Rick’s Report: Shattuck Prospects Scott Morrow and Charlie Lurie

Scott Morrow D:

The two-way right-handed defenceman does a bit of everything for Shattuck. Skating wise, his strong points are his balance and edgework. His turns are very tight and he does so while keeping his head up. He just has to continue working on his straight-ahead speed and skating ability going backward. When the puck is in the defensive zone, he judges the play well and is quick to get in position.

He is physically strong so he can play the body effectively and his stick work is good but I would like to see him do this with more intensity and authority in the front of the net. Good lead passes when he plays within his limits, stretch passes can be a little erratic.

Morrow can stickhandle very well at top speeds and is able to change directions very easily without losing possession, often catching opponents off-guard. At times when puckhandling, he becomes overconfident, leading to losses of possession. In the offensive zone, he completes passes well in all directions.

He is able to get good shots on net by finding openings and keeping his shot low, leading to rebound opportunities. He will have to work on his lateral mobility some more to be able to get in open spaces just a little quicker. Logs a lot of minutes in important situations and doesn’t seem to tire. 

Draft projection: Late first-round pick

Here are several examples of Morrow’s (#23) stickhandling, footwork and passing:

Charlie Lurie LW:

A scoring center/winger who is slowly adding dimensions to his overall game. His straight-ahead speed is average but he does keep his feet moving at all times even when facing tight checking, so he covers a lot of territory on the ice. He should work on trying to gain some explosiveness as he doesn’t have a second gear that he can use to gain separation from his opponents. His shoot-first mentality is effective given his capacity to get open in good scoring positionings rather quickly.

Lurie has a hard wrist shot with a quick release point and an excellent one-timer that hits the net regularly. He keeps his passing plays simple but doesn’t have the peripheral vision to be very creative.  Works hard along the boards and in the corners doing a solid job of pinning opponents along the walls.

Defensively, he comes back hard and tries to support his defenceman. He doesn’t chase the puck in his own zone and tracks his man diligently.  He won’t hesitate to lay out a hard hit when he has the chance but he doesn’t run around for it, either. When faced with pressure in his zone, he makes the simple smart play to settle things down for his team. He gets in position to make sure to be a passing option for his teammates when trying to break out of their zone.  Committed to the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Draft projection: fourth or fifth round.

Here are some examples of Luries (#21) positioning, his one-timer, and physical edge:

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