Modifié 8 mars à 0 h 56
For anyone wondering about the Carolina prospects - here are some write ups from Scott Walker of The Athletic.
Vasili Ponomaryov, C, 21 (Chicago Wolves)
After becoming a likable player who many believed was a better pro prospect than his good but not great production in the QMJHL indicated, Ponomaryov has impressed in the AHL over the last three seasons to outperform prospects of greater prior pedigree and become a call-up option for the Canes.
I’ve watched him play a lot over the years and he’s a hard player to dislike. He’s always on the puck, he’s got great hands, he can penalty kill, he passes the puck well and he opens up to make himself available offensively. While he’s not the biggest, strongest, fastest, or most talented kid, he understands how to play from A to B. He’s also stronger than you might think at a cursory glance and uses his body positioning to come up with his fair share of pucks. And then he also has skill — enough to deceive, pick apart schemes with the puck and make plays off of all of the retrievals he wins. I’m a fan. He has some intriguing qualities, he’s versatile and he plays the same way regardless of how much he’s playing or who he’s playing with. I’m not sure if he’ll be a full-time NHLer as opposed to a tweener, because it is a little hard to decipher what his role will be, but he showed well in his first call-up and has always been a well-liked player wherever he has gone.
Ville Koivunen, RW/LW, 20 (Kärpät)
Koivunen’s a highly entertaining and gifted winger who has been one of the more productive young players in Liiga (especially considering his June birthday) over the last three seasons (though after he impressed in the first two games of the canceled world juniors in Edmonton, he disappointed me in Halifax).
He can be a delight to watch with the puck on his stick when he’s playing confidently. He’s a crafty problem-solver whose game tilts toward offense (he’s got work to do to become a more reliable player defensively, although he can hang). He can manufacture offense in a lot of ways off of the perimeter, whether that’s playing pucks into space with the perfect weight or baiting defenders into reaches so that he can cut past them. He can carve the offensive zone up as a dual-threat scorer and passer. I’ve also seen him look quite effective taking pucks off the cycle to the interior (though not consistently), even though he’s more dangerous in open ice. I’ve seen him twist and turn away from good defenders. He has also had a bit of a growth spurt (he was listed at 5-foot-11 and 161 pounds in his draft year and he’s 6 feet and 172 pounds). I still see potential top-nine upside with the right development plan and some patience, even if his odds of meeting it are low to medium.
Cruz Lucius, RW, 19 (University of Wisconsin)
After battling a wrist injury in his draft year, Lucius came on strong late in it with 12 points in his final 10 games at the program on a dominant “third” line with captain Rutger McGroarty. In the two years since, he has built on that with back-to-back seasons as the Badgers’ leading scorer (about a point per game) as a freshman and sophomore.
Lucius is a patient playmaker who slows the game down and uses delays, lightly weighted passes and the attention he pulls into himself to create through layers for his linemates. Like his older brother Chaz, his skating (which pitchforks) is the primary concern with his projection. But he plays within the pace of play so well, problem solves really effectively and has a sneaky quick and accurate release that I wrote in his draft year I believed was going to produce greater goal totals than we’d seen to date (which we’ve seen more of in college). He will ultimately be defined, though, by his ability to continue to wait for plays to develop and stay cerebral as the speed of the level around him ramps up. If he can, he’ll be a complementary playmaking winger. He has never lacked confidence and decisiveness in his game.
athrin a aimé ceci.
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