During this hockey season, I’ve had the fortune of being accredited to cover OHL games in Mississauga, Oshawa, and Barrie. Viewing 13 of the 20 OHL teams at least once, I’ve been able to see a myriad of drafted and draft eligible prospects for both this year’s draft and 2016’s.
Here are some thoughts, notes, and opinions on a whole whack of the players I’ve viewed this season.
COLUMBUS PROSPECTS
I viewed Niagara defender Blake Siebenaler and North Bay forward Nick Moutrey three times each. Neither struck me as impact players, more on the depth side, or as complementary cogs. Both provide no-frills, north-south approaches to the game, and both also finished with career highs in points. Moutrey signed with Columbus near the end of the season, and may have himself a spot in Cleveland to begin 2015/16, while Siebenaler should return as the veteran leader of the IceDogs blueline.
Plymouth star forward Sonny Milano was a lot of fun to watch, but the holes in his game are obvious. Both Paul and myself have written about him this season. Milano has already graduated the OHL and finished his age-18 season playing in the AHL, where he’ll almost assuredly be stationed next season. Last but not least, Windsor forward Markus Soberg had some trouble adjusting to the North American game, as I wrote about in January, but finished the season strong, and will likely have an increased role with Windsor heading into his overage OHL season. He may not be doing this as a Blue Jackets prospect, though, as he needs to be signed before June 1 of this year in order for the Jackets to maintain his rights.
More will be written about all four players during the off-season.
OSHAWA GENERALS
2015 draft eligible Mitchell Vande Sompel is a small, speedy defenseman who quarterbacks the Generals powerplay, and plays centre on their penalty kill. Vande Sompel is an excellent two-way player, with elite skating and great instincts both offensively and defensively. There will be plenty more written about him by myself as we get closer to the draft.
6’6″, 235 pound forward Michael McCarron, a Montreal prospect, is a real beast. He’s not the quickest skater, especially when it comes to first step, but he can keep up with his faster linemates. He uses his size quite well, and has enough offensive ability to get himself into prime scoring areas. McCarron also has the innate ability to escape coverage and appear for a great scoring chance without the opposition even realizing it. For someone so massive, this seems far-fetched, but McCarron does it almost every game.
Michael Dal Colle, the Islanders’ 2014 1st rounder (5th over-all) has put up 81 goals and 188 points over the last two seasons, and it’s easy to see why. Lightning fast, with excellent stick skills and vision, and a high-end shot, Dal Colle is the most skilled player on the Generals. He is capable of taking a game over with his offensive presence, and he also sees PK time for the team. Thanks to the forward depth on the Isles, he should probably be back with Oshawa next season, where a 100 point season wouldn’t be a surprise to see.
Calgary 2014 2nd rounder Hunter Smith, a hulking 6’6″ 210 pound forward, was another who stood out with his physical play. He crushed anyone who stood in his way, winning board battles easily and helping to generate sustained offensive zone pressure. He’s not a player who will do much in the way of skilled play or chance generation by himself, but he’s able to create space for more offensively gifted players without being a drain on their abilities.
BARRIE COLTS
Swedish blueliner Rasmus Andersson is a guy who I’ve heard about all season. One of the few defenders near a point-per-game (64pts in 67gms), the draft eligible Andersson is a lethal offensive weapon with an excellent shot and a great first pass. He’ll also be a part of our CBJ Draft Targets series.
Colts goalie Mackenzie Blackwood is the highest ranked North American goalie by Central Scouting for this year’s draft. Blackwood did not put up great numbers this season (90.6% save rate, 3.09 GAA) and was not good in the first two games I saw him play. However, he was absolutely stellar in the final game I viewed on April 10 vs North Bay in the play-offs, with good rebound control and timely saves. He’s projected to go somewhere in the 2nd round this year.
2015 draft eligible Andrew Mangiapane is one of the three Colts players to reach the 100 point plateau. Mangiapane, a small, light player – weighing in at just 165 pounds – is incredibly fast and shifty. He is a very east-west player, cutting through the ice to get around defenders, and driving to the net with possession. Mangiapane was actually passed over in the 2014 NHL draft, and will re-enter as a 19 year old this season, where he’s still projected as high as the late 3rd round. His kind of skill could have him ranked much higher, but his size and his age go against him, meaning that whoever does end up drafting him may be getting a steal.
New Jersey prospect Joseph Blandisi was another one of the Colts’ 100 pointers. He has excellent puck handling skills and a wicked wrist shot, which he can unleash without much backswing, making it doubly dangerous. He was signed as a free agent by the Devils in the early part of the year, after not being tendered an entry level contract by Colorado, who took him in the 6th round of the 2012 draft. The overage forward possesses a dynamic arsenal of skating and puck skill which make him very hard to defend, but he is prone to trying to do too much with the puck and turning it over.
ERIE OTTERS
Connor McDavid is the best prospect in the world and will be taken first over-all by Edmonton and probably put up 60 to 80 points in his rookie season, but I didn’t get a chance to track him so he doesn’t get more than a passing mention in here.
Dylan Strome, who will most likely be either an Arizona Coyote or Toronto Maple Leaf in two months during the draft, was an offensive marvel during the two Erie games I tracked (only one of which was in-person). Strome put up a league-leading 129 points in 68 games played this season. I viewed Strome on January 2, during the end of the World Juniors, and thus Connor McDavid was not in the line-up. Strome took the game over, scoring two goals and an assist, despite being lined up with a defenseman (Patrick Murphy) and a 19 year old 2nd-attempt draft eligible player (Nick Betz). Strome is a dynamic offensive player, and he can single-handedly win games. The second viewing I had was in the final game of the season – another McDavid-less game – and Strome put up six points en route to winning the OHL’s scoring title. His defensive game is a work-in-progress, but he’s one of the more NHL-ready players in the league, and it would not be shocking to see him step into the league next season in an offensive role.
Erie is also home to another potential top-60 draft eligible, defenseman Travis Dermott. Unlike some of the more offensive defenders in the draft pool, Dermott plays a more laid back style of play. He has a good shot and a good pass, but doesn’t often lead rushes and isn’t as adventurous in the offensive zone as some of his classmates. He’s another player who will be in the upcoming Draft Targets series.
2016 eligible Alex DeBrincat is on my shortlist of favourite players to watch. The tiny forward stands a generous 5’7″ and about 160 pounds, but already possesses elite skating and fantastic puck skills. He uses his body as much as possible on the physical end of things, and isn’t afraid to muck it up in the corners or in front of the net. DeBrincat scored 51 goals and 104 points as a rookie – more than double the 45 points that the second-highest scoring rookie, Sault Ste Marie’s Zachary Senyshyn, posted. This was not all because of McDavid and Strome, either, as DeBrincat anchored his own line for portions of the season and was still effective. Despite his size, DeBrincat’s offensive game is already at a very high level and he should be an easy first rounder in the 2016 draft.
KINGSTON FRONTENACS
Lawson Crouse has been writen about quite often by Buckeye State Hockey. Paul took two looks at him, where he attempted to find player comparables, and one about Lawson Crouse and scouts bias towards the Big Play. I also wrote about him back in February.
The guy who stood out to me the most on the Frontenacs was shifty forward Spencer Watson, a 2014 7th round pick by the Kings. Watson is undersized, at 5’9″ and 170, but possesses great speed and excellent footwork, which allows him to cut through the ice with ease. He controlled a ton of play when I viewed him, and made all of his linemates look better by allowing them to drive the net while he did most of the puckhandling work. Outside of Sam Bennett, he’s easily the best forward on the ‘Nacs, and continued improvement should see him put up 70-80 points next season, despite not having a lot of talent surrounding him.
I’ll have more thoughts in the second installment of the series, and there will be plenty more in-depth profiles of 2015 draft eligible defensemen as we trudge on towards June’s NHL Entry Draft.
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