Prospect Profile: Jacob Trouba

Name: Jacob Trouba

Birth Date: February 26, 1994

Birth Place: Rochester, Michigan (some reports say Minnesota, but that's inaccurate)

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 191 pounds

Position: Defense

Hand: Right

2012 Draft Eligible

Already drawing comparisons to the likes of Jack Johnson and Cam Fowler, Trouba is regarded as one of the best defensemen in the upcoming draft. Scouts describe Trouba as a big, agile, physical defenseman with a booming shot and good overall puck movement.

Although he likes to be physical, he's also smart with his positioning, picking his spots on when take the body, and when to go for a poke check. Not only is he more than adept in his own end, but he's very good at joining the rush and working in the corner down low, and then getting back to his spot at the point before the opposing team has a chance to catch him pinching. When patrolling the blue line in the offensive zone, he's known to command respect due to his agility, patience, and heavy shot. This is all especially impressive, given the fact that he very recently turned 18.

I couldn't find much video footage of him aside from interviews, but these videos show his poise with the puck and heavy shot. On the first video, hearing the puck deflect off the forward's stick somewhat indicates the heaviness of his shot. According to the USNTDP site, through 38 games this season, Jacob has 7 goals (5 on the powerplay), 15 assists and 22 points, with 50 PIMs. I'd say with a few more years of experience, he's going to have his game rounded out pretty well.

Trouba verbally committed to attend the University of Michigan not too long ago after much deliberation on whether he would go there, Notre Dame, or to Kitchener of the OHL (they drafted him and own his CHL rights). His reasoning for taking such a long time to make a decision? He wants to be known as a man of his word. Via University of Michigan's hockey site:

"Jacob Trouba wants to be known as a man of his word.

So when the highly touted defensive prospect is ready to make his decision whether to play in the OHL for the Kitchener Rangers — who hold his CHL rights – or the NCAA, there won’t be any late de-commitments or promises broken.

“That’s sort of why I haven’t (committed), because I don’t want to make a commitment and then back down from it,” said the 17-year-old on Wednesday, while in Toronto to take part in the NHL’s Research and Development Camp.

[...]

“It’s important because people have to trust you and what you say,” he said of keeping his word. “If you keep backing out of decisions — and all that, going back on your word — then you’re just going to get that reputation.”

The kid turned 18 just a few days ago, but he already sounds as mature as a 30 year old. You can't beat that. This kid's got a good head on his shoulders. Whoever ends up drafting him this June is going to have a real great defenseman for quite a while.

Since Everyone Else is Doing It...

Let's recap the (uneventful) trade deadline today. Via NHL.com's Trade Tracker:

Let's go over a few of the bigger deals of the day.

-Zack Kassian for Cody Hodgson:

I think this is a really good deal for both sides. If last year's Cup Final against Boston was any indicator, it showed that the Canucks don't have as much toughness as the Bruins (understatement of the year, perhaps). Zack Kassian, a winger, is only 21, but he's as tough as they come. He can definitely play a little on the edge and stir up some controversy with hits like this one in the WJCs a couple of years ago. Regardless, the Canucks could definitely use some more physicality to their game if they intend on competing against a lot of the other teams in the league.

Hodgson, on the other hand, is a young, right-handed centerman who is projected to be a pretty decent scorer in the league. As is the case with most good teams, however, he got buried by the depth of the Canucks' roster. Of course, it didn't help that they went out and picked up Sammy Pahlsson, but that's beside the point. Either way, however, Buffalo did good here, picking up a young center that can help their team on both ends of the rink.

-John Scott for a 5th round pick:

A real good pick up for the Rangers. John Scott will fit right in on Broadway because he's their type of player. He's big (6'8 270 pounds), brutal, intimidating, and he'll kick the crap out of you in a fight. I read that he was picked up to do just that, too; to keep other teams from taking liberties at the Rangers' players. The only thing I don't understand about this deal is that Chicago was looking for defensive depth, and they trade away a defenseman. Granted, Scott may not be the greatest at defending, but when you're already limited, why take more away from yourself? Then again, as the saying goes, if I knew anything about the game, I'd be in it.

-Steve Kampfer for Greg Zanon:

Along with the other moves Boston made, this is more of a depth move. Kampfer has potential, but again, he got buried by depth. By sending him to Minnesota, they get an experienced, veteran defenseman in Zanon, who should help them in the playoffs. Minnesota, on the other hand, sheds some salary and gets younger on their blueline. The Wild definitely need some work, but their blueline is going to be rather decent in the coming years. Scandella, Spurgeon, Kampfer, Falk...they have some good players that will be around for a while.

-Paul Gaustad for a 1st round pick:

Gulp. That was the sound of the Central Division getting a little more worried about Nashville. Gaustad and Hal Gill both now? I'd watch out for the Predators. Arguably the biggest trade of the day, Nashville really came out on top on this deal. Yeah, Buffalo put a high price on Gaustad, but Nashville did good to get a fourth round pick out of it too. Say what you will about him, but David Poile is a really good GM in my opinion. Earlier, there was an explanation on why Gaustad had such a high price on him. Buffalo didn't really want to get rid of him, but if someone was willing to pay the price, then they'd be foolish to not take it. One person on Twitter described it as "if I were to sell my car for $70,000, that's a really high price, but if someone wants to buy it I'd be a fool to not sell it" or something along those lines. Valid point, I suppose.

-Sammy Pahlsson for two 4th round picks:

As if Vancouver weren't stacked enough as it is, they just added more depth to their team. They now have three of the best faceoff men in the league with Kesler, Malhotra, and Pahlsson. The latter two essentially play the same style and have the same role (defensive zone faceoffs, kill penalties, etc), but those third and fourth liners tend to be very underrated. Real good move by the Canucks. Now if they could get a goalie, they'd be all set...

-Carter Ashton for Keith Aulie:

Brian Burke didn't make any of the big moves that Leafs Nation wanted, but he did get rid of an underperforming (admittedly, young) defenseman in exchange for a big bodied forward. Ashton was a first round pick a few years ago, and was generally regarded as Tampa's finest prospect. Scouts say he still needs some fine tuning, but he has good speed, he's really good defensively, he's physical, and he can put up some points as well. With that said, Steve Yzerman probably felt he needed to retool his defense after getting blown out by the Penguins last weekend. Aulie isn't a bad defenseman by any means, and he should be in the league for a while once he works on a few aspects of his game. For what it's worth though, he is a big, physical defenseman who isn't afraid to drop the gloves. Good moves by both Burke and Yzerman.

-Mike Commodore for a conditional 7th round pick:

Again, Yzerman was refining his defense, and this is a good pickup for him. I would have liked to have seen Commodore play more than 17 games with the Wings, but as I keep repeating, he got buried by depth. I think Commodore is another underrated, veteran defenseman that just needs an opportunity after getting snubbed by Columbus (how does Scott Howson have a job after the Nash comments???). Either way, he should get his chance in Tampa, especially with Hedman rumored to be out with another concussion. As for the Wings and the 7th round pick, they'll receive it as long as Commodore plays 15 games for Tampa and they make the playoffs. Assuming that happens, we all know what that means for the Wings: they'll be drafting another Zetterberg or Datsyuk.

-Andrei Kostitsyn for a 2nd round pick, conditional 5th round pick:

I say this is a real good deal for Nashville again. A lot of people are skeptical about reuniting the Kostitsyn brothers, but I have a feeling it'll be different this time around. No, Andrei hasn't been a prolific goal scorer, but he's also been playing in the high pressure market that is Montreal. Some people just aren't cut out for that. I think with both of the Kostitsyns reunited in a low pressure city, it could give them a spark and end up surprising a lot of people, but again, I don't know anything. What I do know, is that Nashville isn't messing around this year by going all in and doing what they can to win. Hopefully that's enough to convince Ryan Suter to re-sign with them.

That's enough for now. With the deadline over, that means one thing: the playoffs are right around the corner and it's time to drop the puck.

Matt Duchene Gets his First Goal Since Returning From Injury

Not much more to add to that except for how nice of a pass that was by Statsny. It looks easy, sure, but a saucer pass, over a defenseman, right on the tape of Duchene's stick?

Just another day in the office for those two, I suppose.

Glove Tap: Valtteri Filppula

Sure, you've heard of the guy. "Oh, yeah, he's that one guy on the Wings with Datsyuk and Zetterberg and all them, blah blah blah". Drafted in the third round in 2002 (95th overall), the Finnish native was projected to be a pretty decent second line centerman. As the Wings do with all their prospects, they let him develop by playing two more years in Finland and two more in Grand Rapids with their AHL club, before earning a permanent roster spot in the big leagues in 2006-07.

Putting up a respectable 36 points (19 goals, 17 assists) in 78 games for his first full NHL season, Filppula's been relatively consistent since then. With point totals of 40, 35 (only 55 games that year), and 39 in each of the following seasons, it was beginning to look like maybe he wouldn't pan out as he was projected. Oh, but is patience a virtue...

At first glance, his 18 goals, 30 assists and 48 points this year may seem a little underwhelming. However, if you take a deeper look, Valtteri is quietly having a heck of season. With two more goals, Filppula will top his career high that he set in his rookie year. Not to mention he's currently at a +14 and another +3, (admittedly, a potentially deceiving stat), will be a career marker in that category as well.

Keeping in mind that while he may not be a superstar such as his counterparts in Datsyuk and Zetterberg, he is reliable. Mike Babcock uses him fairly often, and even if he's not the team's primary penalty killer, he has seen about 51 minutes of shorthanded time this season. That ranks him 7th among PK time for forwards on the team, and that's mainly because of players like Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader getting the majority of that ice time. Pair all that with the fact that he's only taken 12 penalty minutes all season, and I'd say you've developed a quality player right there.

He's kown as more of a playmaker than a shooter, but Fil has a decent shot and some pretty nice moves to go with it, as seen here. Again, I'm not saying Mr. Filppula here is the next coming of Gretzky or anything, but he definitely deserves more credit than he's received. "That one guy" is having a pretty good year so far.

Five Months Later and It's Still Not Any Easier

Jeff Miller wrote an article on Ruslan Salei, his wife and family, and how they're all still dealing with the tragedy that happened in September. It's definitely worth the read, even if you have to choke back a few tears.

Chris Neil's Candidate for Hit of the Year

Like most hockey fans, I love seeing a good, clean open ice hit. It's what makes hockey the amazing game it's evolved to be over the years. There have been some really nice ones this season, but in last night's game between the Senators and Bruins, Chris Neil provided one worth an extra look or two:

Mr. Boychuk, meet Chris Neil. And keep your head up while you're at it, kid. Now, I know Neil doesn't have the greatest reputation around the league, and rightfully so, but this is the kind of hit I love. It's perfectly clean, Neil's elbows are down, he's not charging at Boychuk; everything's fine here, though I suppose Boychuk would say differently since he just got his bell rung, but I digress. I'd bet good money that he keeps his head up from now on, though. Better luck next time, Johnny boy(chuk).

Prospect Profile: Mattias Ekholm

Name: Mattias Ekholm

Birth Date: May 24, 1990

Birth Place: Borlänge, Sweden

Height: 6'3" (192cm)

Weight: 201 pounds (91kg)

Position: Defense

Hand: Left

Drafted: 2009, 4th round, 102th overall by the Nashville Predators

I was looking for an obscure, underrated prospect to research today, and I had no idea who or how or where to find him. So, I asked Corey Pronman of hockeyprospectus, and he named Ekholm.

Eliteprospects describes Ekholm as such:

"Ekholm is a large defenseman with decent two-way ability. He is a capable skater and has decent overall mobility. He moves the puck rather well and makes simple and smart passes. Hockey sense fairly good, release is pretty heavy and he tries to solve most situations the simple way. Ekholm has proved to be a solid defensemen in the juniors, playing with confidence and ease in his own end. Work could be put in to improve his physical game further and add more weight to his frame which would make the transition to men's hockey easier."

Mattias has played in all sorts of junior tournaments while in Sweden. Under 18s, under 20s, so on and so forth, and he's seemed to have been fairly solid. He may not be the biggest point producer, but at the same time, he's also a defenseman. Upon being drafted, Ekholm played one more season with his junior team in Sweden, Mora. Currently playing with Brynäs IF of the Elitserien in Gävle, Sweden, Ekholm is making great strides in his improvement.

In his inaugural season with Brynäs, played in 55 games while scoring 10 goals and 23 assists for 33 points. On top of that, Mattias finished with a +10 rating, 38 PIMs, 5 powerplay goals and 44 hits. What makes this even more impressive is that his average ice time was around 20 minutes a game. All at the ripe old age of 20.

This season, Ekholm played in two games with the Predators before returning to Sweden to further develop. He made his NHL debut on October 13 versus Phoenix, playing 16 shifts in 11:30 of ice time. A week later on the 20th, he played in a game at Vancouver with 21 shifts and 13:20 of ice time. So far this season with Brynäs, Ekholm has only played in 36 games, but is leading defensemen with an average ice time of 22:21, along with being 10th in team scoring with 16 points. That's a nice improvement in a year, I'd say.

To further aid Ekholm's case, Corey Pronman says he should be NHL ready next year:

I'm not saying Ekholm will be a saving grace if Nashville (god forbid) can't re-sign Weber and/or Suter, but it seems like he should help ease the pain if that ends up being the case. Keep your eyes open, Preds fans.

Jack Johnson's in Ohio, Richards and Carter Get to Live Happily Ever After Anyways

As I'm sure you're all aware of by now, the Kings and the Blue Jackets swapped Jack Johnson and Jeff Carter today. I've heard both opinions on who won the trade and who got robbed, and for what it's worth, both sides have fair arguments. When all is said and done, however, I think it's a pretty fair deal for both sides. Columbus gets rid of Carter, who clearly wasn't working out with the Blue Jackets, and in exchange they get a halfway decent offensive defenseman with a cheaper contract than Carter. On top of that, they're getting LA's first round pick either this year or next year. That's not too bad, I suppose.

On the other hand, LA is getting a proven goal scorer; something they've desperately needed this season. I don't have the exact number off the top of my head, but they've averaged something like 2 goals a game this year, and if you pay attention even a little, you'll know that's true. I live near LA, so I get to watch their games more often than not, and man, it can be painful. Night after night watching Jonathan Quick stand on his head while the guys in front of him struggle to get more than one goal makes you really feel bad for Quick, and the team. Now, I'm definitely not saying that Jeff Carter is going to be LA's savior or anything. Far from it, really. This is just a deal they needed to make, and now they need to hope it turns in their favor.

Now, there can't be good without bad, and that's not an understatement with this situation either. If you happen to live under a rock or somehow managed to miss the controversy this past off-season, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter were both traded from Philadelphia because of alleged locker room issues. They were both often accused of partying too much, and that's easy to believe seeing as they're best friends (not to mention various pictures floating around the internet). Hell, they even still talk several times a week, so it's probably not too much of an understatement to think that the splitting of them affected them more than it should. Regardless of the issues and accusations, it seems that Richards at least has grown past them. He's carried the Kings during stretches this season where it seemed they had no hope.

Carter, on the other hand, as soon as he learned he was traded to Columbus, he basically threw in the towel. I can understand that to an extent. You go from an annual Cup contender to a team that's struggled every year since they've existed...that's gotta be a rough feeling. I get that, I do. At the same time though, you're also a professional athlete essentially guaranteed to make millions of dollars for the next decade, so suck it up and deal with it like a man. You can only imagine how relieved he must be to get out of dodge.

Carter's not the only one happy with the trade, however. Earlier tonight, Richards tweeted his feelings on the subject:

Who knows, though? With Richards and Carter being released from the time-out corner and allowed to play together again, maybe they learned their lesson and LA can get back on track scoring goals and winning games. Time's running out on the season and probably even GM Dean Lombardi's paycheck.

Brian Burke on TSN1050

If you've got an extra 17 minutes, go ahead and listen to Brian Burke talking about everything from the Leafs' goalie situation, to Rick Nash, and even about Lent (including how he quit drinking for the month of January). It's a long clip as I said, and takes roughly a good minute and a half to get into the good stuff, but it's still rather entertaining, as one can imagine with Brian Burke being handed a microphone.

Prospect Profile: Petr Mrazek

It's been a while since I've updated this, but there's been some writer's block, some apathy, and just plain being busy, so I apologize. However, I figure I should get back into this because it's something I've enjoyed, so without further ado, I present you: Petr Mrazek.

Name: Petr Mrazek

Birth Date: February 14, 1992

Birth Place: Ostrava, Czechoslovakia

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 184 pounds

Position: Goalie

Catching Hand: Left

Drafted: 2010, 5th round, 141st overall by the Detroit Red Wings

When I first heard about this kid, my reaction was a big "meh". A goalie in the fifth round, big deal, right? But then I thought about it. How often do the Wings pick gems of players in the late rounds? The correct answer is "fairly often", with Datsyuk and Zetterberg being the two prime examples.

So this got me thinking, maybe Kenny Holland knows what he's doing. Then again, maybe not. Perhaps he picked a goalie just to have another goalie. Who knows? The more I heard about this Mrazek kid, though, the more I became optimistic that he has some real potential. I was unable to watch the World Juniors this year, but from what I heard, this guy was a real treat to watch.

Justin Goldman of the The Goalie Guild describes Mrazek as follows:

This highlight video seems to verify these claims, too.

Petr is now in his third season with his junior team, the Ottawa 67s, and while his stats aren't necessarily anything to write home about...they're not too shabby either. Improving from a 3.00 GAA in 2009-2010 to a 2.84 in each of this season and last, he's clearly improving. Side that with an improving save percentage of .905 to .920 (currently .916 this season), Mrazek could definitely be on his way to the big leagues in a few years.