Richard Gallant is one of the two New England natives who made the U.S. National Team Development Program this past spring. Through his first 17 games with the Plymouth, Mich.-based program, he posted three goals and nine points, showing improvement since his arrival. Gallant cut his teeth with St. Mark’s over the past two seasons,...
Richard Gallant is one of the two New England natives who made the U.S. National Team Development Program this past spring.
Through his first 17 games with the Plymouth, Mich.-based program, he posted three goals and nine points, showing improvement since his arrival.
Gallant cut his teeth with St. Mark’s over the past two seasons, showing himself as one of the best players at the prep school level.
So, to get a scouting report on Gallant, we talked with Carl Corazzini, Gallant’s bench boss for the previous two seasons at St. Mark’s.
Skating
Corazzini: “That’s the one area that he needs to improve. He’s fast, but it’s not fluid so that the work rate is probably more than it needs to be. … It doesn’t impinge him at the USHL level or from competing at a high level. But if he’s to be the best player that he can, that’s going to be the one area that he consistently needs to work on.”
Shot
Corazzini: “He’s an underrated shooter. He has such a high hockey IQ and passing ability, the ability to make others around him so much better that he doesn’t utilize the shooting enough. He’s got a great shot. He can pick it if he wants to. Anything below the top of the circle he’s a threat to score.”
Playmaking
Corazzini: “That’s what he wants to do. He’s such an unselfish player. Because he sees the game before he gets the puck and how everything’s going to unfold, he’s a step ahead.”
Hockey IQ
Corazzini: “That’s tied with that passing ability in the sense that it’s his biggest skill-set. That and his competitiveness. I think because he thinks the game fast, he can play the game fast and can play with anyone in any situation. Power play, penalty kill — he just has a sense for how the game needs to be played.”
Defensive game
Corazzini: “I think because he’s so competitive, he wills himself to defend. … He’s a great penalty killer. He’s got great anticipation. His ability to win stick battles are unbelievable. His stick is just so good.”
NHL/college comparable
Corazzini: “I think of a Jeremy Wilmer or Sean Farrell. Those pass-first players that maybe aren’t elite skaters but think the game well enough to make others around them better and will help the skill-sets that an elite goal scorer might have or turning an average goal scorer into a great one.”
