TJSweens
Posts: 44891
Joined: 7/16/2007
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It sounds like this year's draft is supposed to be one of the best in a long time. A great year to have multiple first round picks like the Wild (No's 11 & 24). I wonder if Geurin will be able to recoup the 3rd rounder we are missing. Here are the names I am seeing in the most recent mocks at each spot. #11 Yaroslav Askarov, G, SKA-1946 (MHL), 6' 2" / 176 Rare right glove goalie with good size, economy of movements and good concentration. Is said to be the best Russian netminder since Andrei Vasilevski. Very cool an calm, and it sometimes seems as if he takes control on games and wins them with is high end abilities. Actually baits shooter with his positioning; gives them an opening he wants them to target and then takes it away as they fire. A reverse hand goalie, and although is a different look to shooters used to left gloves netminders and right handed paddles, it is not the reason for his high success level. Very economic in his movements, and with the play, and reacts with top reflexes when adjusting. Projects as a goaltender who gets his named called in the first round. Dylan Holloway, LW, Wisconsin, 6' 1" / 192 Six foot 200 pound centre with soft hands and excellent vision. The former AJHL MVP and 2019 Canadian Junior Player of the year help Team Canada win golds in the 2018 Ivan Hlinka Gretsky Cup. Possesses a high level hockey IQ, strong balance, lateral quickness and turning ability. Will need to get a quicker first step, and refine his play in his own end. Very creative pivot who plays to control the mid-ice. Has soft hands and passing ability and a strong wrist shot. Possesses tremendous puckhandling ability and lateral quickness that propel him through the defensive layers. Uses his top gear to drive from possession scrum to the next, and is great on the cycle. Always using his speed as a weapon and as a relentless checker and attacker, he creates space on zone entries. So strong in his stop and starts, but his best attributemay be his lateral quickness, where he turns in tight space and strings one move into a series that causes the opposition to leave their assignments and start running around. Will play both wing and centre as he climbs thec rungs to the bigs. Connor Zary, C, Kamloops (WHL), 6' 0" / 180 Dub centre with character, skill and high compete level. Slick stick handling pivot who sees the plays developing before the have come to fruition. He has excellent offensive instincts. His feet and hands play fast in unison. A one touch passer. Smart playmaker who will link together passing plays with good touch, and skates up closer to his linemates to shorten the length of passes, then flies to an open area to receive a return pass. Draws the opposition out of their areas and his linemates gain scoring areas as a result. Strong 200 foot player. Will gain the leg strength that is missing. Certainly drives the play for his team with his present abilities, and may reach the 100 point plateau this season. #24 Tyson Foerster, F, Barrie (OHL), 6'1" / 194 Big Winger whose strong in puck battles and plays a physical game. Has a good vision, playmaking skills, shot and hands. But he lacks quickness and agility and gets lost in transition because of it. Needs to be quicker in his stop / starts, and like Dustin Penner, needs to improve his feet big time. Shakir Mukhamadullin, D, Tolpar Ufa (MHL) 6' 2.5" / 180 Ultra-involved big defender with a strong skill set, big-time one-timer, and strong hitter. Reads and reacts in all zones. Cool when possessing the puck in his end, he remains calm and makes crisp passes in transirion, steps up in the neutral zone to unearth loose pucks and quickly reverses the flow with his dishes. Displays good feet, uses his tight cuts to win races to the puck. There is much to like about his strong overall game. Emil Andrae, D, HV71 (SHL), 5' 9" / 183 Undersized push the pace defender whose forte is his agility, high end stick handling ability, creativity, and a “riverboat style” of high risk dangles and moves to unravel the opposition defensive plans. Likes the puck on his stick and his skating and high end edgework help him to gain momentum on entires and pucks he gets back after he starts up-ice from him end. His speed will beat the opposition one on one, create open ice, and odd man openings that turn into looks. His size leaves him at a deficit along the wall and in his on crease area. That doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t make contact to make a play. He does use his skating gifts to avoid much of the contact while attacking. Has a nice wrist shot, and makes the transition pass well, his can be surgical when he sees openings on the attack.
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"The eternal fate of the noble and enlightened: to be brutally crushed by the armed and dumb."
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