One of the biggest surprises of training camp was the steady and mature play of 2008 first round draft pick John Carlson.
Now, it seems, he's a man among boys back in the OHL. As Ryan Pyette notes
:
Defenceman John Carlson is playing 30 minutes a game anyway.
So when the London Knights needed to turn to someone to help shut down the OHL's leading scorer, John Tavares, who else were they going to send out there for the job?
The same guy they send out there for everything else.
Carlson, the big NHL first-round pick of the Washington Capitals, held the Oshawa Generals star and next summer's potential first overall pick in check and even opened the scoring as part of London's five-goal first period as the Knights topped the Generals 6-3 before 3,865 spectators yesterday at the General Motors Centre.
Pyette continues:
Carlson ... is big, extremely mobile, intelligent and doesn't fatigue easily.
With Karl Alzner, Sami Lepisto, Josh Godfrey, Carlson and others in the organization (to say nothing of the budding superstar and others who have already arrived), the future sure does look bright on the blueline, doesn't it?