Though the Flyers started Player Development Camp Sunday night, I wasn't able to get out to get my first in-person look until Monday morning. There were quite a few players that jumped out at me in that first day.
2011 DRAFT CLASS
Only two players from the 2011 Draft Class were brought into camp this year. Nick Cousins and Marcel Noebels. This is Nick Cousins' third time being at prospect camp. I've seen him at least once every time he's been to camp and I've noticed one thing. Nick Cousins is not a training camp player. In his first camp Cousins was so snake bitten he couldn't have kept control of the puck if his stick was covered in Stickum, at least when I saw him. He went out that next season and finished 8th in the OHL in scoring on a bad team. Last year he wasn't overly impressive and followed that camp up by finishing 4th Overall in OHL scoring (likely would have finished 1st if he wasn't suspended for four games towards the end of the season). Today he wasn't bad but he didn't jump out as much as other players. Some players just don't play well in camp. There is not doubt that Cousins has tons of talent and brings a lot of intangibles (he plays a pesky style similar to Brad Marchand) that simply don't show up in camp.
Marcel Noebels is making his first appearance at Flyers prospect camp after getting drafted two years ago. Noebels has always been a strong defensive player and be a great utility player; being able to play Left, Right, and Center. He's developed a bit of a goal scoring touch with the Phantoms and he showed it off a bit in camp. Twice in a drill he was able to cut across the front of the net and back hand the puck above the goalies into the top of the net. It's not an easy shot to make and he made it twice while taking some soft pressure from Flyers coaches.
2012 DRAFT CLASS
Almost every member of the 2012 Draft Class was at prospect camp, the exception being Valeri Vasiliev who is training with his KHL club Spartak in Russia. Some of the 2012ers have made big jumps from last year.
Anthony Stolarz might have made the biggest jump from one year to the next. Stolarz came into last years camp as a big, raw prospect. This year he is much more refined and much stronger positionally. He seems to have a much better idea as how to use his size to his advantage. One of the biggest obstacles in Stolarz development is how well he handles adversity. He was pulled out of both the OHL Championship and Memorial Cup for back up Jake Patterson. Patterson will still be with London next season and Stolarz will like have to fight to get his spot back. But if he continues to develop at the rate he has he will regain his starting spot. Stolarz will be on minor hockey's brightest stages next season as he will like be on the US World Junior Team as well as playing in the Memorial Cup again (London is hosting, so they automatically qualify).
Shayne Gostisbehere has also taken a big step forward. We've been able to follow his development a little closer than most Flyers prospects. Playing with the Gold Medal winning US World Junior team and a strong Union College team he's been on national television quite a few times. Ghost comes in as one of the bigger names in camp and has preformed well in his first day. He stood out offensively amongst his fellow defensemen. His point shot has only gotten stronger and is likely the best in the Flyers organization right now.
Reece Willcox also stood out at me. Willcox was drafted in the fifth round last year and spent this past season at Cornell. Willcox was drafted as a defensive defenseman and he looks to be developing into just that. He looks much beefier than last year, and a lot bigger than the 194lbs he is listed at. There were not many drills that highlighted defensive attributes but when there were Willcox's ability to push other players (all of them big strong defensemen in their own right) was high lighted.
Because of how camp is set up its not easy to get a good look at all players. I barely got a glimpse at other 2012ers Taylor Leier and Fredrik Larsson. I hope to get a better look at them later in the week. I also only got to see Scott Laughton run a few drills. A couple things jumped out at me. First was his fluid skating. His skating never stood out to me before but his crisp, clean, foot movement jumped out at me. Second, he is definitely bigger than he was last year. He is noticeably bigger than he was in January when he spent time with the Flyers. During the Flyers pre-season camp in January Laughton was pushed around, not just by the Flyers big defenseman, but by Ruslan Fedotenko who Laughton was often matched up against. I don't think he will be getting pushed around like that again.
2013 DRAFT CLASS
Every member of the Flyers 2012 draft class was there. I mentioned how I don't think Samuel Morin well develop into a strong NHLer, but I don't think it is fair to judge him at this camp. Most of the drills today were offense oriented. Shooting, passing, skating, things Morin doesn't do well, but also not what he was drafted to do. He did do well in the one more defensive oriented drill where he often squared off against Robert Hagg.
Robert Hagg showed some glimpses of his great offensive potential. It has been said of Hagg that he doesn't do anything bad, but doesn't do any one thing great. That probably kept him out of the first round but will likely keep him in the NHL for many years. He still has time to develop stand out skill, but he may not make many jaws drop in camp.
Merrick Madsen, a goalie who the Flyers took in the 6th Round, really jumped out at me. He already uses his size to his advantage, but he uses it differently then somebody like Stolarz. Stolarz, like a lot of other big goalies, has a taller and tighter stance. He uses his height to intimidate players while relying on his positioning to make saves. Madsen is much different. He has a shorter, wider stance that covers more area side to side. His big 6'4 frame allows him to cover a lot of space and his athletic ability allows him to close up his holes and cover a lot of area. He reminds me a big of Columbus-Era Sergei Bobrovsky; plenty athletic, but using his big frame to take up a lot of space. I've only seen him once, but so far he looks pretty good.
I was especially interested in seeing Terrance Amorosa since, apparently, so few people have seen him (we wasn't even ranked by NHL Central Scouting). He has some very good offensive abilities, but he is not always consistent. One shot may be a rocket, his next may be a flutterer. He seemed to take his misfires hard, looking towards the ceiling when a couple of his shots drifted softly into the goalies logo, so he knows there is still work to be done. But he does have a fair bit of talent and you can see why the team would want to take a flyer on the under scouted player. Hopefully he can develop more an the University of New Hampshire next season.
David Drake reminded me a lot of Samuel Morin (which is great for Drake, but pretty bad for Morin). He doesn't have a strong shot but he can move the puck pretty well. He is really lean but that didn't stop him from pushing around other players that were much heavier than he is. He is headed to the hockey factory known as the University of North Dakota in the fall and I can't wait to see how he develops there.
OTHER PLAYERS
There were other players who have come to the Flyers in various ways that were very impressive.
Petr Straka was probably the most impressive player I saw. I knew Straka liked to shoot, he lead the QMJHL playoffs in shots and shots per game, and finished in the top 5 in the Q in shots per game. But I didn't know how he could shoot. Wow. This guy's shot is on another level. Very quick and very accurate. I was there at prospect camp to see guys like Brayden Schenn, Sean Couturier, and Matt Read shoot and none of them shot consistently as well as Straka. Every time he got a second to shoot it was off the bottom of the cross bar and into the net. When he missed, which wasn't often, he was missing by inches. He doesn't appear to have excellent hands, but if he gets a second to shoot he's shooting to score. The expectations for Straka, a former 2nd round pick, should be through the roof, but luckily for him he is flying a bit under the radar. He will be a big shot to the team and the league whenever he makes it into the line up.
Matt Konan stood out to me last year in camp. He was shooting better than everybody on the ice with the exception of Scott Laughton and was fighting through bigger players. He was standing out again in the same ways this camp. The Flyers run a drill that requires two players to stand players to stand face to face at about the hash marks in front of the goal. A puck is put behind the player closest to the net and player in front of him has to fight through him and get a shot off. Konan dominated in this drill last year and was back to dominating the drill this year. Now he is a force on both the offensive and defensive sides of the drill.
Kyle Flannigan looked good, but since his real talent is in playmaking I don't know if we will get a firm grasp of his abilities at camp. Nick Luukko, son of Comcast President and COO Peter Luukko, plays a lot like Reece Willcox. Big, strong, and defensively sound. Luukko played in all situations with Vermont last season. He may be slow developing, but he may be developing into a solid NHLer.
Fun time at Flyers Player Development Camp today, I can't wait to head back tomorrow!
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