Midseason Checks: Surprising Developments
I love Felix Unger Sorum
With December quickly coming, we’re getting closer and closer to the midseason mark for a lot of players. With that comes sweeping generalizations with guys that are either overperforming, underperforming, or performing at their somewhat established level. These can be harmful from time to time, as it can apply some narratives that may or may not be actually true. But sometimes, we get half seasons of performance that change minds on development paths and luckily, the Canes have a few of those currently percolating across the world. Let’s take a deeper dive into the players and what their development has looked like over the first part of their season.
Felix Unger Sorum, RW (Chicago Wolves, AHL)
This is the easiest person to zero in on because Felix has easily been the most improved prospect over the course of the calendar year. With 19 points in 19 games, he needs 1 point over his next 42 games to eclipse his point total from last year. He’s been one of the most consistent players for the Wolves this year at both 5v5 and on the power play. I still want him to shoot more on the power play and in general, but Felix has found his groove in North America.
When you watch Felix, you see a player in control of the game with the puck on his stick. His skating reaches a new level, being able to weave in tight to avoid contact or defenders to try and get time and space. His brain can work faster than the rest of his body sometimes, but it’s good to see him process the game at the rate he does. He would do these same things last year, but now he has the confidence level and strength to do these things much more consistently. He’s making the flashy passes happen and doing so at a level in which we haven’t seen from him at the professional level yet. He really does have an underrated shot that he rarely uses but I’d love to see him be more selfish from time to time. Teams have seen him play and know he’s a much more willing passer than shooter so they zero in on his linemates instead of him. Felix has been able to abuse that from time to time but he’d become a more dangerous threat if he shot more.
Not going to say he could be a carbon copy of Teuvo Teravainen, but there are some fun similarities between the two. At his peak, if he continues to show these improvements, Felix could be a top 6/9 playmaking wing that can be a huge help on the power play. Also, expect a new “After Further Review” in the new format on December 20th on young Felix.
Justin Poirier, LW/RW (Maine, NCAA)
Well, well, well, what do we have here? This is the Canes first big “Canadian Junior player goes to College” experience and Poirier is currently a shining example of why it could be something that happens more often in the future. In the eyes of the Hurricanes, Maine has a great track record for developing slightly undersized forwards that have crazy good shots. Albeit, it was the one player but what a success Bradly Nadeau has turned out to be. Now, Maine is getting a chance to mold Poirier, who is 3 inches shorter but with somewhat similar skill sets. So far, so good.
In 14 games so far this year, Poirier has 11 goals and 6 assists for 17 points, good for 1st in Maine and 26th in all of NCAA. Out of eligible freshman, he sits in 5th, behind first round picks Porter Martone and Vaclav Nestrasil (yes, Andrej’s brother), presumed 1st overall pick Gavin McKenna, and Flames 5th round pick Ethan Wyttenbach. Wyttenback, Nestrasil, and McKenna have all played 2 more games than Poirier so far.
Biggest thing for me is the translation of his game from junior to college, because Poirier plays a much more interesting style than most 5’8/5’9 wingers and I wanted to see how that would work against players bigger, stronger, faster, and older than him. So far, it’s translated really well. He’s going into board battles with confidence and he isn’t shying away from contact in any way. His skating, while a little funky to watch, is good enough at this level to keep him afloat. The shot it still at the top end of this level of hockey as well.
I’ve said before that it’s farfetched to imagine Poirier getting signed after this season and I’m going to stick to that. As good as a season that he’s having, I want to see this production continue for longer. I wouldn’t be shocked if he was signed, but I, personally, want to see one more year after this one.
Jayden Perron, RW (Michigan, NCAA)
When Perron transferred away from North Dakota, I can’t say I was surprised. It just didn’t seem to work out for him there and him getting a fresh start at a new environment was probably best for him. This is proven right, as he needs 3 points over the rest of his season to set a new career high in points (highest point total was 19 with North Dakota last year, has 17 points in 18 games now).
I was a little shocked to see the comments from Justin Williams about Perron, saying “He’s a very talented winger, similar to Jackson Blake” in a recent Prospect Report. The talented winger part wasn’t surprising, as Perron has had great skill since being drafted. But I don’t really see Blake in Perron’s game too much. Let be 100% clear, Justin Williams is much, much, much more qualified in his opinion of players than me. He won Stanley Cups, I was a youth goalie. I see a player closer to Felix Unger Sorum than Blake, someone with all world skill but with some size concerns that might hinder translatability at the next level. He’s an excellent playmaker with an underrated shot who’s skating has taken strides (no pun intended) in development.
He’s certainly become a more complete player this year, which is something that needed to be seen. Perron is a player that I wonder, if Michigan has a deep run in the postseason, if he signs an entry level contract after the season if he keeps up his pace.
Joel Nystrom, RHD (Carolina Hurricanes, NHL)
Let me tell you, it is WEIRD to type Carolina Hurricanes after Nystrom in his first full season of North American hockey. Not saying that he wasn’t/isn’t good enough for the NHL, but I wasn’t expecting it so soon. But he’s earned every single bit of his NHL time, as his game has translated early and well so far.
Nystrom’s greatest strength is his understanding of the game of hockey. He’s a great reader/understander of the game and the ebbs and flows. He’s able to anticipate plays and normally has good positioning to make those interceptions. His skating is smooth and, while he may not be the fastest skater, he’s able to keep up with attackers and cause them slight irritation, since they can’t just skate around him. Offensively, it’s nothing flashy. It’s smart dump ins, good keep ins, solid in zone movement, and crisp passing. It’s nothing that is going to jump off the page but it’s good enough. His defensive positioning has been most notable on the penalty kill, where he’s getting a heavier workload with key players out. Is he the most physical player? No. Is he a power play quarterback? No. Is he one of the steadiest defenders the team has right now? Yes.
It’s a great opportunity for Nystrom, who has shown that he has NHL level talent right now. When the defense gets fully healthy, whenever the hell that may be, it’ll sting to see him in Chicago but that’s where he’ll be able to better develop some offensive traits that’ll keep him as an NHL regular within the next few years.
I would’ve done Alexander Siryatsky in here as well, since he definitely qualifies for this, but Matt did a tape review of him last week. I’ll be back on Saturday for the top 5 prospects of the month.