I caught most of the prospect game last night, although a good portion of the first period was wiped out by technical issues.
Here are my very general thoughts, in no specific order:
- Although he didn't get any points, Mikael Backlund looked several steps ahead of a majority of the field. His ability to find seams in the offensive zone, especially during the PP, was impressive.
- Mitch Wahl was surprisingly effective, particularly considering his age. The puck seemed to follow the kid around all night and he generate several good scoring chances.
- TJ Brodie was the second big surprise for me. The Flames late-rounder from the most recent draft, Brodie showed good speed and composure with the puck. He managed to skate the puck out of harms way more than once.
- A year in the AHL helped out Brett Sutter a bunch. He scored the lone goal of the night - a shorthanded top-corner blast one a two-on-one - and managed to stick his nose into the dirty areas a lot.
- Matt Pelech had some issues and wasn't as dominating I figured a "near-NHL ready" defender would be against prospects. I think I heard he had some equipment concerns (skate malfunction), so that could explain it.
- Matt Keeltey was outstanding and was probably the reason the Flames won.
- Per Jonsson struggled visibly.
- I didn't notice Aki Seitsonen at all.
- Daniel Ryder played with Ryley Grantham and got little special teams time. He didn't really stand out in any way.
- Ryan Wilson displayed why he went undrafted last night. The guy is alright with the puck on his stick but has very limited lateral mobility, which limits his effectiveness. For example: Colin McDonald embarrassed him by driving wide during a fairly conventional one-on-one play in the first period.
- The Oilers players that stood out to me were: Huddy, McDonald, Peckham and Eberle.
- Kyle Greentree seemed to be developing chemistry with Backlund before getting run from behind by Paukovich. The big winger was carted off on a stretcher. The good news it looks like it's just a neck strain.
Flames lines/combos:
Kyle Greentree - Mikael Backlund - Greg Nemisz
Brett Sutter - Mitch Wahl - Aki Seitsonen
Ryley Grantham - Dan Ryder - Adam Cracknell
Lance Bouma - John Armstrong - JD Watt
Keith Aulie - John Negrin
TJ Brodie - Matt Pelech
Ryan Wilson - Per Jonsson
(Gord Baldwin)
Find some Oiler-centric thoughts on the game here, here and here.
