Laferriere ended up with 27 points in 29 games tied for the team lead in points. He then started to buy in more and more when our development staff started to talk to him.”

Perceived below-average skating….In Laferriere’s draft year we rated him an above-average skater. I still think far too much focus is put on it. “I believe there is skating you can’t fix and can’t overcome. If your compete or hockey sense is at the highest level, you can get away with some skating issues. Then you have to factor in the compete and hockey sense. “Let’s say there is a player whose skating can’t be fixed or he’s a below-average skater and it’s not good enough to play in the NHL. We’ve since learned that not all skating can be fixed. “We used to go under the mantra that any skating can be fixed. Others questioned his dedication, and that’s fine too.” In his draft year, he was a well below-average skater. If you watch Toffoli now you wouldn’t call him a below-average skater. Yannetti then talked about three ways a prospect can overcome a skating deficiency, “The first way is fixing that small technical flaw.

“Toffoli had a small technical flaw in his skating, and he didn’t train very well or often, and he was physically weak.” “Tyler Toffoli isn’t a great comp, but I’m using him to show how guys get better,” Los Angeles Kings Director of Amateur Scouting, Mark Yannetti said talking about Laferriere who went in the third round. Laferriere has had a great year and his points aside, there has been a big improvement in his skating. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen that before and it shows how New Jersey is still growing as a hockey hot spot. In a game I took in against Princeton, that’s five of their top six. Harvard has some New York, New Jersey area representation in John Farinacci (Chatham, NJ) Nick Abruzzese (Slate Hill, NY) Alex Laferriere (Chatham, NJ), Alex Gaffney (West Orange, NJ), and Matt Coronato (Greenlawn, NY).

Alexandros gaffney