USHL Report: Youngstown Phantoms

USHL Report: Youngstown Phantoms

By Kevin Wey

Win or lose this season, the Youngstown Phantoms will have plenty of NHL scouts at their games in 2010-11. Youngstown defenseman Scott Mayfield enters the season as one of the highest-regarded USHL prospects eligible for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, thanks in large part to his combination of size, skating, and skill. With all eyes monitoring Mayfield, other Phantoms, such as tall goaltender Matthew O'Connor and emerging left-winger Jiri Sekac, have prime opportunities to capture the attention of scouts and raise their stocks for the 2011 Draft.

McKeen's correspondent Kevin Wey enters notes on Mayfield, O'Connor, and Sekac, as well as first-year-eligible prospects J.T. Stenglein and Chris Bradley.

Scott Mayfield (2011), D, Youngstown

Up-and-down in pre-season and early season viewings .. decision making was suspect in these viewings .. had too many passes that were to no one in particular and that resulted in icing calls .. able to make smooth, hard passes and put them on target, but they can also be off target or be a little wobbly .. still shows the occasional sharp pass through traffic from the point down to teammates low .. had too many shots blocked at the point .. does possess a smooth, crisp wristshot .. slapper is also crisp .. 6-foot-4, 200-pounder has long and fairly powerful strides and can build good cruising speed .. a smooth skater who covers a lot of ground in each stride, even in his first step .. has good range and also covers a lot of ground in his lateral steps .. maintains a wide base backwards and minimizes crossovers and can angle his man to the boards .. generally stays low backward, but can get upright in his pivots from backward to forward and take more steps than necessary .. defensive awareness was questionable at times .. sometimes took defensive assignments that were already covered and left opponents open for prime chances .. physical presence was inconsistent .. at times, played with no urgency and made weak checks and at others he did engage and with some force.. able to step up at the blue line and can clear the crease .. able to use his reach to shield the puck offensively and make wide, sweeping stickhandling moves .. however, stickhandles with his head down too often .. an alternate captain .. figures to get a lot of ice time in 2010-11 .. overall, was a little disappointing in these early viewings considering expectations with how he ended 2009-10 .. skating appeared improved, but other areas seemed to have taken a step backward from the end of last season .. has a lot of tools, though, and has flashed proficiency in almost every area of the game .. committed to Denver.

Matthew O'Connor (2011), G, Youngstown

Second-year-eligible netminder was one of the pleasant revelations of the Fall Classic and the first week of the regular season .. has great size at 6-foot-5, 180 pounds .. plays a calm, composed game and does not panic on dangerous chances .. is fairly quick across his crease .. keeps his torso upright in the butterfly and in crease movements, giving him maximum coverage at all times .. makes a lot of big saves by maintaining his calm and letting shooters reduce their own angle .. long legs allow him to cover a lot of the lower part of the net when in the butterfly .. does a good job of directing butterfly saves toward the corners .. has good extension on his kick saves and can stay strong in that position, keeping his pad in place if there are second shots whacking at his pad .. able to get into the butterfly quickly and can get back up fairly quickly .. if hugging the post, will adjust his trailing pad's position accordingly while tracking the play .. looks primed to be Youngstown's number one netminder in his rookie USHL season over veteran Matt Green .. was the USHL Goaltender of the Week the first week of the regular season .. committed to Boston University.

Jiri Sekac (2011), LW, Youngstown

Has made vast improvements after a ho-hum rookie year in the USHL .. possesses a powerful stride and can build impressive speed .. has good cruising speed and can weave around opponents .. has good acceleration to get to loose pucks or separate from opponents .. able to make quick stops to ditch opponents .. not only has top speed, but can also be shifty with his speed .. confidence with the puck has gone way up .. able to make subtle jukes and quick moves at speed .. able to make quick lateral stickhandling moves across his body and nice toe drags .. able to use his 6-foot-1, 175-pound frame and his stickhandling prowess to maintain possession of the puck in traffic .. very willing to go into traffic to get the puck and will fight through traffic to get to the net .. able to drive off the half boards to the net or power off the wing .. willing to just power his way through opponents if he must .. displaying a great compete level in engaging in puck battles and is often successful .. finishes his checks on the forecheck and is a threat on the backcheck with his powerful speed .. has a hard wrist shot .. able to make crisp passes and has decent offensive vision .. has some defensive awareness too, as he'll stay back for pinching defenseman .. seems bigger than the decent size he's listed at and plays bigger now .. making an impact on every shift now .. at this early stage of the season, his sheer level of improvement and increased effectiveness is very comparable to the jump Andreas Nodl made his second year in the USHL .. played 8 games with Peterborough of the OHL in 2009-10, so NCAA college is out .. played for the Czech Republic at the World Under-18 Championships and was second in team goal-scoring with four goals.

J.T. Stenglein (2011), LW, Youngstown

Quite smart in the offensive zone .. is nearly omnipresent around the net and does a great job of positioning himself to be a passing option or screening the goaltender .. stays open to the play to allow him to see incoming pucks for deflections or for passes .. also does a good job of filling holes in the offensive zone .. makes smart passes in the offensive zone .. generally makes crisp passes .. has a decent wristshot, but it isn't a perimeter threat .. can fire a nice slapshot .. hustles to loose pucks and will battle hard to get it .. isn't particularly fast or explosive, but does hustle .. plays with some physicality and can make some big hits .. listed at 6-foot-0, 195 pounds .. skills don't wow at this point, but the hockey sense is quite good .. selected to play in the USA Hockey Player Development Select 17 Camp All-Star Game .. no college commitment of yet.

Christopher Bradley (2011), D, Youngstown

Plays a simple game .. doesn't skate the puck much and will either make the simple pass or bank it off the boards .. often dumps the puck if he has it in the neutral zone .. an upright skater who only possesses adequate speed .. not particularly fast with the puck .. lacks explosiveness .. displays some lateral agility, but is a bit upright .. also gets upright in his pivots from backward to forward .. maintains a reasonably wide track backward, but only has adequate speed backward and could afford to have more power .. seems to need more leg strength in general .. generally makes crisp passes, but they could use more force .. can lob crisp wristshots toward the net and get them there .. possesses a decent slapshot that's fairly crisp .. has decent size at a listed 6-foot-2, 190 pounds .. despite lack of speed and needing to put more oomph on his passes, still saw time on Youngstown's second power play unit .. selected to play in the USA Hockey Player Development Select 17 Camp All-Star Game .. played for Team USA's Under-18 Select Team at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament in August .. committed to RPI.