Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to begin this blog by wishing everyone a very happy holiday season and I encourage everyone to be safe in this joyous time.
The World Junior Championships are one of the highlights of the scouting season, especially when this tournament is held in Canada. It is particularly exciting and illuminating to see who can play in a pressure-filled atmosphere...
Please enjoy NACS's latest top 100 along with some rising and falling players as we head towards June.
RISING
Marcus Foligno – Sudbury, LW
Foligno is following in his brother’s footsteps playing for his legendary father in the Nickel City, but his style of play is nothing like Nick’s. Marcus is robust and takes tremendous pleasure in laying out big hits, while driving to the net with reckless abandon. He undoubtedly improves each night and with his huge frame, the sky is the limit for this burgeoning power forward.
Olivier Roy – Cape Breton, G
The stud goaltender in this year’s crop continues to impress at every turn. He’s had a couple performances where he’s given up some bad goals, but he quickly puts those incidents behind him and rallies his team. Roy follows a long line of Quebec goaltenders and if he continues at this rate, he may be some team’s first selection in June.
Scott Glennie – Brandon, RC
The ying to Brayden Schenn’s yang, Scott Glennie has been putting up points all season long. Some have questioned whether he will translate that into NHL success, but we have no doubt his success in the Western League will lead him to greater heights. Glennie has become the straw that stirs the Wheat Kings’ drink and while some have suggested he is riding Schenn’s coattails, we think they help each other equally.
Dmitry Kulikov – Drummondville, LD
The Russian import has been phenomenal in his transition to the North American game. He has scouts drooling over his overall skill set and we think he will become a top-10 pick because of it. He is already recording more than a point per game in Drummondville and at times looks like a man among boys with how he can control a game.
Joel Hanley – Newmarket, LD
A relative unknown when the season began, the young Newmarket defender is taking the Ontario Provincial Junior A League by storm. Although he doesn’t crack the 6-foot barrier, Hanley has a very strong base, excellent vision and a defensive game that will translate at any level. The more we watch him, the more we realize he is better than a lot of the Ontario League defensemen he is up against and as a result, he has been shooting up in our rankings.
FALLING
Casey Cizikas - Mississauga, LC
His rookie year brought fantastic things for the young star, but Cizikas has suffered through a sophomore jinx. We still have him placed higher than most because we hope it’s only a phase, but unless he begins to show the skill set and passion he displayed last year, he will take a significant tumble.
Anton Lander - Timra, RC
The Swedish center started off the year well, playing with and against guys old enough to be his father. But his play has trailed off of late, to the point where we are questioning his role in the NHL in a few years. Along with improving on his slow start, we’d like to see more of the competitiveness Lander has displayed in the past.
Blake Thompson - Sioux Falls, RD
We originally thought Thompson may be a larger version of last year’s stud John Carlson, but as the season has progressed, we have seen some cracks in the game of this hulking defender. There have been nights when he has struggled with the speed of United States League forwards, which doesn’t bode well for his future in the NCAA or the NHL. Furthermore, his offensive game has been non-existent, although, quite frankly, we didn’t hold out much hope for that part of his game.
Philip Samuelsson – Chicago, RD
We have always been huge proponents of the family gene aspect with players, which was evident with Sam Gagner, Colin Wilson and Alex Steen to name but a few. In the case of Philip Samuelsson, though, the buck stops here. We don’t question his effort, but watching Samuelsson handle the puck or make a play can be difficult at times. His size and reach initially had us excited, but the more we watch him, the more we realize his long-term potential doesn’t lie in hockey.
Mark Seidel is the chief scout for North American Central Scouting and appears as a host on Leafs Lunch on AM 640 radio in Toronto. He is also a regular contributor to Hockey Night in Canada on Sirius Radio as their draft and junior hockey insider. Read his other blog entries HERE.