A Passage to Ottawa

The Ottawa 67's opened the season with a fresh face behind the bench - coach Chris Bryne. After over four decades behind the bench, Brian Kilrea, who holds every major junior coaching record stepped down to assume the GM duties. This year's edition of the 67's has not gotten off to a good start. There are several pieces in position for this team to repeat the regular season success it enjoyed last year including NHL-draft-eligible Ryan Martindale and Tyler Toffoli. The backend got stronger with the return of Minnesota Wild first rounder Tyler Cuma and the development of Hartwick and Ceci should help offset his inevitable departure.

McKeen's Director of Scouting David Burstyn has notes on several Ottawa 67's, including Minnesota Wild draft pick Tyler Cuma and several prospects vying to improve their NHL draft status.

Ryan Martindale (2009), C, Ottawa

Martindale missed the better part of last season battling through mono but still managed to put up impressive numbers with 23 goals and 24 assists in 53 games, which marked a 30-point improvement on his rookie campaign .. Martindale is on pace to shatter his career bests, as he has slick hands, great playmaking ability and a hair-trigger release in the slot .. more of a playmaker than a natural scorer, Martindale likes to finesse plays and make things look pretty .. he has a generous build to him but sadly, he does not use that to his advantage along the boards or in front .. he is not pushed around but he also does not battle for additional ice .. due to his size, his warts are exposed more and his lack of urgency is having an adverse effect on his NHL draft stock .. his skating is equipped with a nice elegant stride, as he swallows up the ice effortlessly .. he could afford to be quicker on his draws .. Martindale plays on the top line but surprisingly does not wear a letter .. his leadership skills are not in question, however he is not the type of person that will put a team on his back nor is he a 'rah-rah' type of guy .. Martindale unquestionably has first-round skills but not first-round desire.

Tyler Toffoli (2009), C, Ottawa

Has struggled out of the gate with only 1 goal through 10 games and has recently been battling a throat injury forcing him to miss a handful of games .. much more was expected of him and the loss of Cowick and Couture has certainly impacted his play .. playing on a line with Lindsay and Sointu, he has yet to establish chemistry .. is trying to do too much and as a result, his decisions with the puck are being forced and he routinely offers the puck away .. without the puck he is skating with little purpose .. he simply looks lost and not as offensively or defensively aware as he was last season .. as a centre he is not as creative and has been given additional defensive duties, which he has also not embraced .. he is capable of making clever plays but as a result of him having to carry the puck more often his puck protection skills have been exposed .. last year he would take and receive passes instantaneously but without a key passer he has been forced to do the work by himself .. the classic case of thinking too much in his draft year, the coaching staff has been patient with him and has awarded him plenty of icetime for him to 'work things out'.

Dalton Smith (2009), LW, Ottawa

Smith, in a short period of time has made himself endearing to both his linemates and more importantly the coaching staff, as he has been inserted on the top unit .. the perfect complementary/role player who readily fishes out loose pucks and hits bodies in the process .. his large, gangly frame helps him own the boards and his balance serves him well to settle down errant pucks along the wall and make a play .. his skating is his biggest setback .. better situated for the wing where his up-and-down game can be better utilized .. has quietly posted some decent numbers thus far with six goals through his first 13 games .. has developed rapidly and NHL teams will take notice, as he processes the game well for a big player .. while his skating is not considered strong at this point, he does play an old-school, pit-bull-type-of-game that NHL teams like.

Derek Hartwick (2009), D, Ottawa

A learning curve for Hartwick last year, he did himself a favour by adding 15 pounds of muscle in the off-season to better prepare himself .. in the process he improved (albeit slightly) his speed, although he still suffers from a lack of overall speed .. he is big and rigid in his movements and his lateral agility is simply ok .. defensively, he does well as he blocks shots and smothers guys down low .. his decisions with the puck are not often the best ones .. he does not see the ice well enough to be an offensive catalyst .. he has been experimented by playing forward .. has yet to find his niche and at this point is a fringe NHL pick.

Petr Mrazek (2009), G, Ottawa

The 67's have not been getting the type of goaltending they expected this season, as both Mrazek and Perugini have struggled .. Mrazek plays with very little style and is much more of a flopper than a traditional butterfly goalie .. he can guess well at times but his play is very unpredictable .. shooters have a difficult time reading his actions because even he does not know where he is going to be .. reads plays well but has a tendency to make easy saves look more difficult than they need to be .. he is a reflex goalie who can and will overplay his shots .. since he distributes his weight on his edges he cannot always close his five-hole, making him an easy target .. handles the puck ok .. can let in a few soft goals and tends to beat himself up over it .. he needs to get a better handle on his mental composure and settle down after a bad goal .. jury is still out on him to perform, however goalies traditionally take longer to develop .. his change of scenery too in another league should also be weighted when evaluating him.

Tyler Cuma (Min), D, Ottawa

Missed the majority of last season (21-1-8-9) following a knee injury which essentially set him back a year of development .. a virtual shoe-in for the WJC this season should he remain healthy .. returns to an Ottawa team where he assumes a bulk of the playing time and as a result is forced to do too much .. he can make several defensive lapses in a game .. his sheer skill set is superior to that of his peers therefore his game is not completely exposed at this level .. he has been partnered with Birkoff this season and since his skill set is not the greatest it has only added to his responsibilities .. he threw the puck away constantly during a recent game and appeared to be visibly frustrated .. he is a character player and will find a way to persevere, nonetheless the 67's losing record is having an adverse effect on his overall game .. playing with a high level of competition in December for the WJC could rejuvenate him.

Cody Ceci (2011), D, Ottawa

Ceci returns to the Ottawa area after being selected in the first round by the 67's .. originally an Ottawa native, Ceci spent the past two seasons attending a private school in Peterborough and although he had hoped the Petes would draft him, he was equally excited when the 67's chose him .. an offensively charged defenseman, he scored 24 goals last season due to his keen instincts in the offensive zone and booming pointshot .. so far, he has been given opportunity on the PP but has yet to register the points .. pushes for offence far too much and is slowly learning to pick his spots better .. he can over commit and loses his man in the neutral zone .. these are coachable, however his skating needs to improve going backwards so these gaffes do not result in odd man breaks the other way .. his skating is not crisp or polished and it is an area of his game he will need to clean up .. defensively, due to his penchant for leaving the zone early he struggles .. he also underestimates players, as he does not know their tendencies yet .. Ceci should be given time and patience to mature into a good option for the 67's .. having an opportunity to play against his peers at the U17 should help his overall confidence in the second half of the season .. he is the youngest player in the league with a December 21st birth date.