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Game/Tournament Reviews

U18 Five Nations Tournament: Top 25 NHL Draft Prospects

Articles, Feature Story, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

The Five Nations Tournament in Plymouth, MI displayed many future NHL picks that may develop into impact players at the highest level.  Teams from the United States, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic and Switzerland brought good teams to the tournament to compete.  There were some high end prospects that were not there from some of the European countries due them playing Pro Hockey in their country or in the CHL.  Many of these top players will be summoned by their respective countries for the U20 World Junior or U18 World Championships coming up.

However, there was plenty of talent to go around and keep the NHL Scouts busy at the USA Hockey Arena.  The tournament went down to the wire with the United States taking the title.  From this tournament we have listed the top 25 NHL prospects for the upcoming 2017 and 2018 NHL Drafts.  This tournament was just a snap shot of these prospects as they all have many more opportunities to move up and improve their stock before draft time.

Top 25 NHL Draft Prospects

  1. Brady Tkachuk (F) (USA) 6-2/194, LH, 2018 NHL DRAFT – The younger brother of Calgary Flames rookie Matthew Tkachuk has a different game than his older sibling. He has taken on the identity that is more of his father and former NHL player Keith Tkachuk.  He is a bit bigger and plays a more physical north and south game.  With a very high compete level, he plays very hard in traffic and uses his body very well.  Always mixing it up as well as making plays.  He has grown a lot in the last 2 years and still adjusting to his body.  He has long reach and a good skill set in traffic.  Not the top player here right now, but he is a late 99 birth year and is not even eligible to be drafted until the 2018 NHL Draft.  Look for him to be an ‘A’ player on NHL Central scouting next fall.  COLLEGE: BOSTON UNIVERSITY

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Scouting Report: Shattuck St. Mary’s vs NJ Avalanche U16

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Neutral Zone made the trek to Hackensack for a great game between two of the country’s top U16 teams on Friday. It was a well-played game featuring a lot of the top prospects in the ’01 and ’00 birthyears. It ended up 5-3 Shattuck but the Av’s held a 2-0 lead early on and had the better part of play for about the first half of the game. While these players are ranked A-C, the rankings ONLY reflect how they played in this particular game and its relative to the competition. Meaning a “B-” in this group, is an “A” just about anywhere else.

Cole Kodsi (L, 5’11”, 168lbs, ’00, Avs)

Under rated player coming out of NMH. He has an excellent shot with a quick release. Powerful skater who is likely to get bigger and stronger in time. We’d like to see him distribute the puck better as he forces passes at times or misses them all together. He has a versatile game at this level where he can play for power or go wide on defenseman and get pucks to the net. College: Michigan State   Grade: B

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GOJHL Game Report: Pelham vs. Thorold

Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

OJHL; Pelham 4 – Thorold 3  Oct 26, 2016

Jake Lloyd (Forward, L, 5’11” 180 lbs, Thorold Blackhawks, Jun/96) – Jake is a converted defenceman and doing fairly well at it (23 points in 17 games). He is the captain of the Thorold team this year and I have seen him captain other teams so this is nothing new to him. Jake is an average skater with an above average heart. He gives you all he has every night. He converted on Thorold’s first goal on a nice 2v2 and was back playing defence on the first unit power play. Good hockey IQ he knows what to do and when to do it and is a willing participant in every battle. B+

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Beantown Fall Classic U16 Top 75

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

 

Neutral Zone headed to Marlboro for the Fall Beantown Classic in late October. We had two scouts in attendance and focused on the U16 Division. Once again, there were a lot of teams and some very high end talent. Below are the players that we noticed over the weekend. The fact that a player is mentioned here means that we believe they had a generally positive influence on their teams. Grades are a way to differentiate this group from each other. All the players listed are solid prospects and many are new additions to our profiles.

 

Logan Pietila (#17, Compuware, ‘00; F)-If you blinked, you missed Logan. One scout used the word “creative” three times in three games. He played fast which was impressive but what made him stand out was his ability to access all his tools at full speed. He was a factor in space, on the wall and in all three zones. He was one of the best players (certainly the most elusive) in the entire tournament. College: Michigan Tech    Grade: A-

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HPHL October Showcase: Top 40

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects

Neutral Zone sent two scouts to the first HPHL U16 Showcase took place on October 22-23, 2016. The showcase displayed Chicago vs. Detroit in all of their games. The Detroit area took this month winning most of the games.  The Chicago Mission appeared to be the team to beat moving forward showing a 2-1 record on the weekend and dominating opponents despite losing a tough one to Compuware in the last game.  Compuware made it aware that they are going to be hard to deal with moving forward with a deep group and Honeybaked is a young team that should only get better as the year goes along.

Below are the players that our scouts evaluated. If both scouts had notes one one player, we listed both sets below that player’s name. Grades are in relation to those players listed here. Every player on this list had a good showcase. All of these players will be in our NZ profiles.

Grade: A+

Luke Toporowski (L, 5-10/166, Mission, 01) – He was very dynamic and dangerous throughout the weekend.  Showed a mix of skill and compete level consistently.  He showed he can change the game with the puck on his stick whether it’s on the rush or down low.  He was a 1st round pick and currently signed with Spokane in the WHL, where his father Kerry was a legend back in his playing days.  Kerry accrued over 600 penalty minutes in the regular season and playoffs during the 1990-91 season.

– Toporowski’s skating really stood out in these games. He appears taller than he is, and a lot of that lies within his really long, fluid stride. It just appears to make him rangier than he may actually be at 5-9. He generates a lot of power in his stride and it is very smooth and effortless looking. It was utilized well in winning some races to loose pucks and on a few occasions in beating defensemen wide to the net. Toporowski protected the puck well and is really good at using his body to edge off defenders. Very difficult to remove from the puck. We look forward to seeing more from him as the season progresses.

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EHL Scouting Report: Northern Cyclones vs NH Monarchs

Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

 

Neutral Zone headed to Tri-Town arena on Friday as we headed to Hooksett, NH to watch the Cyclones take on the Monarchs. There was a good crowd on hand as the Monarchs raised the EHL Championship banner in a pre-game ceremony. The Cyclones won the game 3-2 after falling down 2-0 early in the first period. Austin Smith (G, 1997; Cyclones #36) (Grade:B) shook off a tough start to get the win for the Cyclones. He battled and showed a level of mental toughness in his first game in the EHL after a stint in the NAHL.

We will have the EHL covered all season and will see each team many times over the next several months.

Players that we noted in this game: Grades reflect performance in this game only. All players have profiles on the Neutral Zone website with all scouting reports attached. Players listed here made an overall positive influence on the game.

Markie Cambpell (F, 1996; Cyclones #51)-Markie didn’t get on the score sheet tonight but he was the best player on the ice. Last time we watched him play we were concerned about his size. That was not an issue here. He was the toughest player on the ice. He played with energy, was in constant motion, disrupted the opponent and played in all situations. He was good on the cycle and forechecked hard. The last 30 seconds of the game with his team down 6-4 he blocked a shot, won a puck against three Monarchs and dove to get a puck out. Grade: A

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Compuware/Honeybaked Tournament U18, U16, U14: Top 65

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Neutral Zone attended the Compuware/Honeybaked tournament in October. Below is a list of players from U14, U16 to U18 that stood out. Keep in mind, these grades are a reflection of how the players performed at this event only and is not a reflection of their overall skill set or upside.

We are still gathering information on the younger players and we will update profiles as we are able.

Austin Neirynck-(R- 5’11/175lbs-04/21/98-Compuware U18)-Very hard worker, likes to go to the net and get dirty to score goals. Has a knack of scoring goals, has a quick release and accurate shot. He has the quickness, smarts and the offensive ability to make things happen in the offensive zone. Very capable playing in the defensive zone and he’s not a liability. Very strong skater and balanced in which he uses his quickness to his advantage. Would like to see him handle the puck and create even more chances. Grade: A

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