Schellenberg Notebook: November

Every season, scouts from Future Considerations spend countless hours in rinks across the world in an effort to gather information on the next wave of NHL talent coming down the pipe. Future Considerations’ European head scout Dennis Schellenberg is no different.

Here is Schellenberg’s notebook from the month of November.

Nando Eggenberger, RW, HC Davos, 6-2, 185, DOB 07-10-1999
HC Davos 3 @ ZSC Lions 1 (National League)  – November 19, 2017

Eggenberger had a good start into the game, having a solid scoring chance already in his first minute and was noticeable in the first few shifts. Showed his strong nose for the net and was often in the right spot for a scoring chance. He just knows where to skate to and often when his team is in puck possession and circles in the offensive zone. Eggenberger positions himself dangerously around the faceoff dot, from where he can release and elevate the puck in a hurry using his dangerous shot. Read potential passing lanes well and skated into open ice, making himself available for a quick breakout pass. Eggenberger is big in size and was not afraid of using his body along the boards to win the puck. Went to dirty areas in front of the net and provoked a penalty with driving the net. I always liked Eggenberger’s play better in the Swiss National League than his international play and in my opinion, this is due to him being a player who does not really create something on his own. He rather needs someone that can feed him, he is very good around the net and is able to find open ice and positions himself perfectly around the net. I am still a bit unsure about his puck skills, which don’t seem elite. He plays a power-forward type game, but somehow still seems a bit of a one-sided player.

Martin Fehervary, D, Slovakia U20, 6-1, 190, DOB 04-17-1999
Germany U20 6 @ Slovakia U20 3 (U20 4 Nations) – November 12, 2017

Fehervary had two points, a goal and an assist, in todays contest against Germany U20. He played in all game situations and scored his goal on the power play with an accurate slap shot. Displayed nice overview when adding the assist later in the game and saw a better positioned teammate nicely to tie the game at that time for the Slovaks. Fehervary is rather big in size but is a powerful skater. He is using his mobility and pivoting nicely, making him a smooth-skating defenseman. He possesses a powerful pass, but will need to work on his passing accuracy a bit as his passes were not always on the teammates’ blades but rather in the skates. Although he was the youngest player in the Slovak squad, he played an older game and convinced me with good maturity and decent decision-making. Did not commit a mistake and kept a cool head when under pressure and with not having much time to make a decision. He was always well aware of game situations and saw potential passing lanes while cutting them effectively and taking away options of the opposing puck carriers. Defensively, he had opposing sticks under control and prevented them from cashing in on rebounds.

Davyd Barandun, D, Switzerland U20, 5-11, 181, DOB 01-02-2000
Norway U20 3 @ Switzerland U20 4 (U20 4 Nations) – November 12, 2017

Barandun spent most of the season playing in the highest Swiss league so far, but has not yet played much international games due to injuries in the summer and has missed most tournaments this year. Today, he was held scoreless and did not play too much, but showed crisp passes. Barandun is physically strong although not being overly big in size. His physical play had an impact on opponents and he had a couple hard hits along the boards. He is strong on skates and his body is already well matured. He can use his body to box out opponent forwards and keep them away from rebounds. One area where he still needs to improve is skating, which is overall not top-end in terms of speed and mobility. Also, he needs to improve his first steps to get more explosive on the first few meters.