Pretty Vivid Rookie Game Evaluations

[Pretty Vivid]

I'm back. Here are some of my key evaluations from Prospect Game #1:

G, Cal Peterson:
Although it was a breakdown by the defense, he got eaten up on a deke for the first goal. Not long after that, he had a Jonathan Quick moment where he horribly mishandled the puck behind the net and it miraculously didn't end up a goal. Other than that, I thought he was very good and made a few really impressive saves.

D, Jacob Moverare
Not a fan. I watched his first game in NA this season, and he struggled mightily with positioning right out of the gate. I heard he pulled it together down the stretch, but I didn't like his game today either. His first 5 seconds on the ice he got absolutely pylon'd. I don't see what his selling point is. Gap control is supposed to be a strength of European dman coming from bigger ice.

D, Kale Clague
Great decision making and movement with the puck. Have a feeling this kid turns out to be what Thomas Hickey was supposed to be for us. Impressive player. Does a lot well.

Both F Drake Rymsha & F Jaret Anderson-Dolan displayed above average offensive ability, which is significant considering our suspect forward offensive upside as a whole. Rymsha was pretty relentless crashing the net. They both scored goals.

In my opinion Minny Duluth F Alex Iafallo was the most impressive, well rounded King prospect. He went into the dirty areas with purpose. Good skater. Well rounded performance in all areas.

F Boko Imama who came over in the TB trade is a real fun guy to watch. In a good scrap he got the better of F Keegan Kolesar who is one of the nastiest heavyweights in the WHL, so obviously he can handle that role. He was very physical, around the puck a lot and made some skill plays. Jordan Nolan type with better hands.

D Stepan Falkovsky was my surprise of the day. Never even heard of him. 6'7 tower out there who can obviously get it done with his shot as he put up 21 goals in the ECHL in his first year pro. I liked his first pass out of the zone, he didn't seem clunky with the puck like a lot of huge dman tend to. His skating obviously needs some work, but there might be something there.

F Matt Schmalz I still don't see much in the way of creativity or offense from him.

Highly skilled producer F Spencer Watson was a little quiet today.

F Matt Luff showcased his beam of a shot today and also had a nice dish. Another really well rounded guy like Iafallo as he had a play or two where he backchecked HARD.

D Matt Roy was really poised and solid back there but didn't get to see his nasty side.

That's all for now guys. Till tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed.

[King'sPawn]

Thanks for the thoughts. Didn't see anything until the 3rd period.

Just to add, I thought Watson showed some great puck control.

[hokiecat]

I am glad to see you back PV! I always enjoy reading your thoughts and summaries. It is good to see somebody with a scout's eye posting critiques. I pretty much agree with everything that you said. I only watched on the stream (such that it was). I may get over to TSC today but I'm not sure I want to spend the $10. That's what I expect game tickets will cost me on Stubhub later this year (I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your server.).

I kept an eye on Luff as much as possible. My buddy who closely follows the OHL is very big on him. I'm hoping to finally get to Hamilton and see him and the old Copps Coliseum this season but Luff might end up in Ontario. Luff is a bit of a late bloomer but I really liked the hustle on the backcheck. And the goal and assist on the Kings early scores were nice points to get us going. He seems to be trying to play himself into the pros right now.

The good news/bad news, IMO, is the production of the non-draftees. Kudos to Blake for helping to restock the system on the fly but I would say my top 3 in no particular order were Iafallo, Clague, and Peterson. Only Clague was a draft pick.

Imama handled himself very well in the scrap. He seems like a legit tough guy.

[anjae11eden]

The good news/bad news, IMO, is the production of the non-draftees. Kudos to Blake for helping to restock the system on the fly but I would say my top 3 in no particular order were Iafallo, Clague, and Peterson. Only Clague was a draft pick.

Are you forgetting JAD or was he THAT unimpressive to you? He did score a goal from what I hear. Don't know because it was blacked out for me.

[hokiecat]

Are you forgetting JAD or was he THAT unimpressive to you? He did score a goal from what I hear. Don't know because it was blacked out for me.

That was just my top 3. JAD was very good but not a standout like the top 3. Cal just seemed really composed. I can totally see him being in Los Angeles in 2 years. Clague was was, IMO, the Doughty of the defense-- could QB the PP and play shutdown D. Iafallo just did everything well and with purpose. I remember the prospects game a few years ago when Toffoli and Pearson were playing and they seemed head and shoulders above everyone else. Iafallo was not at that high level but it seemed to me like he was handling himself like a pro more than most forwards.

[Moog]

Anyone show up fat?
We're any streams split or crossed?

[King'sPawn]

The good news/bad news, IMO, is the production of the non-draftees. Kudos to Blake for helping to restock the system on the fly but I would say my top 3 in no particular order were Iafallo, Clague, and Peterson. Only Clague was a draft pick.

Are you forgetting JAD or was he THAT unimpressive to you? He did score a goal from what I hear. Don't know because it was blacked out for me.

It's important to remember 2 of the 3 mentioned are in their early 20s. JAD just turned 18 yesterday.

And he did well.

[Nyssa42]

I thought Iafallo was very impressive today as well as Imama. My "top guy" was D man #74 Clayton Kirichenko - anybody else notice him? Or think he was at all good? He just stood out to me.

Even more impressive was #80 Wong for the Golden Knights! This guy is only 5'9", but man, can he skate and battle!!

Proud to say I was in attendance for the very first Golden Knights win. (sorry, guys....I'm going to lots of Kings games this season, so expect plenty of losses)

[Pretty Vivid]

DEFENSE:

Yup thought Kirichenko was pretty good today as well. Did see a couple meh plays from him.

But I'm all in on this Falkovsky kid. You've gotta appreciate his capabilities with the puck given his 6'7 frame. Putting up 21 goals as a 20 year old first year pro in the ECHL is nothing to scoff at.

I didn't like Reddekopp today. There was a shift where he had 3 chances to get the puck out of the zone and couldn't. Good physically, but just not seeing enough in the other departments out of him.

The other pleasant surprise for me has been Jacob Friend. Very physical, and very solid all weekend. Moved the puck well, showed good mobility. He just sort of gets it defensively.

FORWARDS

All of the forwards today were totally flat, including Iafallo.

Watson showed some expected size/strength deficiencies, and didn't really wow his way away from the pack by any means this weekend despite having the skill to do so.

Schmalz I thought was good today. Huge body who looked at home in front of the net, looked good in battles, and skating wasn't holding him back. No offensive ability to write home about though.

Just an additional note for anyone who missed it, we were missing 2 top forward prospects in camp, top '17 pick Gabe Villardi who in all liklihood is going to be a stud in a couple years, and Austin Wagner which reminds me of a much bigger stronger Trevor Lewis who made strides last year offensively in the WHL.

[DarkLeftHand]

I thought Maillet seemed to be all over the ice in the 3rd period of game 1. I noticed him around the net a few times, screening the Vegas goalie, and he's a little guy, so extra props for that.