Dallas Eakin értékelése a kiemeltebb prospectekről:

Nik Kulemin: Nik's first day in camp was a tough one. They bag-skatted him and he seemed pretty average. However, it quickly became clear that he had to shake the rust and jet-lag off. Since Day 1, Nik has stood out as a man amongst boys. There is no doubt he is NHL ready. His skills are far beyond every other prospect; his skating is good, but his passing and shooting are at an excellent NHL level.

Luke Schenn: Dallas did not elaborate on Schenn's progress but implied that he was of course a stand-out. What Dallas did mention however, is how Schenn has basically taken over the squad as a leader, along with Pierce Norton. Schenn has been the first to volunteer for drills and everything to show the non-English speaking prospects exactly how to do the drills. Everyone has taken a real shine to him.

Mikhail Stefanovich: Mikhail has excellent hands and offensive skill. Tons of potential here. What concerned Dallas was his shyness and the fact he seemed like he was at a Grade 8 dance, too scared to mingle. However, once Nikolai Kulemin arrived on the ice, Stefanovich has broken out of his shell. The two understand one another's language (Russian, Belarussian, IDK the details) and have really 'buddied up' in Eakins' eyes. He thinks that the comfort level has greatly improved Mikhail's demeanour.

Jimmy Hayes: This is Eakins' pet project. He sees a potential Top 6 forward in Hayes. He has the size, the strength, the speed and the hands to be an elite player in the NHL. However, he's a raw prospect and has to fill out before he can grow into that role. Hayes has deceptive good hands and offensive skills, and has shown he can turn a small amount of room into a big scoring play. Eakins says that the one knock on Hayes is how he needs to learn how to protect the puck and get some poise out on the ice. He says it is the difference of Hayes being a 1st liner or a 4th liner. He is considering having the video coach send Hayes tapes of Sundin and Antropov down low in the zone as examples.