10. Morgan Rielly
11. Jacob Trouba
12. Cody Ceci
13. Brendan Gaunce
14. Zemgus Girgensons
15. Olli Määttä
16. Tom Wilson
17. Sebastian Collberg
18. Matt Finn
19. Andrei Vasilevski
20. Slater Koekkoek
21. Henrik Samuelsson
22. Derrick Pouliot
23. Tomas Hertl
24. Hampus Lindholm
25. Nicolas Kerdiles
26. Scott Laughton
27. Ludvig Bystrom
28. Cristoval 'Boo' Nieves
29. Oscar Dansk
30. Malcolm Subban
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Winnipeg has their Jets back and all is well. Well... not really. The honeymoon phase is over, and after a losing season, fans are demanding more. It doesn't help that potential franchise winger, Evander Kane, has been building a terrible rep in the community, and rumors are floating around about being a bad locker room guy who doesn't want to resign. True North has a lot to do.
"With the Ninth Pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Winnipeg is proud to select, from the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey league:
Matthew Dumba."
One of the more polarizing prospects in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Dumba is the type of player who could be the best of the bunch. Or he could be quite average, and the focused hate of an entire fanbase if things don't go right. Standing at roughly six-feet-tall, and weighing in around 180 lbs, Dumba is by no means the biggest guy on the ice. And yet his presence is felt most shifts, playing above his means.
Dumba is a terrific skater. Using powerful long strides, Dumba has the ability to rush up the ice and blow past defenders. He can utilize shifts in his angle to throw checkers off. He's agile on his skates and can change direction on a dime.
Physically, Dumba is the type of player that other teams notice when he jumps over the boards, and keeps forwards honest. Sometimes you'll even notice an opponent look around to know where he is. He has the ability to show up out of thin air and absolutely level a guy with a highlight-reel open ice hit, reminiscent of the good ol' days.
Offensively, Dumba is terrific. He shows high end vision when saucering passes to teammates for excellent scoring opportunities, but can receive them well too. but his bread and butter is in his shot. It's hard, heavy and extremely accurate, whether one-timing a pass, or just releasing a wrist shot from the point.
Defensively, Dumba shows good tendencies, trying to keep the opponent in check. He battles hard along the boards and around the net, trying to gain some leverage on them physically. He can get caught up in chasing, but is effective at shadowing the other team's best players.
Despite the extreme upside to Dumba, there are concerns. Whether his small stature can translate to the NHL is one of them. He'll need to add considerable mass to play his game against bigger opponents. He has the tendency to lose interest and go through stretches of play where he seems to just be there, rather than getting involved. And then, some question his hockey sense. At times he seems to react, more than he thinks.
Scouts know what they're getting in Dumba. A high risk-high reward defenseman can come in handy for an up-tempo team looking to add a new element to their back end.
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