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Draft Spotlight : Potential Steals 2: The Wrath of Potential |
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People seemed to like my last article talking about players that are outside of the usual top-10 talk and even the first round entirely. “Steals” are found in every draft and sometimes they pan out and sometimes guys that nobody considers a steal becomes one in hindsight (Troy Brouwer fits that mold). Potential steals can be guys that have raw ability that just doesn’t seem to be clicking at the time, players who are “too short” for the NHL, injured players that drop either because their play is poor upon return or just haven’t had any play at all that season, players that have one massive obvious flaw that is something that can be taught like terrible skating, lack of backchecking or being very weak at the time. The Russian factor and lack of progress can also drastically affect draft position.
The last blog featured Michael Brodzinski, Marko Dano, Peter Cehlárik, Bogdan Yakimov, Martin Reway, Jérémy Grégoire, Nic Petan and Taylor Cammarata
Here are a few guys to look out for in the later rounds.
Philippe Desrosiers : For most people who follow the draft there is a tier of goalies that separates several players. The top tier in most cases are Zachary Fucale, Tristan Jarry, Eric Comrie, Jussi Saros and Spencer Martin (Sometimes he’s not in this tier). Desrosiers is just outside that top tier of goalies and could be a potential steal in the 4th round where most peg him to go. In his rookie campaign in the QMJHL Desrosiers stole the starting job at Rimouski after being named the Best Goalie Prospect in the QMAAA. The 6’1 goalie has decent size, though like many of the high quality goalies in this draft he lacks that 6’3+ frame most teams prefer to draft these days. He’s very athletic with extremely quick feet and side to side movement, he’s described by most as being extremely calm in his net and not extremely daring (playing on the outside of the paint). From my limited viewing of him at the U18’s he looked great positionally and outside of some rough rebound control he was superb. Going along with that theme of U18’s he led the Canadians to Gold taking it away from the Americans for the first time in 4 years with a dominating 0.80 GAA and a .970sv%. He was solid in the playoffs for Rimouski despite their 6 game ousting by Gatineau which involved a few stinkers, essentially if he wasn’t playing great they were losing big. One thing he has going for him is that he’s very young for this draft being an August born player which means he has some more leeway in his development. A lot of people think he’s a goalie that will need 5 years or so of development…and that’s just fine. Schneider needed 7 and that never hurt him, even Lundqvist needed 6 years. Even in the third round he’d be a solid pick.
Eric Roy : There’s a lot to like and a lot to dislike about Eric Roy. He was pegged at the beginning of the year to be a mid-late first round pick, yet now he’s usually projected about the mid second and early third. This fall has a lot to do with his defensive game not taking the step forward it needed to. Roy was a disgusting -32 which was one of the worst in the WHL and while +/- rarely tells the whole story, his lapses in concentration, brain farts and mind boggling pinches are causes for concern. What isn’t a concern is his dynamic shot. He tied for 5th in the league with 17 goals of which 7 came on the PP. He plays the role of the big shooter and combined with Pulock on the PP, they were dynamic. The issue is simple though, he’s not that creative and he’s not that reliable in his own zone despite having great size at 6’3. The plus side is that he works hard and tries his best, even if it can be futile. Teams will look at that massive shot and willingness to throw the puck on net, look at the 6’3 frame, look at his hardwork and the willingness to play the body and they’ll think…can we turn this project player into a Cody Franson…and how long will it take? He’s got high potential and if he figures it out would be great value.
Carl Dahlström : Dahlström is a fairly bland player whose primary attributes are his size (6’4) and his strength. At 18 he’s already 216lbs and by all accounts it’s muscle seeing as he pushed players around like ragdolls in the SuperElit which is the Swedish U20 league. He’s reliable in his own zone and has shown some smart play in the offensive end, but nothing mind blowing. He plays it safe and he works hard. He’s a solid skater and hard to get him off his feet, yet he is considered to be average in the scope of things. That’s sort of what Dahlström is, average to above average in everything and a master of no particular skill. He’s a long term project of a player that could one day be a very effective 5-6 defender. Overall I’d say he’s an extremely safe pick and one that will probably be scooped up in the 5th round.
Tyler Lewington : Lewington is the prototypical shutdown defenseman. He plays physical and hits extremely hard and often, he’s pretty smart positionally and when you’re in front of the net you’re in trouble if he’s around. He’s opened eyes at the combine by being pretty much the strongest pound for pound player at the whole thing. He placed first in push-ups, bench press reps, push strength and 6th in pull strength. At 6’1 185lb he has room to grow and get even stronger. He’s a safe pick and player a lot of teams might pass on, yet when they see shutdown guys like Rob Scuderi, Dennis Seidenberg, Nicklas Hjalmarsson all playing in top-4’s of teams, they’ll miss out on Lewington who is a guy that projects to play that kind of role. He’s also willing to fight. If he can work on his shot and develop a little more offense he could be a massive steal and considering he’s usually found between the 3rd and 5th round, that’s solid value even if he only ever becomes a 5-6 shutdown guy.
Vincent Dunn : I feel Dunn is extremely underrated in this draft for two reasons; one is his age as he was born on September 14, 1995 which is literally one day away from being in the 2014 draft, and two his feistiness and douchebaggery. Dunn is a shift disturber and gets under the opponents skins by constantly chirping, throwing some questionable hits and never allowing a whistle to be blown without scrumming it up with people. The 5’11 centre was solid all season and showed some good offensive instincts and reliability in his own end. He plays the penalty kill and power play equally; forcing turnovers is a speciality of his. He hits everything that moves and has been known to take long runs at players, he fits the mold of a Steve Ott kind of player. I’ve seen him rated anywhere from the late 2nd round to the 6th, and opinions vary about his offensive upside after he had a poor showing in the playoffs where he became “the rat” and seemed to forget that being an idiot can cost your team. Next year he’ll play in his hometown of Gatineau and could be looking great for the team that picks him up.
Marc-Olivier Roy : Some of the guys I mentioned aren’t really on peoples radars as potential steals, MO Roy is the poster boy of this year’s draft “steal.” He had a very good year offensively which culminated in a breakout performance in the playoffs for the Armada. Roy played on the 1st line, the 1st PP and 2nd PK minutes for a deep Armada team with Coach Jean-Francois Houle, who is stresses compete level and defensive play to earn your minutes. He has excellent speed and is one of the fastest starters with really quick strides. He brings an excellent defensive game and strong compete on the boards even though he’s fairly slight of build (5’11 164lb). His 19 points in 15 playoff games was extremely impressive and he placed second on his team in those regards. He’s got the all-around package that people love and there are some who believe he might be a sleeper like Ryan O’Reilly who played the year after he was drafted despite being a 2nd round selection. Most peg him around the early second, though I’ve seen him as late as the third round.
Thanks for reading. Next up is the Canucks spotlight.
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