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Scouting Reports

Lawrence-Groton Holiday Tournament: Top 57

Articles, Feature Story, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Neutral Zone attended the Lawrence/Groton tournament on Thursday and Friday December 15-16th. The tournament was cut short due to the snow on Saturday, however, our scouts wer able to see each team play at least once.

There were eight teams in the tournament. Included are the records of each teams after 3 games played: (Culver 3-0, Cushing 0-3, Holderness 1-2, Lawrence 2-1, Dexter 2-1, Pomfret 2-1, Groton 1-2 and Proctor 1-2). Below is a listing of the top forwards and defensemen on the weekend.

Santeri Hartikainen (Groton, 6’1/185, 1/5/99) – Long, powerful skating forward who doesn’t have breakaway speed but has hockey sense and great touch. Plays a very controlled game and uses his long body and reach to protect the puck from defenders. Doesn’t hesitate to shoot the puck and has an above average snap shot. Thinks the game well and is always looking to create offense. Have seen him take shifts off in the past, however this weekend his compete level was high. Plays with an edge and although he does not go out of his way to be physical, he doesn’t shy away from contact. He was listed on NHL Central Scouting as a C rated prospect but will likely need to improve his quickness and speed before he gets serious attention from the NHL brass.  Grade: A

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EHL Simsbury Showcase: Top 63

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Neutral Zone headed to Simsbury, CT for the EHL Showcase in mid December, 2016. We did not see the entire event. We were able to watch almost every team at least once and about half the games overall. We did not evaluate the Boston Bandits or Hartford Wolfpack. Below are the players we noticed. Players’ grades are for this showcase only and relative to others on this report.

In our previous report from the Cyclones’ Showcase, we evaluated 125 players. Considering here in CT, we saw about half the number of games we did at the NH showcase, 63 players is about right. We will continue to evaluate the EHL this season and post reports. Players’ profiles can be seen by clicking on their names. All scouting reports on those players will be linked to their profiles. Thirteen players below are new additions to our player profiles.

Adam Papayoanou #9 (F, Jr. Flyers, 5’10”, 170lbs, 1996)-Adam was excellent here. The 1996 is a water bug type that was previously with the Nighthawks. We noted back at the Cyclone showcase that he was fast but had some trouble accessing his skills at full speed. Here, he was better. He made plays with speed and showed very good stick skills. He scored on a nice deak at full speed on a breakaway. The puck seemed to find him and size did not limit. Grade: A

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T1EHL U15 Showcase: Top 28

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Neutral Zone headed to catch some Tier 1 U15 action December 9-11, 2016. As is the case with many U15 games, there was a wide range of talent and quality of teams. The games ran the gamut from a great battle between Buffalo and the Avs to some really bad “running time” affairs. The players below stood out and grades are relative to others on this report. Almost every player listed is a new addition to our player profiles. Click on players’ names to view their profiles.

Adam Varga (Washington, 5-1-6) Adam has dynamite acceleration good hands and can flat out shoot. He plays a lot like a European though he is from the states. A pure natural sniper, he is great in tight can shoot off forehand and backhand. He does not distribute a lot off the rush, he is a pure shooter. In the zone he likes to carry around the net at speed to look for openings. Grade: A

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Brooks/Pingree Holiday Tournament; Top 25

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

On December 16 and 18, 2016 we were able to catch games across both Divisions and put together a list of the tournament players who we felt showed best. For scouts and hockey professionals please keep in mind that our rankings are in order as we saw fit, but not numbered because we feel their letter grade was more important than their numerical grade. Most importantly, the letter grade is NOT a reflection of the player’s overall ability or upside; it is simply based on how that player performed at this particular tournament.

Editor’s note: due to inclement weather we were not able to secure viewings of Pingree and Hebron on Saturday. In addition, we noticed that four rostered players did not see game action for New Hampton, hence why they have not been included in the listing below.

00 F Michael Kane (L, 6′, 185, New Hampton #9) was an offensive threat the same way he showed in midget hockey down in CT. Uses his big frame to guard the puck and punish anyone in his way. Throws hits on nearly every shift and finds ways to take the puck away along the boards as a result. It took him a few prep games to really get in rhythm but he is firing on all cylinders now. His wrist shot is dangerous if you don’t close down his space: ripped one off the left post from the RW. Willing to take a hit to make a play in the offensive zone because his frame can absorb it. Grade: A-

 

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Shattuck St. Mary’s Prep Showcase: Top 25

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

The December Shattuck St. Mary’s Prep Showcase was filled with a lot of top players that are competing at the U18 Tier 1 Level. The games were fast and physical throughout the weekend and didn’t disappoint.  There were many players here that will be fixtures in the next couple seasons in Junior hockey and at the Division 1 Collegiate level in the near future.

Nathan Clurman (D) (R, 6-2/190, CULVER, 98) – A great frame with good strength and athleticism.  He can skate and cover a lot of ice.  Was a danger offensively as he can bring it from the point.  Tough to play against defensively with his size and skating ability.  Had an impact on every game.  Was a 6th Round NHL selection in last year’s draft by the Colorado Avalanche.  (NOTRE DAME)  Grade: A

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Avon Old Farms Christmas Classic: Top 60

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Avon Old Farms held its 43rd annual Christmas Classic from December 15-17, 2016. Neutral Zone headed down to check in on what is always an excellent tournament full of quality prep teams and players. Each school played one game the first day, two games the second day and Saturday was the championships.

Avon edged Loomis for their second straight title in a matchup of what we thought were the two best teams here.

Below is a list of the top 60 players that we evaluated during the weekend. We saw each team at least twice. Grades are for this weekend and in relation to others on this report. Ten players are new additions to our prospect profiles

Trevor Zegras #11 (So. F, 5’11”, 160lbs, Avon Old Farms)-Trevor only added a couple of points here but his ability was obvious. The 2001 was the best prospect in the tournament. His skating is as elite as it gets at any level and for any age. He is very fast and seemed to jump on pucks or to space twice as fast as others. His edges and balance are superb and his skating style allows him to see the ice at an elite level. He can access all his stick skills at full speed. The BU commit worked hard, stuck his nose in on the wall and in front of the net. He created and facilitated. Trevor was excellent and his effort was superb. College: Boston University.    Grade: A

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Chatham vs. Leamington: GOJHL

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Information is based on the game between Chatham and Leamington on December 15th, 2016 in Leamington.  Chatham won the game 2-1 in overtime. Grades are for this game only. Several players are new additions to our player profiles.

Lucas Patton # 31 (Catches Left, 6-1/185, 1999)-Patton stopped 24 of 25 shots and was steady in net as usual. He had no chance on the goal that was scored and made quite a few big saves in the first and second to give his team a chance when they were flat.  He was out of his net quickly to play the puck but needs to work on his shot and make quicker decisions with the puck.  He tracked the puck well and controlled his rebounds well giving Leamington few chances for second chance goals.  His angles were off a bit in the second period coming down on his glove side as Leamington rang two off the post to his blocker side.  Grade: B+

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Top 600 NCAA Eligible Prospects Born in 1997

Articles, Commits, Education/Analytics, Feature Story, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Neutral Zone is pleased to announce our Top 600 list for 1997 born NCAA Eligible prospects throughout North America. Each player on this list has been evaluated by regional scouts in their area and also cross referenced by other scouts on staff as well as the Director of Scouting. The players are evaluated from August-December and given a star rating. The Top 600 players are selected from a pool of over 1,000 NCAA prospects in a grueling process and evaluated against one another to come up with a 1-600 list. The star ratings are more indicative of future success than the difference between #205 and #250, but the rankings are used in the calculus of the NCAA Recruiting Class Rankings.

As part of our mission statement to use analytics to educate coaches, scouts, players and parents we have broken down our Top 600 rankings and provided viewers with several interesting statistics.

League Breakdown

League # of Players %
NAHL 139 23.2%
USHL 129 21.5%
BCHL 104 17.3%
AJHL 63 10.5%
OJHL 46 7.6%
CCHL 29 4.8%
USPHL 29 4.8%
SJHL 21 3.5%
MJHL 14 2.3%
GOJHL 11 1.8%
Other 6 1.0%
NE Prep 5 0.8%
EHL 4 0.6%

The purpose of showing the league breakdown is not to rank the strengh of the leagues, rather to show where these 600 players are coming from. With that being said we see that the double digit percentages are in the four top junior leagues in North America. Keep in mind that some leagues above only have 12 teams in them while other leagues have over 20 so it is not fair to say for example that the OJHL is a better league than the CCHL because it has 17 more players on the list because it has nearly double the amount of teams.

Position Breakdown

Position # of Players %
Forwards 369 61.5%
Defense 180 30.0%
Goalies 51 8.5%

Here we breakdown the 600 players on the list by position. Our list is consistent with the 60/30/10 percentage breakdown between forwards, defense and goaltenders on most NCAA teams.

Commitments

Status # of Players %
D1 Committed 177 29.5%
Uncommitted 423 70.5%

In look at the 1997 list we see that nearly 1/3 of the players are already committed to D1 programs. Some of these players have signed their letter of intent and are expected to matriculate next fall, others will play another year of junior hockey.

Top 600 Star Ratings

Rating # of Players %
4.75 1 0.2%
4.5 4 0.7%
4.25 6 1.0%
4 18 3.0%
3.75 87 14.5%
3.5 143 23.8%
3.25 111 18.5%
3 123 20.5%
2.75 107 17.8%

The Top 600 ranges in star ratings from 4.75-2.75. This chart looks at all 600 prospects and what star rating they have. The first thing that jumps out is how 4.0-4.75 star players only make up 5% of the total list. Then the list goes up to 14.5% for 3.75 star prospects and up again to 23.8% for 3.5 star prospects. The reason there are so few 4.0 stars is the mainly the age factor. Top prospects are typically playing college hockey at 18 or 19 so there are not a ton of 4 stars left in junior hockey at the older ages. Keep in mind Connor McDavid is a 1997 birth year…

NZ Historical Star Rating Breakdown

Rating D1 % D3 % CIS/Other %
5.0 100 0 0
4.75 100 0 0
4.5 100 0 0
4.25 100 0 0
4.0 98.8 0 1.2
3.75 97.7 0 2.3
3.5 95.5 0.4 4.1
3.25 13.3 74.4 12.3
3.0 4.5 85.6 9.9
2.75 0 96.7 3.3
2.5 0 97.4 2.6
2.25 0 91.2 8.8
2.0 0 67.8 22.2

This chart tracks the 2015-2016 Star Rating’s for 1998-1995’s. As you can see 3.5 star prospects and above have over 97% chance of playing D1 college hockey. This chart is made to give context to the star ratings in the Top 600. There are reasons for CIS/Other as some players we ranked last year had played CHL and were not NCAA eligible. We have now taken them out of the National Rankings to reduce that number. Also, with the US/CAN dollar exchange rate some of the Canadian prospects will not be able to afford D3 institutions. In the US, particularly in the midwest, some players simply stop playing or go the club route if they are not offered at a Division 1 school.

Top 600 NCAA Eligible 1997 Born Prospects in North America

Rank               Name               Team    Pos         Commit   Star
   1         Nick Swaney         Waterloo (USHL)      F     Minnesota Duluth 4.75
   2         Jordan Kawaguchi         Chilliwack (BCHL)      F      North Dakota 4.5
   3         Christian Evers         Lincoln (USHL)      D      North Dakota 4.5
   4         Blake Lizotte         Fargo (USHL)      F      St. Cloud 4.5
   5         Philip Nyberg         Madison (USHL)      D         UConn 4.5

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U16 Tier 1 Elite Showcase (NJ): Top 75

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Tier One Elite League U16 Showcase

Some of the best young players and teams in U16 hockey came to Hackensack, NJ for the Tier 1 Elite League U16 showcase.. We have ranked the top 75 performers here this weekend. This is in no way a ranking of these players overall ability, rather a snapshot of how these players performed at this particular event.

Tag Bertuzzi (L 6.00 192 01 Oakland) 1-2-3 in only 2 GP-He sat the first two games suspended. Tag has pro written all over him. He can take over whenever he has the puck it seems. The 2001 likes to wind up in his own end and take off. He has neat hands and a great inside move. We would have liked to see him go outside more and use the reach and leverage. He is good working off his forehand and backhand can make a nice back hand saucer pass. He is, however, definitely a shooter first and passer second. The numbers are not big but he stood out in a major way.  Grade: A

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U16 HPHL Border Battle: Top 40

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

The U16 Border Battle in Sarnia, ONT was filled with a lot of ‘A’ prospects. There was some excellent talent that should go high in the USHL and OHL Drafts next spring.  Ontario brought some highly ranked U15 teams to the tournament to compete against some very strong U.S. U16 teams.  There was no shortage of scouts at this event, as it was a rare chance to see some of the best Canadian teams match up against the Americans.

Players listed below are the ones Neutral Zone evaluated the highest. Grades are for this event only and in relation to others on this report.

Jack Hughes (L, 5-9/151, Toronto Marlboros, ‘01-Forward) – Is about dynamic as they come in his age group.  Has big time skill and can control the game with the puck on his stick.  Found the open man and set his line mates up.  He has great hockey sense and is shifty.  He understands the game well and has great poise with the puck.   Younger brother of Quinn Hughes of the U18 USNTDP.   In contention for the #1 pick in the OHL Draft, but is also a duel citizen and can chose the USNTDP/College route.  No matter where he decides to play next year, he will be very successful. Grade: A+

Antonio Stranges (L, 5-9/150, Little Caesars, ‘02-Forward) – Getting better as the year goes along and he plays against older players.  Great feet and ability to skate.  Has the skill and playmaking ability to go along with it. (MICHIGAN)  Grade: A

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USPHL Premier: Boston Jr. Bruins vs South Shore Kings

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

Neutral Zone made the drive down to the Foxboro Sports Center for an afternoon tilt between the Kings and Bruins. Both teams are in the top four in the league standings.

The game didn’t feature a lot of great scoring chances. Both goalies played well and limited second chances. Each team only took two penalties. The Bruins took a 1-0 lead 5 minutes into the second when Dallas Farrell made a nice pass to Van Ness on a 2 on 1. The next tally would be in the third when the Kings pulled their goalie creating a 6-4 advantage. Max Suave buried a Kevin Hock rebound. In the 3 on 3 OT frame, Jack Quinlivan made a nice move to his backhand to beat a defender and bury the game winner.

Below are players we noted in this game. Grades are for this game only and in relation to others on this report.

Elijah Harris #30 (Bruins, G, 5’8”, 150lbs, 1997)-Elijah was near flawless with the only goal against a rebound on 6-4. He moved well and was aggressive to the shooters. He didn’t leave much in the way of rebounds and looked to have an easy afternoon in securing the win. College: Brown. A

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GOJHL Scouting Report: St. Mary’s Lincolns

Articles, Game/Tournament Reviews, Prospects, Scouting Reports

GOJHL Scouting Report: St. Mary’s Lincolns

Information is based on St. Mary’s November 27th,  game in Chatham against the Maroons.  Chatham won the game the game 5-2. Grades are for this game only and in relation to others noted here. All the players listed are new to our Neutral Zone player profiles.

Justin Vandendool #9 (Right, 6’2/175, 1999)-Vandendool is in his first season with St. Mary’s. He played last season for the London Jr. Knights Major Midget AAA team. He is an average skater with a long stride and has good puck handling skills through the neutral zone. He needs more intensity on the forecheck. Grade: B+

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