USHL Report: USNTDP Under-17 Part 3

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey enters notes on USNTDP Under-17 goaltender Jared Rutledge and a number of the team's forwards, including Miles Koules and Henrik Samuelsson.

Jared Rutledge (2012), G, USA U-17

Lean at 5-foot-11, 150 pounds, but gets around his crease well .. maintains a compact butterfly .. generally directs his butterfly saves toward the boards .. able to go down and up quickly .. makes smooth pad slides across his crease .. makes strong pushoffs to get across his crease .. able to catch an edge mid pad slide and change directions or get up quickly .. resets extremely quickly after making the first save .. also quick across his crease on his skates .. quickly covers any rebounds he puts out in front of himself .. does a good job of hugging the post with a pad and keeping the trailing pad down .. angles are a bit off now and again and/or he plays too deep, and this is when he seems to get beaten .. displays good athleticism for quick pad saves and splits saves .. able to keep his torso upright on his splits saves .. makes crisp glove saves .. directs blocker saves toward the boards .. adequate moving the puck up the boards, but could be harder so as to reduce interceptions .. normally remains calm on dangerous scoring opportunities .. has acquitted himself very well in USHL action so far this season, as he had a .914 save percentage in in over 9 games .. had played over 13 total games for the USNTDP Under-17 team heading into the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and had a 5-6-0 record, 0 shutouts, a 3.06 G.AA, and a .906 save percentage .. played midget minor for the Chicago Young Americans in 2009-10 .. no college commitment of yet.

Miles Koules (2012), C/RW, USA U-17

Puts up nice numbers in U-17 competition, but USHL output is very modest .. possesses only average speed with the puck .. has reasonably fluid skating stride and makes smooth turns .. wristshot is adequate .. displays good offensive vision in making passes to teammates in his far periphery .. does make some passes without looking and gets victimized doing such at the USHL level .. adequate size at 5-foot-10, 175 pounds and will engage physically .. sees some time on both the powerplay and the penalty kill .. son of former Tampa Bay Lightning owner Oren Koules .. had 8 goals and 5 assists in 21 overall games for the USNTDP U-17 team heading into the WU17HC .. played for the U.S. Under-17 Select Team at the Five Nations Tournament in August .. played midget minor for Shattuck St. Mary's in 2009-10 and scored 20 goals and 38 assists in 53 games .. committed to North Dakota (2013-14).

Henrik Samuelsson (2012), RW/C, USA U-17

Somewhat limited viewing, as he received a game misconduct in one viewing sticking up for a teammate .. decent speed on the forecheck and can hound opponents .. speed with the puck is only adequate .. acceleration with the puck needs improvement, as he doesn't have much separation .. stickhandling at the USHL level suffers due to lack of speed .. chips it around opponents a lot at the USHL level .. slows down quite a bit when dragging it around opponents .. typically plays right wing, but plays a little center and takes draws semi-regularly .. already quite big at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds and adds a real physical presence to the team .. sees some time on the powerplay and is a regular on the PK .. son of former NHLer Ulf Samuelsson and brother of NHL prospect Philip Samuelsson .. had 4 goals and 6 assists in 20 overall games for the USNTDP U-17 team heading into the WU17HC .. played midget minor for P.F. Changs in 2009-10 and scored 27 goals and 36 assists in 49 games .. no college commitment of yet.

Cameron Darcy (2012), RW, USA U-17

Played a third-line role in these viewings .. skating is a bit upright, but still has decent cruising speed with the puck .. needs to work on his stickhandling against USHL opponents .. tries dragging the puck around opponents, but too often either loses the handle or is stripped .. makes crisp passes .. does demonstrate some finishing abilities .. has decent size at 6-foot-0, 180 pounds and finishes his checks .. sees some time on both the power play and the penalty kill .. had 5 goals and 2 assists in 21 overall games for the USNTDP U-17 team heading into the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge .. 4 goals and 1 assist of his totals had come in 14 USHL games .. played prep hockey for Dexter in 2009-10 and scored 21 goals and 35 assists in 25 games .. committed to Northeastern (2012-13).

Quentin Shore (2012), C, USA U-17

Received limited icetime as the fourth-line center .. has average speed with the puck .. doesn't have much acceleration with the puck .. makes crisp passes .. decent saucer passer .. conscientious defensively and helps his defensemen down low and is in place to help start the breakout .. finishes his checks, but not with a great deal of force .. panicked a bit with the puck at times when pressured .. has a frame to work with at 6-foot-0, 170 pounds .. sees some time on the penalty kill .. had 2 goals and 5 assists in 21 overall games for the USNTDP U-17 team heading into the WU17HC .. played midget minor for the Colorado Thunderbirds in 2009-10 and scored 13 goals and 13 assists in 33 games .. younger brother of former USNTDP players Drew Shore and Nick Shore .. no college commitment of yet, but both brothers play for Denver University.

Ryan Hartman (2013), RW, USA U-17

Youngest forward on the team but already wearing an "A" .. a staple on the penalty kill .. makes good defensive reads and can intercept passes .. finishes his checks on the forechecks .. demonstrates some speed with the puck .. able to gets shots off in stride well .. has a crisp wristshot and a hard slapshot .. able to make nice toe drags to emerge from packs of traffic, including from behind himself .. sees some time on the powerplay in addition to his PK time .. stout at 5-foot-10, 195 pounds .. contributing offensively with 4 goals and 4 assists in 20 overall games with the USNTDP U-17 team heading into the WU17HC .. also played two games with the USNTDP U-18 team in mid-October and tallied an assist .. played midget minor for the Chicago Mission in 2009-10 and scored 46 goals and 49 assists in 63 games .. committed to Miami (2013-14).

Nikolas Olsson (2012), LW, USA U-17

Very limited viewing, as he was out of the line-up for one viewing and was used sparingly on the fourth line in the other .. did displays some physicality .. made some nice hits from the side on the backcheck .. average size at 5-foot-11, 185 pounds .. missed the start of the season injured .. had 1 goal and 2 assists in 15 overall games for the USNTDP U-17 team heading into the WU17HC .. played one game with the U-18 team in November and tallied an assist .. played midget minor for the LA Selects in 2009-10 and scored 32 goals and 25 assists in 32 games .. no college commitment of yet.

Max Shuart (2012), LW, USA U-17/Victory Honda

Caught Victory Honda midget major player in one of his three games filling in for the USNTDP U-17 team .. displayed decent speed with the puck .. gets a bit upright under acceleration, but still had some quickness to his game manning defensive assignments .. displays good speed and stride extension on the forecheck .. has a fairly hard wristshot and a hard snapshot that he can fire in stride .. decent size at 6-foot-1, 180 pounds .. went without a point in his 3 games with the USNTDP U-17 team .. plays midget major for Victory Honda and had 5 goals and 10 assists in 15 Tier 1 Elite League games as of Christmas .. also had 12 goals and 4 assists in 15 exhibition games with Victory Honda .. no college commitment of yet.