On Frozen Blog

As those who participated in our chat this morning saw, our buddy (and OFB co-founder) Empty Maybe was at today’s wrap-up of the Washington Capitals’ Rookie Camp. Here he shares his Camp musings in classic Knee-Jerk style:

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Development Camp has concluded, and has provided us with hockey fodder to
discuss over the grim period between mid-July and early September.

- Long-time followers of OFB know that I like the grinders, and guys like
Breuss, Eakin, and Della Rovere are right up my alley. All worked hard,
brought speed, forechecked and did the little things. Mitchell was less
noticeable for me, but I like the trend of the Caps picking
hard-working, character guys in the middle/later rounds.

- Dmitri Orlov was the surprise player of the camp for me. Clearly
skilled, his willingness to play the body was even better. Good speed,
good vision, good hands, and only 17 years old. He’s a player I could
see making Hershey.

- I’m not as impressed with Perreault as everyone else.
Holding the puck too long in high-traffic areas was a big concern for
me. I’m certainly not down on him, I just wasn’t as impressed as the
majority.

- Nobody was happier to have hockey in July than Bruce Boudreau.

- I’m not as down on Gustafsson as some. Finding new and interesting
ways of belittling Gustafsson was a cottage industry at Camp, it
seemed. The injuries are absolutely a concern, and should stay so until
Gus can stay healthy for a prolonged time. The knocks on his
skill, however, are unfounded, and likely the product of faulty
expectations. Never touted as a flashy player, he was disparaged for
not making flashy plays. He drove the net, made some smart passes, and
played a responsible game, which is all that could be reasonably asked
of him. Not performing like an offensive dynamo in camp clearly caused
some sentiment of him being a ‘bust’, which is short-sighted at best.

- I have no idea where Gustafsson will play next season. Would he get
significantly more minutes in Hershey than in the SEL? Would he make
the Hershey squad at all?

- It was a brief experiment but it really intrigued me: Joe Finley at
forward. He has good north-south speed for his size, and was willing/eager
to go in deep on the forecheck. He also was immobile in one instance in
front of the crease, taking a rebound and feeding it across the crease
to set up a teammate for a scoring chance as a defender struggled in
vain to move the big Minnesotan. It’s just one and a half scrimmages in
Rookie Camp, but it wouldn’t bother me at all if Finley was tried on
the wing a bit in Hershey. He’s a good interview, as well, and gives at
least as good as he gets with a microphone in front of him.

- John Carlson didn’t have a flashy camp, per se, but he had an
effective one. There’s a guy who could be in the Red, White & Blue
in September.

- Braden Holtby started off roughly on Monday, but was in good form by
the end of camp. Dann Dunn seemed to have both high and low moments.

- Think Dubuc caught management’s attention?

- Francois Bouchard created several chances today, but seems to keep
to the perimeter. Taking a cue from Perreault and heading into the tall
trees might help his game.

- Patrick Wey was a player that I wanted to keep an eye on, but it was
somewhat hard because he plays a very non-descript game. Not overly
anything, he seems to make the simple, smart play and that’s that.

- Seriously: SRO crowds. On a Saturday morning in July. For a Development Camp scrimmage. That says something.

Nothing wrong with watching hockey in July, getting to see some familiar faces and
meet some new ones. Not too bad at all. See you at the rink in
September.