OHL Weekly Scouting Report: October 8th – 14th

I saw one game this week: the Peterborough Petes vs the Windsor Spitfires. The game was in Windsor so I watched it on TV.

All players are first time draft eligible unless stated otherwise.

Spitfires

Logan Brown – C

Brown is the top draft eligible forward for the Spitfires. He was given a B rating by NHL Central Scouting which was lower than I expected. Bob McKenzie’s rankings had Brown as an honourable mention in his top 15 list, essentially saying Brown is a top 20 prospect.

In the game I was unimpressed with Brown. The first thing you notice right away is his size. Brown is a monster at 6’6. Unfortunately he didn’t use that size to his advantage, playing a more perimeter game. He wasn’t physical, he didn’t use his size to muscle off defencemen or get to the front of the net. He’s got a good skill level, solid hands and a good shot. His best asset that I saw outside of size was his vision. He made a couple really nice passes in the offensive zone to create scoring chances for his teammates. His skating needs improvement which is expected for a guy his size. The other issue I had was Brown did not penalty kill which is a concern. To me that shows his coach doesn’t trust him defensively.

If he can use his size more and improve defensively he’s going to shoot up draft boards and could potentially be a top 10 pick this summer.

Luke Kirwan– LW

Kirwan just missed the cut-off for last year’s draft by eight days, making him one of the oldest players eligible for this year’s draft. He’s a fast skater, who on one occasion blew by the Petes defended to beat out an icing call.  He’s has good size at 6’2, 227 which makes his skating that much more impressive. He used that size and strength very effectively. He was physical landing body checks, and was great at controlling the puck on the cycle. He used his strength to get to the net and fight off Petes defencemen, which is no easy task as the Peterborough d-core (outside of Matt Timms) is gigantic.

Logan Stanley – D

Stanley is another big body for Windsor coming in at 6’6, 216. The first thing that jumped out to me was how aggressive he was offensively. He was pinching in and rushing the puck up ice creating odd man chances. The announcers were shocked/impressed by this as well, since this is not something Stanley did last season. Stanley had just four points in 59 games for Windsor in 2014-15. His new play style hasn’t led to many points yet (just one assist in seven games) but I’d imagine as the season goes on and he gets more comfortable the points will come.

Mikhail Sergachev – D

Sergachev was ranked 15th in McKenzie’s rankings linked above. He was listed as being on the second pair with Stanley but I would guess he played the most of all the defencemen. He was a do it all type of player who was a key part of both the power play and penalty kill. On the PP he was the lone defencemen used and on one power play played the entire two minutes. Sergachev’s skating is strong and he has a big shot.

Notes

I wasn’t following him this game but Gabriel Vilardi stood out. The second overall pick in the OHL draft last year, was buzzing every time he was on the ice. He’s another big body at 6’2, 192 and was displayed a very high skill level. He’s already scored four goals in his first seven OHL games. He is one the top prospects for the 2017 draft.  

Peterborough

Jonathan Ang – C

This was a tough game offensively for Ang. He wasn’t able to create chances like he normally does. Part of this was the physical play of all the big bodies on Windsor. This has been a problem for Ang, he goes quiet when up against bigger players. Jeremy and I both saw this in the playoffs last year against Oshawa.  Ang was still able to display his good speed, having to use it a lot on the back check.

Adam Timleck – RW 

Timleck was good in this game. He had some very good scoring chances, as he was able to weave his way into the slot, which was no easy task. He almost scored on a breakaway, as he came off the bench and got a great pass from Matt Timms. The Windsor goalie Michael Giugovaz had to make a nice save. Timleck used his shiftiness to draw a penalty.

Matt Timms – D

Timms was quiet in this one. Much like Ang I think the size of Windsor threw off his game. He didn’t look as confident and was a little more tentative to carry the puck. He has to learn to trust his skills more as he can skate past most guys and won’t get hit.

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