Anthony Tabak (4 Star Amateur Rating, NHL Grade — C) Forward
OHL – Barrie Colts NHL Prospects vs Erie Otters, March 2020: Anthony is a massive kid (6’4″ 216lbs) who was effective tonight. He fought through contact and traffic to get to the scoring areas and was a very good net front presence. In defensive situations he showed very good awareness and anticipation by getting his stick on a number of cross zone passes and he maintained shooting lanes at all times. It looks like his skating and stride are starting to catch up to his body as he showed separation speed while driving wide on line rushes and he was a consistent winner of 50-50 pucks on dump-ins. He showed some elusiveness on a 1 on 1 and made a lunging defender miss. There is a ton to like about the late 2001’s upside.
OHL – Barrie Colts NHL Prospcts vs Sudbury Wolves, February 2020: Anthony was very noticeable while killing penalties. He was quick on bobbled pucks and had a very active stick that created turnovers. For a big young man his feet looked nimble and quick. He showed good acceleration in transition and drove the net hard on line rushes. At his size we would like to see him finish his checks with more authority because we feel it would lead to offensive time and space later in the game. Game Grade: C+
OHL – Sarnia at Peterborough NHL Prospects, October 2019: Anthony is a big strong winger who is a late 2001 birth year and therefore playing in his third season in the Ontario Hockey League. His first 2 seasons he was not counted on nor expected to be a big offensive producer and that is certainly not his role. However, expect his offense to greatly improve this season as he is being used among the top 6 forwards on this year’s Sarnia team. His skating is much improved since we saw him last in his minor midget year. He has a long powerful stride, and his movement on his edges has become really defined. Off of the rush without the puck Anthony uses his size to his advantage with a strong net drive to force defense to back off with him and distract the goal tender. In fact he had assists on the first 2 Sarnia goals on this night, which was their margin of victory. He is also a presence in the slot whenever his blue liners have the puck and is a good screen for their shooting. He was used on the penalty kill as well and was a second unit power play forward for them playing the right wall. We feel that Anthony needs to use his size and intimidation factor more to be a stronger presence. He is never going to be a top professional scorer and as such he is going to have to use his size and strength to be his biggest asset. At present we do not see enough of this in his game. Should he develop an edge and put some physicality into his game there will be a lot of pro interest and we would not be surprised to see him climb his way onto the watch list rankings. Game Grade B+
OHL Draft Top 300 Ontario Rankings, March 2017: Anthony was ranked #59 with a 4 Star Amateur Rating.
Toronto Marlies Holiday Tournament, January 2017: Neutral Zone Scout #1 – Tabak is a tall, lanky left winger with a soft pair of hands. He is quick on the puck as F1 but needs to make sure he is on the right side of the puck as F2. He is good positionally in his own zone and makes good second passes out of his own zone with his head up. He shows a good skill set using his skates to take passes and making good passes to create scoring opportunities in a 2-on-1 situation.
Toronto Marlies Holiday Tournament, January 2017: Neutral Scout #2 – Big, imposing power forward that is a decent skater and has soft hands. He was good on the forecheck but wasn’t overly physical. He was responsible with the puck in all 3 zones and is strong on his skates and on his stick. He does a nice job coming out of the corners with the puck and is tough to defend below the dots.