NCAA stuff

Speed, skating, and physicality; these are the three ingredients that are, IMO, likely to define the successful NHL roster of the future.

The third attribute, at first blush, would seem separate from the first two. But I do not view them as mutually exclusive. It is possible to combine the three in a large body, and that player will be particularly valuable. That's one reason that the Finnish duo are so highly regarded in this draft class - especially Laine.

A player that cannot skate well or is slow is not going to be able to compensate for those deficiencies even if he's a bruiser.

Likewise, a small player had better be able to not only take a hit but also dish it out. Being fast by itself won't be enough. That's why I'm leery of Debrinkat it this year's draft. Earlier he was a consensus top-20 pick but I now see him as a second rounder, and one I hope the Sabres pass on.

 

Id say that the overall mental aspect or understanding of the game or specific roles is the most important attribute any player can have. my earlier point was just that it used to be that NCAA kids were seen as lesser players and smaller ones weren't of much value.
Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta are pretty good examples. this was back in the day where the CHL seen as much better than NCAA. Different players but also very similar in size and skating ability, they both even played together on National teams for years, often on the same line. Gomez went the CHL route and was a 1st rounder, Gionta went to school and was taken in the 3rd. of course this is not a vacuum but these players were very similar and taken in the same draft by the same team.

 

I'm sure you probably remember when Gerbe was in school as a Sabres prospect Dan. I think he's from right around the time when things started changing for both NCAA and college guys. Another good late round Darcy pick.

 

I was looking back at GMS that used to draft US players (NCAA bound) and started looking at today's gms:

http://collegehockeyinc.com/pages/nhl-draft-picks-playing-college-hockey

Lots of gms having a similar pattern.
Wilson's NCAA picks all 4th round or later seems to only tolerate them because of the timeline of control
We know Bowman hearts his swedes, UDFAs and NCAA bound prospects.
Cheveldayoff and Fletcher seem to love the NCAA too, might have something to do with geography too though
EDM, seems to really dislike the NCAA, already cast off two of theirs from the last several years

Anyway, thought the list is interesting even though it's not up to date.

 

Since the draft was coming up, thought I would post this from 2012.

 

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToPO3K4EOPY[/video]

Gilmour signs w/ Minnesota and Demko signs w/ Vancouver. Rumor has it that both the equipment and ast. equipment managers, video coordinator, medical staff, team chaplain and the entire club team will also be turning pro this summer cuz why not.

Gilmour another head scratcher, although the clock is ticking on that ELC, while Demko makes perfect sense. this team is going to be really green next season. Some good recruits coming but not the stars they've had recently. Probably a good thing because they need some kids that are going to stay 3 or 4 years and add stability. George Mcphee and Marty Mcinnes' kids coming in. i don't think either project to be stars but we will see. No one outside of the Canucks and Demkos should be happier about that signing than Joeseph Woll. Now he won't have to do another USHL season, he'll fill in immediately for Demko. I think a .500+ season should be a reasonable expectation.

 

couple more Fighting Sue jump to the pros as LA signed D- Paul Ladue (#191 in '12) and Chicago signed F- Luke Johnson (#134 in '13).


thats 5 from BC, 5 Michigan, 3 Minnesota, and 4 N. Dakota players that have signed early. this "NCAA loophole" is a give and take. many of these kids aren't really ready for pro nockey but their NHL rights-holders are scared of losing them.

http://www.uscho.com/pro-signings-2016/

 

Or the kids have or about have lost their NCAA eligibility..."student" athletes right?

 

not sure if you guys watched or read about the NFL draft but there was some fun stuff. this former "student athlete" cost himself something like $8 million based on draft projections. hard to quantify an NCAA offensive tackles' worth to a program but Im sure it was even more than what he wound up losing.

 

the gas mask didn't fit

 

https://www.neutralzone.net/2016/04/25/ncaa-early-departures-breakdown/

 

The Drake Stakes could be decided today with the UDFA out of North Dakota choosing his NHL future. I think there are 8 teams with a realistic shot at inking Caggiula. I have grouped the teams based on what I have been able to deduce as relative favorites. 1) Best odds (in alpha. order), BUF, CHI, PHL. 2) Fair chance, PIT, TB, VAN. 3) Dark horses, EDM, OTT.

Vesey's gotten more press with TOR or BOS currently favorites. I actually like Drake more. Hope Buffalo is lucky tonight, but I'm not counting on that since they've only had bad luck or no luck since 1971.

 

Looks like the Oil for Drake.

Shoulda expected this after their huge upset of not winning the draft lottery.

 

I didn't see that coming.

Big win for the Oil. Still mad they didn't get Matthews.

 

im not sold that Caggiula is an NHLer, most of these kinds of guys haven't panned out in the past.

 

not really NCAA stuff, but related to US hockey.

http://assets.ngin.com/attachments/document/0100/7886/15-16_Final_Reports.pdf

 

That's interesting stuff, Bob. Thanks.

I always thought Wisconsin was a bigger hockey state than the stats indicate. Proud to see New York up there near the top, although when I was the age of these players hockey was not nearly as important as it is now. These youngsters take things for granted and just do not know how good they've got it.

 

good stuff bob.

 

on a crappy note, Ron Mason passed away. some suave gents in this photo.

 

Can be tough for NCAA teams when players jump ship and go pro, but the benefit is that it gives you unexpected scholarships to land the late bloomer, kid who was previously unsure whether he was going NCAA or CHL, or a kid who just hadnt made up his mind.

BC just landed a big fish for next year in Finnish forward Eeli Tolvanen. A year out it looks like he'll be one of the early picks in next year's draft. they're going to have 8 freshman Fs next year.......less than ideal.
For some reason there's been a Finnish pipeline very recently here. Julius and Jesper Mattila on their way over as well. As long as theyre better than former BC goalie/Broon [del]great[/del] awful prospect Matti Kailtainen.