2012, 2013 draft crop shines at U17

Dan StewartUncategorizedLeave a Comment

With the IIHF World Junior Championship taking most of the media limelight over the holidays the other big holiday hockey tournament that draws the majority of the attention from NHL scouts during that time, the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, also wrapped up in Winnipeg, MB.

The U17 Challenge pits five Canadian regions – Ontario, Pacific, West, Atlantic and Quebec – with five other international teams.

This event has seen some impressive talent come through the program in past years such past and present NHLers Scott Niedermayer, Joe Sakic, Jarome Iginla, Sergei Fedorov, Alexander Mogilny, Pavel Bure and Mats Sundin to name but a few.

This tournament gives NHL scouts a chance to see prospects play in a best on best tournament one, two or even in rare cases three years before they are draft eligble.

Many NHL scouts and team personnel make this a must see tournament with an eye towards the future and who they are watching in regards to the draft a couple years down the line.

This year’s event saw the two most skilled teams featuring an overabundance of future first round NHL draft picks in the highly talented American and Ontario squads battle it out for the gold medal in a showdown, with Ontario claiming their third title in a four year span.

With all the skilled forwards on hand, the tournaments leading scorer believe it or not was Team Pacific defenseman Matt Dumba, who plays with Red Deer in the WHL.

FC provides a small glimps at some of the top talent in Winnipeg below:

#2 D Slater Koekkoek – Team Ontario
Left Shot / 6’-2” / 185 Lbs / Peterborough (OHL)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: A strong skating defender…has good agility and quickness for his size…thinks the game with an offensive mind…uses his size well in the defensive zone but not really a bruiser at this stage of his development…has a hard shot from the point…likes to rush the puck and become a fourth offensive option…can be used as a PP quarterback because of his smarts and vision.

#3 D Jesse Graham – Team Ontario
Right Shot / 6’-2” / 175 Lbs / Niagara (OHL)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: Smooth skating two-way defender…has ample skill especially with the puck on his stick…uses smarts and hockey sense to make the right decision on pinches…displayed strong positioning on the ice…shows outstanding vision which he uses to send his forwards on the attack by way of a pin point breakout pass…can skate the puck out of danger and up the ice as well…produced six points in six contests.

#9 F Matia Marcantuoni – Team Ontario
Right Shot / 6’-0” / 185 Lbs / Kitchener (OHL)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: A quick forward who creates offensively because of his speed…showed his fleet feet all tournament long…handles the puck well at that high speed…has some natural finishing abilities…willingness to play with a physical edge despite being just average sized…hard on the fore-check and forces a ton of turnovers again because of his speed…had two game winning goals in Winnipeg.

#10 F Brendan Gaunce – Team Ontario
Left Shot / 6’-2” / 200 Lbs / Belleville (OHL)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: A big guy who sees the ice well…is a natural playmaker with impressive creativity…plays with a physical push to his game…strong in puck battles…plays a power forward game…has decent hands and can make a few moves to buy time…has a underrated shot.

#15 F Mathew Campagna – Team Ontario
Left Shot / 5-11” / 170 Lbs / Sudbury (OHL)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: A skilled playmaker…a spectacular penalty shot goal in the gold medal game speaks to his creativity with the puck…has soft hands and nice vision…does not shy away from physical contact but not overly interested in engaging in it either…produced at a point-per-game clip.

#17 F Sean Monahan – Team Ontario
Left Shot / 6’-2” / 175 Lbs / Ottawa (OHL)
Eligible: 2013 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: A smooth skating forward…has good speed and acceleration in his first few steps…hands are soft and he can dangle around defenders who watch the puck…has nice vision, a nice passing touch and is a natural playmaker…also has some finishing abilities seen in his quick shot release…has nice size now and will only get bigger…finished with seven points, including five goals in six games.

#30 G Daniel Altshuller – Team Ontario
Left Glove / 6’-3” / 190 Lbs / Nepean (CHL)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: A nice sized butterfly goalie…has sound positioning and angles play…fills the net naturally and doesn’t give shooters much open area…smooth lateral mobility…still raw in other aspects but has loads of potential…finished the tournament as the top tender in minutes played, goals against average, save percentage and shutouts with two.

#44 D Jacob Trouba – Team USA
Right Shot / 6’-2” / 190 Lbs / U17 NTDP (USHL)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: A big physical two-way defender…leans more towards the offensive side of the game in his thinking…skates well with good mobility, nice first step acceleration and overall speed…has a howitzer shot from the point…likes to play the body and delivered a few nice open ice hits…a threat on the point of the PP with his shot and vision…has the ability to control the pace of the game…put up an impressive nine points in six games in Winnipeg.

#55 D Seth Jones – Team USA
Right Shot / 6’-3.5” / 185 Lbs / U17 NTDP (USHL)
Eligible: 2013 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: A raw but highly impressive two-way package of size, speed and skill…athletic on the ice and has a smooth, sturdy stride despite a lack of leg strength…explosive feet and impressive all-encompassing mobility…displays nice vision and makes good outlet passes…has a hard shot that is very effective…smart in his decision making on the ice…poised and unshaken in pressure situations…only scratching the surface of his potential.

#56 F Henrik Samuelsson – Team USA
Right Shot / 6’-2” / 195 Lbs / U17 NTDP (USHL)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: A skilled power forward in the making…has good size and speed…handles the puck well and can beat defenders one-on-one…plays with a good amount of aggressiveness and intensity…has a pro-caliber shot with a quick release…reads the play well and goes to the right areas to get a scoring chance…has underrated vision…Son of Ulf made a very good impression leading the US in scoring with 10 points in six contests.

#57 F Miles Koules – Team USA
Right Shot / 5’-10” / 175 Lbs / U17 NTDP (USHL)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: A less than average sized son of ex-Tampa Bay Lightning owner…skates well with explosive bursts that aids his water bug type game darting in and out of traffic…has good creativity and solid hockey sense…has nice vision and ability to generate offensive chances…has an effective shot although the velocity is only average…produced eight points in six games for a skilled USA squad.

#2 D Matt Dumba – Team Pacific
Right Shot / 6’-0” / 175 Lbs / Red Deer (WHL)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: A thin but aggressive nature both physically and offensively…a decent enough skater who will only get better with added leg strength…sees the ice and makes good timely passes…has a booming shot…low panic threshold…smart defender that despite being offensive minded, is not a liability in his own zone…used his elite vision to destroy the competition for 12 points in six games to lead the tournament in scoring.

#5 D Morgan Rielly – Team Pacific
Left Shot / 6’-0” / 195 Lbs / Moose Jaw (WHL)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: An average sized offensive minded defender…skates really well with strong overall mobility…can carry the puck as well as make a accurate breakout pass…has a little dangle to him and can use it when gaining the zone…nice shot and plays with a bit of physical push to his game…jack of all trades defender…was one of the best all-round defenders in Winnipeg.

#6 D Griffin Reinhart – Team Pacific
Left Shot / 6’-4” / 205 Lbs / Edmonton (WHL)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: Big body that can dominate a game on the ice…skating is not bad but is an area needing improvement because of his heavy boots…handles the puck well and has nice vision…makes strong passes out of his zone and in stride to his forwards when on the attack…has a cannon of a shot from the point…can take the body or make a devastating open ice checks but needs to add more consistency in his physical play as well as his overall game…impressive raw talent who had some good games in Winnipeg.

#3 D Michael Matheson – Team Quebec
Left Shot / 6’-1” / 165 Lbs / Lac St-Louis (LHMAAAQ)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: A smooth skating two-way rearguard…skates very well with outstanding agility and explosive acceleration…sees the ice very well and is smart in his decision making…carries the puck up ice and distributes it to his options well…makes smart pinches…has a nice shot but needs to add strength to boost its velocity…willing physical combatant but lack of strength shows…produces eight points in six games.

#10 F Luca Ciampini – Team Quebec
Left Shot / 5’-11” / 190 Lbs / Halifax (QMJHL)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: Goal scorer who jumped out of the gates early at a goal-a-game pace…is dangerous with the puck on his stick…when he doesn’t have the puck he employs a cloak and dagger style slithering around the offensive zone until he finds a soft spot in coverage to set-up…very effective shot that is both quick and accurate…skates well and plays with a bit of a physical edge…has that nose for the net that natural finishers possess…closed out tournament with seven goals in six games.

#12 F Charles Hudon – Team Quebec
Left Shot / 5’-8” / 165 Lbs / Chicoutimi (QMJHL)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: Small offensive juggernaut…extremely small and weak in puck battles…has outstanding offensive creativity and vision…skates very well with good speed and darting quickness…is a playmaker but can also finish off his own plays…ended up second in tournament scoring with five goals and 11 points in six contests.

#4 D Derrick Pouliot – Team West
Left Shot / 6’-0” / 190 Lbs / Portland (WHL)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: An average sized two-way defender…skates well and sees the ice extremely well from the backend…makes strong breakout passes and can also carry it out himself…has a decent shot…contributes in more ways than just offence as his defensive game is also getting stronger…was a strong and consistent force for team West in Winnipeg.

#12 F Chandler Stephenson – Team West
Left Shot / 5’-10” / 170 Lbs / Regina (WHL)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: A below average sized forward with skill…skates well generating a healthy amount of speed in his first couple strides…natural finishing abilities…a strong accurate shot…works hard on both sides of the puck…physical despite his lack of size…looks to find open ice in the offensive zone where he can be set-up for his wicked one-timer…consistency is getting better…finished with four goals in five games.

#9 F Andrew Ryan – Team Atlantic
Left Shot / 6’-3” / 185 Lbs / Halifax (QMJHL)
Eligible: 2012 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: A big body with nice offensive skills…fast with a good stride for such a big frame…will be tough to contain once he adds more strength…has quick hands and feet…sees the ice well and is considered more of a playmaker than finisher…can score as well with an underrated shot…very raw but has some impressive talent…tallied nine points including seven assists in five games.

#20 F Nathan MacKinnon – Team Atlantic
Right Shot / 5’-10” / 165 Lbs / Shattuck-St.Mary’s (U.S. Prep)
Eligible: 2013 NHL Entry Draft
Scouting Report: A slick skating forward who has loads of skill…his smarts on the ice and hockey sense really stand out…works hard and is competitive…handles the puck like a pro and has a deadly shot…sees the ice well and naturally knows where to be…aggressive and surprisingly physical despite his lack of size…responsible in all zones…needs to mature physically…finished with an impressive eight points including five goals in five contests.

Dan Stewart is the scouting director of Future Considerations and can be found on Twitter. For all the latest Future Considerations news and posts, follow FC’s Official Twitter Feed, on YouTube and on Facebook!

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