Hunter Shinkaruk Scouting Profile

Not many players produce at a point per game level in the WHL. The western league is difficult to play in because of the size and ability of all the players in the league. In 129 games Hunter Shinkaruk has managed to collect 133 points putting him right over the point per game mark and into the elite category in the WHL. 

Hunter Shinkaruk
C-Medicine Hat Tigers- WHL
5"10 170 Pounds 

Shinkaruk has amazing skill, he can get in front of the net to make the big play more often then not and he manages to play at an elite level despite his very small frame. He is only 5'10 and in the WHL most players are much taller than that. What he lacks in size he makes up for in weight, at 170 pounds he can play with the big boys of the WHL without being concerned about getting injured. Not only is he good at scoring but his ability extends to his ability to make passes to his teammates in a timely fashion. Shinkaruk might drop a little bit in the upcoming draft because of his size but hear his name called out by one of the first ten teams. Because of his craftiness with the puck and his small stature he is comparable to the electric Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks. Any General Manager would be thrilled with idea of acquiring Patrick Kane's clone. 

Hunter Shinkaruk Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC7bYlS2DwM

Sean Monahan Scouting Profile

The city of Ottawa has something to look forward to all year. It is hockey related, but it is not the NHL. The Ottawa 67's have a very special player on their hands ,Sean Monahan is all the talk around the 67's. He has been for 3 years now, he started off with a bang in the 2010-2011 season where he scored 47 points and upped his point total to 78 last season. 

Sean Monahan 

C- Ottawa 67's - OHL

6'2 170 Pounds 

Monahan is a dynamic player that uses his skills to distribute the puck in tight spaces. He is at his third year in the OHL playing for Ottawa and will most likely be drafted in the top 5 in the upcoming draft. He possesses a good first step and can play along the boards and down low. He is not afraid of going to the dirty areas in play because he has the frame to go battle it out along the board and down low. Monahan has a quick release and can play with the same type of energy and speed as a small forward. The reason he is so highly touted is because he a big frame and soft hands which makes him an excellent choice come draft day. He is highly unlikely to bust because he plays such a complete game. A GM looking for a safe pick early in the first round will take him and not look back. The only factor that is concerning is his weight. For a player his size he needs to put on 20-30 pounds to not get knocked off his feet come opening game night. He is an over ager in this years draft class but it will give him the chance to step right into the NHL because he will have nothing left to learn in the OHL. 

Sean Monahan highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9RVNx_0cgQ

Aleksander Barkov Scouting Profile

Do you want hands, skill, vision, speed and hockey IQ ? Look no further than Aleksander Barkov. At the age of 17 Barkov is already at his second year in the Finnish Elite League. He was the youngest player to ever score in the finish top league and continued right where he left off last season. 

Aleksander Barkov 

C- Tampere Tappara- FEL

6'2 205 Pounds

Barkov has all the tools and the toolbox to succeed in the NHL. He has already proven that he can compete at an extremely high level as seen by his growing point totals in the FEL (17 points in 15 games). Barkov played his minor hockey in his hometown of Tampere Finland and has made his way up to the big leagues at the young age of 16. Players like Barkov do not go into the FEL if they are not something special. He has an excellent frame that allows him to protect the puck with great skill. He plays a very complete game with his ability to make tape to tape passes all while having the vision to do so effectively. He does not need to change much to have the complete package in his game, his only weaknesses  while being extremely small would be his skating and speed. He will develop his speed and skating when he gets stronger physically and grows older. Scouts would think that he needs filling out because he is so tall at such a young age but he has got you covered there to. Barkov's weight is already what it should be for him to step directly into the NHL next season. Scouts are already comparing him to the dazzling Datsuyk, 17 year old players rarely get compared to NHL greats. 

  Aleksander Barkov highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN6hZTHaio8

Seth Jones Scouting Profile

In the wake of this year's draft it Seth Jones that is leading the way for defensmen. Jones Is the son of former NBA giant Popeye Jones. At his young age of 18 he is already a towering force for the Portland Winterhawk's blue line. His 6'3 185 pound frame is used night in and night out for Portland playing alongside Derek Pouliot. 

Seth Jones 

D-Portland Winterhawks- WHL

6'3 185 Pounds 

Jones enters his first year as Junior player after making the transition from under 18 program in the USHL to the Portland Winterhawks. Jones is a 6'3 giant that plays a very complete game. He can play smart defensively, add in offense and is rarely cough in a bad spot on defense.  He uses his vision and hockey IQ to dictate the pace and flow of the game. He can chip in the odd goal on the power play or with a blast from the blueline with a booming slapshot. The only soft spot for the giant is his physical play. He does not punish opposing players like he could with his hulking frame. Throughout the year he will need to get bigger to be able to make the big hit in the NHL. 

Jones was born in the lonestar state 18 years ago and from his young age had been dominant in hockey. He played all his minor hockey in the USHL and now is finishing it in the WHL. He is drawing pre-draft comparisons to Erik Johnson because he plays such a complete game. Johnson as we know did not turn out to be the stud that every scout was salivating for. Every though the same hype is there the outcome should be drastically different from Johnson's sub par career so far. I saw Jones play last year in the Under 18 tournament and he absolutely dominated the game. He could have been in the NHL playing top pair minutes at the age of 17. Seth Jones will come out very early, perhaps even 1rst in the draft and the team that gets his hands on him will not regret it. 

Scouting Profile done on Seth Jones: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOsBb4jz7yk

Nathan Mackinnon Scouting Profile

2013 is the biggest draft year since 2003. The top 15 players who will hear their name called on draft day will have a good shot at becoming impact players in the NHL for years to come. Leading that pack of 15 players is none other than Nathan Mackinnon.

Nathan Mackinnon

C-Halifax Mooseheads - QMJHL

5'11- 177 Pounds

Mackinnon is in his second year in the Quebec major junior hockey league after being drafted first overall by Baie-Comeau in last year's draft. Mackinnon is a dynamic   center who has all the tools to succeed at every level of play. Although he has a small frame, he plays big, using his physicality to knock down opponents and gain control of the puck. He has a dynamic vision and can see the play very well, paired with the amazing vision, he uses his powerful shot to get pucks past goalies in highlight reel fashion. 

Mackinnon was born in Cole Harbor, Nova Scotia and played his minor hockey there before going to play at the Shattuck-St.Marys School in Minnesota. After completing his high school at the prestigious  prep school he was drafted 1rst overall in the 2011 QMJHL draft by Baie-Comeau before being traded back to his hometown in Halifax. Because of his career path to date, Mackinnon is drawing comparisons to Sidney Crosby. They both grew up in Cole Harbor, attended the same prep school and were both drafted 1rst overall in the QMJHL draft. However, hockey fans cannot get carried away with the similarities because in fact Sidney Crosby and Nathan Mackinnon are very different players. If Mackinnon had to be compared to a current NHLer it should be New York Islander's John Tavares. They both play a very complete game and have excellent vision, and have a quick step in their stride. Just like John Tavares, Mackinnon could see his name called out first next June. 

Mackinnon highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElyRgsiLH0s

After the draft lottery, where do the Habs stand ?

In a dim season that haunted my dear Montreal Canadiens there was a silver lining in the grey clouds of defeat. The draft lottery, was held April 10th, 2 days ago and the Montreal Canadiens stood pat and will be drafting 3rd overall. The Canadiens have not drafted in the top 3 since 1980. In anticipation to the selection I will break down what the options are for the Habs and who they could potentially draft on June 22nd. 

In light of the recent firing of General Manager Pierre Gauthier the Habs will have work to do in determining who the new boss will be. That new boss will decide who will lead the team to victory as early as next season. Depending on who Mr. Molson chooses to occupy the job of General Manager, it may impact the position that the Habs draft come draft day. The Oilers are drafting 1rst overall for a 3rd year in a row and the highly touted Russian prospect Nail Yakupov is slated to go number one in the upcoming draft. However, the Oilers already have much needed offense in Nugent Hopkins and Hall. They lack high end deffensive prospects on the back end and top prospect Ryan Murray could fill the hole on the Oilers blue line. Drafting second overall, are the Colombus Blue Jackets. The Bluejackets are in need of a center to feed the puck to Rick Nash and will need someone to replace Jeff Carter. The Canadiens are in desperate need of an offensive superstar and Yakupov is that guy. With all that in mind the Blue Blanc et Rouge could attempt to swing a deal for the 1rst overall pick in this years draft. 

However, this is pure speculation. If the Montreal Franchise stays at number 3 there are many prospects that will be available. Filip Forsberg, Mikhail Grigorenko and Alex Galchenyuk come to mind. 

Filip Forsberg is the safest pick in the top 3. He has not lacked effort and has not been injured, something that all three of yakupov, grigorenko and galchenyuk have been victim of. Forsberg plays a power forward style game, skates very well and has a great shot. He has been compared to NHL veteran Daniel Alfredsson. 

Mikhail Grigorenko is a high risk/high reward prospect. He is a big center that can control the flow of the game and that has impeccable passes. His lack of consistency has been questioned throughout the year but it seams that he is suffering from the Sean Couturier treatment. In other words, he is been considered a top prospect for so long that he starts falling in the rankings because there are little inconsistencies in his game. Another concerning factor is the possibility that he might go back to the KHL if the situations are not what he wants. 

Alex Galchenyuk is the most logical pick. He is an American born center that has a big frame and who has great hand and speed. The only problem with Galchenyuk is that he missed one entire year of development because of his ACL injury early in the season. However, he is exactly the type of player that the Habs are looking for, American Born, a big center, great speed, amazing hands and a gym rat.



Who will the Habs pick? My choice is Galchenyuk. 

 

A 3 Way trade ?

Yes ! It can happen, even in today's NHL. I was a bit surprised myself when I heard about the trade that sent Steve Downie packing his bags for Colorado and saw Kyle Quincey be a part of the lighting roster for a grand total of five minutes. After those five glorious, yet insignificant, minutes Quincey was traded to the Detroit Red Wings for a 1rst round pick in the 2012 NHL draft. I will take some time to analyze what this trade means for each team... 

To Colorado: 

Steve Downie 

Downie currently has 28 points and 121 penalty minutes. In the trade, Colorado gets a player that can play in a top 6 role and can also be very effective on a 3rd line. He provides a scoring touch and some grit.... That grit will be much needed to protect the Avalanches young forwards such as Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene. Downie is currently under contract for this year at an annual salary of 1.85 Million dollars and is a restricted free agent at the end of the season. 


To Tampa Bay


1rst round pick (2012)


In the deal, Tampa received Kyle Quincey only to flip him to Detroit for a 1rst round pick in the upcoming draft. The pick will be useful for Tampa Bay because they will be able to either use the pick for a more significant trade or draft a solid prospect. However, the lighting gave up a relatively young, cheap power-forward for a late first round pick...  


To Detroit 


Kyle Quincey 

The Red Wings receive Quincey in the three way trade. Quincey will provide depth for the long playoff run that the wings hope will end in a Stanley cup. Quncey was acquired to provide a safety net for the red wings in case Brad Stuart is moved. Detroit payed a hefty price for his services but they are going for the big prize this year. 




Who won the trade ? 


This trade was strange to say the least, I think that Colorado made off well in the trade. They got a great gritty forward for a D-Man that has fallen out of favor in Colorado. The Tampa Bay lighting are not clear winners or losers simply because the value of that 1rst round pick is unknown. However, I do believe that the 1rst round pick will be used to get help between the pipes. Finally, Detroit is the clear looser in the trade. They over payed for a depth D-Man but they can afford to overpay because they have many young prospects and their drafting in later rounds is phenomenal.