The Malik Report

This morning, the Red Wings' prospects engaged in a set of drills that were designed to get them ready for today's scrimmage (4-5:30 PM), and Team Lindsay and Team Howe practiced simultaneously, so I was able to get in about 20 minutes of viewing of each set of prospects and a good look at some of the goalie drills that goalie coaches Jim Bedard and Jeff Salajko put the goalies through...

But 20 minutes of assessment isn't a particularly fantastic indicator of where a player's going to be, and scrimmages allow some players to shine and others to fade into the woodwork, so I can't promise that there's going to be some sort of massively revelatory observation today, but I'm going to do my best.

I should note from the outset that Andreas Athanasiou is not playing thus far; I've heard that he has a finger injury, but he is present at the camp and taking part in the off-ice activities, and Mitch Callahan continues to skate under the watchful eye of team trainer John Bernal as he recovers from a torn ACL.

The day started with goalie drills after both teams took part in a set of calisthenic warm-ups, and Jeff Salajko and Jim Bedard took the goalies to "David's Rink," the rink on the east side of the building, to work on fundamentals...

While Jiri Fischer's kids played a little shinny on the West Rink, which was cute to see.

First, the goalies were working on their edges, with ^ drills and M drills and W drills at center ice, essentially skittering or pushing off with one skate or the other to skate through the center ice faceoff circle diagonally while staying square to shooters, combining forward and lateral motion or backward and lateral motion.

Then the drills switched to butterfly versions thereof; Tomas Kral #68 had the fastest feet, but at 5'11," he should have the fastest feet; Jake Paterson #36 continues to have a significant amount of "upper pad" movement in that his thigh rises are shifting, but he's improved his "skitter" mobility by leaps and bounds over the past three years; Joren Van Pottleberghe #31 (a.k.a. JVP) looked quite solid through the drills, but Chase Perry #50 looked like he's looked throughout camp thus far--like a massive 6'4" netminder who is still learning how to control his body. His legs were churning and grinding through a set of drills where your pads are supposed to remain as stationary as you can get them.

The remainder of the drills are what I call "horseshoe" drills, because the goalie crease in the NHL is now shaped like a D, and there are five points on that "horseshoe"--the goalposts, the high "corners" thereof and then obviously the center of the crease at the top of the horseshoe.

The first drill involved goaltenders taking a shot from the left top of the horsehoe, skating bac to "square up" to the post, then skate to the right top of the horsehoe, take a shot, and then square up to the right post and recover.

JVP struck me as the goaltender with the best technique (and he's changed from a trapper with a wrist cuff break to a trapper with a seamless cuff, FYI); Perry had LOTS of movement away from squaring up his big upper legs, but as I've said previously, Perry is a very young 19 and someone who hasn't had the opportunity to play in many games at the NCAA level; Kral was asked to "get out of the paint" by Salajko, but didn't, though he was square within it, and Paterson, who needs to be on top of the paint to make up for a 6'1" frame that's sometimes too deep in his crease, did so.

The second drill involved players doing the same kind of motion, but doing so where dropping down to take a slapper or snapper at each side of the "D," with the goaltender looking toward the side boards when they squared up to the post--taking a slapper or a snapper to the blocker side;

The third drill reversed the emphasis to squaring up on the right side and then moving to the left to take a glove-side shot, a low one at that (and Toledo Walleye assistant coach Dan Watson was providing the shots, using a circa-2009 Reebok O-Stick), and thats where you could really see the differences between the goalies' glove techniques.

Kral was pretty dang square glove-wise but had a ton of pop-out rebounds; Paterson kept his glove high and pointing toward the shooter but gave up some squeakers; JVP's glove was squarer though it dropped a bit; and Perry was getting beat on the glove side so he'd actually stand up and stop pucks with the thigh rises on his pads when hew as able to do so.

The fourth drill was BRILLIANT. Instead of squaring up and going side-to-side across the width of the goal crease, the goalies would skate from the goalpost to the top of the horseshoe on the glove or blocker side, and then take ONE STEP to the left or right. When you're making a subtle lateral change in your position, that can throw a goalie completely off being "square" to the shooter, and in this instance, Perry's massive arms, legs and chest allowed him to overcome any instances of not being "square"; the small Kral made what should have been very simple saves look dramatic because he wasn't out at the top of the paint, and he let out big rebounds; Paterson was impeccable on the blocker side, but not as good on the glove side, and JVP, or "Jore" as the coaches call him, had some work to do in terms of keeping square.

I keep on calling Perry's style a "spidery" one because his arms and legs are so very long and his torso is so very lean, and that "spidery" style shined through: he seals his pads to the ice with a flourish, and he's very mobile, but there are holes in terms of his glove and blocker because he's using his size to stop pucks, and you can't use size to stop glove and blocker shots.

The next drill is in my notebook stating, "Square up to a coach's glove at the top of the crease [center], square up to a glove at the opposite side of the horseshoe's top, then take a shot form the near side of the horseshoe from whence you came. 2 shots, start and finish, drop into butterfly."

"Interesting that Jeff Salajko says that he wants the goalies to find the puck with their head first as they are square away from the puck, and that he wants them to not slide back into the goalpost. Really smart drill. Turn your head and stop after that far-away square."

Again, body positioning was not Perry's strength, but size was; Kral had good movement, but was sliding back toward the post; paterson was back in deep at first, but his head-tracking was very good, and JVP's head movement to track pucks seemed to alleviate his glove issues.

That was that for the goalie drills; at that point, the goalies joined their respective teams--Paterson and JVP with Team Lindsay, and Perry and Kral with Team Howe:

Team Howe:

Forwards:

Tyler Bertuzzi 59

Andreas Athanasiou 72

Anthony Mantha 39

Zach Nastasiuk 62

Dominic Turgeon 78

Hampus Melen 83

Alex Kile 44*

Julius Vahatalo 67

Bryce Gervais 49*

Evan Polei 82*

Connor McGlynn 80*

Anthony Greco 37*



Michael Babccock 81*

Sheldon Dries 76*

Defensemen:

James De Haas 75

Vili Saarijarvi 71

Marc McNulty 74

Won-Jun Kim 51*

Nicholas Azar 87*

Kevin Lough 94*

Kevin Lidstrom 64*

Goaltenders:

Chase Perry 50

Tomas Kral 68*

*Indicates try-out

Team Lindsay

Forwards:

Axel Holmstrom 96

Dylan Larkin 25

Evgeny Svechnikov 22

Tyson Spink 73*

Alex Globke 45*

Jerome Verrier 70*

Mike McKee 58

Christoffer Ehn 92

Nick Betz 54*

Chase Pearson 17

Jin Hui Ahn 84*

Adam Marsh 63

Adam Lidstrom 85*

Defensemen:

Travis Walsh 89*

Joe Hicketts 53

David Nemecek 46*

Patrick Holway 79

Grant Gabriele 86*

Jalen Chatfield 97*

Jarrett Meyer 95*

Goaltenders:

Jake Paterson 36

Joren Van Pottelberghe 31

I began the practice portion by watching Todd Nelson and Dan Watson coach Team Howe at the West Rink for 20 minutes, and then I watched Team Lidstrom at David's Rink for another 20 minutes.

The vast majority of the drills were what I'd call "of the morning skate" variety--they involved moving the puck to get players and goalies into the motions of game puck movement.

The first drill involved a set of players starting at center ice in which a 5-man group would dump the puck in and carry it out with defenders retrieving the puck;

First the one defenseman would go below the goal line and then send it up to a left wing or right wing who would pass the puck to the center and up to the blueline;

Then the 5-man dump involved a "tap back" in which the defensemen "interchanged positions via front-of-the-net-back-of-the-net reverse" (crossover between positions) "and then outlet." I described this as a "Detroit drill" because the forwards made 3 passes, not two, as they skated the puck to the blueline.

Then the 5-man dump included a "d-fake" in which a forward would fake a pass to his defensive partner on the other side and would slide the puck up ice instead;

And finally, I had the drill listed like this: "D1-->F1-->D2-->CF skate out," or in other words, therew as a drop pass from the first forward to touch the puck to the defenseman on the other side of the ice, who would pass the puck up to the center to skate it out.

The second drill involved repositories at the "four corner" side boards and one defenseman standing at the center of the blueline on each side of center ice. This was the classic "pass to the defenseman opposite your repository, receive the puck as a pass back, and then skate back in upon the goalie on the side of the ice from whence you came" drill, with iterations where the forwards would gap up on their defenseman and take shorter passes, where there was a "U drill" in which the players would pass to their defenseman, continue a clockwise or counterclockwise trajectory, get a pass back, pass to the defenseman at the top of that U, and get the puck back (i.e. 2 passes instead of 1) before skating back in on their own goalies;

The third drill involved a sort of diamond formation <> in which "U" drill was repeated with simultaneous passes from a forward on one side to the center-blueline defenseman and then a forward skating up the other side, which eventually became a 2-on-0 drill instead of a 1-on-0 drill.

Todd Nelson's practices interspersed the drills with "hard skates" instead of a warm-up skate.

Once the board was brought out at 10:15, listened and then lined up at the bluelines in 4 repositories. Again, we had a situation where there was a "u drill" of a sort, but in this instance, a coach would dump the puck in from center ice, and that defenseman would skate up the ice with two forwards, they would pass the puck to a defenseman on the "far" blueline, and then everyone save that "far" blueline passer would skate back in on the goalie from the side of the ice from whence they came;

The defenseman who made the outlet pass (i.e. not the dump-in defender) would then chase the dumpin down and skate up with another set of forwards, going up the wing instead of through the middle of the ice.

At 10:20, I hauled butt to David's Rink, where Derek Lalonde and Ben Simon were in charge and the pace was a little less relentless.

Team Howe's case, Kral and Perry were working on attempting to seal the post while their skates were inside the net with Jeff Salajko, so the first few drills I watched involved empty nets.

Howe was beginning a drill in which 3 forwards would pass the puck to defensemen at center, and ther would be a d-to-d pass instead of one defenseman setting up the play, and the 3 forwards would peel back in toward the empty net at the south end of the rink and try to score.

This was an iteration of the "U" drill using 3 forwards and a d-to-d pass at center, with the emphasis on d-to-d passing instead of dump-in retrieval.

The drill began to change when one defender would "drop down" to a "low" position (i.e. a good 15 feet below his partner on the wing) and reverse the puck to his partner instead of simply going from one side to the other; what I guess you could call a breakout drill then changed to a forward making a drop pass in which the puck went D-to-LW or RW-to-D2 down low-to-Center exchange.

The formal portion of the Lalonde-led practice ended with a very different kind of "stret hockey" drill:

Instead of setting up the goals tightly near center ice, the goals were placed "side by side" on the south goal line, with the goals facing the faceoff dots.

Then a total of four defensemen lined up, opposing each other; the ones closest to the occupied goals were defensive defensemen, and the ones furthest away from the net, at the bottoms of the faceoff circle, facilitated offense.

There were also 2 wingers who faced each other in a similar fashion "up the wall," and 2 wingers set up in between pairs of coaches' gloves in the very middle of the rink. Those players served as rovers--they were allowed to play on either side of the rink, and if the puck was passed to them, they could decide to continue playing on their "side" of the rink or to begin engaging players on the other side of said gloves.

This was more of a battle drill--a complicated one, and again, one with an informal, street hockey feel to it--but it involved physical play, and it involved an almost endless set of attacks that were only punctuated by coaches' whistles, in which the "defenders" would become "attackers," and then the players would swap out for fresh defending legs."

At 10:35 AM, Lalonde had a scrum at center ice, and from there, the players split into three units: center ice men were taking faceoffs, defensemen were working on walking the line laterally and receiving one or two passes to shoot on the net, sort of a Lidstrom drill, and the forwards at the south side of the rink were working on their one-timers.

I headed back to Todd Nelson's West RInk, and there, the players were stil engaging on in drills:

The defensemen were working on lateral movement as well, but the forwards were interchanging pucks under Nelson's watch as they started at center ice and roared in on the left or right wing in 2-on-0 breakaways.

Halfway through the final 10 minutes, the defensemen joined in on the 2-on-0 drill to make it a 2-on-2 in which defensemen would slide into position from the southeast blueline, racing the forwards back to get in position, and that was the final battle drill.

When Nelson gave his final scrum, there was a hard skate beforehand, and Patrick Holway, the last player to the scrum, had to do a lap. That's Todd Nelson's coaching style for you.

In terms of player assessments, as much as 20 minutes' worth of time will give you:

Team Howe:

Forwards (and these are listed in line combinations):

Tyler Bertuzzi 59: Bertuzzi in a battle drill was Bertuzzi unleashed. Taking part in Lalonde's "street hockey" game, Bertuzzi was crashing and banging, bumping and grinding, aggravating, doing the kinds of things you expect Tyler Bertuzzi to do. Now he's not nearly at pest-level mode because he's playing against teammates, but Tyler excels in getting the puck and making skilled plays in situations in which there is physicality involved. It's not that he's big (6'1") or massive (180 pounds), but he finds a way to be stronger than his opponents, a way to be craftier and get on the inside physically, a way to lean on a guy and steal the puck away. That's all you can hope for from a talented playmaking forward who's never going to be particularly imposing in anything save his upright skating stride--he wants the puck more than his opponents, and he's not going to let what is now average NHL size take away from his ability to grind it out--and win.

Andreas Athanasiou 72: Did not play, and I've heard it's a finger injury that's setting him back.

Anthony Mantha 39: My notes say that Mantha was in "stealth mode" today, popping into focus when he scored goals, but I think Centre Ice Arena director Terry Marchand put it best, so I'm going to share his assessment of Mantha:

When Anthony is churning his feet and really skating with a purpose, and he's hard to knock off the puck, he's someone who has power sniper written all over him, but the problem with Anthony Mantha is that there are still too many times when the big man glides and when the massive 6'4," 210-pound winger is far too easily knocked off the puck. He's a big man who doesn't necessarily apply the massive power he has to his skating or puck-battling abilities, and that's where he may need to get working on lower-body strength, where he may need to get to work on his endurance, and mostly where he needs to work on applying himself at a much higher competitive level. He has all the tools to score 25-30 goals in the NHL. He just needs to not Franzen it.

Zach Nastasiuk 62: I say this as the highest compliment possible: He is a defensive dog, a junkyard mutt. Nastasiuk was grinding away giddily at the faceoff drills, he had a blast during the puck battling portion of the practice and he keeps up just fine and dandy during the skill drills. Nastasiuk is the 3rd-line center or winger who you want on your team because he's a bigger and slower version of Luke Glendening, someone who gleefully annoys the crap out of his opponents while absolutely excelling at the defensive parts of the game and while keeping up skill-wise with players on the 1st and 2nd lines when he is placed there in spot duty. Remember Doug Brown? This guy is Doug Brown 2.0.

Dominic Turgeon 78: Turgeon was the most competitive player on the ice for Team Howe, and given how competitive Bertuzzi and Nastasiuk are, that's saying something. The pesky Portland Winterhawks center looks like he is bound and determined to prove that he is more than someone who is a rock-solid defensive center with a playmaking flair, and while this summer's camp is not supposed to involve a lot of evaluating, Turgeon is playing like he's here to impress the coaches and management, and that's a wonderful thing to see from a 19-year-old who's heading back to juniors for another season. Dominic wants to be a Red Wing, and he's playing like he's earning the contract he was given around the start of the AHL playoffs. I don't know if he has something more than not-as-physical-as-Nastasiuk-but-super-effective-3rd-line-center in his toolbox, but I know he's going to try to prove that he can be on Dylan Larkin's line 5 years from now.

Hampus Melen 83: I'm having a very hard time reading the 6'3" Swedish winger. There are moments where he looks like--again--that skilled winger who's got all the tools to be a pro player but has simply missed far too much of the past three seasons due to injury and mostly illness to assess, and there are times that he seems to wander off into the wilderness. I need to see him in a game and I need to watch him for a couple more days before I can figure him out.

Alex Kile 44*: I've been asked to watch the 6,' 190-pound University of Michigan forward closely, and what I see thus far is what I saw yesterday--he's here, he's keeping up, he's not showing much else, and there is nothing wrong with that when you're adjusting to a summer development camp's pace at this level.

Julius Vahatalo 67: Not surprised at all by the 6'3" center's "compete level," which is below what it was last year at this time. Vahatalo did what Vili Saarijarvi didn't want to do--he played for TPS Turku's under-20 team instead of playing in a lot of Finnish Liiga games--and it shows in that he still looks like a gigantic center who needs more time in junior hockey before anyone can really assess whether his steady, simple game is worth a pro contract. It's a good thing the Wings don't have to sign him for two more years, because he's gonna need them to fill out physically and fill out game-wise.

Bryce Gervais 49*: The 5'10," 179-pound Minnesota State winger hasn't shone thus far. He's like Kile, keeping up and bobbing up and down with the current of prospects who are here from the NCAA and are happy to be here.

Evan Polei 82*: Polei's size makes him intriguing because he's 6'1" and 219 pounds but can motor up the ice pretty damn well. I haven't seen much of him, but what I have seen involves a player who can more than keep up offensively and has looked good setting up plays for the Turgeons and Manthas of the lineup, so he bears watching.

Connor McGlynn 80*: Also big at 6'2" and 210, the Kingston Frontenacs center hasn't stood out yet, but that's what the scrimmage is for.

Anthony Greco 37*: Greco's small (5'10" and 171 pounds) and the Ohio State forward just doesn't impose you, but he's got a Bertuzzi-like ability to win puck battles when the body's laid on him, and while his 15 goals and 23 points aren't exactly dominant from an NCAA perspective, you look at him and see his skating, shooting and passing abilities and very easily see that he's a cut above most try-outs. Greco has a really good skill set and is quite competitive.

Michael Babccock 81*: I keep saying that Babcock's going to need all four years at Merrimack to convince someone that he is there 5'9," 160-pound version of Doug Brown or Luke Glendening or some sort of consummate grinder, and that still holds true, but it must be mentioned that he can absolutely motor out there. Michael is a fleet-footed grinder who charges up and down the ice at high speed and grinds, grinds, grinds and also grinds it out--and he's the kid who's sticking his hand into trouble by setting up the centers taking faceoffs at the end of practice, he's the guy picking stuff up and doing the little things to be a good teammate, he's just liked by people because he's a solid citizen, and that kind of class counts for something.

Sheldon Dries 76*: 5'9," 179-pound forward from Western Michigan University, not sticking out yet.

Defensemen:

James De Haas 75: Big James didn't stand out as much as he usually does today, but that was in no small part due to my very short observation window. He remains someone who is fleet-footed as all hell get out for 6'4" and 210 pounds, and while his end-to-end speed isn't elite, his lateral mobility and backwards skating are pretty damn close. James needs to work on improving what are good fundamental offensive skills in terms of his passing, playmaking and vision of the ice to prove that he's worth a pro contract, and he has two more years at Clarkson to show the Wings that he can consistently both flash and dash like a big man shouldn't be able to do.

Vili Saarijarvi 71: I shrug my shoulders and go, "Pro pace, pro pace." I have seen Vili for the sum total of about an hour, and I already understand that the Red Wings didn't overreact by signing him to a pro contract some eight days after he was drafted. He's not big at 5'10" and he's not massively physically imposing, but he is an elegant puckhandler, a smart, slick passer and a superb skater who just does everything well. Tyler Wright called him the "complete package" and that's not off. He's really, really good and I don't know how the Wings got him in the 3rd round, either, because he plays like a 1st round pick.

Marc McNulty 74: McNulty is a frustrating player to watch because he is, again, 6'6" but faster than De Haas, he has a strong offensive skill set, and he could be one of those defensemen who roars up into the play and makes his presence known with playmaking, passing and scoring, but he doesn't. He's here, he's a solid defenseman and he's at least making a case for being brought back for the fall prospect tournament after the Wings let his rights expire this past June, but he's got so much more skill than he's displayed in the WHL and so much more skill than he puts together during games.

Won-Jun Kim 51*: Smart, steady, good pace, looks like a 5'11," 179-pound defenseman who can get knocked off the puck, but he keeps up, he works hard, and he is *almost* good enough that I would be saying, "If they didn't have Joe Hicketts, and if he could come back and dominate at the fall prospect tournament, maybe he's someone to watch." There's just a step too slow and half a second too slow that separate him from, "It's good to have you here" and, "It would be good to have you here."

Nicholas Azar 87*: If you click the link to your left, you'll see a 6'3," 201-pound defenseman who's graduated from Detroit Honeybaked and is going to Harvard. If you watch Azar play, you see someone who has the physical tools of a big man with some skill, but you also see someone who is just coming out of the U.S. equivalent of Junior B hockey, and someone who needs some time playing NCAA hockey before anyone can decide where his skill set will take him. Very young.

Kevin Lough 94*: 5'11," from Colgate, shoots right, looks solid. Nothing spectacular but he's held his own thus far, and that's to his credit.

Kevin Lidstrom 64*: I don't know if Kevin Lidstrom's desire to play in the AHL and NHL after a couple of pro years with Surahammars IF Hockey of Swedish Division I is realistic. I do know that the impeccably, dad-smooth stay-at-home defenseman is probably going to graduate to the SHL at some point because he is so relaxed and able to make plays at a level which stay-at-home professional defensemen do. I haven't seen much of an offensive flourish from him yet, but the 21-year-old skates very well, his lateral mobility is superb, for 6'1" and about 180 he's got a great wingspan, he moves the puck well and he sees the ice solidly. He's just not his dad, and he's going to have to climb up the ranks slowly but surely.

Goaltenders:

Chase Perry 50: Raw, raw, raw, promising but raw. Perry is all spindly spidery arms and legs at 6'4" and a very lean 190-ish pounds, and Perry has the size and innate puck-stopping ability to get in front of enough shots that it doesn't matter how good or bad his technique is, but his glove and blocker can be liabilities, he can take himself out of the play if he drops to his superb straight-backed butterfly too early, there are times that he doesn't look like he's tracking the puck as well as he can and he's...Young at 19. He's also good enough that I watch him as a former goaltender and am very glad that the Wings have three more years of Colorado College eligiblity to watch Perry mature and grow into the kind of "big goalie" that you want to have on your team, but it's going to take time, and this really is Perry's first experience with pro-level development.

Tomas Kral 68*: The bloom was off the rose a little bit today. The 5'11," 170-something-pound Czech netminder was giving up big rebounds, pop-outs from his trapper and he wasn't getting out to the top of the crease no matter how hard he was coaxed. That's where I look at a player and go, "Well, I guess he's going to have a good camp and go back to his team having learned a lot about playing hockey at the NHL level."

*Indicates try-out

Team Lindsay

Forwards:

Axel Holmstrom 96: Too many strides is my most damning indictment of Holmstrom, who has a pro contract, who is headed back to Skelleftea AIK to improve upon an absolutely superb rookie season, and who is a fine pro prospect as a "power center" who chugs up and down the gut to score goals and set up his teammates. Axel isn't a polished professional yet in that there are times that he needs an extra half-second or full second to set up his shot, to get a pass off or to process the game, but when he does, he processes the game at a professional level, his skating is choppy but very good, his shot is strong and his nose for the net is encouraging. Let's see how he does in his sophomore pro campaign and believe that Axel will go pro in North America after that with grit, jam and poise.

Dylan Larkin 25: Dylan is the best player here, period. Larkin skates very well and skates purposefully up and down the ice, his passing can be elegant, he loves to shoot top-shelf or skate to the net and stay there to jam in rebounds and loose pucks, he's competitive, he's incredibly smart in terms of his hockey IQ and he's strong, steady and a little gritty physically. He just needs time and experience as a professional player in Grand Rapids to eventually become a star forward and a #1 or #2 center at the NHL level, and I hope that one day he and Mantha form a formidable combination.

Evgeny Svechnikov 22: Better day for "Svech," no falling over, no looking lost, Svech chugged up and down the ice and scored goals and generated really nice scoring chances, Svech chipped slick, slinky shots on the net and Svech stayed in the moment, soaking up the atmosphere while learning to be a pro. He's still a bit star-struck at times by the pro pace and the pace of practice, but you can see why the Wings drafted him with their first pick--the man is a sniper and a half. It's just so early that I can't break his play down with a record player's needle; I've seen him for two days, and he's impressed me as much as Saarijarvi has, but in a slightly quieter, less "pro ready" way and more like a, "Down the road three or four years, the Wings are gonna have signed them a very natural goal-scorer, which is something that they don't have in their system in spades."

Tyson Spink 73*: The 5'10 forward from Colgate isn't at pro contract-worthy status, but in his second go-round with the Wings, Spink, like Greco and Globke, looks at home with the speed and intensity of the practices and while he is smaller in stature and weight, he's doing a good job of keeping up with the play when it gets physical.

Alex Globke 45*: Ditto. I wish that Globke could get a prospect tournament in, because he really fits in well here. He's big and mobile at 6'3" and 205 pounds, he's a forward who can play center and win faceoffs, he's got a solid shot and decent playmaking skills and he just stands out from the crowd, like Greco. His stats are less than pretty and his potential may not be at a pro level, but he and Greco are setting the pace for the try-outs.

Jerome Verrier 70*: I will make the bold prediction that if Jerome has a strong prospect tournament and main camp, he may be offered an ECHL or AHL contract. Verrier is a pesky goal-scorer who had a very middling regular season but a very good playoff run in the QMJHL, and the agitating winger saw time as a very solid contributor at last year's prospect tournament. He's going to come back, and Verrier's goal-scoring abilities are pretty darn good, he skates pretty darn fast, and I know that when he's called upon to be a pain in the ass, he punches above his 6,' 185-pound weight class (though getting in fights is not his thing any more). I like what I've seen from him.

Mike McKee 58: As I've been saying, the skill drill McKee is absolutely jaw-dropping, but that's because he's 6'5" and 250 pounds and is keeping up with the fastest forwards when he's able to wind up, because he passes and shoots so well and because it is so very evident that a massive physical beast his holding himself back. In college at Western Michigan, he's been a 4th-line forward who's posted very few points over the past two seasons, and he's a player who still needs to establish himself as an NCAA force without getting into penalty trouble before the Wings can think of unleashing the beast upon the AHL. He's a long-term project still, but he's an intriguing one.

Christoffer Ehn 92: Fast, lanky as hell, smart center, wins draws, but I described the speedy Frolunda Indians product as "lithe" because he's so damn skinny. He makes plays at a high level of skill and he's got some anticipation to him, which is good to see, but he's really got to start eating some hamburgers if he's to spend the next two years reestablishing himself as a SHL'er and eventually someone worthy of a pro deal.

Nick Betz 54*: I know that Betz, at 6'4" and a goodly mobile 220 pounds, has his fan club among this blog's readers, and that the Mt. Clemens native and Erie Otters winger will probably get an invite to the prospect tournament as most of the OHL/WHL/ QMJHL guys who play up here in the summer come back in the fall, but Betz just hasn't stood out yet, despite a 54-points-in-62-games season. I'll have to watch him during the scrimmage and see what I can tell you.

Chase Pearson 17: Still calling him the wild stallion. Pearson is 6'2," 190 pounds, headed to Maine and Scott Pearson's son can be a formidable power winger who roars up and down the wing and displays both scoring and passing aplomb, but he's coming off a USHL season, which is the U.S. version of Junior A hockey, he's still displaying a so-so level of engagement and he just looks like a very, very young player in more ways than one.

Jin Hui Ahn 84*: Ahn plays "bigger" than Kim though he's the same size, he's smart, he's speedy, he's holding his own in the phsyical battles but he's less impressive overall. He's bobbing along with the rest of the tryouts, and that's OK.

Adam Marsh 63: I feel about Marsh the way I do about tryouts--I don't know what to make of the 17-year-old Saint John Sea Dogs left wing. I know that he's got a goal-scorers hands and then some, I know that he's got pro bloodlines as Peter Marsh's son and I know that when he's interested, he can look like perhaps a Tyler Bertuzzi, but I haven't seen that much interest from him.

Adam Lidstrom 85*: Steady, solid, with a little more skating speed and offensive flourish than his brother (as it should be), Adam can indeed score when necessary, but he's more of a 2-way player who, again, looks like someone coming out of junior hockey who is on the NCAA collegiate path. He's only 19 and he's got another year to go in the J-20 league with Vasteras, and there is every reason to believe that he can at least be a very, very good NCAA forward.

Defensemen:

Travis Walsh 89*: The 5'11," 181-pound Michigan State University product has yet to stand out from the try-outs, though there are times that he's kept up with Hicketts on a much defensively thinner Team Howe. I like his mobility.

Joe Hicketts 53: Hicketts, like Holmstrom, sometimes needs that extra second to process a pass or shot, but when he gets it off, he's going to lead the player to where the puck should be, or he's going to fire a rocket top shelf. He's a smart, savvy playmaker most of the time and his skating is better in its heaviness and mobility for that 5'8" stature than it is for straight-out speed, but on Team Howe, he looks like a skating dynamo, and I will suggest that his skating has improved since last year. He just does everything well and some things exceptionally well, and if he can overcome his size, I really do believe that he could be a strong second-pair defenseman in the making. For the present moment, however, he needs to go back and have a dominant final Major Junior season with Victoria.

David Nemecek 46*: Nemecek is 6'4" and 209 and plays for TPS Turku, and he's got some offensive ability, but he's...Just...a...step...slow. Always...a...step...slow. The same is true for his playmaking and his general ability to keep up. He's just a step slow.

Patrick Holway 79: Holway was drafted as a project and he IS a project. 6'5" and 195 pounds, right-shooting, good skating but last to the scrum today, he looks everything like a Dubuque Fighting Saint still a year away from Maine--like Pearson--should look like. A massive draft pick that intrigues because he's big and mobile, he's still, again--young!

Grant Gabriele 86*: I interviewed Gabriele because the 6'1," 167-pound National Team Development Program defenseman has really impressed me. For a slight stature, the incoming Western Michigan University freshman looks strong, he's an excellent skater and his all-round abilities are perhaps the best of any defenseman on Team Howe not named Hicketts. He's been real good and I hope to see a good performance from him in the scrimmage.

Jalen Chatfield 97*: Chatfield had a better day today, with the Windsor Spitfires defenseman and 6', 181-pound native of Ypsilanti at least looking like he was bobbing up and down with the other try-outs along the current, if not showing some intriguing offensive potential from time to time.

Jarrett Meyer 95*: Again, big and bigger at 6'8" and 249 pounds, he's the Mike McKee Jr. of the development camp, all big and raw and arms and legs grinding their way through the paces. He was better today as well but didn't stand out.

Goaltenders:

Jake Paterson 36: Paerson is going to be turning pro for the second time this year, and Paterson is going to be ready for the challenge this time. I'm still not thrilled with his tendency to stand too far back in his crease, his glove hand needs work and there are some long goals that are not elegant, but he's also an incredibly polished goalie who stickhandles wonderfully and anticipates plays. This time I believe he's mentally ready for battling for a spot against both Jared Coreau and Tom McCollum.

Joren Van Pottelberghe 31: It's still very early, but Van Pottelberghe's remarkably steady and simply elegant fundamentals are a joy to watch, and the hybrid-style as opposed to standard Swiss Butterfly goaltender's getting better as he becomes more used to the size of the North American rink and the speed at which plays happen. He needs to play at a higher level of competition for the upcoming season or two but I really believe that the Wings have a goaltender with a high, high ceiling in "JVP," and JVP has impressed the hell out of me in every aspect of his play.

It's almost time for the scrimmage, so I ought to call it an afternoon. I'll write more this evening.

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