Pius Suter

Embed from Getty Images

Team: ZSC Lions

League: National League A

Position: C

Born: 24th May 1996

Height: 5.11       

Weight: 170
Draft eligible for NHL Draft 2016

Size/Strength	Average
Skating	Average
Shot/Scoring	Average
Puckhandling	Good
Physical Play	Average
Offensive Play	Good
Defensive Play	Good
Hockey Sense	Good
Competitiveness	Good

 Report Card – Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average, Poor

Strengths

1. Two-way game

2. Hockey smarts

3. Penalty killing

Area’s For Improvement

1. Shot 

2. Face-off skills

3. Execution

Scouting Report:

Suter is a smallish center who can play on the wing as well. He plays an excellent two-way game and can excel at both ends of the ice although his defensive instincts are more progressed than his offensive ones. He uses his great hockey smarts in a lot of situations and is a dangerous penalty killer as he can steal the puck with his good anticipation and transfer his game from a defensive mode into attack within seconds. Suter is a decent puckhandler and makes smart decisions with the puck, is good in tight situations and does not panic. Does not commit a lot of mistakes and does not turn the puck over very often. He wins board battles although he is not overly physical as he is not afraid to battle against bigger opponents and does not quit on plays. He is not really an executer and could work on his shot power. All in all, Suter is a competitive and hard-working center who does a lot of small things right and is willing to sacrifice and take one for the team. Uses his matured understanding of the game to make plays.                    

NHL Potential: Two-way center, who shows a matured understanding of the game.  

Style compares to: Frans Nielsen

Jonas Siegenthaler

Team: ZSC Lions

photo by planetehockey.com

League: Swiss National League A

Position: Defence

Born: 06th May 1997

Height: 6.2       

Weight: 218
Eligible for NHL Draft 2015

Size/Strength	Good
Skating	Average
Shot/Scoring	Below Average
Puckhandling	Average
Physical Play	Good
Offensive Play	Below Average
Defensive Play	Excellent
Hockey Sense	Good
Competitiveness	Good

 Report Card – Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average, Poor

Strengths

1. Defensive Play

2. One vs One

3. Stick Usage

Area’s For Improvement

1. Offensive Play

2. Shot/Scoring

3. First Pass

Scouting Report:

A solid defender with good size and strength. Is able to shut down opponent players. Uses his stick very well to interrupt plays and is excellent in preventing forwards from scoring on rebounds. Reads and understands the game well. His Size and strength allows him to get involved physical though could use his body more often to make plays. Needs to improve his offensive play and rarely gets involved in the opponent teams zone. First few steps need to be better but isn’t a bad skater, not very explosive though. Needs to gain strength in his shot and could work on his first pass which is always a secure one but rarely an opening pass. His pass is very strong though and receives passes well too. Very good at one vs one situations and stays calm and focused without panicking. Overall a very solid and matured defender with great defensive skills.   

NHL Potential: Stay at home defender. Plays solid defensive game but needs to imrpove his offence. 

Style compares to: Zbynek Michalek

Denis Malgin

photo by planetehockey.com

Team: ZSC Lions

League: Swiss National League A

Position: Center

Born: 18th January 1997

Height: 5.9       

Weight: 176
Eligible for NHL Draft 2015

Size/Strength	Below Average
Skating	Good
Shot/Scoring	Average
Puckhandling	Excellent
Physical Play	Below Average
Offensive Play	Good
Defensive Play	Good
Hockey Sense	Good
Competitiveness	Good

 Report Card – Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average, Poor

Strengths

1. Great Vision

2. Puckhandling

3. Offensive Play

Area’s For Improvement

1. Strength

2. Physical Play

3. Corner Battles

Scouting Report:

Denis is a very skilled playmaker with great vision for his line mates and excellent puck control skills. He has an accurate pass and likes to use it to setup plays and create scoring chances, which is his biggest asset. Often he prefers the pass over a shot, though he would have an accurate shot but needs to use it more often. His biggest area for improvement is his strength and physical play. Though he tries to get involved physical, he would need to gain a lot of strength to compete against NHL players. He needs to work on his balance, which can be seen when battling in corners or protecting the puck. However, in many situations he can correct his lack of strength with his good, agile skating skills. Often he moves smoothly within the offensive zone and positions himself for a good passing spot without getting noticed by the opponent defenders. He always seems to make the right decision and shows hockey sense. In his own zone he plays a responsible role and backchecks well. 

NHL Potential: Playmaker. Has a great vision and passing skills but needs to gain lots of strength

Style compares to: David Desharnais

Mike Künzle

photo by zscblog.ch

Team: ZSC Lions

League: Swiss National League A

Position: Right Wing

Born: 26th December 1993

Height: 6.4       

Weight: 209

Undrafted

Size/Strength	Good
Skating	Average
Shot/Scoring	Average
Puckhandling	Poor
Physical Play	Good
Offensive Play	Average
Defensive Play	Below Average
Hockey Sense	Average
Competitiveness	Average

 Report Card – Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average, Poor

Strengths

1. Physical game

2. Using his size for plays

3. Clears up space for his line mates

Area’s For Improvement

1. Puckhandling

2. Receiving a pass

3. Making a pass

Scouting Report:

Mike is a big forward who uses his size to clear up space for his line mates to create offence. He knows when he needs to use his physical play to make checks and when it would only dislocate him. However, he could use his size a bit more to screen goalies and cause trouble in front of the net. He definitely needs to improve his poor puckhandling skills. In addition, he is not receiving passes very well and mishandles pucks easily. His skating is average, not explosive, but due to his size it is not an easy task to knock him off the puck. Mike should also work on his shooting skills and could use his long reach more often to interrupt plays in his own zone.

NHL Potential: None! His puckhandling and passing skills are not good enough

Style compares to: Dustin Penner

Luca Cunti

Team: ZSC Lions

photo by: srf.ch

League: Swiss National League A

Position: Center

Born: 04.07.1989
Height: 6.00  

     

Weight: 209
Drafted: 2007 3rd round, 75th overall by Tampa Bay Lightning  

Size/Strength	Average
Skating	Good
Shot/Scoring	Average
Puckhandling	Excellent
Physical Play	Poor
Offensive Play	Good
Defensive Play	Poor
Hockey Sense	Excellent
Competitiveness	Average

 Report Card – Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average, Poor

Strengths

1. Hockey Sense

2. Good pass

3. Setting up plays

Area’s For Improvement

1. Defensive Play

2. Physical Play

3. Play in front of net

Scouting Report:

Luca Cunti has a great offensive hockey sense. He has huge playmaking abilities and sets up plays very well. He has an accurate pass and receives passes well, though he sometimes tends to do too risky passes. He has good skating agility and can change directions fast, however is not an explosive skater and his first steps could be faster. Cunti has great stickhandling and moves smoothly into the offensive zone. His play away from puck in the offensive zone is average, he anticipates the game well but needs to screen goalies better instead of only waiting for the rebound. His wrist shot is accurate, though he doesn’t use his full arsenal and needs to shoot more often. Clearly the biggest room for improvement is his defensive- and physical game. He stays away from any physical contact and his play away from puck within defense zone is poor, doesn’t go into board battles.

NHL Potential:  

Playmaker (but as of today not good enough to compete at NHL level!)

Style compares to: Joe Thornton (not from a size perspective)

Statistics (by eliteprospect)