Friday, May 18, 2007

Junkyard IceDog

Luca Caputi
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Country: Canada
Position: LW
League: OHL
Team: Mississauga IceDogs
Height: 6'3''
Weight: 190
Shoots: Left
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Scouting Report: The IceDogs sleeping giant has a wonderful frame that he has yet to grow into .. has received good icetime on an adequately talented team, playing on both the PP and PK .. takes draws on the PK with Legein on his wing .. has a long reach which is valuable on the kill .. a more reactive type of forward who cruises until he sees an opportunity to pounce on a loose puck .. first step quickness needs a lot of work as he has a slow pickup .. owns deceptive speed as his 3rd stride and on escalate his speed rapidly .. great along the boards with wingspan, long legs, and a quick stick .. crashes the net and stays there, which is becoming a lost art .. has the reaction and hands to make something of loose pucks that squirt loose in front of the net .. rebound goal hound .. surprising vision and pinpoint passing ability .. able to find open teammates and feather passes through traffic .. loses balance easily due to light weight and is not an effective hitter yet .. a mystery with regards to asserting himself physically .. sometimes willing to fight, sometimes willing to let teammates like Osala fight for him .. needs to find a balance between playing with both edge and skill .. Mississauga’s big LW is an underrated forward for this year’s draft who has the tools to become an impressive power winger.
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2006-2007 Regular Season Stats
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68 games 27 goals 38 assists 65 points +22 66 PIM
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2007 Playoff Stats
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5 games 2 goals 1 assist 3 points +1 0 PIM
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Draft Day Status/Projection: Caputi is a guy who is hard to get a read on; some rate him as high as the second round, some rate him as low as the fourth. We see him going late second-early third round. DraftBuzz likes his package of size and skill, and ranks him in the 40-50 range. Consistency is a normal issue with guys this young, so you have to project some and hope he puts it together. If the delivery does not get lost in the mail, a team could see themselves with a talented 6'3'' power forward who does the "little things."
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(photo courtesy of www.mississaugaicedogs.com)

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