Strong Potential Return in Rare Coyne

If one merely looked at the Sioux Falls Stampede's team statistics heading into the Christmas Break and spotted Richard Coyne toward the bottom of the list, he or she would likely be apt to dismiss him from NHL draft consideration. If watched Coyne play, one might also be apt to dismiss Coyne's value because he's only Sioux Falls' sixth defenseman on most nights. Then, add in the fact Coyne is in his second year of draft eligibility, even a lot of NHL scouts would be apt to dismiss Coyne as a potential NHL draft pick.

That would be a mistake.

Coyne may not be a major contributor to Sioux Falls just yet, but his mobility, physical defensive game, and solid puck skills give him the potential to follow in the footsteps of former Lincoln Star Matt Bartkowski. Bartkowski came into the USHL in his second year of draft eligibility after playing midget hockey with the Pittsburgh Predators and Pennsylvania high school hockey with Mt. Lebanon and put up a modest 3 goals and 6 assists in 57 games his rookie USHL season as a fifth defenseman for Lincoln, and then went on to tally 41 points in 60 games in 2007-08, and was arguably the best defenseman in the USHL, and was drafted by the Florida Panthers in the seventh round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. The season after Bartkowski was drafted, the 6-foot-1, 203-pounder was named to the CCHA's All-Rookie Team after a solid freshman season at Ohio State, demonstrating that the Panthers were and are on track for a decent return on their late-round pick. The 6-foot-1, 196-pound Coyne has a lot of the same tools Bartkowski had that made him so successful in his second USHL season, and while Coyne is still a long shot for selection in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, he likewise could pay a similar dividend to Bartkowski over time, given the chance.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey had the opportunity to see the Sioux Falls Stampede once in November and once in December and enters notes on Richard Coyne, goaltender Clay Witt, center Brent Darnell, and a few other Stampede prospects on the radar for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

Clay Witt (2010), G, Sioux Falls

Having a strong season statistically .. gets across his net quickly, typically on his skates, and it doesn't take much for him to get across .. crease motions are too distinct and need to be smoother .. tends to go down, then up, then across, instead of using pad slides or moving across while getting up .. maintains a compact butterfly and takes away the five-hole well .. doesn't play too deep in his crease and plays a fairly technical game .. comes out of his crease quite a ways if he senses the shot is going to be 50-plus feet away and when the opponent is not set in the offensive zone, and ends up way out looking behind him if the shooter misses the net.. remains very calm on dangerous scoring opportunities and when the play is collapsing in on him .. does a good job of directing his rebounds into the corners .. makes crisp glove saves .. does a good job of directing blocker saves into the corner .. has good extension on his kick saves .. does a good job of assessing the play before moving the puck .. able to wrap it along the dashers pretty well, but does need to get more oomph behind his clears and passes .. has the requisite size for drafting at 6-foot-1, 196 pounds .. having a great season statistically, but needs to work on his crease movements to gain strong consideration for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft .. currently a possible pick for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft .. committed to Northeastern .. heading out of the Christmas Break, he had played 892:00 min over 15 games and had a 9-2-3 record, 3 shutouts, a 2.35 G.AA, and a .913 SvP .. tied for first in the league in shutouts and third in save percentage.

2010 Draft Grade: C- (Possible pick)

Brent Darnell (2010), C, Sioux Falls

Somewhat limited viewing, as Darnell was absolutely invisible in November viewing .. December viewing was positive .. showed good hustle off faceoffs and on the forecheck .. played with a little physicality, swiveling into some hits off faceoffs and even an open-ice hit in the neutral zone .. has a fairly hard wristshot .. creates some plays through hustle, including some nice centering passes .. Darnell's production jumped significantly in December, and he'll firmly establish himself as a pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft if he continues this level of performance .. Darnell now looks like the rest of his Sioux Falls teammates, who all play a dedicated two-way game and have some skill .. committed to Michigan State .. heading out of the Christmas Break, he had scored 3 goals and 7 assists in 20 games .. scored 3 goals and 4 assists in 8 games in December.

2010 Draft Grade: C- (Possible pick)

Richie Coyne (2010), D, Sioux Falls

Liked Coyne at the Fall Classic, and still like him every bit as much .. Coyne consistently engages physically in the neutral zone or at least by the blueline .. display pro-caliber backwards mobility .. has strong backwards acceleration and is conscientious to pivot toward center ice so as to allow him to angle opponent to the boards .. maintains a wide base backwards and has the mobility to not have to worry about even the quickest of USHL opponents .. able to angle opponents to the boards and rub them out .. will also step up for hits .. when stepping up for hits, he does a good job of making the stick check first and then following it with a hard shoulder check .. does a good job to skate forward to engage physically when his team turns the puck over instead of backing in .. does a good job of establishing position for the puck in battles down low .. able to eliminate opponents from the play down low along the boards, allowing center to swoop in for the puck .. makes crisp, hard, accurate breakout passes .. has a hard pointshot .. also has a decent off-foot shot .. is strong on his stick, which helps him emerge from the corner with the puck .. gets in trouble when he gets a little to fancy skating the puck, but does have good speed with the puck .. has long, powerful strides and a smooth stride .. executes strong one-step pivots from backward to forward, which helps him keep with opposing forwards or catch forwards who appear to have been sprung for breakouts .. unfortunately, Coyne appears to be the sixth defenseman on Sioux Falls' depth chart, given his rookie status, but he has all the tools to be much more .. second year of draft eligibility, and is a long shot for selection for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, but Coyne displays the tools to be a Matt Bartkowski or very close .. no college commitment of yet .. heading out of the Christmas Break, he had 1 goal and 2 assists in 19 games.

2010 Draft Grade: D+ (Long shot)

Matt Lindblad (2010), C, Sioux Falls

Stood out in 2008-09 for his defensive effort as the perfect USHL third-line center, and has stepped up to be a first-line center with Sioux Falls .. has decent speed with the puck .. gets a bit upright in his first steps accelerating and also is a bit upright in his crossovers .. still puts in a nice effort on the forecheck and helps angle opponents on the backcheck .. intercepts a lot of passes in the neutral zone through his smart positioning .. willing drop to a knee and block shots .. makes crisp passes and has soft enough hands to handle hard passes .. has a crisp wristshot and a fairly hard slapper that requires very little wind-up .. puts himself in the position to score on rebound goals .. has firmly established himself defensively, and is now showing the requisite offensive production to possibly earn selection in his third year of draft eligibility .. probably still a long shot for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, but his development curve has been right on track for success .. committed to Dartmouth .. heading out of the Christmas Break, he had 8 goals and 20 assists in 22 games .. tied for ninth in USHL scoring.

2010 Draft Grade: D+ (Long shot)

Matt Bailey (2010), C, Sioux Falls

Started the season as a hot hand, but has cooled off .. able to build some speed, but his stride is somewhat truncated .. puts in a concerted effort on the forecheck and plays with some physicality .. finishes his checks on the forecheck and will go for the big hit along the end boards, sometimes missing .. guilty of running around to make hits at times .. goes for bit hits in the neutral zone, too .. has a hard wristshot .. puts a lot of shots into opponents .. has a little dangle to his game, but doesn't have the speed to get around solid USHL defensemen .. in his second year of draft eligibility and will have to get his production back on a point-per-game pace to warrant real draft consideration .. currently a long shot for the 2010 NHL Entry Draft .. committed to Alaska-Anchorage .. heading out of Christmas Break, he had 9 goals and 15 assists in 25 games .. scored 17 points in his first 11 games of the season, but has cooled off significantly.

2010 Draft Grade: D+ (Long shot)

Clark Cristofoli (2010), D, Sioux Falls

Small defenseman, but strong skater, skilled, and decent defensively .. has powerful strides and good speed .. able to make tight cuts with the puck .. also displays good quickness .. maintains a short gap and will engage physically .. despite being 5-foot-10, 164 pounds, he is actually decent at pinning opponents along the boards .. makes crisp, accurate breakout passes .. willing to take the hit to make the play or get the puck in deep .. a small defenseman in the USHL will have to be very good to be drafted (potentially Fargo's Eamonn McDermott), so Cristofoli is a long shot to be drafted despite a solid all-around game .. committed to Ohio State .. heading out of the Christmas Break, he had 1 goal and 4 assists in 18 games.

2010 Draft Grade: D+ (long shot)

Lino Chimienti (2010), G, Sioux Falls

Has some strong tools, but has some areas of improvements and is a tad small .. makes smooth pad slides across his crease and is fairly quick across the net, too .. able to load up with one leg and push himself across the crease well and can even do it when his momentum is going the other direction .. stays square to the shooter and typically makes the butterfly save to the chest .. can spread out to make big saves when necessary .. has good extension on his kick saves, even if he's only 5-foot-10, 168 pounds .. plays somewhat deep in his crease at times .. also drops early to be able to see the puck when tracking it, from which position he can be surprised with a shot top shelf if still screened .. an extreme long shot for selection, particularly being a sub-six-foot goalie in the USHL .. no college commitment of yet .. heading out of the Christmas Break, he had played 638:10 min in over 11 games and had a record of 5-2-4, 1 shutout, a 3.20 G.AA, and a .883 SvP .. won his first five starts, but lost his next six, which included three shootout losses and another overtime loss.

2010 Draft Grade: D (Extreme long shot)

Marcus Perrier (2010), D, Sioux Falls

Hasn't made the jump offensively from 2008-09 that I had hoped to see .. very stout 6-foot-0, 206-pound blueliner lets his gaps shrink and engages physically .. a threat with poke checks and hip checks, but can be beaten wide with speed .. conscientious defensively and won't let a cherry picker get in behind him .. plays physically down low and can throw opponents off the puck .. still throws in some cross checks and extra shots, but isn't dropping the gloves needlessly anymore .. will still drop the gloves, but is more selective this season .. has a hard, crisp wristshot from the point and does a nice job of getting them on net and/or low for redirects and deflections .. maintains his calm with the puck when pressured and makes the simple play .. a good physical defensive defenseman who is certainly NCAA D1 worthy, but an extreme long shot for selection in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, his second year of eligibility .. no college commitment of yet .. heading out of the Christmas Break, he had 1 goal and 4 assists in 23 games .. had four points in four games from Oct. 16 to Oct. 30, but only had 1 assist in 15 games from Oct. 31 through Dec. 19.

2010 Draft Grade: D (Extreme long shot)