Rookie Camp - Saturday
Day one of the Rookie Camp is in the books.
As expected they spent the 2 hour session running 1on1 drills, 2on1 drill, 2on2 drills etc...... Before ending with shoot-out elimination round.
Quick Notes
Erik Karlsson looks great; I truly recommend that you check out EK tomorrow morning if you can.
He has a hell of a shot, without looking you can tell that Erik had shot the puck. Just so much power behind his shots with a ton accuracy.
He looked bigger than he was at the prospects camp. In fact every time I see him, he seems to get bigger and bigger. I don't believe his size will be too big of an issue this season.
His skating is phenomenal, and he was hard to shake along the boards. I just couldn't find any flaws in his game yet, he was probably the most relaxed player on the ice today as well.
Again I strongly recommend, if you have the chance, to check him out early.
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Robin Lehner, despite being 18, is huge. He is already big enough to play in the NHL, and I'm excited to see him develop over the next two seasons in the OHL and at the World Jrs.
He's really quick down low and likes to challenge the shooter, which looked like a fault as well. In the shoot-out he was unstoppable until the players started pushing him back into his net.
Still, despite that, Robin looks like the real deal and should dominate the OHL with the Greyhounds.
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Zack Smith spent the entire practice working shooting against Robin Lehner and working against Peter Regin and former Columbus pick Kyle Wharton.
Just looking at Smith's size, along with his shot and skating ability, Clouston and Murray will be hard-pressed not to have him on the NHL roster. His work along the boards was impressive and he dominated battles for the puck.
If he does, somehow, not make the big club, he'll be the first call-up every time.
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Erik Condra showed off his incredible wrist shot, and soft hands. He looked like he was playing 'posts' when shooting on the goalie, so he'll need to work a bit harder on his accuracy, but the pieces are there.
The biggest thing, I think, Condra will have to work on is adjusting to his speed. In every drill Condra looked a bit sloppy on the puck because he was going faster than, I think, he is used to. On that note I would say he's knee has 100% healed.
Condra will likely spend the year in the AHL with O'Brien and light up other teams with his wristshot.
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Geoff Kinrade joined the camp after signing with Ottawa a few months ago, and looked solid. He is a big body, and I find it hard to believe he is measured at 6'0" 207lbs.
If he can keep up the intensity he showed today, at the Sens Training camp he may actually crack the roster. He looked a lot stronger than both Lee and Picard did last season.
The way he was playing along the boards and in front of the net reminded me a lot of how the much bigger Pronger plays in those areas. (That’s not to say Kinrade is comparable to Pronger's level)
Kinrade does lack shot control, as his shots were all over the place.
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Jordan Hale is at the rookie camp as an amateur try-out and his performance today, to me atleast, warranted that he'd get an entry-level deal or an amateur contract for Bingo.
He probably had one of the hardest shot (behind Karlsson, Hoffman and Regin) at camp today, and he had the accuracy to back it up. His skating isn't the best, but his puck control was pretty good and he was solid on the puck.
His career to date hasn't been spectacular at all, with 14 points in 112 games with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL, but he did have a lot of quality pieces that he displayed today.
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Mike Hoffman, the spectacular pick-up in the draft this year by Ottawa, looked great on the ice. A 50 goal scorer in the QMJHL last season, Mike looks like a little bit of a late bloomer and a great find by Ottawa.
Mike was among the faster, stronger skaters at the camp today, and showed a very hard shot, 2nd to only Karlsson in my opinion. Similar to Karlsson, there wasn't a whole lot to criticize about Hoffman.
I fully expect Hoffman to suit up for Bingo this season, as long as he can keep up his work ethic. I think Mike Hoffman could turn into a fan-favourite like Mike Fisher, among Sens fans.
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I didn't get a real good look at Regin, O'Brien, Wharton, and Jason Bailey (very fast though), so hopefully tomorrow morning I'll get a better look at them and a 2nd look at some of the others.
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HockeyBuzz.com - Mark Christopher - Rookie Camp - Saturday
Rookie camp invitees announced..
my bad, I hadn't seen the links you attached hahaha 
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