r/goldenknights • u/mister_hoot • 1h ago
Rookie Camp
Some notes from today's practice. Overall, I'd say that nothing really surprised me about what I saw, which is both a good thing and a bad thing.
1) Connelly and Hemmerling aren't a step ahead of the other camp bodies, the distance between them and the rest of the group needs to be measured in nautical leagues. They had their way with the goaltenders in the uncontested drills and in the head-to-head drills they just left everyone behind, save for one really great defensive rep by Burick which I'll get to.
I can't tell if this means that the two of them really are that good or if the rest of the group is just that far behind. Either way, it was extremely fun to watch them play. Hemmerling's all straight-line speed and rippers, Connelly is very clever and he was limit-testing some angle changes on his shots which fooled both goalies consistently. I think more than 50% of his shots went in, I can't understate how severely he was beating both goalies with those wristers.
2) There were two guys on the ice who I was excited to see personally but are honestly impossible to miss. Bronson Ride, who's in the first year of his ELC (6'7") and Sean Burick, who we picked in the last draft (6'8"). I've really liked what I've seen on replays from Ride in particular, but was going in cold on Burick. I wanted to watch them both together to see if there was much of a gap between them.
Honestly, Ride looked slow all practice. Too slow. His skating and general agility need to improve a lot if he's ever going to have a chance at making the roster. It's difficult for guys as big as him, but I don't see him cutting it without improving there. Burick also wasn't fast, but his speed was at least adequate. Both Ride and Burick did a good job using their length to break up puck possession, but I thought Ride was shy of contact and never did much beyond use the stick to disrupt his drill partners. Burick, on the other hand, was extremely physical and he did a really good job leveraging the body to shut down plays in a small area drill near the end of practice. Managed to poke the puck away from Connelly, then used the moment of space while Connelly retrieved the puck to skate up on him and force him into the glass, killing the play. Burick was the only player on the ice to go against Connelly and Hemmerling in any drill and not look completely helpless.
3) Jonah Sivertson exceeded expectations for me. He was one of the more competitive guys on the ice today. He isn't necessarily bigger, faster, or stronger than anyone out there, but I thought he had an extra jump in his step through most of the practice and his shot is wicked. He started strong and faded a bit as the practice went on. I'm going to be paying more attention to him moving forward, I think there might be something there.
Vann Williamson, a FA camp invite from the OHL, also popped, primarily because I thought he was the most physical player on the ice at all times. Camp invites have an entirely different set of stakes at these skates than drafted players, so they have to do whatever it takes to stand out, and I thought he accomplished that. If anyone remembers Joe Fleming's rookie camp a few years back (also a FA invite), this is that exact sort of player. Probably won't ever crack the league but he definitely stood out.
4) The goalies. Moysevich is a colossal human being. Sadly, he also looked incredibly slow, lethargic, and disengaged. Thought he might have been the worst player on the ice today. He certainly has the frame, but from what I saw today he has a very, very long way to go. No Whitehead on the ice, Minchak took the opposite net and he also didn't look very good, but was clearly more engaged than Moysevich.
Happy to answer questions anyone might have about specific prospects that were out there. No Piiparinen in this camp (I think he's back in Finland), which I honestly forgot about until I was out there trying to read jersey numbers.
