Minnesota Wild: Final Thoughts On Development Camp

The Minnesota Wild wrapped up six days of another summer Development Camp.  The prospect group assembled in St. Paul didn’t disappoint and showed some excellent talent.  Here’s a few thoughts to clue into as we close the books on camp and await the Prospect Tournament in September.

The Minnesota Wild concluded their summer prospect camp this afternoon with the second of two scrimmages between the White and Green teams.  Today’s game at Xcel Center ended in a Green victory after two 30 minute halves, a 5-minute 3-on-3 overtime period, and a shootout that saw every player from each team take the ice.  Just like the first scrimmage there was lots to talk about with some players standing out, and it was a great ending to a fast-paced six days.

The overall thought from the end of this camp is that the future looks great for the Wild and their clubs.  GM Chuck Fletcher said it best when he said this was the most talented group he’s seen in a few years in camp.  The players who were expected to play well did with a few surprises as well.  So as the camp wraps up here’s a few observations to take away from the camp and think about till September 16th when the prospects take the ice again in the Traverse City tournament.

1. The Goaltending Situation Will Be Great…Soon:  One of the biggest concerns going into the offseason for the Wild was their overall depth at goaltender.  The big club in Minnesota has a great one-two punch in Dubnyk and Kuemper, but when you looked down the depth chart it looked a bit bare.  Alex Stalock was brought in to start in Iowa and Steve Michalek played well last year there, but there seemed to be lack of a buzz about the future of the Wild’s goaltending.  That was until Adam Vay and Kaapo Kahkonen had great camp performances and played very well in both scrimmages.

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Vay showed a lot of raw talent by making some spectacular highlight worthy saves, but he did show a few breakdowns in fundamentals which will hopefully be cleared up as he works with goaltending coach Bob Mason and his staff.  He just seems to still be in the mode that he was in at the World Championships and that’s a really good thing.  Still Vay could challenge Michalek to backup in Iowa, but at a minimum will most likely be the starter in Quad City.

Kahkonen played more of a steady style that was strong and consistent.  He showed excellent control of his movements and just seemed to be calm even as he was fighting off the likes of Sam Anas, Alex Tuch, and Joel Eriksson-Ek.  The 19-year-old is a year or two from making his full-time jump from Finland, but he’ll definitely mature further as he plays in his second season in SM-Liiga.

Both goaltenders have a few more steps to go before being NHL ready, but they both showed excellent talent and with some focused development will be great soon.

2. The Wild Have Drafted Well Lately:  The Wild have certainly been hurt by a series of draft busts in some of the years previous to 2014.  That trend seems to have been reversed as the last three first round picks for the Wild had excellent camps and showed outstanding talent and drive.  Alex Tuch, Joel Eriksson-Ek, and Luke Kunin all had goals in scrimmage play and showcased excellent offensive instincts.

Kunin will be returning to Wisconsin to get more wisdom from Tony Granato, but Tuch will be playing for Iowa next season and could find himself at the top of the depth chart there quickly.  The Wild coaching staff were impressed with not only his play, but his leadership as well.  Wild Assistant General Manager Brent Flahr explained to Dan Myers of Wild.com that “You just see the growth and the way he handles himself off the ice.  His confidence level, he’s stronger and quicker and he’s blessed with a lot of natural tools. But he works very hard off the ice and he’s very driven to be an NHL player.”

Eriksson-Ek showed excellent vision and his signature hard shot.  The Wild’s head of player development Brad Bombardier said in an interview between halves that Eriksson-Ek “Showed up to camp as a man”, explaining that he had added a lot of muscle and was looking more and more like an NHL ready player.  The decision on where he plays next season will be held off until the conclusion of training camp, but as well as he’s playing it could be any level from back in Sweden to even the big club in Minnesota.

3. Sam Anas was the Surprise of the Camp:  The forward from Quinnipiac University by way of the DC Metro area showed his excellent scoring touch constantly during the camp.  Watching his goal in first scrimmage and two goals in the second scrimmage (if you count his shootout goal) you see a very patient player who uses his excellent stickhandling to find the holes that the goaltender is showing him.  The goals he scored were just outstanding.

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Many people expected Anas to play well, but not that well.  He’s easily in the top three of scoring prospects with Tuch and Eriksson-Ek.  Critics would say that his lack of size will catch up with him in real game play at the AHL level, but if he moves like he did during camp his size becomes a moot point.  He’s a driven player and he showed that drive this week.

Also it’s worth mentioning he’s an undrafted free-agent, which goes to show you that the Wild’s lack of draft picks over the last couple of years could be overcome.  A pick up like Anas shows that with good scouting you can find excellent players outside the draft.

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So as the books close on another development camp, the State of Hockey should be very excited for their future.  Granted this was prospects playing prospects, but since the top guys showed up on the scoresheet consistently it shows they have the talent above their peers which is what you want at this point.  The next and even better test for this young group will be in September in Traverse City.  Till then just be excited for the players who will be the future of the Wild and the excellent work they put in this past week.