From: The Sporting NewsLooking to increase their reserve of puck-moving defensemen, the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday acquired the rights to juniors defenseman T.J. Fast from the Los Angeles Kings.
Fast, 20, had 17 goals and 37 assists this season for WHL Tri-City. He was the Kings' second-round pick, 60th overall, in 2005.
In exchange, the Blues gave the Kings a fifth-round pick in 2009.
Fast is 6-0, 185 pounds and is from Calgary. He played parts of two seasons with Denver University before going to juniors. He was captain for Tri-City and was plus-29 for the season.
Fast was not among the Kings' top 20 prospects in rankings by HockeysFuture.com. However, he received good marks for his offensive play in the site's writeup.
"Fast is just that -- fast and smooth on his skates. He has pure offensive skills and can move the puck up the ice whether by carrying it through the neutral zone or by a well-timed pass," according to HockeysFuture.com. "A power-play quarterback, similar in style to Lubomir Visnovsky. Not a booming shot but can get the puck on net or move it around the zone quickly to open up the lane for shots on the power play."
Fast originally signed with the University of Denver. He had one goal and 10 points in 58 games, leaving during Christmas break after playing 19 games his sophomore year in 2006-07.
Fast, 20, had 17 goals and 37 assists this season for WHL Tri-City. He was the Kings' second-round pick, 60th overall, in 2005.
In exchange, the Blues gave the Kings a fifth-round pick in 2009.
Fast is 6-0, 185 pounds and is from Calgary. He played parts of two seasons with Denver University before going to juniors. He was captain for Tri-City and was plus-29 for the season.
Fast was not among the Kings' top 20 prospects in rankings by HockeysFuture.com. However, he received good marks for his offensive play in the site's writeup.
"Fast is just that -- fast and smooth on his skates. He has pure offensive skills and can move the puck up the ice whether by carrying it through the neutral zone or by a well-timed pass," according to HockeysFuture.com. "A power-play quarterback, similar in style to Lubomir Visnovsky. Not a booming shot but can get the puck on net or move it around the zone quickly to open up the lane for shots on the power play."
Fast originally signed with the University of Denver. He had one goal and 10 points in 58 games, leaving during Christmas break after playing 19 games his sophomore year in 2006-07.
5 comments:
what's the lowdown on tj? anyone know why he left DU midyear?
Basically, he wanted to play more, score more, quarterback the Power Play. He was a 2nd round draft choice who felt he could put up "Matt Carle like numbers."
At the end of the day he quit on his team in mid-season....
From: Rocky Mountain News
An unexpected change of heart has left the University of Denver hockey team thinner along the blue line, as sophomore defenseman T.J. Fast has informed coach George Gwozdecky of his decision to leave the program.
Fast had sporadic conversations with Gwozdecky during the past two months about his growing unhappiness but, according to Gwozdecky, Fast told the coach he intended to remain with the program before the holiday break.
Fast evidently changed his mind while spending the Xmas holidays in his hometown of Calgary, Alberta, and informed Gwozdecky on Monday of his decision to leave school and play Major Junior hockey full time.
"This has been kind of ongoing the past couple months," Gwozdecky said. "T.J. has been figuring out what he wants to do with his academic and hockey careers. If I was surprised, it was because he flip-flopped."
I think his development is probably not progressing as he'd hope it would.
For LA to give him up (as a second round pick) for a fifth rounder in 2009, it seems he had little future in LA and a declining market value...
Hope he can up his game, but it looks like, at least now, that his stock is falling...
I know LA was less than pleased with his early exit from DU for the juniors.
I always thought Fast was an underachiever/disappointment while at DU. He seemed to be a guy who had the potential and talent to be a good college player but was just sort of going through the motions. I'd stop short of calling him lazy, but he just never seemed to be fully committed as a player here.
I personally know TJ and DU was not a good fit. He is a good puck moving defenseman with the capability to run a power-play and DU was not giving him that opportunity. Tri City let him play in every situation and he proved to be a top d-man in the Western Hockey League.
As for his status with the LA Kings prior to being traded, Fast is a offensive defenseman and with the past drafting of first rounders Thomas Hickey and Drew Doughty in the last two years, it was pretty clear he would be playing somewhere else.
I have no doubt TJ will be a strong defenseman next year with St. Louis' affiliate in the AHL and will work his way up the ranks to a spot in the Blues blueline. His stock has not fallen, if anything it on the rise and will continue to climb. Look out for a great season from Fast in 08-09.
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