I saw two OHL games this week: the Peterborough Petes vs the Kitchener Rangers, and the Kingston Frontenacs. The Petes-Frontenacs game was watched on TV.
All players are first time draft eligible unless stated otherwise.
Rangers
Connor Bunnaman – LW
Last time I saw Bunnaman I made note of how he tried to play physical and get the cycle going, and how he was ineffective against the size of the Petes. He adjusted and didn’t try that in this one. Unfortunately without the physical game he was basically invisible. He’s a fine skater but he doesn’t have the hands to make defenders miss. He did score in the game as he used his size to get to the front of the net where he tipped a point shot.
Jeremy Bracco – RW (Leafs 61st Overall 2015)
This was Bracco’s first game in the OHL after leaving the NCAA. Bracco took one period to adjust to the new league. He got hit with his head down by Cameron Lizotte, which seemed to flip a switch for Bracco. He was great from that point on. He had two ridiculous assists, showing off his impressive vision. Remember this is the guy that broke Patrick Kane’s assist record while with the USNTDP. He’s very quick on his skates, and has soft hands. The Leafs have a good one, who already looks like he was a steal at 61.
Notes
Adam Mascherin who I scouted last week, was not in the lineup because of an injury.
Frontenacs
Ryan Cranford – RW
Cranford stood out to me as his line was one of the best at getting offensive zone pressure. Cranford doesn’t have much skill but was effective on the cycle. He’s not a big guy just 5’11, 172, but he positioned himself well and was able to protect the puck.
Zack Dorval – C
It was hard to notice Dorval as he didn’t get much ice time. He’s a bottom six player for Kingston but doesn’t play the typical grinder style game you expect. He’s more of a skilled player, who at this point doesn’t display enough skills to warrant consideration for being drafted. He has an ok shot and that might be his best attribute at this point.
Lawson Crouse– LW (Panthers 11th Overall 2015)
This was my first look at Lawson Crouse since he was drafted in June. Honestly not much has changed for me to alter my opinion on him. He played a typical Lawson Crouse game. He skated hard and showed off his elite physical play. He displayed his great shot. He also spent lots of time “defending” i.e. hemmed in his own end. The offense his line created was solely because of Kings draftee Spencer Watson.
Notes
Kingston also has three more draft eligibles Sam Field, Austin Grzenia and Konstantin Chernyuk, in this game but neither of them got much playing time.
Peterborough
Jonathan Ang – C
With so few players to track on Kitchener I decided to track more stats for Ang and Timms. For Ang I tracked his Corsi and zone entries. His Corsi was +13/-10 for 57%. He only had one zone entry it was a carry in and it led to a shot on net. Ang played a low event game as he did a very good job of controlling the puck when in the offensive zone. He’s very good at that as he has the skating to get away from the defencemen, plus the vision to find an open player and the hands to control the puck. Ideally you would like him to shoot more but this is part of what makes him such a good defensive player. He keeps the puck away from opponents. He managed to draw a penalty doing this as well, as the defender hooked him as he tried to slow him down.
He displayed this same patience with the puck in scoring against Kingston. He got the puck alone in front of the net and just waited for the goalie to make a move then he slipped it five hole.
Adam Timleck – RW
This is starting to get old but Timleck again scored from his spot in the low slot. It blows me away that he is able to consistently get to that area of the ice. It’s remarkable because he’s not big or physical, he’s just so quick and sneaky, almost like the defencemen forget about him until it’s too late.
Matt Timms – D
For Timms I tracked his Corsi and his targets, which is how often he was targeted on zone entries. His Corsi was an impressive 67% (+18/-9). A big reason for his success was how well he defended the blue line. He was targeted 11 times, 8 via carry in and 3 dump ins. Of the 8 carry-ins only three led to shot attempts against. Timms did a great job of using the poke check to steal the puck, which he did three times. He stepped up to try and hit the puck carrier three different times and each time led to a shot attempt against. He doesn’t have the size to muscle guys off the puck or intimidate them into passing it off.
Logan DeNoble – RW
DeNoble easily just had the best stretch of his season. He scored a great goal against the Rangers. He displayed a good burst of speed to get around a defender then used his strength to keep the guy off of him as he roofed it on the goalie. He then doubled down against Kingston as he scored again. This one he was positioned in the slot got the pass and roofed it again. Both goals were impressive and showed me that maybe there is more to his game than just a physical energy player.
Dylan Wells – G
Honestly I don’t know much at all about scouting goalies. But I do know that Wells did not have a very good game against Kitchener. He allowed seven goals on 32 shots, giving him a .781 save percentage for the game. He has played seven games this season and only in three of them has he a sv% above .900. He needs to get that save percentage above .900 if he wants to be the first CHL goalie taken in the draft.
You can follow me on Twitter @PaulBerthelot
Featured image courtesy of CHL Images.
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