USHL Report: Chicago Steel

The Chicago Steel finished last in the USHL after managing only 26 points over 60 games, but the team wasn't without talent toward the end of the season. Steven Fogarty joined the Steel after the end of his high school season and Zach Saar and Theo DiPauli returned from injury, giving scouts good reason to catch the Steel before the close of the 2010-11 season. McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey enters notes on Saar, Fogarty, DiPauli, and a few other prospects of note.

Zach Saar (2011), LW, Chicago

Missed nearly half the season due to injury, but finished the season as strong as any Steel player .. an upright skater who needs to get lower and increase stride extension .. upright stance compromises his balance .. falls more often than one would like to see .. adequate cruising speed with the puck .. displays decent speed without the puck .. gets upright under acceleration and has some wasted vertical motion .. good size at 6-foot-4, 190 pounds and tries to play a power forward game .. attempts to drive the net through and around opponents, but lack of speed hurts him .. does execute a nice t-drag around an opponent from time to time .. has a crisp wristshot .. needs to work on controlling hard, crisp passes .. plays with some physicality .. finishes his checks on the forecheck .. will play the body from the side on the backcheck .. will come across a zone for a hit .. also a threat to make open-ice hits .. had he not been injured for nearly all of November, December, and January, his development might have put him in the same place Lincoln's John McCarron was at last year at the end of the season .. finished the season with 4 goals and 6 assists in 32 games .. no college commitment of yet .. a potential late-round pick, particularly if a team believes Saar can equal McCarron.

Steven Fogarty (2011), RW, Chicago

With the vast majority of the veterans out of the lineup at the end of the season, Fogarty was visually the most impressive Steel player offensively .. appeared to adapt to the speed of the USHL quickly .. was poised with the puck and didn't rush plays .. displayed good offensive vision to connect with open teammates through traffic .. generally made smooth, crisp, accurate passes .. had decent speed with the puck by USHL standards .. displayed a level of speed and quickness on the forecheck that he hadn't displayed up in Minnesota .. has a fairly hard, crisp wristshot .. did not display the tendency to overly rely on his stickhandling in close as he did in high school hockey .. decent size at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds .. as in high school hockey, was not an overtly physical forward with the Steel .. finished the Minnesota high school season with 26 goals and 25 assists in 30 games for Edina .. committed to Notre Dame (2012-13) .. without a full USHL season on which to judge, it is questionable whether Fogarty can succeed at the highest levels without a physical component .. thus, cautiously projected as a late-round pick.

Michael Gunn (2011), D, Chicago

Returned to action in January after missing nearly all the past season and a half injured, but didn't look much better in early April .. maintains a fairly wide base backward, eliminates crossovers, and lets his gaps close on the blueline .. .. has decent speed backward and maintains calm against speedy opponents .. wasn't engaging physically on opponents at the blueline as often but was backing in more .. also appeared to maintain a cautious defensive gap in following the play due to the often disjointed play of his forwards .. makes hard, smooth, crisp, accurate passes .. poised with the puck .. doesn't panic when he takes a pass to the skates or ends up with the puck by surprise .. still plays at a fairly leisurely pace .. has good size at 6-foot-3, 190 pounds .. capable of stepping up for big hits .. returned Jan. 8 and scored 1 goal and 3 assists in 32 games, in addition to 81 penalty minutes .. committed to Michigan State (2011-12) .. has a decent set of tools, but would like to see more explosiveness and speed .. a long shot for selection in his second year of draft eligibility, but a player to still monitor in his freshman season of college hockey.

Theo DiPauli (2011), C, Chicago

Suffered a separated shoulder at the Fall Classic and then again in mid-October, his third in less than a year and which resulted in surgery, but he returned Feb. 18 the same inspired player upon his return.. great compete level .. puts in a strong effort on the forecheck and backcheck and is still fearless going into traffic .. hustles to loose pucks .. puts in a conscientious two-way effort and is omnipresent down low in his defensive zone helping his defensemen .. willing to battle along the boards in his defensive zone .. has decent cruising speed with the puck .. displays good quickness and speed bursts with the puck .. maintains a low skating stance and has a fairly powerful stride with good extension .. smaller at 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, but does not play small .. finished the season with 4 goals and 4 assists in 20 games .. played for the U.S. Under-18 Select Team at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in August .. no college commitment of yet .. a long shot for selection in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, but he has the combination of skill, skating, hockey sense, and compete level to succeed long term.

Peter Hand (2011), D, Chicago

Appears to have potentially plateaued .. an oddity in that forward skating is his weakest area .. skating stride forward is still truncated .. needs to get lower and extend his stride .. displays a little speed now and then, but generally lacks speed and explosiveness and loses races to the puck .. edge control in pivots and turns is decent and fairly smooth, though .. mobility backward is adequate .. lets his gaps close and will angle his man toward the boards and/or engage physically near the blueline .. is susceptible to being opened up by speed wide, though ..needs to hone his passing.. has displayed capability to fire hard, crisp, passes, but needs to reduce the number that are off target and create turnovers .. also seems prone to fanning on passes .. shot power from the point is only adequate .. isn't a big defenseman at 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, but plays with a physical edge .. consistently engages in physical battles and can lay a still shoulder into opponents and gain possession of the puck .. will lay the stick on opponents around his net .. willing to drop the gloves .. amidst Chicago's revolving door at the blueline, was a regular and received top-four ice time and fairly regular time on the second powerplay unit and the penalty kill .. missed nearly four weeks due to an injury but returned to the lineup March 22 .. finished the season with 1 goal and 3 assists in 51 games, along with 164 penalty minutes .. currently has no college commitment (had been committed to Ohio State) .. there had been some hopes for Hand heading into the 2010-11 season, but is an extreme, extreme long shot for selection in the 2011 Draft.

Jaccob Slavin (2012), D, Chicago

Displays some potential as a puck-moving defenseman .. has adequate speed forward .. has decent speed backward, but relies on crossovers too much .. when not crossing over, maintains a reasonably wide base backward and works to keep his gaps close .. likes to make sweep checks and poke checks more than engaging physically .. displays good lateral mobility and can cover a lot of ground laterally .. gets upright accelerating backward and in his pivots .. displays some poise with the puck and doesn't panic when pressured .. keeps his head up and assesses his options .. needs to make sure he keeps moving his feet and doesn't become a stationary target .. displays some offensive vision in connecting on his passes, but needs to put more force on his passes .. passes could also be a little more crisp .. has an adequate shot from the point .. has some height at 6-foot-1, but needs to fill out his 165-pound frame .. saw fairly regular icetime down the stretch and some powerplay time .. finished the USHL season with 1 goal and 0 assists in 17 games .. played midget minor for the Colorado Thunderbirds for the bulk of the season and scored 12 goals and 38 assists in 56 games .. committed to Colorado College .. a lot of the flaws in Slavin's game will likely correct has he matures physically .. overall, made a decent transition straight from midget minor to USHL hockey.