roster, all three times it was him. (Hey, I was distracted). He created space and passing lanes with his movement away from the puck, and had good vision with the puck.
That said I agree with your three stars analysis, all in all a very fun game!
Thanks for the story and analysis. I got to watch the last half of the third period after work. One player who stood out to me in that time was Roy. It caused me to wonder if he could be a more traditional 4th line center this year.
I am just speculating on possibilities, but if Rask were to play a wing with Necas who would play the fourth line center. Would Roy be a good candidate to fill that role? If he could win face offs, kill penalties and play strong defense maybe he does have a role on the team this year.
Would Roy beat out Wallmark for such a role? I don’t know. I see Roy as a future 3rd line center. In last years brief call up and yesterday’s game it looks to me that he is a solid part of the Cane’s long term success.
jm97. We saw the same things–I would have mentioned that in my remarks, but your comment wasn’t up yet. Roy will find a role in Raleigh fairly soon. While most Canes fans think “difficult to play against” means more hits, by using positioning and reach Roy definitely makes the opposition’s life difficult every shift. That is something the Canes need.
Matt and asheville. The quality of the stream did make it challenging to really focus on things like play away from the puck and positioning. So I may be off, but I think Fora would be at least an honorable mention for me. When I specifically noticed him, he looked like what he was–the most experienced player on the ice. In the defensive zone he kept the plays from becoming dangerous and often created an opportunity for the Canes to regain puck possession. The two times I noticed him on offense he made quick decisions that created more room for the player he passed to.
I agree with the remarks about Kuokkanen and Mattheos. Both are going to be good complementary players in Raleigh in the next 2-3 years. Every time I have seen Kuokkanen he has played smart and makes his linemates better. Mattheos is a hard-driving forward who takes advantage of any mistakes by the opposition whether to create a scoring chance or to stop a play from developing in the defensive zone. I have really high hopes for both.
We should all hope Helvig continues to develop. He has the makings of a #1 goalie. While he is big and moves well, he also looks controlled and able to determine where most shots will be taken such that he limits looks at the open net. The Canes had more talent than St. Louis, but the reason the score was 4-1 was mostly Helvig.
Nicolas Roy–I have been saying I think his first role in the NHL should be playing RW with Staal at center (and likely Foegele at LW). That would be a difficult line every night for the opposition. Matt’s comments are what I have seen each time I have watched the Checkers–excellent positioning, using his reach to stop the puck, using his size to slow opposition players. I did notice on two different shifts that Roy was shadowing one of the Blues. It appeared that the defensive strategy was something like a box-and-one from basketball. While I wasn’t certain due to the quality of the stream, I think Roy was tasked with slowing down Thomas. It certainly worked as Thomas only had the one noticeable play on the power play. Otherwise Robert Thomas–the player the Athletic ranked above Necas–was mostly neutralized. Roy was effectively performing the Jordan Staal role.
Good call on Fora. Somehow I forgot to mention him.
I mentioned him on Twitter after the first period. His lateral mobility is decent for his size, and he uses his size reach to play up into gaps well.
Preseason and then regular season NHL are 2 gears higher in terms of pace, but I wonder if he could be another Niclas Wallin who comes over from Europe a bit later and is much closer to NHL-ready at least in a depth role.
JM and CT, thanks for the comments on Roy. I barely kept up with canes players and didn’t try to figure out the other team.
If Roy shut down Thomas that is very impressive indeed.
I loved Gauthier. Still needs to work on his puck skills but was physically dominant. Great to see.
This group apparently got one day of practice before they started, so in that, I would expect the veterans to have a better first game than the rookies. I was happy with Svechnikov’s performance, but I also expect him to make an increasing impact as he gets more comfortable on the ice.
I loved to see the power play score so quickly, but I would also like to see Bean continue to quarterback it and use the multitude of weapons to drive more scoring chances. That second one looked sloppy, and obviously can be attributed to lack of practice, but all in all I just want to see the team play better team hockey.
Thomas had one assist, so not completely shut down, but Roy can definitely be a dark horse for a bottom 6 spot in camp if he plays this well consistently on the back end.
Game 2, not so good.
I didn’t see it but reading the recap it sounds like defense had issues, particularly moving the puck up ice.
Sounds like Andrei and the Goat are having an acceptable tournament so far. I think a gold medal game is out of the questions (though not entirely if the Canes beat the Bluejackets big time and Chicago fails to beat the Blues by more than a goal or two, and that is assuming that goals scored come before head to head).
The Goat and Roy, and, to some extent, Svech, seem to be the bright spots in these two games.
I don’t expect that our goalie played good.
I’m not so attached to Traverse City results (the Canes have won it 2 times but the big team hasn’t made the playoff), as long as promising players emerge.