Grant's Slant

The Apprenticeship of Vitali Kravtsov

Zadina-Mite!

I had a look at Filip Zadina’s four goals in the last 37 minutes of Halifax’s game versus Charlottetown last night. On his first goal showed off his great shot and release, receiving a pass in the slot that was bulging the twine before he was finishing his follow through. On his second goal a […]

Knights Reload, Foudy Gets Exposure

Scouts have been giving Liam Foudy a certain benefit of the doubt this season as he has not been given an offensive role, so he’s had very little opportunity to show his offensive upside. They pointed to Alex Formenton as an example, a forward who played on London’s fourth line for much of last season […]

The “Other Rasmus” Turning Heads

It’s interesting to see Rasmus Sandin score two goals for the Soo tonight with defence partner Conor Timmins away at the WJC. Given more of an offensive opportunity and he responds right away. There is no issue with his passing skills, nice to see him score a couple of goals. Quite possibly the best first-pass […]

Sutter on a Scintillating Scoring Streak

Everett Center Riley Sutter has been on a terrific tear recently, scoring seven goals and three assists in his last three games, including four goals and an assist in an 11-0 pasting of the Vancouver Giants.

Barrie Deals Nizhnikov

When a team that has OHL championship aspirations over the next couple of years like Barrie deals one of its young “up and comers” like Kirill Nizhnikov for draft picks, it’s a serious red flag for scouts in terms of his character.

Zavgorodny Not Living up to the Hype

Dmitri Zavgorodny and the Rimouski Oceanic visited Hull for their one and only game of the season on Sunday, affording me an up-close look to see if the highly touted Russian was all he was touted to be. He wasn’t.

Knights Last Line of Defence

London Knights defenceman Evan Bouchard has picked up his game lately and has worked himself back into the top 25 discussion after a disappointing start to his season along with much of the London team. Paired now with fellow draft-eligible defenceman Alec Regula, Bouchard has totalled ten points in his last five games after starting […]

Rippon Coming On

Mississauga rookie defenceman Merrick Rippon looks like he’s finally starting to adjust to the step up in competition from the CCHL to OHL. After starting the season with just two assists in his first 14 games, Recrutes spoke to an OHL-based NHL scout about Rippon’s start to the season. “In fairness to the kid, let […]

Scouts Ce Dar Rapid Development in Smith

I was taking a look at the US-U-17 team playing against Cedar Rapids in USHL action today and came across an intriguing player on the Roughriders in rookie USHL center Nathan Smith.