USHL Report: Green Bay Gamblers

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey enters notes on Green Bay Gamblers prospects Aaron Harstad, Austin Czarnik, Andy Welinski, Adam Wilcox, and Alex Broadhurst, each of whom is a player to watch for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

Aaron Harstad (2011), D, Green Bay

Was an occasional scratch for Green Bay in 2009-10, but now he's their top defenseman .. has filled out since 2009-10 and it shows .. now listed at 200 pounds (still 6-foot-2), and the added muscle has made him a more powerful skater and player .. smooth skater with excellent all-compass mobility .. able to get well out over his edges and makes smooth turns .. has good explosiveness .. covers a lot of ground in each stride, which gives him very good cruising speed with the puck .. mobility allows him to be very smooth at the point moving the puck giving and receiving passes .. able to execute powerful spins to evade forecheckers and to evade checkers at the point .. composure with the puck has improved significantly .. confident with the puck and maintains poise when checked .. stickhandles with his head up and is able to assess his options .. has some dangle to his game and can drag it around opponents .. able to handle the puck well far away from his body .. generally makes hard, crisp, accurate passes .. still leads his man too much from time to time, but has reduced his outright turnovers quite a bit .. has a hard slapper from the point .. does need to improve his accuracy a bit, as he misses the net too much .. fires hard one-timers .. able to fire a hard snapshot with seemingly little effort .. wristshots also fly off his stick .. has powerful acceleration backward, which allows him to keep his gaps short early in the play .. mobility allows him to angle his man well .. makes smooth pivots and doesn't lose much ground doing so .. gets down fairly low and maintains a wide base backward .. increased power shows up in his physical game .. can now explode into his hits and level opponents, standing them up at the blueline or in open ice .. his speed makes him a threat to make the hit from the side if he's having to recover .. receives a lot of icetime and plays both left and right defense, depending on his d-partner .. one of the top all-around defensemen in the USHL in 2010-11 .. in his second year of draft eligibility and now has a much stronger chance of selection this year than in 2010 .. selected to the 2010 U.S. Junior Select Team and played for Team USA at the World Junior A Challenge in November .. committed to Colorado College (2011-12).

Austin Czarnik (2011), C/RW, Green Bay

Is no longer invisible like he was in the preseason, but the offensive numbers haven't yet followed in the regular season .. has a powerful stride that produces explosive acceleration and breakaway speed .. able to weave through traffic and split the defense with his sheer speed .. excellent separation .. also explodes laterally with the puck, including while at speed .. able to make tight turns with the puck to evade opponents .. tight turning radius in his crossovers .. able to get well out on his edges .. able to stop and start quickly .. quick stickhandler and can move it quickly across his body at speed .. makes smooth toe drags .. adept at dragging the puck toward his body and getting a shot off .. makes hard, crisp passes, which some of his teammates at the USHL level can't handle .. good one-touch passer .. dangerous and effective on the forecheck and the backcheck thanks to his speed .. plays with some grit and can thrust into his hits .. however, he isn't playing with the same level of physicality he showed with the USNDTP in 2009-10 .. willing to block shots .. plays on the powerplay and the penalty kill .. dangerous on the penalty kill because he's a threat for the shorthanded breakaway .. listed at 5-foot-9, 160 pounds .. looking good on the ice, but the numbers need to follow for him to earn selection in the 2011 Draft .. selected to the 2010 U.S. Junior Select Team and played for Team USA at the World Junior A Challenge in November .. committed to Miami-Ohio (2011-12).

Andy Welinski (2011), D, Green Bay

Solid two-way defenseman .. a fairly smooth skater with decent speed and quickness .. consistently makes hard, crisp, accurate passes .. adept at connecting on outlet passes to spring teammates, but isn't a risky passer .. receives passes smoothly at the point .. has a hard, crisp wristshot .. possesses a heavy slapshot .. lets his gaps close and engages near the blueline .. has decent size at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds .. laid down a heavy hit in the corner on Theo DiPauli at the Fall Classic that separated his shoulder .. plays a simple, reliable, and calm game .. the fact Welinski is an occasional scratch for the Gamblers is only a testament to their impressive depth at the backend .. played Minnesota high school hockey for Duluth East in 2009-10 .. committed to Minnesota-Duluth (2012-13).

Adam Wilcox (2011), G, Green Bay

Semi-limited viewing, as Ryan McKay has been the starter in Green Bay regular season viewings .. maintains a compact butterfly .. able to go down and up quickly .. closes the five-hole quickly .. does a good job of directing butterfly and kick saves into the corners .. has shown some difficulty controlling rebounds to the chest protector .. not elite in his crease movements .. could use more power in his pushoffs to get across his crease when already down .. decent size at 6-foot-1, 170 pounds .. backup to McKay, but is the normal starter against lesser USHL opponents and sees regular action .. played Minnesota high school hockey for South St. Paul in 2009-10 .. committed to Minnesota (2012-13).

Alex Broadhurst (2011), C, Green Bay

Centers Green Bay's third line and is off to a decent rookie season .. has good speed with the puck and displays some shiftiness .. good speed bursts to loose pucks .. has good offensive vision and plays the point on the powerplay .. generally makes crisp, accurate passes .. moves the puck well off of the half boards .. confident with the puck and doesn't rush himself .. able to shield the puck from opponents and maintain possession .. willing to venture into traffic and engage physically .. hustles into the corners .. puts in a good two-way effort .. has some filling out to do at 6-foot-0, 165 pounds, but isn't small .. prospect to monitor, as his role could expand as the season progresses .. brother Terry played in the USHL and went undrafted but is now a top scorer at Nebraska-Omaha and led the Chicago Blackhawks' development camp in scoring this past summer .. selected to the 2010 U.S. Under-18 Select Team and played for Team USA at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in August .. played midget major for the Chicago Mission in 2009-10 .. committed to Nebraska-Omaha (2012-13).