Prospects GDT 9-6-19: NJ Devils Vs Sabres 7:00 PM

[LTS]

14 hours ago, pi2000 said:

How was Cozens vision and awareness?  Did he skate into traffic with the puck?

What i noticed about Cozens is that he uses his size when he gets into traffic.  He'll expand his frame out and rather than striding will begin using his hips to swivel while keeping his skates on the ice.  With his legs further apart and his arms opened up he uses his size to keep the puck away from defenders.  

4 hours ago, ... said:

Damn, all I said was he reminded me of Thompson out there and didn't do anything impressive.  Olofsson, Pekar, they impressed me.  FWIW, I wasn't terribly impressed with Hughes, either.

LGR, if you're going to try and pin the low IQ thing on me, then you're jumping the gun, generalizing, and haven't done your homework.  I'm pretty sure when people do that to you, it bothers the piss out of you.  There are countless forum tantrums to back up that observation.  Perhaps you should apply that hard-earned recognition and respect to your fellow forum-dwellers.

Cozens' offensive zone maneuvering looked exactly like Thompson's to me in last nights game - a guy who wants to drive it to the net but lacked the ability to finish the execution.   

Thompson does not use his size as well as Cozens.  Thompson is big but he plays very vertical.  He can shield people off but he's easy to knock around.  Cozens ability to widen up and then pull up vertical was very noticeable in comparison.  It's what a top level player should be doing. 

[Thorner]

3 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

I think Sizzle is right in that Thompson's positives are of the same nature as Cozens, when they're in the appropriate setting for those things to show through (ie Tage in this thing, not Tage in NHL).

I think duda/liger are right that Cozens is fundamentally different from Thompson in between the ears when it comes to hockey. 

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I thought of another way to phrase what I think Cozens needs to work at developing - does anyone remember Evgeny Artyukhin? That guy could skate faster than anyone in the NHL, practically. He has some end-to-end highlights that look like McJesus. But he was successful at that far less often than McJesus, because he had relatively stone hands, and his puck control was sorely lacking. It was usually a trivial matter to separate him from the puck, often with a simple attempted poke check or just getting a slight shoulder on him to nudge him a bit - he'd muff the stickhandle and the puck would skitter away. McDavid is impossible to separate from the puck - the speed at which he stickhandles, the control and forearm strength he has at all angles relative to his squared shoulders, all make it so hard to strip the puck from him. Cozens' rushes are more on the Artyukhin end of the scale right now because he kinda pokes the puck along with him, rather than maintaining full control. Sometimes he barely stickhandles at all while doing it.

The differences between Cozens and Artyukhin - Cozens has more skill in general, being a top 10 pick. Cozens is in his teens with lots of prime development years left. And Cozens is playing hockey in an era hyper-focused on stickhandling skills. He'll get there.

Is Thompson known for his blazing speed?

I don't really see much of a comparison in style aside from both being bigger bodies and therefore having longer sticks. Cozens plays a driving, speed game, Thompson is all about the dangles and perimeter play. Cozens is balanced between shooting and passing and Thompson is a shoot first guy. 

Edited September 7, 2019 by Thorny

[Randall Flagg]

49 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Is Thompson known for his blazing speed?

I don't really see much of a comparison in style aside from both being bigger bodies and therefore having longer sticks. Cozens plays a driving, speed game, Thompson is all about the dangles and perimeter play. Cozens is balanced between shooting and passing and Thompson is a shoot first guy. 

I wouldn't use "blazing speed" to describe Cozens' skating yesterday. It's very strong, with impressive edges, but he's not super fast.

What I mean is, the things that looked good for Dylan in the game yesterday looked similarly good from Tage in the tournament last year. They were both tall, lanky, better skaters than those surrounding them, and interested in carrying the puck down the ice the same way, with displays of a hard wrist shot from each.

[Thorner]

36 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

I wouldn't use "blazing speed" to describe Cozens' skating yesterday. It's very strong, with impressive edges, but he's not super fast.

What I mean is, the things that looked good for Dylan in the game yesterday looked similarly good from Tage in the tournament last year. They were both tall, lanky, better skaters than those surrounding them, and interested in carrying the puck down the ice the same way, with displays of a hard wrist shot from each.

That’s fair. But there’s a definite speed element to Cozens’ game that is not present in a similar way with Thompson. He’s pretty darn fast, if not “super” fast, to use your word. I just think that’s one notable difference between the two. 

https://dobberprospects.com/player/tage-thompson/

That Thompson needs to improve his skating and speed is a common refrain in scouting reports whereas with Cozens it’s undoubtedly seen as a strength. At least personally my eye test seemed to line up with that, watching the two play. 

https://dobberprospects.com/player/dylan-cozens/

With Cozens you hear more things like “fast”, “good speed”, and “flies up and down the ice”.

Edited September 7, 2019 by Thorny

[MakeSabresGrr8Again]

I think people are putting to much into his stick handling abilities not being up to snuff. He is coming off a hand injury and may not be 100%. I still think he will impress at training camp and out-shine the Mitts.

[Taro T]

6 hours ago, MakeSabresGrr8Again said:

I think people are putting to much into his stick handling abilities not being up to snuff. He is coming off a hand injury and may not be 100%. I still think he will impress at training camp and out-shine the Mitts.

Agree that the thumb injury affects his hands.

Doubt he'll outshine Mittelstadt. If he does, they're solid through 3C's.  But expect he is back in the WHL about 6 games (at most) into October.

[DarthEbriate]

On 9/8/2019 at 7:07 AM, Let's Go B-Lo said:

Exhaust port design...

Forward-only views on my fighters (like, I basically just yell "What!" all the time because I can't see anything...    Lack of handrails...   Insolent children...