Lucas Mercuri (4.5 Star Amateur Rating, NHL Grade — C+) Forward
Mercuri is a big strong forward with a brain. He finds the quiet areas off of the cycle very naturally. On line rushes he reads the defensmen’s gaps very well and will not force plays, but instead takes what is given and makes the opposition pay. His cannon of a shot is accurate and he can fire it through screens while his feet are moving. At this point he is almost too strong physically for NE Prep competition and appears ready for Junior Hockey. Here are snip-its of some of our past reports on Lucas; August 2017 “Has good quickness, tall, athletic, smooth skater. He had a nice breakaway attempt showed separational speed. Lucas rushes the puck end to end often and that led to good zone entries. He also attacked the net very well from below the goal line. Made an excellent play on a 2v1 where he attacked with speed, shot with purpose to create a rebound that ended up with a goal. High ceiling prospect.“.. September of 2018 “a Quebec native who will be coming down to play for Salisbury this coming season. He played a strong power forward game for Yale using a pro-ready frame of 6’2 183. He uses his big body to defend the puck and he was quite strong on his stick in possession along the boards and in open ice. He has long strides and a strong push off which allows him an ability to create separation. It doesn’t take him long to convert a turnover into offense, especially from the neutral zone as he anticipates the play and only needs a few steps to be at top speed. He should be a great addition to Coach Will’s team down in CT. Committed to Vermont just days after the tournament. Grade: B+ College: Vermont … from a November 2019 report “Mercuri is a towering prep forward who also would have fit in nicely playing in the USHL games going on a few miles north. He started off his prep hockey career with a massive first campaign which he will likely build on this season with an even more dominant performance and that pretty much tells the story of what he did during this showcase: dominate. He was too big and too strong for the opposition to handle at this level: they simply were whacking away at his legs trying to get to the puck but simply couldn’t do it. He was incredibly strong both in front of the net and along the walls. Unsurprisingly he was able to put a ton of force behind his shot using all of his mass which made him even more dangerous. He also was smart at the net front not just parking himself there but knowing when to attack and when to pull back looking for more options. He will be an absolute menace to defend at the prep level this season as one of the elder skatesmen. Grade: A-, College: Vermont” .. Mercuri has the ability to score and we feel he may average a goal per game this winter for Salisbury.