Up until the draft I will be putting out 20 NHL Draft Prospects in 20 days. I will be certain to cover all the top guys but also some players that can be had in later rounds. I will end up with a mock draft the day before the draft. If you missed any of the prospects, click ARCHIVE above to find what you have missed.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder is a saying that has stood the test of time. It's no different in this year's NHL entry draft. One player that has a wide spread of opinion is Owen Sound defenseman Jake Dotchin.
NHL's Central Scouting doesn't seem to keen on the rugged blue liner. They have Dotchin ranked 139th of just North American skaters. They dropped him from 88th where he was ranked in their mid term report.
On the other side of things you have the crew at HockeyProspect.com who rank the Ontario native 30th overall and their not bashful about their high ranking of Dotchin.
“Jake has essentially flown under the radar all season long,” was HockeyProspect.com perspective in their NHL Draft Black Book. “In our opinion, he’s been very under appreciated and we see a ton of potential in Jake’s game.”
Why they think he is under appreciated is that this defenseman has proven he can shut down top end talent in the biggest of moments.
“He is extremely good in one-on-one situations and handles oncoming forwards very well,” HockeyProspect.com scouted. “The clearest evidence was in the playoffs. Dotchin was matched up with Radek Faksa, who challenged Dotchin one-on-one every chance he got. Dotchin did an outstanding job, eliminating Faksa all series long. He was regularly matched up with him and didn’t allow him to put up a single point during that match-up.”
Faksa is a 67 point forward in 62 games this season and a likely first round draft pick who was shut down by Dotchin during the playoffs. That says a lot but it is only one player in one situation and that would be putting a lot of weight on that to rank a player in the top 30 available.
“The Glen Morris, Ont., native might have been one of the OHL's most improved defenders across the final half of the season” Neate Sager from Yahoo Sports reports. “Dotchin earned his epaulets as a shutdown defenceman. He used his big frame well to clear the crease, hand out stiff bodychecks and also drew assignments checking upper-echelon forwards.”
To be a late first round or early second round talent in today's drafts your going to have to bring more to the table than being just a shut down defenseman. Offense has to be part of the package and some think he has that part of the game but hasn't been given a full chance to show it.
“Dotchin is an interesting prospect,” Sean Lafortune who's director of scouting for TheScout.ca. “He shows good instincts with the puck on his stick, and is effective at playing an intelligent offensive game. He is at his best on the powerplay, distributing the puck with intelligence and poise. He has some room to grow with his mobility and footwork, as well as his positional play in all three zones.”
Dotchin already has the size at 6'3” and 210 pounds and will only get bigger and stronger. He does need to get better skating and with his foot work but that comes as no surprise to him.
"I really need to work on my feet, getting them better and getting them quicker to keep up to the best forwards in the OHL,” Dotchin told Yahoo Sports. “I think I did an okay job there this year but there is always room for improvement in that part of my game — my pivoting and being more calm and more patient."
To think Dotchin will be a first round pick would be a stretch but it's also unlikely that he will last until the 139th selection either. Look for him to be a third round selection that with continued development could turn into a big nasty shut down defenseman in the future in the NHL. Also be warned on passing over a guy that Mark Edwards from HockeyProspect.com falls in love with. You could regret it and he's not against on letting people know.
“Last year I spoke a lot about Ryan Sproul and his upside,” Edwards said. “I think he backed up my words pretty effectively this season. Jake is one of those guys this year. A big kid with untapped potential at both ends of the rink. I can’t wait to watch him next season.”
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • 
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