Tauras Karazija - D - Rookie profile [2/2]

[ontanis 7]

Tauras Karazija

Rookie profile

 

Name: Tauras

Last name: Karazija

Position: D

Shoots: Left

Team: HK Riga/Dinamo Riga (JHL/KHL)

Date of Birth: February 15, 2001

Birthplace: Telsiai, Lithuania

Height: 6 feet 1 inch

Weight: 208 pounds

Shoots: Left

 

Lithuanian Tauras Karazija is a very offensive minded defenseman. He is blessed with an excellent hockey sense, confidence and coolness. Everything looks so easy and natural when Karazija has the puck under control in the offensive zone. He is a true power specialist that usually gets the puck on net and also delivers very good passes. Furthermore, he is mobile and a capable skater with good agility and technical skills. But decision making, compete and fitness are the areas Karazija should emphasize working on during practice and training.

 

The bigger upside of Karazija is his defensive game, when he commits to it and length. While Karazija likely will not be much taller, he should definitely add more strength and muscles. The fact that Karazija likes to get involved physically and can deliver rather good hits is a big plus. With added strength, his physical play would be much more effective. 

 

Tauras Karazija should keep in mind that he is a defenseman, as he tends to drift towards the offensive zone more times than not. Thankfully the drawbacks are very coachable and with right and willing coaching staff, Tauras can be molded into a universal defenseman, capable of doing many things at once. 

 

STRENGTHS

 

Defense: Very active feet, can contain his assignment with good agility and willing to get after the opposition with physical play, positions his body to box out opponents. Provides his team with a steady presence on the blue line, and thinks the game at a high level. Is adept at making the crucial first pass to start a breakout from behind the blue line. 

 

Puck handling and skating: Moves the puck quickly and beautifully around the ice with crisp clean passes, can fire the puck accurately on the net with a quik release. Very active stick at both ends, and uses it wisely to keep the pressure on the defense, helping them in their own zone or to disrupt the attack defending in his zone. He is an above-average skater, has a really smooth, pro-caliber stride, quik feet, and uses his feet exceptionally well to catch the puck all without missing a step. He is solid and strong on his feet, is learning to use his size in all situations.

 

Playmaking and vision: Tauras Karazija sees the ice exceptionally well and with that vision is a good playmaker for his age. Despite his own abilities to stickhandle and finish, he uses his line mates very well, be it finding them when they’re open or using his intelligence and effort away from the puck to get himself open, support them, and give them options. Likes to keep the offensive game simple, and cuts out the extra overly creative pass by finding open teammates in good position. He wants to hold on to the puck, come into the attack zone, and be the difference maker.

 

WEAKNESSES 

 

Physicality and checking: Although prefers physical play, his stature needs bulking and mass. His size is the obvious drawback, he needs more muscle as it will be a problem in the VHL. Tauras had no problem outmuscling JHL level players as he was a head above of the bulk of JHL players length-wise, VHL players will be a whole other beast. 

 

Decision making: While he is very cool and confident in the offensive zone, he sometimes chooses difficult solutions in the defensive end, which is a case of wanting to do too much, too soon. He should play easier and be closer on his opponent as VHL-level players will exploit this weakness. Tauras is yet another player who seems less inclined to play conservatively by holding back in transition and sometimes tries to do too much too soon, which can hurt his team. He wants to get the transitioned pucks and go back down so he can see the defending goalie's eyes and then score. It is this all-in, I'm-gonna-win-it-for-us play. Many times, it comes back, bites Tauras in the ass and hurts his team, but there is so much to like about his abilities.

 

Compete levels: Karazija has all the tools in the world; however he struggled to put it all together at times during his stint with HK Riga. There were moments where effort and compete level were in question, but those moments were muted by others of tenacity and aggressiveness. You really were not sure which player you would see when you showed up to the rink on a particular day. Sometimes tends to forget his primary defensive duties and charges in with the offense, leaving his defense partner in a lone-warrior situation. 

 

Far from a poised finished VHL prospect, Tauras Karazija is not a big name in the VHL prospect world right now. Although relatively unknown, his natural defensive ability and upside on the offensive end is the reason why VHLM teams should take a look at Tauras Karazija and think about taking a chance on him.

Edited June 27, 2019 by ontanis

[DangerGolding 222]

Review: Great use of different text, having the descriptive section in itallis with the more technical pros and cons in normal font is a really nice touch. You've put "Shoots Left" on the top part twice by the way. 

On 6/26/2019 at 12:22 PM, ontanis said:

accurately on the net with a quik release.

missed out a letter c on the the "quik" here. 

Also not sure what you mean by "compete levels" this is perhaps something you'll need to explain if you're including it in future media spots.

 

Other than that really good detail on the pros and cons and it gives a nice overview on what kind of player Karazija will be. 

[HenrikZoiderberg 469]

Review:

 

Good picture, formatting, stat block, pros, and cons. It shows that you've put some work into this.

 

Summary and conclusion look good and contain what we're looking for. Word count is solid.

 

I honestly have very little to say about this. This is a well-written, well-formatted, well-thought out article.