Monday practice update

The prospects are off the ice right now for mid-practice resurfacing, so here’s a quick update…

I’ve been focusing on the defensemen, largely because there have been a lot of odd-man rushes in practice and it’s harder to get a real feel for forwards when there’s that much open ice. The defensemen have been under some pressure but are holding up well.

Jake Muzzin looks the most impressive to me. His size and skating are solid, but what sets him apart is his stick work. As the defenseman in 2-on-1 drills, he has a lot of control, and even when he doesn’t get a deflection on the puck, he’s often able to use his stick to influence the direction of the forwards. His first pass probably isn’t as sharp as some of the other defensemen.

Thomas Hickey is very smooth and composed in everything he does. He’s not as physical as some, but his positioning is strong and he makes a good first pass.

Johan Fransson showed great offensive instincts and was aggressive defending the odd-man rushes, as he took a few chhances that sometimes worked out. Nicolas Deslauriers and David Kolomatis had their moments as well but were probably a little more tentative physically than others. Those are the ones who jumped out at me…

Rules for Blog Commenting

  • No profanity, slurs or other offensive language. Replacing letters with symbols does not turn expletives into non-expletives.
  • Personal attacks against other blog commenters, and/or blatant attempts to antagonize other comments, are not tolerated. Respectful disagreement is encouraged. Posts that continually express the same singular opinion will be deleted.
  • Comments that incite political, religious or similar debates will be deleted.
  • Please do not discuss, or post links to websites that illegally stream NHL games.
  • Posting under multiple user names is not allowed. Do not type in all caps. All violations are subject to comment deletion and/or banning of commenters, per the discretion of the blog administrator.

Repeated violations of the blog rules will result in site bans, commensurate with the nature and number of offenses.

Please flag any comments that violate the site rules for moderation. For immediate problems regarding problematic posts, please email zdooley@lakings.com.