The Copper & Blue is one of the best hockey websites, "professional" or "amateur", that I read on a near daily basis especially because of the cantakerous chief Derek Zona. Today they have an interesting look at a player that the Leafs are surreptitiously scouting: Austrian Konstantin Komarek. In a similar vein to Sondre Olden (who the Leafs pipped from under the Red Wings' nose) and Teemu Pulkkinen (who the Red Wings sniped before the Leafs could snag him), Komarek looks to be a swing for the fences type of pick so it'll be interesting to see when a team makes its move for him.
More on how Komarek lines up with his peers here.
Komarek has made a couple of trips to North America this spring, and talked about his travels with Norrbottens Kuriren:
Do you have a favorite club that you would like to play in?
Which NHL team isn't important, but it is clear that it would be fun to play for an Original Six team.Komarek will follow the draft but the day after he'll pack his hockey bag to attend a summer camp in Oakville, Canada, a few km south of Toronto. He'll be there for three weeks through the summer to train with everyone from Juniors to the NHL players. The camp is run by a few NHL players from the region and focuses primarily on hockey-related physical training.
On Monday, representatives of the Toronto Maple Leafs were in Luleå to interview the 18-year-old. During the meeting, he was among other things, answering questions about his view of himself - both on the ice and off.
"It's the first NHL club that I've spoken to personally and of course it feels nice that they show interest in me."
