LEVEILLE FEATURE

Last week, I had the opportunity to watch the Atlanta Thrashers 2008 first round pick Daultan Leveille in a weekend series against the Miami Redhawks. It was the first time I've had the opportunity to watch him "live".

My overall assessment of the kid is that he's a legitimate prospect for the team. There is no doubt about his offensive skill. As his head coach Rick Comley told me, the package is there. What he needs to work on is his defensive zone play (especially down low along the goal line) and getting bigger physically. Trust me when I tell you that Comley is as good of a teacher as there is at the NCAA level, so I'm sure his defensive understanding of the game will grow greatly.

I also believe he'll get bigger and bigger physically since he's likely to be a four year player. I would be shocked if he leaves early. And playing college hockey as opposed to major junior should aide in his strength development since NCAA players spent much more time in the weight room, due mainly to the schedule of games (30-35 a season as opposed to 70-80 in junior).

Anyways, below is the link to the story that I had the Thrashers people post to the team's website. As always, questions are welcome. Thanks.


http://thrashers.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=405608