Luca Caputi caught the eye of NHL scouts in 2006-07 with Mississauga IceDogs where he recorded 27 goals and 38 points while playing in 68 games.Caputi was drafted in the fourth round by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft as the 111th overall pick. While several scouts projected him as high as the 40th pick claiming that he was a great package of both size and skill possessing a long reach, he managed to drop into the 4th round. Teams passed on him due his inconsistent play of edge and skill with a lack of effective hitting.
The following season Caputi almost doubled his previous season’s total with 51 goals and 60 assists good for first on the team, fourth in the OHL, and more points than highly touted prospects like Steve Stamkos and Cody Hodgson. The young forward also added an element of nasty to his play with 107 penalty minutes, fourth overall on his team. Caputi led the team into the playoffs where they defeated the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors 4-0 before losing to the Oshawa Generals 4 games to 2 in the conference semifinals.
After starting the 2008–09 season with Wilkes-Barre, Caputi made his NHL debut against the Montreal Canadiens on February 3, 2009, scoring his first NHL goal on his first shift after being on the ice for just 2:03 of ice time. Caputi was traded along with defenceman Martin Skoula to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for forward Alexei Ponikarovsky.
Caputi has all of the physical tools to develop into a power forward at the NHL level. He is now 6-3, 217 pounds after bulking up over the summer so expect Caputi's game to be based upon paying a price physically. He scores a lot of his goals from in front of the net, and is more than willing to muck it up in the corners. One area where Caputi must improve is his skating, where his initial stride is not as quick as it needs to be. He needs to be more consistent and improve his defensive game.
No comments:
Post a Comment