Prospect Updates: 92's

[Tipped Off]

from NP's blog at heraldnet.com

Prospect update: 92s

Posted at 1:34 pm by Nick Patterson

The midget regular seasons are over for Everett's prospects, and some of them are done for good. With it being a light week for the Tips, this seems an ideal time to do another prospect update. I'll do this over two days, with the 1992-born players today and the 1993-born players tomorrow. This won't be a compete list, as I'm not privy to Everett's protected list. But I'm 95-percent sure the players I discuss are still on Everett's list.

Everett's group of 92s, four of whom are already on Everett's roster -- forwards Markus McCrea and Tyler Parker, defenseman Alex Theriau and goaltender Kent Simpson -- is deep. The only question is whether it contains star power. There also might not be a lot of room for the below prospects on Everett's roster next season, given there won't be a heavy player loss to graduation, and that new European players can be expected to fill two of the openings. Personally, from what I've seen I think all these guys are capable of playing in this league. However, there's only so much room on the roster for one age group, so it's going to be a dogfight in camp next September.

- Gabe Minville, defenseman, second round 2007. In 35 games with a dominant Winnipeg Wild team he had one goal, 12 assists and 71 penalty minutes. Minville is a towering d-man who I believe has already been signed to an education contract, and Everett will be looking to add size next season.

- D.Jay McGrath, center, third round 2007. In 37 games with the Saskatoon Contacts he had 20 goals, 12 assists and 74 penalty minutes. A stocky player with a nose for goal and some grit, he showed evidence of being able to play at this level during his recent call-up. He's also a true center, a position where Everett has depth concerns for next season.

- Justin Waskewitch, right wing, fourth round 2007. In 26 games with the Battlefords Stars he had 10 goals, 14 assists and 57 penalty minutes. He's got the skill, but he needs to stay healthy. He spent this season working his way back from shoulder surgery.

- Brett Kolins, defenseman, sixth round 2007. The only Everett 92-born prospect playing junior B rather than midget, he had one goal, 12 assists and a whopping 224 penalty minutes in 48 games with the Abbotsford Pilots. He reminds me a bit of Jonathan Harty in that he's a physical presence without being the biggest guy.

- Mitch Boucher, defenseman, seventh round 2007. In 43 games with the Moose Jaw Warriors he had seven goals, 29 assists and 59 penalty minutes. He's a smaller guy for a defenseman, though like McGrath he has that stocky body type. He's a pretty good puck mover.

- Campbell Elynuik, left wing, seventh round 2007. In 19 games with the Calgary Royals -- his season was interrupted in the middle by a broken leg -- he had three goals, six assists and 20 penalty minutes. He also showed well during his two call-ups this season. He probably has as an inside track on making the team next season because of his size and his late birthdate (a Dec. 25 birthday almost makes him a 93 rather than a 92 in terms of development).

- Dylan Smith, right wing, listed. He's the one player here I haven't seen play. In 43 games with Beardy's Blackhawks he had 28 goals, 31 assists and 46 penalty minutes. His numbers are the best of all these players, but he also played on the highest-scoring line in the SMAAAHL. I can't tell you whether his numbers are helped by playing with great players.

[Tipped Off]

From NP's blog at heraldnet.com

Prospect update: 93s

Posted at 10:47 am by Nick Patterson

OK, now for the end-of-midget-season information on Everett's 15-year-old prospects. I'm not sure there's the same type of depth in this group as there is among Everett's 92s. However, there appears a greater chance of a star emerging from this group than from the 16-year-olds. Nevertheless, it may be a couple years before we figure that out because there's a lot of little guys in this group, and it's unlikely those guys are going to be physically ready for this league as 16-year-olds.

- Ryan Murray, defenseman, first round 2008. In 41 games with the Moose Jaw Warriors he had 12 goals, 26 assists and 12 penalty minutes. He exploded offensively during the second half of the season and was named the SMAAAHL Player of the Month for January. He's the crown jewel in Everett's system, a player unlike anyone the Tips have ever had in that he's defenseman who can initiate the offense. There's a good chance he'll be the only 16-year-old on the team next season.

- Tyler Giebel, center, second round 2008. In 42 games with the Regina Pat Canadians he had seven goals, 16 assists and 10 penalty minutes. The Tips essentially spent second and third rounders to acquire Giebel to be their playmaking center of the future. However, he struggled a bit during training camp (apparently he was sick) and it appears he's still trying to make his mark at the midget level.

- Josh Winquist, left wing, third round 2008. In 34 games with the St. Albert Raiders he had 16 goals, 24 assists and 24 penalty minutes. It was an excellent season for Winquist, who as a 15-year-old was the leading scorer for a pretty good team. Like Murray and Giebel he's another smaller guy who has skill.

- Michael Berry, defenseman, fourth round 2008. I haven't found his stats as the AMHL only lists the leaders and his team, the CAC Canadians, doesn't have the stats updated. What I do know is he was on the AMHL leaderboard for about half the season, scoring at about a point-per-game clip with as many goals as assists. With his booming slap shot from the point, I'm not surprised he finds the net often from the blue line.

- Kole Harvery, right wing, sixth round 2008. In 40 games with the Southwest Cougars he had 11 goals, eight assists and four penalty minutes. He's the only forward in this group with any real size. Most of his points came late in the season, so perhaps something clicked.

- Evan Morden, defenseman, seventh round 2008. In 42 games with the Parkland Rangers he had two goals, 14 assists and eight penalty minutes. He's the biggest d-man from this class. Although his numbers aren't large, they tied for the most points by a defenseman on his team.

- Ryan Cadieux, goaltender, eighth round 2008. In 19 games with the Maple Leaf Athletic Club he went 0-11-4 with a .875 save percentage. There's no goals against average listed, but it equals out to about 4.26. His team didn't win a game this season so it's hard to determine how well he played, though his numbers are significantly better than the other goalie on the team with whom he split time.

- Matthew Lumsden, right wing, ninth round 2008. In 36 games with the Winnipeg Sharks he had 21 goals, 31 assists and 20 penalty minutes. He played in what is essentially a AA league, where everyone else played in a AAA league, so I don't know how these numbers translate.

- Manraj Hayer, left wing, listed. In 40 games with the Greater Vancouver Canadians he had 23 goals, 31 assists and 18 penalty minutes. He was the revelation of training camp and he followed that up with an outstanding season. Like Winquist he was the leading scorer of a good team as a 15-year-old. He also may be the lightest player (listed at 141 pounds) in Everett's system.

- Brett Mulcahy, center, listed. In 40 games for the Okanagan Rockets he had 12 goals, 18 assists and 10 penalty minutes. He's the one player on this list I haven't seen play yet. After a pedestrian first half to the season he averaged a point per game during the second half. He's also another little guy (how many small, skilled forwards does one team need in a single age group?).