I didn’t pay much attention to Cameron Lizotte at the beginning of the season. He wasn’t really on my radar as a guy who would be getting drafted. I kept my eye on him of course and when he was ranked 171 on NHL Central Scouting’s mid-season report I knew I had to pay closer attention to him.
Lizotte has been a big riser in the scouting community this season. From 171 at the midterm he jumped an incredible 72 spots up to 99 on NHL Central Scouting’s final ranking.
It’s ironic that all the reasons Lizotte is being ranked this highly are all the reasons I hope the CBJ avoid him on draft day.
To start let’s look at his size. He’s big at 6’2 and 200lbs and looks like he could add even more weight to that frame. We know NHL scouts tend to overrate size and NHL CS is no different.
On the ice he uses that frame to throw some absolutely massive hits. Whether on the boards or in open ice it doesn’t matter if he’s got you in his sights watch out. One hit in particular that stands out is when he crushed Oshawa Generals 6’6 forward Hunter Smith with an open ice hit, knocking Smith from the game. Lizotte tends to toe the line between clean and dirty so he has to answer a lot of his hits, and too his credit he won’t back down from anyone. (He and Smith fought the next time Peterborough and Oshawa met). OHL Coaches took notice of this as Lizotte was voted as the second best body checker in the Eastern Conference.
He racked up a ton of penalty minutes, 129 to be exact. That led the Petes, and was tied for seventh in the league. PIMS are another area that scouts tend to value. I’ve never understood that. The argument for it is that it shows you’re a gritty player (which Lizotte is) but it’s putting your team at a disadvantage. In the Petes, playoffs series against the Generals, Lizotte took two major penalties, one in game four and one in game five for hits to the head.
Turning now to his other tools, outside of his plus physical tool Lizotte doesn’t have any other even average tool. His skating and shot are nothing special. His hockey IQ isn’t their either. Numerous times I’ve seen and heard from others how he looks lost in the defensive zone. He tends to chase the play looking for the big hit, and when he’s not chasing the puck he tends to float. It looked to me at times he didn’t know where he was supposed to be on the ice.
Lizotte spends a ton of time is his own zone. He blocks a ton of shots and was voted as the third best shot blocker in the East. He’s a great competitor, never takes a shift off, always battles in the corners and is willing to go through a wall for his teammates. While these may be considered positive attributes, they mean for the most part Lizotte doesn’t have the puck very often. This is not a recipe for success. Lizotte’s offensive game is basically non-existent, he put up just two goals and seven assists in 67 games.
I hope the Blue Jackets stay away from Cameron Lizotte at the draft this year. He’s climbed up the rankings but I think that’s a misguided opinion. He’s a defensive defencemen at the OHL level, who has shown minimal ability to be able to play in the offensive zone. These players tend to bust more often than not. His elite physical game is overshadowed by the fact that he takes too many penalties leaving his team at a disadvantage.
You can find me on twitter @PaulBerthelot
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