Bitetto Making a Push in Indy

Defenseman Anthony Bitetto has never been a hyped prospect, but he's flying under the radar no more after a strong 2009-10 season. Bitetto was so far under the radar in his draft year (2007-08) that he started the season playing junior B hockey with the New York Apple Core in the Empire Junior Hockey League before moving up to the club's junior A team in the Eastern Junior Hockey League. He became a small blip in 2008-09 after jumping from the Apple Core to the USHL's Indiana Ice, where the physical presence he immediately provided proved important in the team with the 2009 Clark Cup over the Fargo Force. This season though, Bitetto has jumped from 1 goal and 3 assists in 24 games with Indiana to one of the USHL's top all-around defensemen. As of mid-March, Bitetto, one of Indiana's captains, was second in USHL defenseman scoring behind Cedar Rapids' Bryce Aneloski, and the offensive production hadn't come at much if any, detriment to his defensive and physical games. In fact, Bitetto has played such a solid overall game in 2009-10, he's making a strong push to be named to the All-USHL Second Team at the end of the season. Whether that happens and whether that's enough for Bitetto to be selected in his third year of NHL Draft eligibility like former USHL blueliners Matt Bartkowski and Michael Sdao is yet to be seen. But if not, if he continues the steady development in the future with Northeastern University that he's shown in the past few years since being named a CHA Premier (junior C) All-Star in 2006, a two-way NHL contract as a free agent certainly wouldn't be out of the question.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey had the opportunity to catch the Indiana Ice in action twice in March and enters notes on defensemen Anthony Bitetto, Nick Mattson, Adam Phillips, and Alexander Kuqali, as well as ace netminder Cab Morris.

Anthony Bitetto (2010), D, Indiana

Has really stepped up his offensive game in his second season in the USHL .. displays some patience and poise with the puck .. able to evade checks down low in his defensive zone as well as at the point .. his poise at the point leads to a lot of offensive chances .. comfortable with long touches of the puck, but can get a little too fancy and get stripped trying to make things happen .. able to build good speed with the puck .. also shows some playmaking from the half boards, both on the attack and in the umbrella on the powerplay .. shows some creativity with the puck from time to time, such as well-timed, behind-the-back passes to trailing forwards .. able to make very hard, crisp passes .. stood out last season for his physical game, and still brings that to the table .. able to angle his man to the boards and will rub him out .. still stands up opponents in the open ice near the blueline .. also a threat to level opponents on the backcheck, if that's the situation he's in .. deceptive speed becomes apparent on some of the opponents he can stay with on the backcheck .. has good size at 6-foot-2, 210 pounds .. solid contributor offensively, defensively, and physically .. probably a long shot for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, his third year of eligibility, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see him sign a two-way NHL contract someday before all is said and done .. committed to Northeastern .. as of March 15 he had 11 goals and 29 assists in 51 games .. was second in USHL defenseman scoring behind Cedar Rapids' Bryce Aneloski .. a strong contender to be on the All-USHL Second Team (Nick Jensen and Bryce Aneloski being the deserving recipients of All-USHL First Team).

Nick Mattson (2010), D, Indiana

Basically the same Mattson as in previous viewings this season, although is concentrating on his defensive game a little more .. skating is his strong suit .. smooth skater who can get well out on his edges in his turns .. able to execute tight turns to spin away form forecheckers .. makes crisp, accurate passes and can connect on long-distance passes .. has a crisp wristshot from the point .. also has hard slapper and a decent one-timer .. heads-up stickhandler who can assess his options .. is good at transitioning the puck .. able to lay down some nice moves with the puck .. has smooth acceleration backward and maintains a wide base and doesn't rely on crossovers for his speed backward .. engages physically in the neutral zone or near the blueline more .. an adept stick checker .. to maintain the comparison from the previous report on Mattson, still isn't as good as Nick Jensen was at this time during Jensen's draft year .. would personally consider Mattson more of a late-round pick (sixth or seventh round), but his exploits with the USNTDP could keep him higher in the eyes of some scouts .. committed to North Dakota (2010) .. as of March 15 he had 5 goals and 11 assists in 44 games .. played for Team East in the USHL All-Star Game .. missed the first couple weeks after the winter break due to a broken face.

Adam Phillips (2010), D, Indiana

Still an intriguing package of size and skill .. former forward still has a ways to go in learning the defensive game .. gets beaten wide a lot because he backs in too often instead of angling his man to the boards and rubbing him out .. is a bit upright backwards .. needs to reduce the number of steps he takes in his pivots .. would like to see him play a more physical game, because he is capable of standing up opponents .. goes for stick checks, but oftentimes doesn't back it up with the body .. does do a good job of pinning opponents along the boards .. days at forward show in his transition game .. makes hard, crisp, smooth transition passes and can do so quickly .. displays some poise at the point and can feed teammates down low .. a long shot for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, his third year of draft eligibility .. but, it's quite possible Phillips has a two-way NHL contract someday .. his combination of stick skills, size, and skating ability for that size are attractive, he can learn defense over time, and his skating could really become something when he fills out his 6-foot-6, 184-pound frame .. no college commitment of yet .. as of March 15 he had 1 goal and 10 assists in 40 games.

Alexander Kuqali (2010), D, Indiana

Limited viewing, as he was a scratch for one of the two games .. 6-foot-2, 225-pound frame draws interest, but he still has a ways to go .. is beaten wide too easily, even by opponents with average speed by USHL standards .. can step up for some hard shoulder checks that level his opponent .. needs to make crisper passes, as they can pop up a bit early on his breakout passes .. able to fire a hard one-timer, but no guarantee that's what he gets off .. started taking notes on Kuqali because of his size, but his chances for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, his second year of draft eligibility, are nearly none .. no college commitment of yet .. as of March 15 he had 7 assists in 40 games.

Cab Morris (2010), G, Indiana

Still one of the top goalies in the USHL in 2009-10 .. lateral movement has improved a bit in that he no longer adds the twisting motion when sliding one way, then getting up, and going back across on his skates .. is also looking better pushing off with one leg and sliding across his crease .. able to go down and up quickly .. able to get across his crease quickly on his skates .. maintains a compact butterfly .. big goalie (6-foot-3, 196 pounds) with a strong athletic base .. able to spread out to make big saves on dangerous second and third shots when necessary .. also has good extension on his kick saves .. communicates with his defensemen to help them break the puck out .. able to get behind the net quickly to stop wrapped pucks .. able to wrap the puck up the boards adequately, but not real hard .. displays good poise in his net, standing tall and not backing into his net on breakaways .. glove hand was weak in this viewing (Casey DeSmith played the other viewing), as he was fighting the puck and having the puck go off his glove (didn't result in any goals, though) .. rebound control overall during this viewing was a little shaky, although the opponent was doing a good job of getting people in front of him .. possible pick for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, because he has good size and a decent set of tools to work with .. committed to Dartmouth (2011) .. as of March 15 he had played 1833:27 min in over 33 games .. had a 20-10-1 record, 3 shutouts a 2.39 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage .. second in the USHL in save percentage, third in the league in shutouts, and fifth in the league in goals-against average and wins .. named to play for Team East in the USHL All-Star Game, but sat out to rest a healing groin injury.