Faceoff Factor

Rookie Camp Report 7/25

Zach Boslett | Pittsburgh Penguins

Jul 28, 01:14 AM | Hype this story!

I had hoped to attend the Penguins Rookie Camp on Wednesday and Friday but work got in the way of my plans.

I did manage to make it to the camp on Saturday along with fellow FF writer Eric Politowski and my friend Jared Ursta who took some pictures to contribute to this post and to the Prospect Profiles.

Name Pos 2008-09 2009-10 Projection Skill Set Andy Bathgate C Belleville (OHL) Belleville (OHL) Playmaker Luca Caputi LW AHL NHL/AHL Power Forward Joey Haddad LW Cape Breton (QMJHL) AHL/ECHL Power Forward Ben Hanowski F Little Falls High School (Minnesota) St. Cloud State (NCAA) Sniper Dustin Jeffrey C AHL NHL/AHL Grinder Nick Johnson RW AHL/ECHL AHL Dangler Nathan Longpre* F Robert Morris (NCAA) Robert Morris (NCAA) Playmaker Nathan Moon C Kingston (OHL) Kingston (OHL) Sniper Nick Petersen RW Shawinigan (QMJHL) AHL/ECHL Sniper Casey Pierro-Zabotel C/W Vancouver (WHL) AHL Power Forward/Sniper Eric Tangradi LW Belleville (OHL) NHL/AHL Power Forward Zack Sill C/W Moncton (QMJHL) AHL/ECHL Grinder Keven Veilleux C Rimouski (QMJHL) AHL Sniper Joe Vitale C Northeastern University (NCAA) AHL/ECHL Grinder Robert Bortuzzo D Kitchener (OHL) AHL Defensive D Lane Caffaro D Union College (NCAA) AHL/ECHL Defensive D Nicholas D’Agostino D St. Michael’s (OJHL) Cornell University (NCAA) Balanced Jonathan D’Aversa D AHL AHL Balanced Simon Despres D St. John (QMJHL) St. John (QMJHL) Defensive D Alex Grant D St. John (QMJHL) AHL Offensive D Carl Sneep D Boston College (NCAA) Boston College (NCAA) Defensive D Brian Strait D Boston University (NCAA) AHL Defensive D Denny Urban* D RMU (NCAA) RMU (NCAA) Balanced Alex Velishek D Delbarton High School (New Jersey) Providence College (NCAA) Balanced Patrick Killeen G Brampton (OHL) Brampton (OHL) Hybrid Brad Thiessen G Northeastern University (NCAA) AHL Butterfly

• Nathan Longpre and Denny Urban currently attend Robert Morris University and their rights are not owned by the Penguins.

Before the practice: Nathan Moon either had to redo his timing test from the day before or he was getting punished for an off the ice incident. He had to skate from goal line to goal line 3 times while being timed with the rest of the team watching.

Eric Says: Moon looked pretty slow while attempting this drill. Maybe it was because he didn’t have any previous warm-up, or maybe he doesn’t like to skate on fresh, clean ice. As practice went on, he appeared a little quicker but he needs to improve his speed next season in Kingston.

Zach Says: I hope it was a timing problem and not a discipline issue because that is not something the Pens need in one of their more promising sniper-type forwards. As for his speed… Brad Thiessen looked faster.

First Drill: Passing and breakout drill, 5 skaters at a time create a breakout and come down on the goalie unopposed.

Eric Says: Jonathan D’Aversa was moving the puck well in this drill, and showed he can kick the puck to his stick with ease. Joe Vitale impressed me with a nice top-shelf wrist shot goal. Another grinding forward that opened my eyes was Zack Sill. He was solid throughout the entire day, and started off with two quick goals on goaltender Patrick Killeen. Alex Grant looked like he needed to spend a little more time on this drill, as the puck was bouncing off his stick a few times.

Zach Says: I also was surprised at the undrafted Zack Sill from Moncton and how easily he ripped apart Killeen and Thiessen. He was quick, made good passes and was at top speed the entire drill. Tangradi looked great with one touch passing off the boards.

Second Drill: One player moves puck up the boards, another chips it to a player with speed who comes down on a breakaway against the goalie.

Eric Says: Defenseman Lane Caffaro started it off with a nice one-legged snap shot goal. Big Keven Veilleux put the puck past Brad Theissen, five-hole. It seems like if Veilleux shoots low, it’s going to go in the net.

Zach Says: Carl Sneep, Alex Velishek, and Dustin Jeffrey scored on blazing wrist shots high glove back to back to back on newly signed rookie Brad Thiessen. Two of those guys are touted as more defensive minded defensemen so they should not have scored at will on the young goaltender. Lane Caffaro, another defensemen, later accomplished the same shot in the same place. Luca Caputi had the shot of the day with a rocket slap shot over the blocker of Patrick Killeen.

Third Drill: A forward starts with the puck in the corner and has to drive the net against a defensemen. Once the forward loses the puck or scores, defensemen sprints to the blueline and goes one on one with another forward from center ice.

Eric Says: Luca Caputi, one of the first forwards to drive the net in this drill, was knocked to the ice by D’Aversa. It seems like he is developing a new kind of mean streak to his game, which is good to see.

Casey Pierro-Zabotel showcased some nice one-on-one moves, beating a few defenders.

Pittsburgh’s 2009 first-round pick Simon Despres showed off his shutdown pokecheck. Very solid work which impressed me.. he was the best D-man of the day.

Killeen had a nice desperation save, low on Caputi. He also showed that he is an above average puck handler in terms of passing and settling dumps.

Caffaro was manhandling numerous forwards that crossed his path. Very impressed with his play as well.

Denny Urban had a nice pokecheck on Dustin Jeffrey.

Zach Says: As Eric said, Caputi was abused by D’Aversa as soon as the drill started but quickly found his feet and did well later in the drill.

Zack Sill once again dominated this drill. First he took the puck behind the net, reversed direction, reversed again Crosby-style and Grant fell to the ice trying to keep up with him. Then he ran over Strait on his way to the net… just bull rushed him to the ice.

Moon then put it through Grant’s legs one handed and then gathered the puck back and, all in one motion, roofed it past a stunned Thiessen.

Tangradi scored on two thirds of his reps during this drill and just looked like a man among boys. Highlights during this drill included a power move to the outside around Grant straight to the goal, a one handed power move he pulled through Strait’s legs and snapped over Thiessen’s glove, and a good battle with big Bortuzzo that ended up in the back of the net as well.

Grant and Strait were awful on that drill. Bortuzzo fared much better.

Fourth Drill: Same as the first one.

Eric Says: Caputi beat Killeen on the shortside with a wrister. Nathan Longpre scored a nifty backhand goal.

Zach Says: CPZ had a nice five hole goal. Grant made a nice move to the backhand on Thiessen. Tangradi had Thiessen beat stick side but Thiessen showed good quickness and got his toe across to kick it out.

Scrimmage:
1-0 White Goal scored by Luca Caputi, assisted by Robert Bortuzzo and Nathan Longpre.
—Caputi brought the puck into the zone with speed, left it for Longpre and drove to the net. Longpre hit a trailing Bortuzzo with a pass. Bortuzzo one-times it on net but it is blocked in front. Caputi picks up the trash and buries it off the post nearside from 15 feet out.

2-0 White Goal scored by Luca Caputi, assisted by Brian Strait and Joe Vitale.
—Vitale won the draw against the very good Dustin Jeffrey and moved it back to Brian Strait. Strait walked the blueline across and fired one on net that Caputi deflected past the goaltender Thiessen.

2-1 Black Goal scored by Nick Johnson, assisted by Dustin Jeffrey.
—Jeffrey controlled the puck down low and managed to find Johnson inbetween the circles who shoots it past a helpless Killeen. Killeen had no clue even where the puck was let alone see the shot due to big Eric Tangradi taking up the whole front of the net. As Bob Errey would say, he had his butt right in Killeen’s nose.

2-2 Black Goal scored by Eric Tangradi.
—With about 50 seconds left, Black pulls the goalie. White has numerous opportunities to finish the game with the empty net but they missed every one of them, mostly with timely shot blocks by the defense. For the last twenty seconds Tangradi put the team on his back and threatened to score two or three times. He grabs the puck at center ice with ~7 seconds left, dekes through one defender and gets by the second, but both defenders reach out and tackle him to the ice which results in a penalty shot.

Tangradi getting tackled

Tangradi circles at center, fakes a wrist shot with a head fake and leg kick, moves it to his backhand and outwaits Killeen and flips it over the goalie for the easy goal after a sick move.

Overtime
White dominated overtime but could not beat Thiessen.

Hanowski for Black almost ended it with 30 seconds left by coming down 1 on 2 and going straight through Simon Despres but Thiessen came up big with a quick poke check.

Shootout:

Johnson tried a head fake move to the backhand but was denied by Killeen. 0-0.

Veilleux scores on Thiessen with his lethal low wrist shot by shooting five hole. 1-0 White.

D’Aversa on one-leg snaps a shot upstairs, causing the water bottle to soar through the air and scoring on Killeen. 1-1.

Pierro-Zabotel tallied a low goal on Thiessen. 2-1 White.

Caffaro tried a backhand move but Killeen read it all the way. 2-1 White.

Grant scored with a backhand move on Thiessen. 3-1 White.

Moon scored on a backhand-forehand move. Killeen went for the pokecheck but it was too late. 3-2 White.

Caputi was stoned low by Thiessen. 3-2 White.

The last shooter was Tangradi, who hit the high post on Killeen. No goal, and the game was over.
3-2 White in the Shootout, Final Score 3-2.

Eric Says:

• Despres was breaking out of the zone with good speed. Made a nice saucer pass up the ice.


• Alex Velischek played good under pressure from opposing attackers, and he didn’t rush which was good to see from a younger prospect.


• Grant pulled off a nice toe drag deke, moving around a forward. He also blocked some shots with his body.


• Number one prospect Eric Tangradi is strong, as Veilleux bounced off him one time.


• Ben Hanowski was good defensively, covering for his points and backchecking effectively.


• Caffaro had the hit of the day, sending CPZ to the ice.
  
• Joe Vitale is an above average faceoff man, winning a few draws against Jeffrey.


• Urban sacrificed himself for a big block shot.. he was limping off the ice.


• D’Agostino showed good hand-eye coordination, batting a puck out of mid-air.


• Killeen’s overall play impressed me, he was solid all-around today. He robbed Jeffrey on a good scoring chance, and stole one from Moon as he was laying on his back in the crease.


• Theissen stoned Caputi on a 2-on-1 break.


• The black team pulled their goalie, down one goal and Velischek blocked a shot that would have resulted in an empty net goal.

Zach Says:

• Despres broke up a 3 on 2 early against Caputi’s line with an active stick and long reach and quickly moved the puck up ice for a 3 on 2 the other way. Good shut down D with a good breakout, exactly what the Pens want from him.


• Sneep made a nice play to step up on Veilleux and take the puck and to keep him from carrying the puck into the zone with speed.


• The “slow-footed and defensively inept” Nathan Moon caught CPZ from behind on the backcheck and turned it right back up ice.


• Dustin Jeffrey was shooting from everywhere in the first period and throughout the game.


• Zack Sill was just as noticeable in the scrimmage because he was throwing the body, cycling the puck, backchecking and defensive awareness, and was just generally always around the puck. His line of Moon, Petersen, and Sill was often times holding the puck in the opposing zone for entire shifts at a time, similar to what we saw with the Cooke, Staal, and Kennedy line last season.


• Strait looked rough all day, the exception being on the Caputi goal. He definitely needs a year or two in the AHL from what I saw today and have heard about him all week. NCAA is a lower league than Canadian Juniors anyway so it should not be too much of a worry.


• Veilleux, Caputi, and Tangradi just took the puck to the net everytime no matter what. It was refreshing to see.


• Grant looked good moving the puck up ice and had good positioning the whole scrimmage. Made a nice play carrying the puck down low and made a nice centering pass.


• As Eric said, Hanowski was knocked for his lack of defense but he was often the first forward back and had great defensive positioning all day.

Forward of the Day:
Eric Says: I know Zach is going to say Caputi, so I’ll go with Zack Sill. He excelled in all facets of the game today.
Zach says: I was going to say Caputi until the last minute of the game where Tangradi put the team on his back and drew a penalty shot out of it. So I’ll go with Tangradi, but Caputi was a close second.

Defensemen of the Day:
Eric Says: Simon Despres
Zach says: I’d have to say Despres as well. He used his stick like we were used to seeing with Hal Gill but also moved the puck well and even beat a few forwards with some quick hands.

Killeen or Thiessen:
Eric Says: Killeen
Zach says: Killeen by far.

Worst Forward:
Eric Says: Casey Pierro-Zabotel, didn’t show much of his offensive abilities and didn’t do much to stand out.
Zach says: I thought CPZ was ok, slightly tentative. I’ll give it to Bathgate because I didn’t remember he was there until I was on I-79 on the way home.

Worst Defensemen:
Eric Says: Brian Strait, struggled in the one-on-one drills and was making some sloppy passes.
Zach says: Strait was definitely the worst but that does not mean he will be useless. He’ll be fine he just needs some work in the AHL.

Final Thoughts:
Eric Says: Joey Haddad didn’t skate again, due to a knee injury. Stay tuned for an exclusive interview I have coming up with him. I didn’t notice Andy Bathgate once in the scrimmage. I don’t know if that’s a good thing, or a bad thing.

Zach says: Scrimmage was very competitive with everyone giving 100%. For all the work issues and floater criticisms surrounding Veilleux, I thought he did a good job driving the net and making some hits.