A total of five Nashville Predators prospects participated in the 2017 World Junior Summer Showcase at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan. Three of those prospects will potentially be representing the United States at the World Junior Championship to be held in Buffalo, New York this December. 2017 is the second year of the World Junior Summer Showcase that features the best players under 20 years old from the USA, Canada, Sweden and Finland.
For the United States and Canada, each country iced two teams at the beginning of the showcase. All three Predators prospects skated with USA-White. Let’s start off with a report on David Farrance, the newest addition to Team USA.
David Farrance
2017 – 3rd Round – 92nd overall
Previous teams: United States National Team Development Program U17 and U18
2017/18 team: Boston University
Farrance was a late addition to the Summer Showcase as his arrival was announced the day of his first game. For this game, he was paired with Dylan Samberg, a 2017 2nd round pick of the Winnipeg Jets.
Some rust could be seen on Farrance early on as he was beat in an odd-man rush and took an interference penalty. He was also beat, this time on the outside, by a driving forward. Following these two blips however, Farrance settled into his game.
Here are some plays and abilities that stood out:
- Not afraid to skate the puck up on the breakout
- Good stride and speed on the breakout
- Gets “bigger” by using his stick to sweep and break up a play while opposition enters zone
- Head is always on a swivel/very aware of the play around him
- Even when stuck on the ice at the end of shift (2nd period long change), he still was aware of where the winger was and didn’t change too early
- Once he activates his speed out of the zone, watch out. Will take it from defensive blue line into the zone and get a shot off
Game scouted: USA vs Sweden – July 30, 2017
In his second game of the showcase, Farrance was paired with Phil Kemp (2017 7th round pick of the Oilers). He looked much more comfortable in his second game.
Farrance will be joining fellow Predators prospect on the blue line at Boston University in the fall. Fabbro was on Team Canada at the Summer Showcase. Another Nashville prospect, Patrick Harper, is also at Boston University.
We’ll have video with David Farrance and what coach Bob Motzko had to say about each of the Predators prospects on Team USA soon. Stay tuned for prospect reports on Grant Mismash, Patrick Harper, Dante Fabbro and Samuel Girard.
