AHL: D-Prospects Play in Peoria

"Will it play in Peoria?"

This has been the question asked by numerous companies over the years when they chose Peoria, Illinois, to be the test market for their new product, because if it "played" in Peoria, it would likely do so nationally, too. So large multi-national companies test products in Peoria, so too do the St. Louis Blues with their prospects, and in 2008-09 that was particularly true for defensemen Steve Wagner and Jonas Junland. Wagner, who played 24 games for St. Louis in 2007-08, impressed with his mobility and solid two-way game while the younger Junland displayed the prowess to become an offensive force for the Blues one day. The Dallas Stars also assigned a handful of prospect to Peoria in 2008-09 to test their wares, and defenseman Ivan Vishnevsky acquitted himself fairly well in his rookie-pro season, proving he "played" in the AHL and earning an NHL recall late in the season.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey had the opportunity to see the Peoria Rivermen in action three times in 2008-09 and enters notes on several players. Defensemen Steve Wagner (pictured), Jonas Junland and Dallas Stars prospect Ivan Vishnevskiy are featured, along with a few other St. Louis prospects.

Steve Wagner (StL), D, Peoria

Peoria's number one defenseman .. smooth backwards, keeps a wide base, no crossovers and angles opponents well .. lets gaps shrink by the blueline and will engage physically, typically angling them to the boards to rub them out .. decent hip checker .. strong mobility backwards to stick with weaves and agile opponents .. powerful strides forwards .. gets a bit upright in initial acceleration with the puck, but then gets down low with long, powerful strides .. good lateral mobility at the point with quick feet .. has a hard shot from the point .. also has a crisp wristshot from the point .. makes crisp, accurate passes and can break the puck out well with short passes or longer passes to spring opponents .. also an adept one-touch passer .. plays on both the powerplay and the penalty kill .. appeared stronger defensively in 2008-09 than in 2007-08, despite his minus-10 rating in the regular season .. has the size at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds .. 25-year-old worthy of a full-time NHL spot somewhere .. to end the AHL regular season, he had 6 goals and 16 assists in 47 games .. for St. Louis had 2 goals and 2 assists in 22 games.

Jonas Junland (StL), D, Peoria

Budding Swedish version of Sandis Ozolinsh .. regularly joins the attack, pinching deep or skating the puck to or around the net himself .. poised with the puck .. stays calm when pressured at the point or when breaking the puck out .. makes crisp, accurate short passes on the breakout but also a threat to connect on the long pass .. also able to make a hard backhand pass .. has good offensive vision to spot teammates through traffic and connect on the pass .. can also finesse soft passes .. a regular on the powerplay .. defensive game needs significant work .. not particularly intense defensively .. lets his gaps shrink, but is not in a stance to explode if needed .. loses defensive positioning too often, even if he does engage physically with a shove .. regularly beaten in physical battles along the boards down low .. at 6-foot-2, 198 pounds, he does have the frame to work with for NHL purposes .. 21-year-old says he's interested in playing a two-game, but need to see some defensive intensity similar to Wagner's .. put up good numbers through January, but offensive production trailed off thereafter .. suffered a separated shoulder in Blues camp and missed most of October .. to end the AHL regular season, he had 13 goals and 18 assists in 70 games for Peoria .. played 1 game for St. Louis, tallying no points .. played for PlanetUSA in the AHL All-Star game.

Ivan Vishnevsky (Dal), D, Peoria

Dallas "d" prospect a budding offensive weapon from the blueline .. has a hard slapshot from the point that he keeps low .. slapper has a smooth wind-up and can get off a hard shot with almost no wind-up .. also has a hard, crisp wristshot from the point .. smooth operator at the point with his fluid skating and agility to evade checkers .. quick feet walking the blueline, but smooth .. able to make very hard, crisp passes or feather it .. adept saucer passer and one-touch passer .. like his hard shot, his hard passes seem to take little effort .. has nice cruising speed with the puck, the agility to evade checkers, and a little dangle to his stickhandling .. plays on the powerplay .. backwards acceleration isn't particularly powerful .. has good quickness forward to get to opponents and can also employ long, fairly powerful strides .. lets his gaps shrink and puts himself in the right position defensively at the blueline, but then the 6-foot-0, 180-pounder will often open up and start skating forward with the opponent instead of engaging physically .. will engage physically down low, but is only semi-successful in containing opponents .. 21-year-old needs to add more size to enable him to win more 50/50 battles and to give him more confidence to do so .. at the end of the AHL regular season, he had 6 goals and 13 assists in 19 games for Peoria .. played 3 games for Dallas in April and had 2 assists.

Nicholas Drazenovic (StL), C, Peoria

Second-year-pro's production dropped slightly in 2008-09, but he looks improved over 2007-08 .. gets involved down low in his defensive zone using his quickness and playing the body .. hustles to loose pucks in all zones .. has good stride extension racing for loose pucks or on the forecheck .. not an earth-shattering hitter, but does finish his checks .. engages physically going for the puck in the offensive zone .. strong stickhandling skills .. able to undress opponents with slick moves and a series of jukes .. has good cruising speed with the puck .. does a nice job drawing pucks off the boards and making crisp centering passes .. makes hard, crisp passes in general .. plays on the powerplay .. may top out as a top-six forward in the AHL, but 22-year-old does have some of the tools to become a third- or fourth-line center in the NHL .. at the end of the AHL regular season, he had 12 goals and 21 assists in 76 games, fourth in Peoria scoring.

Chris Porter (StL), LW, Peoria

Did not impress as much in 2008-09 as he did in 2007-08 .. still has decent cruising speed to be F1 on the forecheck, but hasn't been as relentless with the board-crashing hits he laid out regularly last season .. has good speed and size (6-foot-1, 210 pounds) to drive the net .. displayed a little creativity with give-and-goes and drop passes on way toward the net .. still has his hard shot skating in on the wing .. played on both the powerplay and the penalty kill .. offensive production took a hit in 2008-09, as he only scored 7 goals and 16 assists in 74 games for Peoria .. scored 12 goals and 25 assists in 80 games for Rivermen in 2007-08 .. played 6 games for St. Louis and scored 1 goal and 1 assist .. hope to see Porter return to the aggressively physical forechecking game he played in 2007-08 that made him look very viable as a future fourth-line NHLer.

Ryan Reaves (StL), RW, Peoria

To say Reaves' physical game sticks out would be an understatement .. has decent speed and finishes his checks with authority .. also a threat to make open-ice hits .. finishes his checks at the point .. puts in a good effort battling in front of goaltenders to try and get rebounds or at least create some chaos in the crease .. has decent speed with the puck and not uncommon for him to dump and chase and get it himself .. more than willing to stick up for teammates or for himself and drop the gloves .. 6-foot-2, 204-pounder does a good job tying up opposing fighters, even those in the heavyweight ranks .. sees some time on the penalty kill .. has the potential to be an energy-line or depth-forward in the NHL .. started the year injured and missed most of February (10 games) with a knee injury .. to end the AHL regular season, he had 8 goals and 9 assists in 57 games for Peoria.

Julian Talbot (StL), LW, Peoria

Signed an NHL contract with St. Louis March 19, 2008 after impressing in 2007-08 .. puts in a good effort on the forecheck and applies strong pressure .. threat to strip opponents of the puck on the forecheck and quickly transition it to an offensive chance .. finishes his checks, but not aggressively so .. patient with the puck and doesn't rush plays when pressured .. able to make crisp, accurate passes, but also has a knack for feathering saucer passes or other nicely-placed passes for prime scoring chances .. also a goal scoring threat with his quick, crisp wristshot, particularly over the goalie's shoulder .. slightly hunched over skating the puck, but has decent cruising speed with the puck .. a regular on the powerplay .. definitely strong AHL depth for the Blues, and won't be surprised if he gets a cup of coffee with Blues before contract expires after next season .. missed 10 games due to injury in late December and January and 4 games in mid-November .. to end the AHL regular season, he had 20 goals and 23 assists in 65 games, third in Peoria scoring.

Alexander Hellstrom (StL), D, Peoria

Second-year pro still a frequent scratch .. makes crisp, accurate breakout passes and generally makes the simple play .. can be pressured into bad passes, though .. keeps a fairly wide base backwards and stays low .. adjusts his angling with crossovers instead of the smooth angling of teammate Steve Wagner .. also backs in a fair amount and could engage physically earlier in the defensive zone .. has shown many of the tools over the past two seasons, but Hellstrom's icetime and development do not appear to be a priority to the St. Louis organization .. to end the AHL regular season, he had 0 goals and 1 assist in 40 games for Peoria .. had 0 goals and 3 assists in 9 games for Alaska of the ECHL.

Nikolai Lemtyugov (StL), LW, Peoria/Severstal Cherepovets

Skilled Russian's NHL rights still held by St. Louis, but left Peoria mid-season for Severstal Cherepovets of the KHL .. in lone 2008-09 viewing, flashed his stickhandling prowess as if the puck were glued to his stuck, but these displays along the boards and in the corners did not always accomplish a great deal .. has a smooth, hard shot .. gave away that he was going to shoot the puck by taking a quick look down before each shot .. made crisp, accurate passes .. played on the powerplay .. had 5 goals and 14 assists in 27 games with Peoria before leaving .. finished with 7 goals and 4 assists in 21 games for Cherepovets .. likely will not return to North America, as he signed a multi-year deal with Cherepovets.

Marek Schwarz (StL), G, Peoria/Alaska/Mlada Boleslav

Passed on the St. Louis organizational depth chart by Ben Bishop and Chris Holt and returned to the Czech Republic in January .. in lone 2008-09 viewing, displayed his well-known athleticism .. very good lateral quickness in the crease .. able to go down quickly .. displays excellent flexibility in kick-outs and creates very little five-hole when he does so .. will give the post a tap to find himself in the crease and re-adjust positioning .. quick glove .. can be a bit far back in his crease, which creates the danger that some shots can ricochet off him and still score .. in 10 games for Peoria, he played 523 minutes, earned a 4-4-0 record, a 3.56 G.AA, and a .868 save percentage .. played 5 games for Alaska of ECHL and earned a 2-2-1 record, a 3.15 G.AA, and a .904 save percentage .. appeared in 2 games for St. Louis and saved all 5 shots in 15:23 of action .. in 8 regular season games for Mlada Boleslav of the Czech Extraleague, he played 490 minutes and earned a 2-6-0 record, 1 shutout, a 3.67 G.AA average, and a .907 save percentage .. was the top goalie of the Czech Extraleague play downs, with a 6-5 record and one shutout in 11 games and a 1.78 G.AA and a .949 save percentage.