Big, strong and fast, Paul Bittner is a power forward that leaves front office-types salivating. After all, playing on a loaded Portland Winterhawks team definitely didn’t hurt his chances at being drafted. But what exactly did that experience do for his development? Is there a bigger enigma in the Blue Jackets prospect pipeline?
Let’s start in Portland. Scoring 71 points in 66 games while skating with Oliver Bjorkstrand and Nic Petan as Bittner did is a good mark. It is tough to decipher his individual responsibility in his 2014-15 season success because of these two players that had record setting years. Bjorkstrand is of course now one of the top prospects in all of hockey and Petan has already seen time with a young and loaded Winnipeg Jets team. Putting up a point per game on his own after those two left the ‘Hawks would have given a much clearer picture of Bittner’s ability, unfortunately we didn’t get to see that.
During the 2015-16 season, after being signed by the Blue Jackets, Bittner played in 25 games scoring 21 points before a hip injury derailed his season. He was in camp for the WJC and the injury effectively took him out of competition for 4-5 months. At his age, that time is prime for development and he spent it doing rehab. This isn’t to say Bittner won’t reach his potential, rather it was just terrible timing for a player that could have helped carry a middling Winterhawks team.
But Bittner didn’t give up, in fact after he was assigned to the Lake Erie Monsters (now the Cleveland Monsters), there was hope that he would be able to contribute to team’s now historic playoff run. Bittner played in only two regular season games with zero points and did not play in a playoff game. Only raising more questions about his play.
Clarity will be accomplished this year whether he performs up to expectations or not. It will be important to be patient with a player coming off of a serious injury though. Perhaps moreso if the player is a big, bruising one like Bittner, who enters training camp with plenty of hype.
Who are the Monsters getting in Bittner? It only makes the AHL team more intriguing to follow.
Future Outlook
He’ll see some time in the Monsters’ top six this year and will get plenty of chances to show that he is the real deal. A few Monsters’ players will be graduating to the Blue Jackets this year and because of it, ice time will be ample. I wonder if he will end up being joined by a dynamic player to compliment his straight forward approach, similar to his time with Bjorkstrand.
Age: 19 (11/04/1996)
Position: Left Wing
Shoots: Left
Height/Weight: 6’5″, 205lbs
2015/16 Team: Portland Winterhawks (WHL), Lake Erie Monsters (AHL)
Likely 2016/17 Destination: Cleveland Monsters (AHL)
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#25 Scott Harrington
(All stats courtesy of Elite Prospects unless otherwise noted)
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