Welcome to Today’s edition of “Top Shelf Prospects”. As we go through the Summer of 2013 I will be featuring a team-by-team look at the top prospects in the NHL. I will go team by team through the NHL bringing you a look at each Teams Top Prospects. I will be following the order of the first round of the NHL draft (as if there were no traded draft picks). You can find all the articles here. Since we had an extensive NHL Draft preview, I will not be reviewing the players who were drafted in the 2013 draft, as there have been no games since then, and my reports on them will not have changed. What I will be doing is linking you to those articles, as well as taking a look at prospects that were acquired before this year’s draft; their progress, and their chances of making the 2013-14 roster of the NHL team in question. I will also bring you one sleeper pick – a player who was either drafted in the 4th-round or later, or was an undrafted free agent signing who I pick as my darkhorse to make the NHL. For those wondering, the cut-off for what is or isn’t a prospect is typically about 50 NHL games played or being 25 years old. These are not hard or fast rules though, and I may make some exceptions depending on the circumstances (especially due to the fact that the latest NHL season was only 48 games).
The Pittsburgh Penguins went all in at the NHL trade deadline, acquiring Brenden Morrow, Douglas Murray and Jarome Iginla; adding them to a club that was already considered one of a small number of Stanley Cup favourites. They’d go into the playoffs and dispose of the New York Islanders in a tough first round series that saw Marc-Andre Fleury lose the net to Tomas Vokoun. A quick second round victory over the Ottawa Senators seemed to put things back on track and the Penguins appeared to be rolling. However things didn’t quite work out as the team was upset in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Boston Bruins. However with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, James Neal, Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis, and Rob Scuderi all locked in for a minimum of the next four seasons, the Penguins core is locked up long term and they should expect to be among the Cup contenders year in and year out for quite some time.
2013 Draft Picks Reviewed by LWOS: Tristan Jarry
Graduated: Simon Despres
Top Prospect, Derrick Pouliot, Defence
Born Jan 16 1994 — Weyburn, SASK
Height 6.00 — Weight 181 — Shoots Left
Drafted in the first round, #8 Overall of the 2012 NHL Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins
Derrick was taken 8th overall by the Penguins last year with a pick acquired when Pittsburgh traded Jordan Staal to the Carolina Hurricanes. If the pressure of the expectations of being a high draft pick acquired in a trade for a young NHL all-star affected Pouliot he certainly didn’t show it on the ice. A huge part of the Portland Winterhawks defence, he helped the team to a WHL Championship and an appearance in the Memorial Cup final. Along the way he scored 72 points in 70 games for Portland (regular season, playoffs and Memorial Cup). Unfortunately for Pouliot, the Winterhawks would lose the final to the Halifax Mooseheads.
Pouliot is a skilled offensive defenceman. He has excellent skating as he is very fast in both directions and has great acceleration. He also has excellent balance and agility. Pouliot uses his edges extremely well and has good pivots. He is able to change directions quickly. The outstanding mobility is Pouliot’s best asset and helps him in all aspects of the game, whether it be creating offense off the rush, walking the line in the offensive zone and opening up shooting and passing lanes on the powerplay or by helping him to contain opponents defensively.
Pouliot is very skilled with the puck on his stick, able to carry and control it efficiently and is a good stickhandler capable of making deceptive moves around opponents. He makes tape to tape passes both in starting the breakout and in setting up his Winterhawks teammates with excellent chances in the offensive zone. Pouliot’s shot doesn’t have the power of some other top offensive defence prospects but he makes up for that with a lightning quick release on his wrist shot and deadly accuracy. He’s able to keep his slap shot low and get it on net, which is essential for any power play quarterback as it creates good opportunities for teammates to tip in shots or pounce on rebounds.
Pouliot however is very much a work in progress in the defensive end of the ice. As mentioned before his quick skating and good first pass are definite assets as he can effectively start the transition game. However Pouliot needs to add some serious muscle to his frame and gain strength before he reaches the next level. He is often overpowered by bigger, stronger opponents. Pouliot’s defensive positioning also needs some serious work. He often makes errors in coverage and misses his assignments leading to quality scoring chances against. He has improved over the last year, but there is still some work for him to do going forward.
Pouliot is still a solid prospect, especially with the emphasis on puck moving, mobile defencemen in the NHL today. We think he may need some time, and expect to see him back in Portland this year. Pouliot will also get the opportunity to try out for Canada’s National Junior team this winter. He’s an outstanding prospect who can become a top pairing defenceman if he can improve defensively. Those types of skills can be developed especially for a player with the skating and offensive mind which Pouliot possesses.
Top Prospect #2; Olli Maatta, Defence
Born Aug 22 1994 — Jyvaskyla, Finland
Height 6.02 — Weight 198 — Shoots Left
Drafted in the first round, 22nd Overall of the 2012 NHL Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins
In 2011-12, Maatta came to the London Knights with high expectations based on being the first overall selection in the CHL import draft. He has lived up to the hype. Over the last two years Maatta has shown to be a solid minute eating defencemen for the back to back OHL Champions. A versatile two way player, Maatta has greatly contributed to the ongoing success in London with his ability to contribute in any situation and log heavy minutes. It was enough to get the attention of the Penguins who made him a first round pick in the 2012 NHL Draft.
Maatta possesses good size and excellent defensive instincts. He is adept at reading the play and has excellent positioning in the defensive zone. Maatta is not a big hitter, but he is very good at using his size to take opposing forwards out of the play and separate them from the puck. Maatta is a good shot blocker, and anticipates well to cut off passes. Maatta has been a key penalty killer for the Knights over his two years with the team.
Maatta is also capable of adding some offensive skill from the blue line. He is a decent puck mover who starts the rush with a hard and accurate first pass. He’s a decent PP point man who is poised with the puck and has a hard and accurate shot. Going forward I believe that he can be an effective 2nd unit PP player at the next level, but he does not have the elite offensive potential to displace a guy like Kris Letang or fellow prospect Pouliot, who should man the first unit for years to come in Pittsburgh.
Maatta could use some work on his skating. His stride is a bit unconventional and this sometimes leads to a lack of explosiveness in his acceleration. He can also sometimes be beaten to the outside by extremely quick forwards. However he has improved upon this since coming to North America and his edgework, agility and balance are all strong.
In addition to playing for London, Maatta also has a wealth of international experience appearing for Finland in both the IIHF World Junior Championships and at the Under-18 World Championships. Expect to see him back in London in 2013-14 and with the Knights hosting the Memorial Cup this year, he will hope it is a “third time’s the charm” in attempting to win the tournament.
Super Sleeper Prospect, Eric Hartzell, Goalie
Born May 28 1989 — White Bear Lake, MN
Height 6.04 — Weight 188 — Shoots Left — Catches Left
Signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Penguins, 2013
The top goalie in this year’s undrafted college free agent class, Hartzell choose to sign with the Penguins after finishing his season with Quinnipac. Hartzell won ECAC Goalie of the year, was a first team All-American and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker as NCAA player of the year. Cleary the MVP for Quinnipac, Hartzell led the Bobcats to the school’s first ever Frozen Four appearance. They would lose the final to Yale, but certainly that was by no fault of Hartzell.
Hartzell has great size, and is part of the new breed of big goaltender that NHL teams seem to love in recent years. He plays the traditional butterfly style and his long legs and quick movements take away the bottom of the net from shooters. He has great mobility in the net, tracking the puck well, and moving from side to side effortlessly. He is also very quick to come out and does a great job of cutting down angles, while also being able to back up quickly and stop a shooter who may try to deke around him. His technique is advanced and rebound control good at the college level. He should be an intriguing prospect and is ready to jump right in to the AHL, where he will need a little more seasoning before being a big league goalie.
The Penguins have really stocked up on defencemen in recent years. In addition to Pouliot and Maatta, they also have Scott Harrington, an effective defensive defender who should jump to the AHL this year and Brian Dumoulin, who is already playing for Wilkes-Barre. Wheny you include Simon Despres who graduated to the NHL recently, you see that the Penguins have the immense depth that allowed them to trade away a prospect like Joe Morrow. 2013 pick Tristan Jarry and 2012 pick Matt Murray will compete with Hartzell to be the Penguins goalie of the future. Its a nice stable of goaltending and the Penguins will bank on at least one of the three developing into an NHL netminder. Up front Beau Bennett should make the NHL this year and Teddy Blueger seems to be a really solid pick from 2012. The Penguins have some long shot projects in Anton Zlobin, Matia Marcantuoni, Jayson Megna, Scott Wilson and Tom Kuhnackl, who show real flashes of potential and while none are blue chip kids, it would not surprise if one or two of that group develop into NHL players. Overall the Penguins have had solid drafting in recent years, which built a deep prospect group allowing them to trade the picks and players they moved at the 2013 trade deadline.
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Main photo credit: Winterhawks.com, CC
