Development Camp, Day 2

I had the chance to go to Kettler Capitals Iceplex this morning to see Development Camp. I missed the first twenty minutes or so of Group A, but I caught the rest and these are some of the notes I'd written in my handy-dandy Qafqaz Universiteti-notepad.

• Zach Miskovic was solid defensively and moved well, but wasn't as adept at moving the puck as some of the other prospects.
• Greg Burke looks a little like John Carlson. 
• Well, his face and the way he wears his helmet, not his play on the ice.
• Dustin Stevenson needs to move the puck faster and better (improve decision making I guess with the puck) but skated pretty well and had a smart day positionally.
• Patrick Wey looks confident with the puck, but was forcing passes a bit (panics without options?).
• Stefan Della Rovere was impressive. Despite being smaller than some of the others, he was all over the place and chased and got the puck quite often.
• The guys on SDR's line all have long names--Hauswirth and de Kastrozza.
• Marcus Johansson could very well be NHL-ready. He was clearly the best player in Group A this morning, and it wasn't even close. His skating, agility, decision-making, skill, patience, and positioning were all on display.
• I was disappointed not to see Dmitry Kugryshev. According to HF boards he can't attend due to visa issues.
• The cycling drills were unimpressive, except from the white and red groups in Group B. The other lines were losing the puck pretty quickly.
• Wade MacLeod showed good vision from the blueline, making easy, smart passes.
• Breaking out of the zone and clearing the defensive zone seemed to be points of emphasis, as three drills focused on them, at least.
• Patrick Cullity was spreading the ice really well, keeping himself open for the pass.
• Andy Miele is small but was noticeable during the drills.
• Felix LeFrancois was shooting slap shots a lot.
• Kristaps Sotnieks had good speed on the rush.
• Trevor Bruess was really being the playmaker today.
• Steve Spinell looked tired pretty quickly, skating almost completely vertically after just a few drills. Either that or he needs more lower body strength.
• Stanislav Galiev was good defensively with regards to position, but needs to be more active with his stick.
• The suicides were the only drills that made Johansson look less than very very good.
• Miskovic was strong in the suicides though; then again, he already has a full North American season under his belt.
• Chris Bond had some nice heads-up play.
• Evgeny Kuznetsov was the Marcus Johansson of the second group, but a little flashier with his skills. He seems to be looking for the pass quite a bit, maybe a little too much.
• Anton Gustafsson was exactly as I expected: big, smooth on his skates, smart, and skilled, but not standing out. He rarely put it all together on a single play, missing that final pass or putting the shot into the glass. His white line, though, was excellent at controlling the puck.
• Samuel Carrier was passing the puck well. Seems like these younger defensemen all make sure they can move it up ice competently.
• Joe Finley isn't just needing improvement in his skating; his decision making is also slow. He was reacting late to plays, especially off the cycle, in development camp. Yeah, the NHL is a stretch at this point.
• Brendan Woods seems like a good grinder. He played unselfishly and was good at creating screens and deflections.
• Andrew Cherniwchan was skating pretty fast.
• Patrick Cullen showed good vision on a line with Kuznetsov.
• Chris Forfar, the other member of that red Group B line, was not very fast and probably the third best member of that line.
• Holtby might not have let in five goals the entire session (not including from those 9-on-0s afterwards). He was a wall and his thinking and reactions were faster than the others'. Well, except on Evgeny Kuznetsov's sweet slap pass across the crease on a 2-on-0.
• Brett Fleming on Braden Holtby = Alexander Semin on Marty Turco.
• Kuznetsov, Cody Eakin, Flemming, and Holtby were all fast in suicides.
• Bohumil Jank and Ian Ruel were solid defensively.

Hopefully I can make it a few more times this week.