Dynamic Forwards Dominate in Des Moines

The Des Moines Buccaneers were a bit below .500 at the halfway point of the 2009-10 season with a 12-17-1 record, but they're competitive for a change, thanks in large part to some dynamic talent a forward. The Bucs had a USHL fourth-most 110 goals after 30 games, thanks to the offensive exploits of such players as T.J. Tynan, Ryan Walters, Connor Brickley, and Yasin Cisse. Tynan was one of the leading scorers in the USHL at midway with 42 points, Walters had established himself as one of the top all-around forwards after picking up his game after Thanksgiving, Brickley was providing a significant physical edge and leading the team in goal scoring, and Cisse had established himself as one of the most dangerous power forwards in the USHL before suffering a season-ending injury December 5. Even with Cisse going down, though, J.P. Burkemper was getting back on track after missing the first quarter of the season injured and establishing himself as one of the most effective power forwards in the league in the New Year. Add veterans H.T. Lenz and Chris Stafne into the mix, and Des Moines has one of the most dangerous, dynamic offensive attacks in the league.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey was able to catch the Des Moines Buccaneers over a dozen times in the first half of the season and enters notes on the 2010-eligible T.J. Tynan, Ryan Walters, Connor Brickley, Yasin Cisse, J.P. Burkemper, and a couple other forwards on Des Moines' dangerous attack.

Connor Brickley (2010), LW, Des Moines

Great package of speed, skill, and physicality .. has excellent speed with the puck and can beat opponents wide or split the defense .. his effort is usually good, but there are times when he takes it to a different level offensively and he takes the game on his back and drives the net with authority using his speed and with sheer will power and scores .. is fairly agile, as he can make quick stops and starts or nice cuts at speed to evade checkers or separate from opponents in tight spaces .. able to build a lot of speed in his crossovers .. his assist total doesn't reflect it fully, but he has nice offensive vision and catches teammates with pinpoint passes off the half boards .. makes hard, crisp, accurate passes and can make nice one-touch passes, too .. creates chances with rebound opportunities created from him driving the net .. a good stickhandler who can make some exceptionally quick moves, handle it in tight quarters, and protect it along the boards .. has a hard wristshot and a hard slapshot, as well as a heavy one-timer .. plays a physical game .. offensively, he'll go through the gauntlet and fend off whomever he has to fend off, but he's a terror on the forecheck .. he's not playing with the extreme physicality he did at the Battle of Iowa (impossible to maintain an entire season), but he comes crashing in on the forecheck and rocks opposing defensemen along the boards often .. he's also a threat for the open-ice hit and to make the hit from the side on the backcheck .. a fair percentage of his hits on the forecheck result in gaining possession of the puck, too .. not hard to imagine Brickley on an NHL third line/checking line someday and capable of filling in on a higher line .. as the season has worn on, his shift-to-shift and game-to-game consistency has gone down a little bit, but he doesn't play poorly .. given how Brickley can contribute in all facets of the game, he is a likely candidate for selection in the second half of the second round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft at this point, but his season hasn't been a steady upward climb like first-rounder Louis Leblanc from last year .. committed to Vermont .. as of halfway point, he had 13 goals and 11 assists in 26 games .. played for Team USA at the World Junior A Challenge and scored 1 goal in 5 games .. had a five-point (3-2) game Nov. 19 against Fargo .. had a four-point (1-3) game Nov. 13 vs. Lincoln .. had a three-point (2-1) game Nov. 28 vs. USA U-17.

2010 Draft Grade: A- (Second round)

Yasin Cisse (2010), RW, Des Moines

Was establishing himself as one of the USHL's top goal scorers prior to suffering a season-ending ankle injury Dec. 5 against Cedar Rapids .. was battling for the puck and was basically stomped on the ankle, which sliced and broke it .. still needs to make significant improvements to his skating .. Cisse's skating doesn't effect his results at the USHL too much, but he must improve it to be an NHLer and the player he can be .. sort of an upright skater in that he doesn't have a lot of knee bend, but his torso is leaned forward so far it's hard to classify him as upright most of the time .. has a narrow stance forward and when standing and he has very little knee bend in his turns, relying more on ankle bend and hip angle/rotation .. with his skating, it's impossible for him to adjust as quickly on the forecheck as a superior skater can .. despite all of the technical flaws in his skating, he can actually build some impressive speed, including with the puck ..able to fire a hard slapper in stride despite his skating woes .. also has a strong wristshot, but most of his goals come from in close .. when someone was being set up at the far post, almost inevitably it was Cisse scoring the goal, and he has a natural touch around the net .. is so often in the right place at the right time for rebound goals at the side of the net, further demonstrating his sense around the net .. able to make crisp passes and one-touch passes, but he's often the finisher .. also, despite his skating deficiencies, he can play a bone-crushing physical game .. good for at least one big hit per game, be it coming across the neutral zone or in the open ice .. finishes his checks on the forecheck and puts in a good effort on the backcheck .. also engages physically going for the puck and manages to establish position for the puck despite a stance that you'd think would give him terrible balance .. one problem with Cisse, though, is that he appears to be a bit fragile .. part of this comes down to a foot condition he has that he could have had surgery on over the summer that would have kept him out of action until after Christmas .. if he is indeed out for the year, perhaps he also gets this condition fixed, too .. with Cisse, there is a lot of potential, especially if he can fix his foot condition, get his ankle back to 100 percent, and then do some significant work with a power skating coach .. if Cisse fixes his skating, which would take a lot, he could become similar to Jarome Iginla, maybe a poor man's Iginla, but still some similarities .. hard to believe not one NHL team will think they can fix Cisse's skating and not take him in an early round .. committed to Boston University .. as of the halfway point, he had 13 goals and 6 assists in 18 games, still good for the team lead in goals over a month after his injury.

2010 Draft Grade: A-/B+(late second, early third round)

T.J. Tynan (2010), C, Des Moines

Point-producing machine whose offensive awareness rivals Jaden Schwartz's of Tri-City .. deadly on the powerplay, but also a distinct threat at even strength .. a heads-up stickhandler who has excellent offensive vision and great patience and presence with the puck .. does a great job of taking looks before he gets the puck or taking some looks before a passed puck comes to him, and then receiving it with ease .. dangerous with centering passes and always seems to find the man at the far post or the well-timed trailer .. has very nice speed and excellent quickness, too .. his agility allows him to make plays in very tight spaces .. brings old hockey fans back using Gretzky circles, although Tynan can make his very tight, or bringing the Denis Savard spin-o-rama back .. shot has become more authoritative over the course of the season and he's firing some hard wristshots these days .. has quick hands and is adept at bringing it into his body with toe drags and sometimes pulls off some amazing unnamed moves to undress opposing defensemen .. shields the puck well despite his size, thanks to his hands, agility, and awareness .. started the season a little leery of the physical game, but that was over after the preseason and he now engages physically going for the puck and finishes his checks .. can launch into his checks and levels opponents now and again .. now playing a fairly fearless game, but not in a reckless way that will get himself injured .. doesn't ignore the defensive game, as he forechecks and backchecks and sees some time on the penalty kill, but the offensive game is what makes him special .. played almost all of the first half with Connor Brickley and H.T. Lenz, but the lines were being shuffled at the halfway point .. may be small at 5-foot-7.5, 165 pounds, but Nathan Gerbe is in the NHL and he's 5-foot-5, and everyone knows about Martin St. Louis .. no way nobody pulls the trigger on Tynan come draft day .. committed to Notre Dame .. as of the halfway point, he had 10 goals and 32 assists in 30 games, tops in Des Moines scoring by 10 points and putting him in the top five in league scoring .. had a five-point game (0-5) against Fargo Nov. 19 .. had a four-point game (2-2) against Cedar Rapids Oct. 3 and again against Tri-City Nov. 7 .. has had five three-point games, all prior to December.

2010 Draft Grade: C (seventh round)

Ryan Walters (2010), LW, Des Moines

Has taken the next step in his game and has eliminated all criticisms from the preseason and is now one of the most complete forwards in the USHL .. no longer avoids driving the net and making ill-advised centering passes from behind the net and is instead driving the net or buying his teammates even more time .. has very good cruising speed with the puck and can drive wide or power to the net .. able to make some nice cuts at speed and can get well out on his edges .. acceleration and speed bursts at cruising speed give him good separation and makes him difficult to catch on breakaways .. upgraded speed and power makes him an even bigger threat early on the backcheck than last season .. strips a lot of opponents early on the backcheck and quickly transitions Bucs to offensive chances .. offensive vision has put him at the point on the first powerplay unit and along the half boards as a playmaker .. makes hard, crisp, accurate passes set up in the zone on the powerplay and also on the attack .. few USHL forwards can make hard, accurate passes on the attack as well as Walters or make a hard, accurate pass after a turnover as well .. able to execute quick, smooth give-and-go's .. combination of speed and ability to stickhandle wide allows him to protect the puck well and is now actively going into traffic areas and emerging successfully .. has a hard, crisp wristshot .. also has a hard slapshot, although he doesn't use it a lot .. playing an effective physical game .. engages physically to get the puck and with the puck .. laying down some hard hits along the boards this year and separated Matt Van Voorhis' shoulder with a thundering check .. able to thrust opponents off the puck with hits on the forecheck .. a regular on the penalty kill, too .. will drop the gloves as well .. started playing a genuine physical game both with and without the puck after Thanksgiving and went on a 10-game scoring streak (5-11) and was on another scoring streak at time this report was submitted .. now a rarity for Walters not to be on the score sheet .. has graduated to the type of player that could come into the AHL after college as a third-liner and not have to be a top-six forward .. playing a very strong all-around game now and is very worthy of consideration in his second year of draft eligibility and is a better all-around player than seventh-round pick Mike Cichy was last season .. committed to Minnesota .. as of the halfway point, he had 11 goals and 21 assists in 30 games, second in Des Moines scoring.

2010 Draft Grade: C- (possible pick)

James Burkemper (2010), LW, Des Moines

Needlessly missed the first six weeks of the regular season due to a badly broken finger suffered in a fight at the Fall Classic, and the points didn't start coming until mid-December .. however, as the halfway point approached, Burkemper was becoming the impressive power forward he has the potential to be .. much stronger on the puck now and will use his speed and inertia (6-foot-2.5, 189 pounds) to drive wide and off the half boards almost at will .. displaying some pro-caliber drives to the net that USHL opponents cannot handle .. able to split the defense now, too .. lays down some impressive speed bursts and can build significant top speed to blow past opponents .. has strong first-step quickness now .. puck protection is much-improved, as he always had the reach and the ability to swivel and shield the puck, but now he's losing the handle far less often .. able to make some quick stickhandling maneuvers .. has a hard wristshot and a decent snapshot .. plays a physical game on the forecheck and can do so with some force .. playing a good defensive game, too, and is seeing regular time on the penalty kill .. a threat on the backcheck to strip opponents or play the body .. was starting to see some much-deserved time on the powerplay as the halfway point approached .. decent odds Burkemper averages close to a point per game the second half of the season, as he's now one of the best power forwards in the USHL .. a sleeper at this point but should become a legitimate possibility for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft if he keeps this up, and there's no apparent reason he shouldn't .. committed to Minnesota State .. as of the halfway point, he had 2 goals and 3 assists in 15 games after going without a point in his first 8 games of the season.

2010 Draft Grade: D+ (Long shot)

Dan O'Donoghue (2010), C, Des Moines

Important defensive center for Des Moines, but selection in 2010 Draft is an extreme long shot .. has good cruising speed without the puck and decent speed with it .. sports a wide skating stride .. good hustle on the forecheck and backcheck and will employ fairly quick stops and starts .. at his best when he's playing a physical game making some big hits .. able to thrust into his hits .. can play a bit of a power game down low using his 6-foot-2.5, 183-pound frame .. willing to battle down low in both zones .. able to stiff-arm the opposition and handle the puck wide .. displays a little dangle now and then .. sees time on the penalty kill and semi-regular time at even strength as the fourth-line center .. fourth-liners in their second year of draft eligibility aren't selected in the NHL Entry .. slated to go to college in 2010-11, but would really like to see O'Donoghue return and play a larger role in the USHL before moving on .. committed to Mercyhurst .. as of the halfway point, he had 4 goals and 2 assists in 30 games.

2010 Draft Grade: D (Extreme long shot)

DJ Vandercook (2010), RW, Des Moines

Became more of a fourth-liner when Yasin Cisse re-joined the lineup and is still one with Cisse out of the lineup, as Jack Berger has made the jump into the top nine .. has decent speed with the puck, but his confidence with the puck seemed to decrease as his icetime decreased, too .. acceleration is awkward at times .. needs to make sure he truly extends his stride out at angle and not just back .. nice hustle on the forecheck and engages physically going into the corners for the puck .. able to use his 6-foot-3, 196-pound frame to establish position for the puck .. has a hard, crisp wristshot .. at the beginning of the season, would have predicted that Vandercook would get Cisse's spot if he became injured, but teammates like Berger and Mitch Cain have raised their games more .. an extreme long shot to be selected in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, his second and final year of eligibility as a late-1990 .. no college commitment of yet .. as of the halfway point, he had 2 goals and 6 assists in 30 games.

2010 Draft Grade: D (Extreme long shot)

Note:

Des Moines acquired winger Tyler Lapic from the Omaha Lancers Dec. 28 in exchange for veteran defenseman Austin Handley. Lapic, rated by CSS for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, will provide needed depth at forward with Cisse out and really solidify the team's fourth line, with the potential to play his way onto the third line. At this point, Lapic is an extreme long shot to be selected in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.