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).
It was an up and down season for the Boston Bruins. Seen by most analysts as the best team in the Northeast Division they were unable to win the division, finishing in second (fourth in the conference) and behind their rival the Montreal Canadiens. They then played the Toronto Maple Leafs in a series that most picked the Bruins to dominate. After taking a 3-1 series lead, it seemed the predictions were coming true. At this point the Leafs won games 5 and 6 and nearly took game 7 as the Bruins needed an unprecedented 3 goal comeback with 11 minutes to play to eliminate Toronto. Surviving their early stumbles, the Bruins then went on a roll, with dominant wins over the New York Rangers and the favored Pittsburgh Penguins to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. After taking a 2-1 lead in the series against Chicago, the Blackhawks turned the tables, winning three in a row against Boston, including their own miracle comeback in game 6 to win the Stanley Cup. In the end the Bruins once again showed that they were a solid team capable of overcoming adversity, and nearly winning their second Stanley Cup in three years. While it wasn’t enough, the young core that Peter Chiarelli has assembled should continue to contend for the foreseeable future.
2013 Draft Picks Reviewed by LWOS: Linus Arnesson
Graduates: Dougie Hamilton, Jordan Caron, Matt Bartkowski (age), Carl Soderberg (age)
Top Prospect, Malcolm Subban, Goalie
Born Dec 21 1993 — Rexdale, ONT
Height 6.01 — Weight 190 — Shoots Left — Catches Left
Drafted by Boston Bruins in round 1, #24 overall at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Subban burst on to the scene with a flourish late in 2011, stealing the Belleville Bulls starting goaltender job for the playoffs and has never looked back. While his Bulls were overmatched and unable to pull off an upset over the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Mississauga/St.Mike’s Majors, Subban was greatly praised for keeping the games closer than they should have been. This past season Subban was tremendous for Belleville, with a 2.14 GAA and .934 Save Percentage and taking a team that had a very limited offence and leading them to the top of the OHL’s Eastern Conference. The Bulls would eventually lose to in the Conference Finals to the Barrie Colts, but without Subban, would not have gone as far as he has.
Subban is a tremendously athletic goalie. He has fabulous reflexes and is extremely agile. He is particularly quick sliding post to post and is able to make some very nice saves on one timers as a result. Subban is also extremely quick with his pads and effectively uses his quick feet to put up a wall in the bottom half of the net. Subban’s great skating ability allows him to come out of the net and challenge shooters, as he’s able to back up very quickly should they attempt to come in for a deke. He is also very quick with his glove hand and blocker and effectively covers the top of the net as well.
Subban shows excellent technique in the net. He is almost always square to the shooter and in position to make the first save. His movements in the crease are controlled and smart. This allows Subban to recover quickly and to get himself in position to make a second save. It also ensures that he covers the maximum amount of net possible. Subban is a natural leader who inspires a sense of quiet confidence for his Bulls teammates when he is in the net. He excudes a calm demeanor that makes him a natural leader and he rarely gets flustered, bouncing back quickly from goals against.
Like many young goalies, Subban does need to work on his rebound control as he can sometimes have trouble with low shots. However we don’t think this is a major issue. It’s definitely something that should improve with maturity, and we’ve heard that Malcolm possesses the same Subban family work ethic that helped PK transform himself from a draft prospect with defensive question marks to a Norris Trophy winner in the NHL. We also think Subban could work on his handling the puck when he leaves the crease.
Expect Subban to get major minutes in the AHL this season,
Top Prospect #2, Joe Morrow, Defence
Born Dec 9 1992 — Sherwood Park, ALTA
Height 6.01 — Weight 206 — Shoots Left
Selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in round 1, #23 overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft
Acquired by the Bruins in July 2013 in a trade with the Dallas Stars.
Joe Morrow was traded twice in a matter of months this season. First going from Pittsburgh to Dallas in exchange for Stars captain Brenden Morrow (no relation) and later to the Bruins as part of the deal for Tyler Seguin. Despite being traded twice, he shouldn’t be looked at as a prospect that teams are giving up on. Rather he should still be seen as a top prospect who is in high demand and an important part of these two huge trades.
Morrow might be the best skater out of all the prospects I profile in this series. His stride is textbook, graceful and fluid. He is very fast, possessing both excellent top end speed and the acceleration to hit this top speed in just a few strides. He loves to lead the rush and is always a threat to go coast to coast with the puck. Morrow has excellent agility and great use of his edges. His pivots are crisp. This allows him to make quick cuts and to be mobile in every direction, which is useful both offensively and defensively.
Morrow is a natural on the powerplay. He is calm and poised with the puck on his stick and keeps his head up looking for the smart play. His mobility at the line breaks down defenders and opens up passing and shooting lanes. He is a crisp and accurate passer, setting the table for teammates. When shooting Morrow has an absolute rocket of a slapshot and is especially lethal with his one timer.
Defensively Morrow has improved over the past year but is still a work in progress. On the plus side, his great skating ability makes him difficult to beat one on one. His puck moving skills and great passing allow him to move the puck quickly and efficiently, removing it from danger in his own end. He is also aggressive in his own end, a good body checker and someone who wins board battles and clears the front of the net.
On the downside, Morrow is a bit of a “Riverboat Gambler”. He can sometimes make bad decisions rushing the puck, or pinching at the blue line that can lead to odd-man rushes against. He also has a habit of looking for the big hit a little too often, which also gets him out of position and creates issues defensively. Morrow will need to rein himself in going forward.
Expect Morrow to be with the Bruins AHL squad this season. He still needs more polish in his game and the Bruins blueline will not be easy for him to crack until he learns to pick his spots and play a more defensively responsible game.
Super Sleeper Prospect: Torey Krug, Defence
Born Apr 12 1991 — Livonia, MI
Height 5.09 — Weight 180 — Shoots Left
Signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Bruins in March 2012.
After a breakout performance in the 2013 NHL playoffs, including four goals from the blueline, it’s hard to call Krug a sleeper in the true sense. However he does qualify under our criteria as an undrafted NCAA free agent signed by the Bruins at the end of the 2012 season. He has gone on to become an excellent prospect and become a key contributor to the Bruins AHL affiliate in Providence. In fact the Providence team blew a 3-0 series lead in large part due to the callup of Krug during the second round of the AHL playoffs.
Krug is a tremendous skater with great speed, quick acceleration, fantastic agility and really strong pivots and edge work. Krug’s skating ability allows him to cover a ton of ice and be a two way blue liner. He can lead the rush, open up passing and shooting lanes by walking the line on the powerplay and is difficult to beat one on one off the rush.
Offensively he has all the skills to quarterback a powerplay. A hard and accurate wrist shot, slapshot, and one-timer as well as a good release. He has the ability to thread the needle with his passing skills and the vision necessary to be a power play quarterback at the NHL level.
Defensively, Krug works hard, battles in corners, blocks shots and gets to the right position on the ice. However his size at just 5’9″ and 180 lbs will likely always limit his upside as a defenceman. He will need sheltered third pairing 5 on 5 minutes as he just can not handle big strong forwards in the cycle game or in front of the net.
Krug’s offensive game should be enough to keep him in the NHL and make up for his defensive shortcomings. He should be able to hold down a spot on the Bruins this year with third pairing responsibility and big powerplay minutes.
In addition to the players listed above, the Bruins have a number of nice forwards coming through the system in Alexander Khoklachev, Ryan Spooner, Jared Knight, Reilly Smith, Anthony Camara, and Peter Cehlarik. Meanwhile, Maxim Chudinov and Matt Grzelcyk bring depth to the defence group that includes the graduated Dougie Hamilton along with Morrow and Krug. In goal, Subban is a top notch prospect. Overall the system is deep, and should combine with a good young core already in Boston to keep the Bruins in contention for some time.
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