Brian Murphy; Head of US Scouting’s Take: When Colby Saganiuk was taken at #37 in the 2019 OHL Draft by the Erie Otters, it turned some heads as he was…
Prospects
Boston Imperials Sign a Pair to 18U Roster
The Boston Imperials Hockey Academy 18U at Matignon High School signed a pair of players on Tuesday. The Imperials signed 2003-born defenseman Andre Ducharme, who spent last season with the…
USHL Draft Recap
Neutral Zone scouts have put together a USHL Draft recap breaking down a total of 110 picks from each team in both Phase I and Phase II. We provided background and scouting information on each team’s top selection in each draft as well as a good value pick and a sleeper pick. In most cases there were several players to choose from but we tried to spread it out among regions so each territory was represented.
Top 50 MIAA Sophomores We’ve Seen in 2019-20
This is Part 2 of our MIAA series in which we rank each of the classes across all three Divisions of Mass HS this past season. Many of you likely…
Top 30 MIAA Rookies We’ve Seen in 2019-20
For those of you who are familiar with Mass HS Report 1 and Mass HS Report 2 – you will know that over the course of the season, we watched…
Top 50 Uncommitted 1999s Updated
Neutral Zone released its Top 750 1999’s where the first 300 were ranked 1-300 and then the rest were listed in alphabetical order. While only 10 of the top 100…
MAHA Bantam Festival 2004
This evaluation was originally written in July of 2017. We came across it doing some “house cleaning” and loved seeing all of the familiar names with their evaluations. We thought it would be interesting to look back at what our scouts said about them as Bantams.
Jake Bongo
Twenty years ago Jake probably would not have gotten a sniff of NHL attention, but that isn’t the case now. He’s got a high hockey IQ, great wheels, fantastic motor, is an absolute dog on a bone for the puck and is one of the most competitive players I saw in New England last year (2019-20). And by competitive I don’t mean he tries hard. I mean that it’s obvious that losing hurts his sole.
Matty Copponi
Matty was selected 8th overall in the American portion of the draft. Familiar names Timmy Delay went 1st overall, Declan Loughnane went 3rd, Jack Hughes went 6th and JP Turner 13th.
Declan Loughnane
But you know what I really liked seeing? Declan showed he wasn’t a robot. He was involved physically and emotionally. You could see how much winning meant to him. He was invested in the team and it…
Brody Crane
First off, Brody can fly. He’s got quick feet, an extremely powerful stride and is very smooth when transitioning body weight to move laterally. He’s a player who doesn’t slow down when the puck is on his stick and there’s no doubt that he is an…
Nicholas VanTassell
A lot of of big kids who can dominate physically cheat all over the ice. Nicholas does not. He shows a good understanding of cutting the ice in half while on the forecheck, having an active stick to shut down passing or shooting lanes and he forces players at the lines to create off-sides and icings. This stuff might go unnoticed by the toe drag crew, but it is the little details that college and pro coaches notice because they’ll have to spend less time teaching it.
Patrick Geary
Honestly, I like his jam. I like his compete. And I like the fact that he sticks up for his goalie and doesn’t take any crap. I have no idea where he’ll end up this year, but he’s a kid I’ll be looking for.
Devin Kaplan
I’m legitimately excited to watch his development over the next few years. He’s a kid that the U.S.N.T.D.P. can do great things for. Being on the ice every day training with the best kids in the U.S. is going to really ramp up his intensity and attention to detail. It’s going to be great preparation for all of the kids, but I really think the increased intensity is going to make his game take off.
Jack Larrigan
Normally I question pure speed guys and their head for the game, but I don’t question Jack.
Chase Pietila
He’s strong in the corners battling and his ass is his center of gravity… not his head. That’s huge for a big man.
Spencer Sova
He has always put up good numbers, but what makes me really start paying attention is his willingness and ability to defend. He plays stick on puck, but does not…
Gavin Brindley
I thought he was a given for the NTDP, but he may be a player who is better off in the long run by not being on that roster. He’s competitive as hell and I hope he’s using the snub as gas.
Thomas Budnick
Neutral Zone NHL’s comments, April 2020: NHL NZ Scout Ian Moran said “Oh boy do I love this pick….”
Minnesota High School Top 30 Uncommitted Players
Minnesota High School Top 30 Uncommitted Players The State of Hockey has several top College prospects already committed to schools, however there is still plenty of talent to go around….
Names to know: U14 Boston Jr Eagles vs Philadelphia HC
We saw two of the top ranked teams in the 2005 Bantam level square off for the first of 2 games to be played on January 11th. Both teams are very impressive and have multiple players who will be top candidates for the U.S. National Program.
