Friday, June 5, 2009

Ryan Yessie's Top 30 OHL Players for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and Early Look at 2010

Ryan is checking in with his final draft list for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Here is his top 30 with comments:

1 John Tavares - Center - London Knights
6’0” - 195 lbs. - GP: 56 - PTS: 104
What can be said that already isn’t said, Great goalscorer, pure sniper, great talent, good lateral movement, needs to work on his skating.

2 Matt Duchene - Center - Brampton Battalion
5’11” - 200 lbs - GP: 57 - PTS: 79
Duchene has great talent, dropped alittle in the draft but made his way back with his great speed, and puck skills.

3 Zack Kassian - Right Wing - Peterborough Petes
6’3” - 210 lbs. - GP: 61 - PTS: 63
Kassian uses his size to create scoring chances, has deceptive speed, a great body checker, however he sometimes goes out of position to make those big hits.

4 Ryan Ellis - Defenceman - Windsor Spitfires
5’9” - 173 lbs. - GP: 57 - PTS: 89
Ellis has great speed, and offensive capabilities. His positioning is good, and he has one of the hardest point shots in the league. Ellis will need to gain 15-20 lbs before he goes pro.

5 Nazem Kadri - Center - London Knights
6’0” - 177 lbs. - GP: 56 - PTS: 78
Kadri is a great defensive forward, has very good speed, good hockey sense. He sometimes tries to do too much and doesn’t use his his teammates effectively. Not a natural goal scorer.

6 Peter Holland - Center - Guelph Storm
6’1” - 178 lbs. - GP: 68 - PTS: 67
Uses his frame to protect the puck well, he’s a good skater with a lightning quick release, and great hockey sense. He needs to play more physical. Holland doesn’t dominate games like some others ahead of him.

7 Matthew Hackett - Goaltender - Plymouth Whalers
6’2” - 170 lbs. - W: 34 - GAA: 3.04
Hackett has lightning quick reflexes, and great recovery skills. His positioning could use improvement, and is a late bloomer so not as much is known of him, as much as other prospects.

8 Ethan Werek - Left Wing - Kingston Frontenacs
6’1” - 190 lbs. - GP: 63 - PTS: 64
Werek is a prototypical power forward that just needs to add alittle more muscle to his frame. He has great offensive skills which include a great shot, and good puck movement and plays on the edge. Ethan’s downside is that he doesn’t create plays on his own and generally relies to teammates to set up scoring chances, his shot while streaking into the zone, or rebounds in front of the net

9 Calvin De Haan - Defenceman - Oshawa Generals
6’0” - 170 lbs. - GP: 68 - PTS: 63
De Haan has great offensive instincts, a good shot and moves the puck well. He needs a lot of help with his defensive coverage and needs to add about 20 lbs to become a legitimate pro defenceman.

10 Taylor Beck - Left Wing - Guelph Storm
6’2” - 205 lbs. - GP: 67 - PTS: 63
Beck has great hockey sense and perfect size for a power forward. He handles the puck well and works hard every shift. Beck needs to utilize his size better and play with more of an edge to max out his potential.

11 Matthew Clark - Defenceman - Brampton Battalion
6’3” - 205 lbs. - GP: 63 - PTS: 23
Clark has deceptively good skating, and is solid in his offensive zone. Clark also displays the potential for some untapped offensive skills. Clark doesn’t have the high end potential that the defencemen ahead of him have.

12 Edward Pasquale - Goaltender - Saginaw Spirit
6’2” - 218 lbs. - W: 32 - GAA: 3.02
Pasquale uses his size to it’s full potential and utilizes little movement to stop the puck. Despite the fact Pasquale has a tendency to come up huge in big games he also is earning a reputation for giving up bad rebounds at critical moments.

13 Ryan O’Reilly - Center - Erie Otters
6’0” - 200 lbs. - GP: 68 - PTS: 66
O’Reilly has great hockey sense and offensive instincts. He’s solid off the face-off as well as in his own zone. He has a great deal of strength but unfortunately doesn’t utilize it enough. His skating will be a big issue if it’s not addressed during his junior career.

14 Michael Latta - Center - Guelph Storm
5’11” - 192 lbs. - GP: 65 - PTS: 57
Latta plays well in all 3 zones, plays a good physical game, and moves the puck well. Latta needs to improve on his skating and needs to add to his frame if he wants to play his style of game at the next level

15 Alex Hutchings - Center - Barrie Colts
5’10” - 173 lbs. - GP: 63 - PTS: 68
Has good speed, and is willing to drive to the net with strong puck protection. His hockey sense is good, and he has a decent defensive game. He needs to add some more muscle to his build to have a shot at a pro career.

16 Taylor Doherty - Defenceman - Kingston Frontenacs
6’7” - 218 lbs. - GP: 68 - PTS: 20
Doherty’s opinions are varied but I find that he’s a good skater for his size, his positioning is solid enough defensively to follow smaller attacking players. However he makes a lot of mistakes with the puck, his first few steps are weak and for someone his size he doesn’t play physical enough.

17 Jesse Blacker - Defenceman - Windsor Spitfires
6’1” - 190 lbs. - GP: 67 - PTS: 21
Blacker has shown good puck movement as a first pass, or in the neutral zone. Blacker’s skills are hard to gauge at this point as he didn’t receive much ice time as a rookie on a memorial cup winning team.

18 Phil Varone - Center - London Knights
5’10” - 186 lbs. - GP: 58 - PTS: 52
Varone plays with a lot of energy, and is responsible defensively. He has adequate offensive skills which he showed in the playoffs where he was one of London’s most valuable players. Varone needs to add more muscle and become a bit better at his skating if he wants to continue to be effective playing this style of game.

19 Jordan Szwarz - Right Wing - Saginaw Spirit
5’11” - 189 lbs. - GP: 67 - PTS: 51
Szwarz has good skills with the puck as well as decent speed with an accurate shot. Szwarz may need a little extra work on his own zone to progress to the next level.

20 Casey Cizikas - Center - Mississauga St. Michaels Majors
5’10” - 190 lbs. - GP: 55 - PTS: 36
Cizikas has good speed, and moves the puck well he’s responsible in his own zone, and has a solid shot. His skating could still use some work especially for someone his size to be effective at the pro level, he still needs to be more willing to engage physically, and become more consistent.

21 Marcus Foligno - Left Wing - Sudbury Wolves
6’2” - 200 lbs. - GP: 65 - PTS: 30
Foligno plays a very physical power forward game, he drives to the net and appears to never quit on a play. He could be considered a boom or bust prospect, and needs to become more consistent as he disappeared the second half of this season.

22 Matthew Tipoff - Right Wing - Belleville Bulls
5’11” - 178 lbs. - GP: 68 - PTS: 40
Tipoff plays with great speed and moves the puck well throughout all 3 zones. He’s more of a playmaker than a goal scorer. Tipoff needs to gain atleast 15-20lbs. To be able to handle the physical play in the pros, and seemed to disappear at times when the play did get rough

23 Brett Flemming - Defenceman - Mississauga St. Michaels Majors
6’0” - 172 lbs. - GP: 64 - PTS: 28
Flemming has amazing speed, and moves the puck very well. He needs to add at least 20 lbs of muscle to handle hockey at the next level. If he can do this and still keep his speed he should become a very effective pro hockey player.

24 Scott Stajcer - Goaltender - Owen Sound Attack
6’3” - 180 lbs. - W: 15 - GAA: 3.57
Stajer’s best attribute is that he doesn’t give up many rebounds. He has great recovery abilities and speed. His downfall is he doesn’t have a strong defence in front of him which can affect a goaltender’s development over time, as well as his positioning needs to improve.

25 Tyler Randell - Right Wing - Kitchener Rangers
6’1” - 191 lbs. - GP: 73 - PTS: 37
Randell has great scoring instincts, and is ready and willing to mix things up with the opposition, and plays on the edge. Randell isn’t much of a passer and will sometimes shoot even when the pass is there. He also needs to improve his skating and learn not to take the bad penalties.

And the rest of the top 30...

26 Michael Zador - Goaltender - Oshawa Generals
6’2” - 189 lbs. - W: 11 - GAA: 3.65

27 Ben Chiarot - Defenceman - Guelph Storm
6’2” - 205 lbs. - GP: 67 - PTS: 12

28 Michael Fine - Center - Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
6’1” - 197 lbs. - GP: 58 - PTS: 37

29 Beau Schmitz - Defenceman - Plymouth Whalers
5’10” - 185 lbs. - GP: 66 - PTS: 37

30 Peter DiSalvo - Goaltender - Barrie Colts
6’0” - 180 lbs. - W: 15 - GAA: 2.83

2010 Entry Draft TOP 20 OHL Prospects

1 Taylor Hall - Left Wing - Windsor Spitfires
2 Tyler Seguin - Center - Plymouth Whalers
3 Erik Gudbranson - Defence - Kingston Frontenacs
4 John McFarland - Center - Sudbury Wolves
5 Steven Shipley - Center - Owen Sound Attack
6 Tyler Toffoli - Right Wing - Ottawa 67’s
7 Andrew Yogan - Center - Erie Otters
9 Austin Watson - Right Wing - Windsor Spitfires
10 Joey Hishon - Center - Owen Sound Attack
11 Freddie Hamilton - Center - Niagara Ice Dogs
12 Ryan Spooner - Defenceman - Peterborough Petes
13 Steven Silas - Defenceman - Belleville Bulls
14 Joe Rogalski - Defenceman - Sarnia Sting
15 Greg Sutch - Right Wing - Sarnia Sting
16 Jared Knight - Center - London Knights
17 Jeff Skinner - Center - Kitchener Rangers
18 J.P. Anderson - Goaltender - Mississauga St. Michaels Majors
19 Brock Beukeboom - Defenceman - Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
20 Devante Smith-Pelly - Winger - Mississauga St. Michaels Majors

RY

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