Hockey Prospects, NHL Draft, Hockey Scouting,OHL Draft

Matia Marcantuoni is a well rounded player heading into the 2012 NHL entry draft.  Marcantuoni is a versatile forward that can play on the wing and down the middle where he relentlessly tries to use his biggest asset; that being his powerful skating ability.  Marcantuoni uses his explosive skating style and speed to help position himself at both ends of the rink where he can become a major threat to any defenseman in transition, or back-check to eliminate a scoring opportunity.  At 6'0” and 189 pounds, Marcantuoni doesn't shy away from the physical play, especially when on the offensive attack.  Marcantuoni has shown that he's more than willing to use his solid frame in making a genuine effort to drive to the net all while working hard to establish a net front presence upon arrival.  All of these skills help Marcantuoni make himself a threat every time he's on the ice, where he not only is a great finisher, but he can also deliver the puck very well.  For a 17 year old, Marcantuoni possesses a high level of maturity which translates into strong leadership qualities on and off the ice.  The former first round selection (18th overall) of the Kitchener Rangers, Marcantuoni captained Team Ontario to a gold medal at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge earlier this year where he tallied 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists) and 4 penalty minutes in 6 games with one of his goals being a game winner.  With his performance at this tournament coupled with a good rookie season, Marcantuoni has been invited to attend Team Canada's Under-18 selection camp this summer in Calgary Alberta where he will try and earn a spot on the team where they will compete in the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament in August.

Going into this season, Marcantuoni will seek to keep improving his defensive game and if he can continue to advance his faceoff ability, he would become even more appealing to NHL scouts. In midget hockey with the Toronto Marlies, Matia had a bad habit of skating himself to deepinto the zone with the puck. He made good strides in all areas of his game this year in Kitchener, including his puck possession game.  Missing a prolonged period of time with an ankle injury (which kept him out for the latter 2 months of the season), Marcantuoni will have to take all the precautions necessary to stay healthy because he will be given a greater opportunity to contribute for Kitchener this season as they will undoubtedly try to utilize him more due to the possible departure of Gabriel Landeskog.  With all of the tools Marcantuoni already holds, and still with room for improvement, there's no reason why Marcantuoni can't become a future captain in the OHl and possibly the NHL where he has a chance to be selected in first round in next summer's NHL Entry Draft.