This is an intriguing one. Zubov has put in two years in the AHL, showing steady improvement. He got 10 games with the big club last year, and he's a known quantity for the coach of the big team, which should provide him some encouragement to push for the next level.
The downside of the current situation is that Zubov trailed off at the end of the season in Bingo, and didn't exactly distinguish himself during his 10 games in Ottawa. He wasn't bad, he was just unnoticeable, which is bad for a forward looking to eventually break into the Top 6.
The final two pros/cons are more recent developments. Zubov elected to go back to Russia for the summer, which has lead to speculation that he will not embrace an aggressive conditioning program like the one he participated in during the summer of 08 in Ottawa. More recently, Ottawa signed Alex Kovalev. It is hard to say exactly what impact having a respected elder Russian forward on the team will have, but it certainly should help dispel any lingering feeling that the team doesn't like Russians.
Finally, I've heard speculation that Zubov might just stay in Russia and sign with a KHL team, but he signed a 3-year ELC with Ottawa in 2007 and owes the team one more year. They could loan him to the KHL, but I don't think Zubov can play there without the Senators permission. They may have made private assurances about whether and when they might provide that permission, and we wouldn't know until it happens, but if the team thinks he's close (and they've said as much) then I doubt they'd release him to play in the KHL unless they either retain the right to bring him back next year (an out in his KHL contract) or they're giving up on him (unlikely).
Given the uncertainty about where he's going to play, and his conditioning level and attitude, I'm not willing to hazard a guess as to what his production might look like. I will say that this year is crucial in his ability to establish himself as a player, regardless of where he plays. He either needs to make the AHL look like he's outgrown it, establish himself in the NHL, or show he's a very good player in a good skilled pro league like the KHL.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
SensBuzz: Summer 2009 Sens Top 10 Prospects
SensBuzz has analyzed the Top 10 Senators Prospects.
1. Erik Karlsson
2. Jared Cowen
3. Ilya Zubov
4. Peter Regin
5. Patrick Wiercioch
6. Jim O'Brien
7. Louie Caporusso
8. Erik Condra
9. Robin Lehner
10. Zack Smith
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Interview with Robin Lehner
SilverSeven has an interesting interview with Robin Lehner, the Swedish goalie taken with one of Ottawa's second round picks in the 2009 draft.
I was very happy to get picked by Ottawa and even happier now when I was there. It's a great organization and they all are very good at what they do and they helped me very much at the camp. I was happy to get picked in the 2nd round, and I didn't think I would go before that.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Development Camp Report
(reprinted from HockeyBroads.com)
I spent a couple hours at the Sensplex this morning. The prospects were split up into black and white squads. I caught both groups doing skating drills for the first hour. They were wearing elastic bands from the heels of their skates to their waists. I'd never seen that before. I guess it's to encourage them to keep low, and to provide resistance training for full extension during skating strides.
The second hour was mostly competitive drills ending in shooting opportunities. There were some pass-pass-pass-breakin drills, 2-on-2, 1-on-1, and finally a short breakaway competition.
Here are my observations, and I apologize for the disorder. I took notes whenever I could but I was trying to watch as much as I could, and I had a buddy to serve as a second pair of eyes, which also meant discussion to distract from the proceedings.
Peter Regin - Precise skater. Used by coaches to lead off drills and set good example. Skates barely leave the ice (as requested by the coaches). His speed was evident in comparison to most other prospects. Very smooth in motion and puck-handling.
Jim O'Brien - Looks small, but in a good way. The coaches were preaching getting low, he was LOW. He was so low that the elastics were dangling behind him and he sliced it during crossovers. His stance gave him a compact, powerful and explosive appearance. He executed the drills with particular intensity. He demonstrated a good wrist shot on a few scoring drills. His background as a D-man shows. He was effortless in defending 1-on-1 against some of the slicker offensive talents. I took note of the fact that he was the player asking the session coach questions as they left the ice, and he was also the friendliest with the kids waiting to bump fists with the players who as they left the skating drill rink. He was also one of the last guys to leave the ice after the competitive drills. Good character. He seems to really want it. At the NHL level I think he'll be a slightly larger Chris Kelly, with better hands. In other words, a very useful and versatile player.
Patrick Wiercioch - He does look large, but he also looks a little slow. He made some questionable plays during 2-on-2 coverage. Reaching around a guy on the up-ice side, leaving the guy an open path to the net. Maybe his head just wasn't in it. What I saw raised more questions than anything else.
Mike Sdao - Moves very well for a big guy. Good positioning against this level of competition. Suitably aggressive against the boards.
Cody Bass - Was the best skater in his group. Focused and competitive. He was banging guys, not to the point of injury, but raising the overall intensity. Perhaps taking on a leadership role in this group, appropriate for a guy of his experience. Additional comments in shootout section below.
Andre Petersson - This is the tale of two players. The first player was the one I saw during the skating drills. He looked slow and disinterested. He actually cut loops out of his skating drills, finishing ahead of others while skating slower. He looked sloppy. His crossovers were very high. His lines were poor. He looked lazy. The second player showed up for the competitive drills. He was faster and more intense during the shooting drills and the 2-on-2. The 2-on-2 had 2 attackers and 2 defenders (+goalie) and the attackers kept circling back and getting another puck and more chances to penetrate and score. He and Karlsson had a nice physical battle going on throughout the couple minutes they were matched up. Crosschecks to the back of the head. Reaching over the head and pulling the back of a guys collar down to the ice. General rough-housing. He showed a good shot and fair intensity. Still not one of the faster skaters though.
Erik Karlsson - One of the best skaters on the ice. Looks larger than expected. He looked completely average in this group. Much larger than the Caporussos or midgets like Brisebois, and just one or two sizes down from the really big guys. His passes were crisp. His skating was smooth. His coverage was solid. He showed some good intensity when required, and laid a guy into the boards when he got a chance.
Craig Schira - Not a big guy, but not small either. Observed him as the static guy passing to guys in motion during skate and shoot drills. His passes were CRISP. Also saw him show good positioning and 1-on-1 coverage.
Jakob Silfverberg - Missed most of his drills (as frequently happens at these things) but did manage to catch some very nice goals. Seems to have a strong wrist shot.
Mike Hoffman - Has a nose for the net. In position for dirty goals. Possesses a very hard and accurate wrist shot. He had a couple of goals from the slot where the goalie saw him coming the whole way. Nothing tricky. No screen. Just snap - goal. Moves very well. I don't know if there is any substance to the supposed 'character issues' but he seems like the type of prospect that has the tools to be a Top 6 guy. Speedy, slick, average size, nose for the net and a good shot. What's not to like?
Erik Gryba - The best 1-on-1 defender on the ice. Big, good positioning, and punishing when appropriate.
Ben Blood - The only thing I noticed was that his skating seems to be pretty stiff. He doesn't seem to fit in that well.
Shootout - After the competitive drills, two skaters (I think) from each team did shootouts against the opposing goalie. We found out after that the losing team would have to do pushups. I don't think either of the first guys scored. But Petersson scored a very slick goal for the Whites. And then it was Karlsson for the Blacks to tie it up. He had some good moves but the goalie shut the door and he missed. Black lost the competition.
Karlsson was swarmed by Petersson and Regin (both Whites) with fake high-5s and congratulations. Meanwhile his teammates were doing their pushups. Then Karlsson finally got to centre ice, dropped down and started his pushups. Bass, also Black Team, finished, got up, skated over to Karlsson and put pressed his stick against Karlsson's bum for some extra resistance. Big grins all around. They seemed like they were having fun.
Random Thoughts: Caporusso doesn't seem tiny, just a little small, and showed a decent shot. Brisebois is tiny, but had a sustained battle with a big guy in the corners and came out with the puck. Lehner is huge, and looked pretty good. My buddy thought he might have a weak glove hand though.
Awards: (my opinions)
The Men Among Boys Award: (Tie) Peter Regin and Cody Bass
The Hardest Worker Award: Jim O'Brien with an Honourable Mention for Cody Bass
The Best Shot Award: Mike Hoffman
The Best Skater Award: (tie) Erik Karlsson and Cody Bass
The Brick Wall Award (hardest to get through): Erik Gryba
The Clutch Passing Award: Erik Karlsson with an Honourable Mention to Craig Schira
More discussion available here.
I spent a couple hours at the Sensplex this morning. The prospects were split up into black and white squads. I caught both groups doing skating drills for the first hour. They were wearing elastic bands from the heels of their skates to their waists. I'd never seen that before. I guess it's to encourage them to keep low, and to provide resistance training for full extension during skating strides.
The second hour was mostly competitive drills ending in shooting opportunities. There were some pass-pass-pass-breakin drills, 2-on-2, 1-on-1, and finally a short breakaway competition.
Here are my observations, and I apologize for the disorder. I took notes whenever I could but I was trying to watch as much as I could, and I had a buddy to serve as a second pair of eyes, which also meant discussion to distract from the proceedings.
Peter Regin - Precise skater. Used by coaches to lead off drills and set good example. Skates barely leave the ice (as requested by the coaches). His speed was evident in comparison to most other prospects. Very smooth in motion and puck-handling.
Jim O'Brien - Looks small, but in a good way. The coaches were preaching getting low, he was LOW. He was so low that the elastics were dangling behind him and he sliced it during crossovers. His stance gave him a compact, powerful and explosive appearance. He executed the drills with particular intensity. He demonstrated a good wrist shot on a few scoring drills. His background as a D-man shows. He was effortless in defending 1-on-1 against some of the slicker offensive talents. I took note of the fact that he was the player asking the session coach questions as they left the ice, and he was also the friendliest with the kids waiting to bump fists with the players who as they left the skating drill rink. He was also one of the last guys to leave the ice after the competitive drills. Good character. He seems to really want it. At the NHL level I think he'll be a slightly larger Chris Kelly, with better hands. In other words, a very useful and versatile player.
Patrick Wiercioch - He does look large, but he also looks a little slow. He made some questionable plays during 2-on-2 coverage. Reaching around a guy on the up-ice side, leaving the guy an open path to the net. Maybe his head just wasn't in it. What I saw raised more questions than anything else.
Mike Sdao - Moves very well for a big guy. Good positioning against this level of competition. Suitably aggressive against the boards.
Cody Bass - Was the best skater in his group. Focused and competitive. He was banging guys, not to the point of injury, but raising the overall intensity. Perhaps taking on a leadership role in this group, appropriate for a guy of his experience. Additional comments in shootout section below.
Andre Petersson - This is the tale of two players. The first player was the one I saw during the skating drills. He looked slow and disinterested. He actually cut loops out of his skating drills, finishing ahead of others while skating slower. He looked sloppy. His crossovers were very high. His lines were poor. He looked lazy. The second player showed up for the competitive drills. He was faster and more intense during the shooting drills and the 2-on-2. The 2-on-2 had 2 attackers and 2 defenders (+goalie) and the attackers kept circling back and getting another puck and more chances to penetrate and score. He and Karlsson had a nice physical battle going on throughout the couple minutes they were matched up. Crosschecks to the back of the head. Reaching over the head and pulling the back of a guys collar down to the ice. General rough-housing. He showed a good shot and fair intensity. Still not one of the faster skaters though.
Erik Karlsson - One of the best skaters on the ice. Looks larger than expected. He looked completely average in this group. Much larger than the Caporussos or midgets like Brisebois, and just one or two sizes down from the really big guys. His passes were crisp. His skating was smooth. His coverage was solid. He showed some good intensity when required, and laid a guy into the boards when he got a chance.
Craig Schira - Not a big guy, but not small either. Observed him as the static guy passing to guys in motion during skate and shoot drills. His passes were CRISP. Also saw him show good positioning and 1-on-1 coverage.
Jakob Silfverberg - Missed most of his drills (as frequently happens at these things) but did manage to catch some very nice goals. Seems to have a strong wrist shot.
Mike Hoffman - Has a nose for the net. In position for dirty goals. Possesses a very hard and accurate wrist shot. He had a couple of goals from the slot where the goalie saw him coming the whole way. Nothing tricky. No screen. Just snap - goal. Moves very well. I don't know if there is any substance to the supposed 'character issues' but he seems like the type of prospect that has the tools to be a Top 6 guy. Speedy, slick, average size, nose for the net and a good shot. What's not to like?
Erik Gryba - The best 1-on-1 defender on the ice. Big, good positioning, and punishing when appropriate.
Ben Blood - The only thing I noticed was that his skating seems to be pretty stiff. He doesn't seem to fit in that well.
Shootout - After the competitive drills, two skaters (I think) from each team did shootouts against the opposing goalie. We found out after that the losing team would have to do pushups. I don't think either of the first guys scored. But Petersson scored a very slick goal for the Whites. And then it was Karlsson for the Blacks to tie it up. He had some good moves but the goalie shut the door and he missed. Black lost the competition.
Karlsson was swarmed by Petersson and Regin (both Whites) with fake high-5s and congratulations. Meanwhile his teammates were doing their pushups. Then Karlsson finally got to centre ice, dropped down and started his pushups. Bass, also Black Team, finished, got up, skated over to Karlsson and put pressed his stick against Karlsson's bum for some extra resistance. Big grins all around. They seemed like they were having fun.
Random Thoughts: Caporusso doesn't seem tiny, just a little small, and showed a decent shot. Brisebois is tiny, but had a sustained battle with a big guy in the corners and came out with the puck. Lehner is huge, and looked pretty good. My buddy thought he might have a weak glove hand though.
Awards: (my opinions)
The Men Among Boys Award: (Tie) Peter Regin and Cody Bass
The Hardest Worker Award: Jim O'Brien with an Honourable Mention for Cody Bass
The Best Shot Award: Mike Hoffman
The Best Skater Award: (tie) Erik Karlsson and Cody Bass
The Brick Wall Award (hardest to get through): Erik Gryba
The Clutch Passing Award: Erik Karlsson with an Honourable Mention to Craig Schira
More discussion available here.
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