NZ scouts will be attendance for each game at the NTDP Evaluation Camp starting Thursday March 20th. As we take a look at the invite list – we make some notes on who these players are and some storylines heading into camp.
The 2009’s is a stronger group than NTDP has seen the past few years with the 2007s and 2008s. We would argue it’s a better group than the 2006’s even though they may not have the high-end of that class – the depth is significantly better (at this age anyways).
Defense
The Americans have struggled to find depth on their blue line over the past few years but that will not be the case with this group. If we are being critical we could say there isn’t an elite defender in this group at this point but there is a lot of very good players and the fifth and sixth defenseman on this team could end up being an NHL Draft pick. This will be a bigger group than we’ve seen with most of these defensive invites stand over six feet tall. The group come from a range of levels; three of the better defenders come from U16’s in Broden McArthur (Dallas), Diego Gutierrez (Shattuck) and Easton Johnson (Sioux Falls). The bulk comes form AAA Midget 15U and there are also a few who have played against bigger, stronger, older competition at the high school level in Carson Scott (Hill-Murray) and Ben Geiger (Northfield). They also have a player out of Minnesota Bantams coming off a state championship win with Moorehead in Beck Thoreson who is two days away from being a 2010 and might have the highest ceiling of anyone in this camp.
Best of the Rest: Broden McArthur (Dallas U16) is our highest-rated defenseman heading into the camp. He’s not the best skater or the most skilled defender in camp and he’s not the most physical, but he’s the most mature, versatile, two-way prospect in the group at this point and does everything at a high level. He can quarterback a power play, he can lock down an opposing teams top player, he can skate pucks out of trouble, he can clear out his net front – he does a bit of everything.
Love This Invite: Drew Roscoe (Shattuck St. Mary’s 15U) is an excellent choice by NTDP for this camp. Yes, he’s raw and he’s not yet a dominant player at the 15U level but his length, athleticism and deceptive skill oozes upside. If you look at the “misses” by NTDP staff over the last decade – it’s typically been tall, rangy, raw defenseman who may not have been ready at 15 or 16 but had the long term potential that they ultimately lived up to.
Wish He Was Here: Trevor Shorter (Chicago Mission 15U) is one of our favorite prospects in this birth-year given his 6’6″ frame, athleticism and toughness. He’s raw in some areas of his game but he brings a level of physical presense the NTDP blue line typically lacks. In our view, this is the type of player this development-based program is made for – high ceiling NHL Draft prospects who could greatly benefit from the on and off-ice training and support the program provides in order to reach their true potential. There could also be an argument for Flory or Aucoin but we can understand those inclusions as there are other versions of similar players that were invited – you can’t say that about Trevor – there is nobody like him in this camp.
Forwards
The forward group is a deep-group with multiple flavors. There are high skill players like Trevor Daley Jr (Florida Alliance) and Alexander Milojevic (Chicago Mission); there are big, strong power forwards like Ty Bergeron (Honeybaked) and Gunnar Conboy (Lakeville North), pure goal scorers like Nolan Fitzhenry (Shattuck) and Kane Barch (Huron-Perth); high IQ playmakers like Rocco Pelosi (Mount St Charles) and Frederick Schneider (Edina HS) and 200ft complete players like Gavin Burcar (Chicago Mission) and Carter Meyer (Rivers School). Selecting the forwards this year will be more like putting together a puzzle than it will on who is better than who because there is so a lot of different “types” of players here.
Best of the Rest: Alexander Milojevic (Chicago Mission) is our #1 rated prospect in the US heading into this camp. He’s a dynamic, high-end skilled playmaker with soft hands, explosive shot and creative puckhandling. He’s poised, he’s confident, he makes plays in traffic, has improved his stride mechanics this year and can finish. He has the ability to play at the next level right now – he’s strong enough, he’s balanced, he can play in traffic and in space, can win pucks and has a translateable skill set.
Love this Invite: Sam Pandolfo (Rivers School) is a long, rangy forward with soft hands and subtle skill who plays a high IQ game. He’s still growing into his frame – not polished or flashy and he’s not overly physical for a player his size. With that being said he has touch, he thinks the game at a high level and makes a lot of high percentage plays. He’s made noticeable improvements in his stride mechanics and overall pace of play this season and makes smart decisions consistantly. We’ve seen raw prospects with subtle skill and IQ get overlooked in prior years – so it’s nice to see a player like this on the list.
Wish He Was Here: Landon Jackman (Little Caesars) is admittedly inconsistant, no question, but when he’s on his game and he’s playing with passion and purpose – he’s one of the most dominant forwards in the country. We’ve watched him play his best in big moments at Whitby Silverstick or Toronto Marlboro’s playoffs and he was able to overpower and outmanuever some of the top defenders in this years OHL Draft. He can score in a multitude of ways and has a rare power and skill combination. Even if he they knew he wasn’t going to be on the team – we would have invited him anyways because he’s a measuring stick type that will expose timid or fraudulent defenders in a way that no other forward here can do and he’ll challenge goalies with his shot.
Goalies
Only four goalies have been selected to the camp this year which will make it an easier scout as each goalie will face plenty of rubber this upcoming week. The goaltending group as a whole is solid and they all come out of Midget AAA hockey; Djomo comes from U16 where he’s had a standout season and Johnson, Chizik and Winters played 15U.
Nathaniel Chizik is our top rated goaltender coming into the camp after back to back standout seasons at Mount St. Charles. He’s actually one of the higher rated goalies coming into the camp that we’ve seen since Drew Commesso (we admittedly were late to the party on Trey Augustine). The rest of the goalies have different strengths which will be intersting to see – but they all have size, they all move well and have noticeable athleticsm and composure. Really like the invite of Eli Winters because Fox Motors is not a star-powered team and historically most of the goalie invites at this camp come from teams that don’t face a ton of shots and goalies can win a lot of games without playing well. That’s not the case for Winters – he’s faced a lot of shots this season – he’s been consistant and has all the technical, physical and mental tools to be successful.
Goaltending at this age is hard to gauge so there is several goalies we would have like to have seen in this setting but the one goalie we’d wish was here is Justin Lee. Part of that is because he’s got the length, focus, quick reflexes and hockey IQ to be a very strong goalie down the line but also because he’s started at the prep school level with Nobles & Greenough facing older, stronger, faster competition. One knock on taking all midget AAA goalies is that they don’t face a ton of traffic and they play against their age group so they don’t face shots from 18 year-olds who are more physically developed. The other goalie we’d like to see is Gage Hurst; one of the most athletic, competitive goalies in this last who has stood on his head in some big tournaments (Toronto Titans, Tornoto Marlboros, etc.) showing what he’s capable of at his best.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images