Sioux City Fall Classic Part I

The Sioux City Musketeers, host of the Fall Classic each of the last three years, are no strangers to NHL scouts, not only because they host the most-scouted event in hockey (NHL scouts + college coaches = scouts ringing the concourse), but because they regularly have at least one NHL draft pick each season. For 2009, it was defenseman Seth Helgeson. For the 2008 Draft, it was winger Steve Quailer. In 2007, it was center Phil DeSimone, and some left wing named Max Pacioretty, whom you may have heard of. The "Muskies" produced no picks for the 2006 Draft, but the four taken in the 2005 Draft, including current Buffalo Sabres Chris Butler and Tim Kennedy, could easily be considered as an offset.

So, with past trends in mind, without even watching the team, one could assume the Musketeers will have at least one player from its 2009-10 roster selected in the 2010 Draft. After watching the team during the preseason, one would have to wonder how it could possibly be only one player. Sioux City doesn't have any Max Paciorettys this season, but goaltender William Yanakeff, defenseman Kevin Gravel, and right winger Andrew Sinelli all have a legitimate shot at selection in 2010.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey was able to catch the Sioux City Musketeers at both the Battle of Iowa (which Sioux City won) and the Fall Classic and enters notes on William Yanakeff, Kevin Gravel, and Andrew Sinelli, all prospects in their first year of NHL draft eligibility, and notes on a 15-year Czech prospect whose defensive game is so mature you'd swear he was born during the Original 21 Era.

Will Yanakeff (2010), G, Sioux City

Half of Sioux City's impressive platoon in net .. backstop-type-of-goalie .. stays square to the shot and typically takes the puck to the chest and allows no rebound .. 6-foot-3, 185-pound netminder keeps his butterfly compact and normally keeps his torso upright .. decent extension for kick saves and can make a splits save when needed .. lateral pad slides are only average in quickness .. could be quicker getting back up from the butterfly position .. is coming of a hip injury suffered last season, though .. makes crisp glove saves .. a little soft in moving the puck, doesn't move it with authority .. tends to use his height to track the puck instead of getting down low, although this can leave him out of the set position .. stays pretty calm in net, sometimes bordering on nonchalant .. a potential draft pick, but I like Matt Skoff, the other half of Sioux City's platoon more at this point .. committed to Michigan State .. played for the U.S. National Team Developmental Program in 2008-09 .. played 1421 minutes over 24 games for the Under-17 Team and went 16-5-3 with 4 shutouts, a 2.28 G.AA, and a .914 save percentage .. played 119:03 in 2 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic and went 1-1-0 with 0 shutouts, a 2.02 G.AA, and a .889 save percentage .. played 179:03 over 3 games for the entire preseason and went 2-1-0 with 0 shutouts, a 1.68 G.AA, and a .904 save percentage

Kevin Gravel (2010), D, Sioux City

Big defenseman shows some promise, but still faces a definite adjustment to the USHL .. a fairly upright skater both forward and backward .. a bit upright laterally, but demonstrates good lateral quickness with and without the puck .. able to execute smooth switchbacks with the puck to evade forecheckers .. gets into trouble when he doesn't keep a short defensive gap and/or backs in .. will step up to make some hits, but was sidestepped on a couple occasions .. passing game needs a little work .. able to make crisp, hard breakout passes, but missed his target too often or passed to nobody on occasion .. was stripped of the puck too often and had some bad giveaways .. has a hard slapshot from the point .. will join the attack if he's one of the first three in a position to do so .. 6-foot-4, 175-pound defenseman needs to grow into his body and add lower body strength to improve his skating and to add speed .. has the potential to become a good two-way defenseman and is a potential late-round pick if he successfully adjusts to the USHL in his rookie year .. committed to St. Cloud State .. played for the Marquette Rangers of the NAHL in 2008-09 and scored 3 goals and 11 assists in 58 games .. also played 3 games for the U.S. National Team Developmental Program's Under-17 team in 2008-09 and had 1 assist .. played for Team USA's Under-18 Select Team at the 2009 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament .. went without a point in 3 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic .. went without a point in 5 games for the entire preseason.

Andrew Sinelli (2010), RW, Sioux City

Impressive preseason for two-way forward .. has a fairly long stride and good speed .. possesses an extra gear for speed bursts on the forecheck, backcheck, or in races for the puck .. has strong offensive vision and is a playmaker off the half boards .. has patience with the puck and won't force an ill-advised pass off the half boards .. able to set up teammates for great chances out front and connects on long-distance passes to spring teammates .. shifty with the puck and is able to protect the puck well with wide stickhandling and by positioning his body properly .. every shot in his arsenal is hard .. wristshot and snapshot are both hard and can get them off in stride .. has a quick release, as he's able to receive passes well and quickly position his body to get off a quality shot .. uncorks booming slapshots .. puts in a nice effort on the forecheck and is regularly F1 .. a threat to strip opponents of the puck on the forecheck, the backcheck, or when manning the point .. finishes his checks and will play the body from the side on the backcheck, too .. keeps his motor running when checked or interfered and maintains his pursuit for the puck or his progress with it .. not real big at 5-foot-10, 165 pounds, but doesn't play small .. hopefully Sinelli gets the top-six icetime he's worthy of, but could definitely be a contributor in a top-nine role, too .. certainly has the talent to be an NHL draft pick, just hope he's given the opportunity to show it .. committed to Michigan State .. played midget major for Honeybaked in 2008-09 and scored 20 goals and 21 assists in 46 Tier 1 regular-season games .. had 1 assist in 3 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic .. scored 1 goal and 3 assists in 5 games for the entire preseason.

Richard Zehnal (2012), RW, Sioux City

Young Czech winger plays a very mature game .. demonstrated advanced defensive awareness .. identified his assignment on the backcheck quickly and hustled to get to them early in the play .. 6-foot-0, 200-pounder plays with some physicality, finishing his checks on the forecheck and making some nice open-ice hits in the neutral zone .. did a good job reading off of pinching defensemen and hanging back .. does a good job of staying open to the offensive play and presenting a target to teammates .. has good speed and can make some nice cutbacks to evade checks .. both wristshot and slapshot are decent, particularly for his age .. looking forward to seeing how much more Zehnal's game matures, as he could end up an impressive two-way forward if he doesn't plateau early .. no college commitment of yet .. played for Arlanda in the Czech J18 Extraleague in 2008-09 and scored 2 goals and 4 assists in 15 games .. went without a point in 3 games at the 2009 USHL Fall Classic, the only preseason games he played.

Also on the Radar

Center Mitch Zion is certainly on the radar, but McKeen's was unable to take many notes on him, as his preseason was cut short by injury. The Clarkson recruit put up 16 goals and 30 assists in 57 games for the Ottawa Jr. Senators in the Central Ontario Junior Hockey League in 2008-09 and showed a little presence and dangle with the puck in McKeen's limited viewing of him this preseason. Zion was held without a point in his lone preseason game, the first game at the Battle of Iowa.