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Examining the goods: Vince Hinostroza |
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“A good playmaker, he is pretty versatile up front (he can play both center and wing). Displays two-way acumen. Was also a good goal-scorer at lower levels. Doesn't have ideal size for the National Hockey League game, so he needs to add more bulk and get much stronger physically--as well as adjust to the pros.”
—The Hockey News Forecaster
“Hinostroza is a hard-nosed forward with offensive skill. He is aggressive on the forecheck and in getting to the front of the net, where he has the hands to set up his teammates or hit the back of the net. His lack of stature will be a challenge at the pro level but he was able to overcome that at the college level and could due the same as a pro. He will likely need time at the minor level to both mature physically, adapt to the faster and more physical pro style, and round out the supplementary areas of his game.“
—hockeysfuture.com
I probably should have titled this blog: “Perception/Reality: Vince Hinostroza”
Hinostroza, in my opinion, is one of those homegrown Hawk prospects whose ability and upside inevitably gets somewhat over-inflated by some Hawk fans—in large part as a result of overinflation by Hawk bloggers and writers.
Let me be clear, I really like Vince Hinostroza—and I like him as an NHL contributor over what should be a fairly long career. But I also don’t buy (right now, anyway) the projection of at least one blogger I engaged on Twitter last year about Hinostroza, who seemed to feel Hinostroza will be a big-time scorer in the NHL.
When Hinostroza is on the ice, he stands out, and he stands out for three reasons: tremendous speed, energy and effort up and down the ice. That, in and of itself, should give Hinostroza a long and productive (in some role) career in the NHL.
As my readers know, I do like to use NHL comparables for prospects/young players. But rarely does a prospect exactly match the comparable—usually there’s a fair amount of similarity, but also some subtle deviation.
With Hinostroza, there are a lot of comparables, though none is terribly exact.
I have heard Marty St. Louis’ name in connection with Hinostroza—though I have never said it myself—because I think it’s probably a little ridiculous.
On the one hand, when Vinnie cranks it up and blows past a defender on the right wing, he looks a little like the young Jack Skille. And that is not a knock either. Skille had that ability. Problem is, he really only applied it after cherrypicking in the neutral zone, and that’s about all he ever did.
Hinostroza does have some hands and some ability to finish plays or setup. I just haven’t seen that those are high end NHL skills. In his one full season at Rockford, in a top 6 role, he had 18 goals. That sort of indicates that he likely is not going to be a big scorer in the NHL.
Another player Hinostroza reminds me of a bit is a young, pre-injuries Darren Helm. Or a teammate of his, Kris Draper.
I’ve mentioned this to a few Hawk fans—which has seemed to elicit a scoff, bordering on taking offense.
The thing that these fans may forget is that Draper and Helm each were incredibly useful, important role players on Stanley Cup winning teams. Helm was never known particularly for his offense—but he could contribute at the NHL level.
And honestly, if you go back and look at his junior and AHL scoring numbers, they are pretty similar to Hinostroza’s.
I recall some “heated” debates I had back in 2006 to oh, about 2011, about Skille with some fans who were convinced he was going to be sort of a poor man’s Pavel Bure. I kept saying, “no way, but if he accepts a lower line role, and embraces all that it requires, he could be a . . . Kris Draper.”
He really never did that, or maybe in the end, he couldn’t. But there really should be no doubt as to the value of a Draper or Helm type player, and how few players can even achieve that level.
I am not ready to say Hinostroza categorically can’t be a reasonable top 6 player in the NHL. Nor am I ready to say the opposite.
But like a lot of guys who come to the league as neither a can’t miss top six style forward nor a clear bottom six guy (in terms of playing style), he and the Hawk coaching staff will have to make a decision and commitment as to what his “game” and role are going to be. And I believe the Hawks are leaning at this point to using him as more of a third line type player.
The other issue is “when” for HInostroza, because while he, for example, stood out in Tuesday’s exhibition win in Columbus, so did John Hayden and Laurent Dauphin, who are also in competition for limited availability bottom 6 jobs on this year’s team. Dauphin is a guy who had better numbers in junior than Hinostroza did. But clearly, right now, Dauphin embraces and seems to be able to produce in a utility role (especially killing penalties) in his playing style.
I’ll be back with more in the next couple of days,
JJ
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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