Quote:
Originally posted by Chief Rum
I was really impressed witht he numbers he put up, but I'm not familiar with how close American college hockey approximates NHL hockey (what kind of "conversion" I can expect). I saw Kunitz's signing and I was really excited with the numbers he put up, since we can always use good offensive options like that.
In my experience, guys from the American college system can often make the jump fairly quickly, often making an impact in their first year in the NHL. Two Duck examples that come to mind is Kariya and MacDonald. Kariya, of course, had the talent anyway, though, and he took a year off to play with the Canadian junior national team, so it's hard to tell with him. But MacDonald made the jump directly and made an impact last year right away.
The most well-known I can immediately recall of a successful jump was by Drury when he went to the Avs a few years ago.
Would you care to give me a rundown on what I can expect from Kunitz? I don't follow college hockey much (we don't have many teams out here in California, lol...). What is his upside? His best skills? How soon do you think he can make an impact?
I know he's already invited to the September camp.
Chief Rum
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I only got to see him play a few times this year, but he impressed me with his overall game, when Ferris was on the powerplay against North Dakota, they used him on the point and he definitely was the guy UND focused on. Against the Gophers he scored 2 SH goals! That is tough to do against Minnesota. He got hurt in that game and came out twice to try to skate it out and continue play. He just seems like the kind of guy that refuses to lose, I love those kind of players myself.
Skills? Great speed, great ice vision and a definite playmaker.
Upside? With any guy you get without having to draft, I think that's a huge advantage, that is telling you, he is maturing late to fall under the NHL scouting radar and not be drafted. He is a winner, he took Ferris to the regular season CCHA title, and in a conference with Michigan and Michigan State, that is quite a achievement.
How soon of a impact? Hard to say, depends on where and how much he plays and if he takes advantage of that and gets some points. He doesn't have alot of size, he's more Kariya like, I'm sure you would enjoy another Kariya!
If you get a chance, watch the Frozen 4 games this week, I can guarantee you that you will see some guys that are going to end up in the NHL and be big time players.
For example, here are the players that are already drafte dand who owns there rights from Minnesota
PJ Atherton-Tampa Bay
Keith Ballard-Buffalo
Matt DeMarchi-New Jersey
Matt Koalska-Nashville
Joey Martin-Chicago
Paul Martin-New Jersey
Grant Potulny-Ottawa
Andy Sertich-Pittsburgh
Troy Riddle-St Louis
Barry Tallackson-New Jersey
and Thomas Vanek will be a first round choice this spring and probably will only play one more year of college hockey before playing in the NHL.