They Said It: A Development Camp Scouting Report

BOSTON - The 12th Annual Boston Bruins Development Camp, presented by AT&T, wrapped up last Friday after four days of on-ice testing, off-ice conditioning, and team-bonding activities, all of which gave the Bruins brass the chance for an up-close evaluation of the organization's prospects.
Here's a rundown of what they had to say about some of the players in camp:

Axel Andersson, Defenseman (2018 Second Round)

Bruins Director of Player Development Jamie Langenbrunner: "I've seen a little bit more with the puck play. Looks like a smart player, give him the hockey player designation - finds ways to make plays in traffic. Skating looks definitely above average. He's got some strength to him. We talked about how hard yesterday was for him. Today he definitely had a lot more jump and a lot more energy."

Curtis Hall, Forward (2018 Fourth Round)

Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney: "Big strong kid, not sure whether he's a pure center or whether he's a wing but I like the versatility. My son commented that his flow is really good so he's probably going to help us there and how far it comes out the back. He scored a nice goal [in the scrimmage]. He's got a heavy shot."

Karson Kuhlman, Forward (Undrafted)

Langenbrunner: "His attention to detail. He's a kid that plays a pro-style game in the way he positions himself, uses his body, gets pucks out on walls. He's a winner. He's been on a national championship, captain at Minnesota-Duluth, was in the finals the year before, had great playoffs. Came into Providence at the end of the year and was a good player there. He chipped in right away, put up some points and looked like a pro as a guy stepping in.
"He's a good guy that helps your team. Character kid, when I asked him to come to Development Camp he said, 'Absolutely.' He wanted to be here. That's what you want on your team and he's going to push guys to be better."

Jakub Lauko, Forward (2018 Third Round)

Sweeney: "Clearly his straight-away speed and ability to get behind defenseman through the neutral zone [stands out]. He gets on top of pucks, he showed finish today which he's showed at the levels he's played at."

Oskar Steen, Forward (2016 Sixth Round)

Langenbrunner: "I see him as a winger more. It's very hard to play at his size in the middle. He's a smaller kid, but he's strong and he's good on the wall. I've very little seen him play center, to be honest with you, especially in the USHL. He's definitely a wing there with the men there.
"He's had a good camp, he's been very noticeable. He keeps on going up, good speed, and he's shown a little bit more of an knack to score some goals here, which has kind of been a little bit of the question at times, is he gonna produce enough? But he's shooting the puck a little better here this week than in the past."

Jack Studnicka, Forward (2017 Second Round)

Sweeney: "I think he continued the upward swing…[a] leader, led [Oshawa], played with I don't know how many different guys in that lineup, guys up and down the lineup, kept on plugging. Came into Providence and put up a point a game there. If he wouldn't have gotten banged up there, he would have played more games down there. His year was strong, real strong.
"He looks to be even a little bit stronger physically from the end of the year in Providence until now. He's putting in the work and he wants to be a player."

Jeremy Swayman, Goalie (2017 Fourth Round)

Langenbrunner: "He went in there [to the University of Maine] and grabbed it. He played fantastic. You talk to the coaching staff there and I think that was their plan also, to play about 18-20 games, and he earned much more than that. He was probably their best player. That was great. A kid that's continued to work, he looks bigger and stronger in the net right now.
"He's filling out nicely. His competitiveness, he saw a lot of shots last year and held them in a lot of games. He'll continue this year maybe a little ahead of where we projected possibly, but he was drafted in that slot for a reason. I think the scouts believed he could play and he's shown it."

Urho Vaakanainen, Defenseman (2017 First Round)

Langenbrunner: "It's just going to be the adjustment to North America. I think we've talked about it, and it's pretty well documented how good of a skater he is. He's a smart hockey player that knows how to defend. Confidence, confidence in how to finish plays, confidence on when to jump into plays. All those things, we'll see how quickly he adapts to that…there's going to be opportunities for him to push and we look forward to seeing where he ends up."
Sweeney: "It looked like he's been off the ice for a little while and looks like he needs to really put in a couple of hard months training wise. I think he's looking forward to the opportunity and looks very comfortable on the ice in terms of his own confidence level. But he needs to understand how much more competitive things will get between now and training camp and he'll start in rookie camp and everybody goes through that.
"He's coming over for the first time. And he certainly has played at a higher level against men for two consecutive years so he recognizes it but it does, it ramps up and that will be the message going back for him for the next couple months."

Dan Vladar, Goalie (2015 Third Round)

Langenbrunner: "Well, he's a good goalie. He's a big kid. Still putting on weight and trying to fill out. He's a lanky kid. If any of you have had any opportunity to spend some time with him, he lights up the room when he comes in, his energy is unbelievable. I don't think he's ever had a bad day in his life. We're gonna try to feed off of that.
"He's gonna compete with Zane [McIntyre] for the net or whoever ends up being in the net in Providence. That's the battle and hopefully he'll continue to push forward. He's a competitive kid that I think teammates love to play in front of. Pretty athletic."