NHL Draft: Profiles 86-90
86. Juraj Valach D, Tri-City (WHL)
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87. Andrew Clark LW, Brandon (WHL)
Good puck-control skills.
He's good at slipping into open areas for one-timers. He put up
great numbers at the end of the regular season. Moves well with
the puck, low and wide, has a sleekness to his game, he senses
pressure well, displays good instincts as a playmaker and has
good hands. Always seems to do the right thing in the offensive
zone. Needs to improve his top speed. He senses the play well
and uses body and arm stick extension to buy time to keep
defenders away. He appears to be strong for his size.
88. Will Weber D, Gaylord High School (USHS)
A big, strapping defenceman
with superb offensive upside, Weber is expected to play in the
USHL next season, as he was selected first overall by the
Chicago Steel in the recent USHL draft. Several NHL teams
have already interviewed him. He's still very raw defensively and
his decision-making without the puck is the biggest drawback to
his game, as one scout noted recently: "Some times he'll angle
his man to the boards well before neutralizing him with a stiff
body check where he displays his impressive closing speed and
superior upper body strength, other times he'll get caught watching
the play and will allow his man to walk him to the outside."
89. Niclas Lucenius C, Tappara (Fin)
Lucenius is a fairly good
skater, with decent quickness and top speed, but not quite elite.
His biggest issue is in his technique, which is knock kneed. He
has a good set of raw tools, but his decision making needs work.
He could grow into a decent frame and isn't afraid of traffic areas,
not intimidating in his physical game though. Still, he's a character
kid that works hard. Lucenuis was a part of the Finnish silver
medal at last year's U18 WJC, where he made a decent impression
for being an underager. However, his progression since that
tournament has been underwhelming.
90. Damiano Ciaccio G, Fribourg (Sui)
Quick, athletic and strong on
his skates, Ciaccio shows nice form in all situations and is calm
taking shots. He has fast reactions, and has excellent quickness
moving around his crease, but he needs to work on his rebounding.
He can give up some easy ones at times. He uses some
paddle-down techniques, and his calmness really stands out. He
has very smooth lower-body movements, and is economical in
his approach. Ciacciao comes out to the top of crease to face
point shots and will swallow them up if he has clear sightlines.
He doesn't lose his shape after making initial saves and covers
most of the holes when he moves laterally from post-to-post. He
lets shooters make the first move.