Vladislav Namestnikov Picture by Jason Haas

Nothing formal, just a few observations from today’s 3 on 3 action:

Love the way Andrey Vasilevskiy plays.  He doesn’t rely on his size to make saves – he still fights to see through traffic and get in position.  His size was on display on a few cross-crease pad saves that drew applause from the crowd.

- Slater Koekkoek plays for keeps.  He was competing very hard and appeared more dialed in than a lot of his fellow campers.  He also threw a big hit on defenseman Luke Witkowski.

- Andrej Sustr has a good skill set to go along with his 6′ 8″ frame.  I don’t think he’ll get a contract this summer, but he could be a March signing with a contract starting in 2013-14.

- Danick Gauthier can snipe.  The free agent signing was a 40 goal scorer in the QMJHL last season and he could be another surprise impact player in the AHL ala Tyler Johnson last year.

- Vladislav Namestnikov’s speed was impressive despite only playing on half of the ice surface.  He needs to get shots off quicker, but that will come in Syracuse.

- Jake Dotchin didn’t impress me very much.  The 5th round pick from this past draft was considered a project and I certainly agree with that.