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Biography |
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Position: Left Wing
Shoots: Left
Height: 6’4
Weight: 221 lbs
Birthday: 2/10/1989
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Draft: 2nd round (42nd overall), 2007 (Anaheim)
Acquired: From Anaheim on Feb. 26, 2009, with Chris Kunitz for Ryan Whitney
Player Type: Power Forward
NHL Comparable: Todd Bertuzzi |
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Career Projection |
| Combining grit, tenacity, and
uncanny offensive ability into one unique mixture,
Tangradi has emerged as the Penguins’ number one prospect on
nearly every ranking. With all of the tools, he simply
needs to organize them in his toolbox at the professional
level before making the next step. At this point, the
big forward shows potential to be a top-six forward, playing
alongside one of Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. One
or two seasons of conditioning and learning the in American Hockey League should be all
he needs before taking the next step. |
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Strengths |
| Strong skating ability…large frame at 6’4”, 221 lbs…opposition bounces off of him…scary offensive instincts…head is always up – great vision…owns a hockey sense that can’t be taught…dangerous on breakaway
and shootout attempts…scores most of his goals in the crease… great deflection ability… plays with grit…loves to finish
checks in the neutral zone…will drop the gloves from time
to time…positive attitude…plays on the edge and
absolutely hates to lose. |
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Weaknesses |
| Owns a wicked slap shot, but needs to create more time and space for him to get his shot off…needs to work on forechecking game in AHL next year…could learn more defensive techniques in order to create turnovers..
Needs to learn how to be physically effective against
stronger opponents at the AHL level… only has one fighting
major this season so far |
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Achievements/Awards |
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2008-2009- named the Boston Pizza OHL & CHL Player of the Week for the week ending April 12th
• 2008-2009- named Belleville Bulls, Humanitarian of the Year, Most Outstanding Forward, and Top Scorer |
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Comments
nate
Aug 11, 09:32 AM
I can’t wait to see this guy in a Pens uni. This team has been missing a Kevin Stevens/Rick Tocchet type for way too long.
Jon B.
Aug 11, 10:01 AM
Seen a handful of his on ice clips, cannot wait to see him learn to play with 87/71. Best part of his game, for me, is his attitude. The guy loves to have fun and sticks up for his teammates. Skate with ur head up Ovechkin…..
bag o' pucks
Aug 11, 11:12 AM
What a great trade, Kunitz & Tangradi in return for Whitney. Shero did a helluva job, not only in stockpiling some excellent looking prospects at wing (assuming Veilleux and Zabotel move to wing to joing Caputi & Tangradi), but in getting guys like Guerin and Tenk to sign one year deals. Gives mgmt an opportunity to let the young guys learn from a year in the A without unnecessarily fast tracking them and, in the event they need more time in the A, Shero can re-up another solid NHLer for one year to give the youngsters more time to develop.
Not all prospects are created equal. Some may be ready after a few months in the A, some will require a couple years. But the cupboard looks pretty good for now, as does the timeline for promotion.
Dabich
Aug 11, 12:18 PM
Im loving what I’m reading here. We definitely need a player of his size with the mobility he seems to possess.
Malk
Aug 11, 11:51 PM
I agree that I don’t want to see Dupuis playing a top-six role or even bottom six minutes. I would rather them trade him and let Johnson or Jeffrey do that.
REZNTHEBINGER
Aug 12, 12:47 PM
CAPUTI WILL BE BETTER THEN TANGRADI
Zach Boslett
Aug 12, 08:51 PM
Caputi will more than likely not be better than Tangradi but he will certainly be a solid NHL forward. Tangradi has all star potential but Caputi does not. Caputi is still a great prospect with a great name.
Dabich
Aug 13, 08:27 AM
All the players can’t be All-Stars. We need the grinders and the everyday hard workers too. No doubt Caputi will fill a definite role with this team. As will Tangradi.
Zach Boslett
Aug 13, 07:51 PM
@ Tom I think we’d see Strait before Bortuzzo and Caputi is more of a top 6 player and will be ready long before CPZ or Veilleux
Matt Bodenschatz
Aug 14, 11:58 AM
@Tom, I tend to agree with Zach. Rookie camp is much more about introducing young players to the Penguin philosophy than it is about management getting a grasp of what each player can bring to the table. But, of course, they are monitoring that to an extent.
Regardless, unless we see several of these rookies push there way into the NHL this season, I can all but gaurantee we won’t see eight or nine “rookies” in the NHL in 2010-2011. Don’t believe me? Look how the Penguins designed their roster this year. For months, you have been claiming that Shero would HAVE to promote a slew of rookies to fit the team under the cap. He didn’t, and the team arguably is as good as it was last season.
Several of these rookies will undoubtedly push their way into the NHL before long. Caputi, Tangradi, Lovejoy, and Jeffrey seem lost likely to do so in the near future. Others could/likely will take a bit more time to develop.
The Penguins have shown that they have patience with their prospects unless they are forced to bring them along quickly. Kennedy, Letang, and Staal are three examples of players in the Shero era who were pegged as outsiders in the battle for roster spots when they joined the team. But Jon Filewich and Ryan Stone are examples of prospects who projected to make the roster, but never could.
What I am trying to say is that players get promoted when they are ready — not because the salary cap will dictate that the roster must be filled by them. Tom, your scenario, one that puts potentially nine rookies in the NHL at the same time, is extremely unlikely, as it assumes all of these players will develop at the same pace and all will be ready at the same time. The only time you see such mass promotions is on bottom-feeding teams looking to keep a minimal payroll as they strive for a high draft pick.
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