The NHL side of Neutral Zone had one scout attend the the Belmont Hill Jamboree on Friday November 21st and Saturday November 22, 2021. All of the teams played two games which featured three 15 minute periods with 2 minute penalties. Each of these schools have a number of other draft eligible players on their rosters. They were either out of the line up or did not show enough to warrant write-up. We will review these players in future viewings and report on their progress.
| Hank Cleaves | Brunswick School | NE Prep | L | LW | 6’4″ | 181 | Uncomm. | Riverside, CT | 2003 | 2021-2022: C+ |
Right now Hank Cleaves is a player who probably isn’t getting much love or attention. We fully believe that is going to change drastically over the next few weeks. As soon as he steps on the ice for warm-ups our eyes were drawn to him. He has a long stride, a really easy glide and quite frankly he seemed to be going twice as fast as anyone else on the ice. Once the game started Cleaves used his easy stride to change pace manipulating the gaps into his favor for easy zone entry. He played with his eyes up looking to move the puck quickly and then working to be an option after making the pass. We have seen Cleaves play in the past where he looked content to be a perimeter player, but at the Jamboree he moved his to drive the puck wide and then to get to the far post. He also was very confident when carrying the puck into traffic and cutting through the royal road. We feel he attacked the scoring area and wanted to be a difference maker. Defensively he worked hard to be the F1 while backchecking and he used his reach to force poor decisions. Cleaves still is gaining strength and power, but we noticed more leg drive through contact and he had no issues pinning his man to wall when ending the cycle. He handled passes cleanly on his backhand and showed that he had the edgework to make a hard cut just after receiving a pass which allowed him to create open passing or skating lanes.
| James Fisher | Belmont Hill | NE Prep | R | F | 6’2″ | 195 | Northeastern | 2023 | Wilmington, MA | 2004 | 2021-2022: C+ |
The big righty is starting to find consistency in his mentality as a powerful player. We saw him play hard competitive hockey for most of the Fall and we saw more of it in the Jamboree. On the forecheck he was a very effective F1 as he used his speed to cut the ice in half to contain the opposing defender in the corner and then separate the man from the puck. After contact he beat his man to open ice with or without the puck. He had a number of grade “A’ scoring opportunities, but the thing we liked most was his ability to get open in the soft area of the slot and fire one-timers that hit the net. We liked how he moved the puck quickly in transition and then moved his feet to continue impacting the play. He read opposing defender’s gaps well on zone entries and did not force foolish dangles or risk turnovers in the grey area (Except once in the closing minutes of a 6-0 win versus Proctor). Fisher will continue to have NHL eyes on him before, during and after every Belmont Hill game for the rest of the season.
| Michael Fisher | St. Mark’s School | NE Prep | R | D | 6’3″ | 196 | Princeton | 2022 | Westborough, MA | 2004 | 2021-2022: C+ |
Michael Fisher is as powerful a player you will find in New England prep hockey. He has such a deep knee bend and strong core that on almost every shift opponents bounced off of him. He played with an edge and there is little doubt that he took the numbers of opponents who tried to knock him off of his game. His stride is long, powerful and fluid. He has very nice edge control and showed the ability to reverse escape with acceleration when a forechecker was in his face. Fisher has always had a very hard shot, but we noticed a quicker release on his snap shot and as such scored a very nice goal after receiving a royal road pass along the offensive blueline. Defensively Fisher contained the cycle to the corner and then accelerated through contact to generate loose pucks to start transition. Offensively there were times when he tried to do too much with the puck on his stick, but we would much rather have a 6’3″ righty with his skating ability trying to do too much rather than sitting back waiting for something good is going to happen. Fisher is a competitive player who expects to make things happen every shift and will continue to have NHL scouts at his games.
| Matthew Biotti | Belmont Hill | NE Prep | R | D | 6’4″ | 181 | Harvard | 2024 | Cambridge, MA | 2004 | 2021-2022: C |
Biotti is an incredibly long lanky right shot defender who is still growing into himself and improving every game. On Friday night Biotti was jumping into the play and looking to lead the rush whenever possible. He was consistently up the ice and often times was playing at the same speed and depth as his Belmont Hill forwards on zone entries. He was a regular one-timer option in the high slot and he looked to push the pace whenever possible. On Saturday Biotti played a little differently, but still had an impact on the offensive side of the puck. In transition he worked to be back diagonal support for his partner which opened up passing lanes for all of his linemates. On line rushes he provided a steady second wave to the attack adding depth for his teammates and confusion for his opponents. His passes were hard flat hitting his forwards in stride and at the appropriate time. On both days he defended with his body and did an nice job of clearing the shooting lanes. He ended the cycle quickly and pinned his man to the wall without getting holding penalties or drawing unneeded attention to himself. We also saw him fire two bullet one-timers off of poor passes where he had to athletically adjust his feet while he was in motion. The 6’4″ Harvard commit will be watched all winter.
| Coulter Taylor | Upper Canada College | CISAA | L | G | 6’4″ | 152 | Uncomm. | Oro, ON | 2003 | Long Term Player Watch |
We only saw Taylor play on Friday night versus Belmont Hill and he was spectacular. Honestly the score was 6-0, but he probably had 45 saves and some of them were incredibly athletic and jaw dropping. He is a tall lanky athletic goaltender who showed quick reflexes and high level anticipation all game. Two of the first three goals against him came off of Belmont Hill point shots that were deflected or changed direction twice on the way to the net before heading directly into the goal. Yes twice, so there’s not really anything he could about those. The third goal came from a point shot that hit shinpads on the way to the net, bounced to the stick of a very fortunate Belmont Hill forward who passed to a wide open Belmont Hill defenseman who was standing at the face-off dot for an open net one-timer. Again not too much Taylor could have done about that one. All in all he gave up six goals, but if you were there you would have no doubt that Belmont Hill could have scored twice that many if Taylor was not in the net. He was exceptionally quick laterally showing great game awareness and anticipation. He controlled his rebounds and did a very nice job of deflecting them out of play when Belmont Hill was buzzing. We are not sure when we will see him play again, but we know we will be looking for him.
| James McGregor | Upper Canada College | CISAA | R | D | 6’2″ | 194 | Uncomm. | North York, ON | 2004 | Long Term Player Watch |
McGregor is big raw right shot defender with some mean in him. He did not go out of his way to take runs at anyone, but he certainly played with aggression and wanted everyone to know that he had a stick in his hands. He was confident playing on either the left or right side and we liked how he opened up his hips while his off side so he could make hard passes to the wide guy in neutral zone controlled breakouts. His coaches confidently used him in all situations and he looked to be the defenseman they leaned on the most while being shorthanded. While killing he showed a willingness to block shots and he had an active stick. We liked that when he had an opportunity to clear the puck he always fired a 200′ clear. On the power play he moved the puck quickly from the top of the umbrella. He did not over handle it trying to look cute, rather zipping passes to his teammates or firing hard one-timers that hit the net. McGregor does not project as a high end offensive defenseman, but he did rush the puck multiple times and he looked very comfortable coming down the off wing, faking to his backhand and then cutting to the middle to release a hard slap shot. We do not feel McGregor will get drafted, but 6’2″ righties with an edge are nice to have and we will continue watching his development.
| Mack McGregor | Upper Canada College | CISAA | R | F | 6’1″ | 185 | Uncomm. | Toronto, ON | 2004 | Long Term Player Watch |
This kid was a heat seeking missile. He forechecked like his ride home to UCC depended on it and when he got to the puck he was doing everything he could to put the opposing player through the boards. Mack McGregor was not there to make friends on Instagram. He was playing to get noticed and man did he ever. He was the only forward we saw in the jamboree who literally made opposing defensemen bail on going back for dump-ins. You can call it self preservation. You can call it hearing footsteps. You can call it whatever you want, but we’re going to call it good hard forechecking that scared the tar out of opposing defenders which led to him winning loose pucks battles and making an impact on the games. McGregor is another big raw player from UCC who has nothing but upside in his corner. He has a fluid stride and generates power while crossing over through a quality push through his toe cap. Offensively he is not someone who is going to make you miss, but he will lower his shoulder to get to the far post. He protected the puck well wile cycling by using his body and hips to maintain a position of power. We do not feel McGregor will be drafted, but we do feel with his attitude and another few years of development we could be seeing an entirely different player when he’s 20 years old.
| John Burdett | Brunswick School | NE Prep | R | D | 6’7″ | 220 | Uncomm. | Greenwich, CT | 2003 | Long Term Player Watch |
Burdette is on this list simply because he’s a 6’7″ 220 pound right shot defender and we feel his footwork improves every time we see him play. Defensively he was constantly in the way and getting his feet or stick blade on everything. At this point he is still gaining body control and coordination, but we liked how he kept his hips low through pivots and used a heel to heel push to generate power while defending. He is not a banger. However Burdett did play the body showing enough body awareness to lower his center of gravity and drive his legs through contact. Offensively he kept it simple and stayed out of trouble. He made his life easy by using shoulder checks to see where his outlets were and he went with his first option. He is some work to do before turning into an NHL prospect, but at his size scouts will be drawn to watching his feet, how well he controls passes and how angry he can be on a consistent basis.
Photo Credit: Belmont Hill School