He does play high from time to time, something I think he'll learn fairly quickly this year in the AHL. He's a solid skater, so IMO it's a mindset he needs to get over (sacrifice balance to make a play thingy).STL fan in MN wrote: ↑10 Jul 2025 10:53 amI’ve definitely seen what you’re talking about in terms of his high center of gravity, getting pushed around a bit more than you’d expect someone his size/height to be pushed around. You can never really tell when they’re wearing full equipment but I’ve simply assumed he hasn’t developed the typical tree trunk legs/hockey butt yet. Probably needs to focus on his lower body and core more in the gym. Build up that lower body strength. But he’s still only 19 so as long as he can make that transition with his body over the next 2-3 years, he should be fine IMO. He also has a bit of an awkward, hunched over skating stride. It’s not the most efficient stride but agree he gives maximum effort most of the time. High compete level. His standout strengths IMO are his playmaking ability and compete level.seattleblue wrote: ↑10 Jul 2025 10:32 am I think he's going to be a decent NHL winger. I like him, I watch him. There are numerous prospects in Springfield this upcoming year who are compelling and he is one of them. He has an active mind on the ice and skates very hard, very fast. He has offensive skill and can finish. He needs help from his linemates, he is not like some of our other prospects who drive the play themselves. However, the quality of his linemates is going to be sufficient in the future at the NHL level. He will eagerly battle for the puck but he can be dislodged from those battles, which is going to limit his effectiveness and possession numbers since the opposition is only getting faster stronger and bigger. So no matter how much desire he has he's going to have to double down and work on this aspect of his game. He doesn't shy away from physical contact it's more that he can be cleared from the crease somewhat easily.
And yep, with him, Stancl, Lindstein and Burns joining Dvorsky (assuming he’s not in STL), Stenberg, Dean, Ellis, Zherenko, Kaskimaki, Robertsson, Peterson, Buchinger, Loof etc in Springfield, we’ll have a lot of our prospects all at that level this season. Should be lots of good competition.
That 2023 Draft for us was huge, as I thought (before the draft) there was NO WAY Pekarcik could be had in the 3rd round (if you think about it, if he was born a few days later, he would have easily been a 1st rounder in the 24 draft). I expected Dvorsky and Stenberg to be 1st's, and good on the Blues for grabbing Lindstein at the end. Stancl was a very solid pick in the 4th, I guess the question there is will he be a wing or center...
With some of the other kids from other drafts (to include Koromyslov), our prospect pool is very solid...