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CJHL Prospects Game: Scouting Report

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, OHL, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Last night Neutral Zone scouts were in attendance for the CJHL Prospects game in Cornwall, ON. The two teams are separated by eastern and western CJHL leagues and picked by NHL Central Scouting.

Below is a breakdown of each player in the game; their NHL upside; their NCAA or CHL commitment and most importantly how they played here. Overall, we were impressed with the event. It was well run and the players showed they deserved to be there. The West won the game. However, the East held its own which is impressive considering their two best leagues are now “pay to play” leagues; while Western Canada has the two top leagues in the country in the AJHL & BCHL which are both free tuition leagues.

In attendance were over a hundred NCAA, CHL and NHL scouts. Like Tyson Jost and Dante Fabbro did last year, Cale Makar, Ian Mitchell and Cameron Crotty made this a worth while event for NHL brass as they are all serious draft picks, especially Makar who is a likely first rounder.

As is customary at Neutral Zone, we did analytics on what leagues the players came from, their ages and their NCAA/CHL status.

League Breakdown:

BCHL: 11

CCHL: 9

OJHL: 8

AJHL: 7

NOJHL: 3

SJHL: 1

MJHL: 1

Birth Years:

1999: 26

1998: 13

1997: 1

Status:

NCAA Committed: 20

CHL Committed: 1

Uncommitted: 19

Size:

5’10” or Under: 8

5’11” – 6’0”: 10

6’1”-6’2”: 13

Over 6’2”: 9

Shot:

Left: 16

Right: 20

#8 Cale Makar (R, 5-11.25/180, Brooks (AJHL), Late ’98)

Makar is currently Neutral Zone’s highest rated NCAA prospect for the 2017 recruiting class and the only 5 star ’98 left on the board. He’s a highly skilled offensive defenseman with elite skating and puck handling ability. He doesn’t have ideal size for a first round NHL pick defenseman, but that goes out the window when you see what he can do with the puck. He has an explosive first step, is able to shake off forecheckers in a few strides and has a quick, elusive stick to navigate through traffic. He probably led all skaters in the game in puck possession time and led several rushes, sprung teammates for breakaways with crafty passes and showed ability to take over in the offensive zone. He has a booming slap shot which he only got off two times (by our count) but it is a rapid release and very powerful for someone of his size and stature. On the defensive front, he doesn’t get the credit he deserves because he’s small and not overly physical. However, he is tough, he steps up and takes the body and he’s tricky in his own end. He picks off passes constantly because he has great vision and anticipation ability, he has a strong and quick stick check which he used several time here to win the puck battles. At this level he always wins the race to the puck and is quick and shifty enough to make a quick play before the opponent can get to him. As a result, the amount of time he plays defending is much less than the time he is on the offensive. Here he rushed the puck at will, he made people miss skating through the neutral zone and found seams in defense that he could exploit with precision passing. What is most impressive is how he thinks the game and processes the play at full speed; he never has to slow down to make a decision. He does everything at top speed. Makar leads all AJHL defenseman in scoring with 52 points in 38 games and sits at 10th in NHL Central Scouting’s Mid-Term Rankings. There was rumor that he’s being heavily pursued by the WHL, but he has a signed letter of intent to UMass Amherst, so unless something changes that is where he’ll be next fall.   Grade: A+     College: UMass Amherst

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The Cup North American Championship (U14): Top 68

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, OHL, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Neutral Zone attended The Cup North American Championship tournament on January 12-15. There were 20 teams that played in the 2002 division that played over 4 days and was extremely competitive.  North York beat Syracuse in the finals 2-1 while Westchester took third.  Final standings for the weekend were (North York (7-0), Westchester (5-1), Syracuse (4-3), Sun County Panthers (4-2), Washington Little Caps (3-2), Kitchener Jr Rangers (2-2-1), North Bay Trappers (2-2-1), Quinte Red Devils (2-2), Mid Fairfield (2-2), Toronto Jr Canadiens (2-2), Buffalo Jr Sabres (2-3), Mississauga Senators (2-2), Team Illinois (1-2-1), Burlington Eagles (1-2-1), Brampton 45’s (1-3), Philadelphia Jr Flyers (1-3), Amherst Knights (1-3), Cleveland Barons (1-3), NJ Rockets (1-4), Toronto Red Wings (0-2-2).  Below are the listing of the Top Forwards, Defensemen and Goalies we saw this weekend.

Grades are for this tournament and relative to others on the list. Players did well to make this report and each profile will be updated with information/reports over time. Profiles can be viewed by clicking a player’s name.

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