Hockey Prospects – McKeen's Hockey

MCKEEN’S 2022 NHL DRAFT GUIDE – NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD!

McKeen's Hockey — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 16:26:44 +0000

We are proud to release the McKeen’s 2022 NHL Draft Guide. It was a tremendous relief and joy to scout a somewhat full season again. We feel that there is no doubt a lost or truncated 2020-21 season, due to the pandemic, affected many of the prospect’s development heading into 2021-22. While 2021 was a draft season unlike any we had seen, 2022 did present a unique challenge of its own we had not faced before. Very uneven playing schedules the season prior to their draft year made it difficult to set a baseline to start with, and a steeper hill for some to climb. As a result, we have witnessed as wide an opinion in public draft boards as we have seen in some years.

For that reason, we thank our entire scouting team for their dogged efforts this year in digging a little deeper, trying to understand the context for the player, and watching a lot of hockey. We appreciate the time and effort you put in. Enjoy a well-deserved offseason.

Brock Otten, in his first season as Director of Scouting, provided tremendous leadership and guidance to us all throughout the year. Brock did a great job of introducing some exciting young talent to the team and brought a focus on video that has made our reports stronger and more enjoyable. This seasons draft coverage, and bringing this guide to life, could not have happened without his efforts. We look forward to even better things next season.

We have plans to introduce some new magazines for subscriber next season and will have more news later this summer. As a tease, part of our plans include an update to the McKeen's NHL Yearbook at mid-season, and a full Prospects Report in April featuring drafted NHL prospects (which will be updated in our fall release). We have a few more things up our sleeve so stay tuned! To Learn More or Subscribe Link Here:

PRINT ON DEMAND - AVAILABLE MONDAY, JUNE 20TH, 2022

$16.50 with a quarterly subscription - check out the benefits of membership incl. all digital magazines (Including the MCKEEN'S 2022-23 NHL YEARBOOK for a limited time!)

Packed with information!

300+ Player Profiles - Notes, Stats, Skill Ratings and more.

The Top 50 Ranked for 2023

Feature Articles

Getting it Wright: A Profile of Shane Wright by Dylan Kirill
Slovakia Rising: The Comeback of Slovak Hockey by Matej Deraj
North American Goaltending and The Draft by Catherine Silverman
Film Squad Favourites by Will Scouch and Sam McGilligan
15 Top Sleepers by Region: The McKeen's Team Favourites
Second Chances: 10 Top Re-Entry Candidates by Brock Otten
Top 2022 NHL Draft Prospects Ranked by Skill/Attributes in 12 Categories by The McKeen's Team
Two Mock Drafts! by Zack Szweras and Sam Happi

The magazine, available through an online subscription, is the starting point for our prospect coverage. You also have access to our deep database of player profiles, feature articles and scouting reports as a member at www.mckeenshockey.com. The profiles in this magazine will give you a good breakdown of the players, why they were ranked where they were, and is meant to be accessible for all hockey fans. If you want to go really deep on a player, the website has you covered with hundreds detailed scouting reports, deep dives, feature articles and so much more. You will also find some video and analytics work from Scouching (Will Scouch) to provide another perspective for your draft research and analysis.

Enjoy the magazine and all of our 2022 NHL Draft Coverage.

McKeen’s Hockey

SCOUCHING: An Overview – Approach and Metrics

Will Scouch — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 20:42:39 +0000

Hey everyone! This is Will Scouch, and I’m extremely excited to join the McKeen’s team to provide companion pieces to the Scouching Reports I put together over on YouTube. The videos will be available for 48 hours to McKeen's subscribers prior to their release on youtube.com. Part of the reason why I put the videos together is that they force me to really watch how a player plays and explore why a player’s production and data might over or undervalue them around draft time.

My approach to breaking down a player’s profile falls into five categories: Think, Move, Get, Pass and Shoot. Those five categories summarize all the various aspects of the game as it relates to an individual player to me. How players play and process the game naturally, how they get around the ice with their feet and hands, how they play when pucks are either loose or in the opponent’s possession, how they move the puck around the ice, and how they try to put the puck in the net. Within those categories, the player is given a number and a letter grade indicating the overall tier of talent that player showed in that skill, and the consistency in that tier that I viewed. All of these ratings are amalgamated into a final rating that tries to encompass a player’s value. This system allows for highly discrete analysis while still leaving reasonable evaluation to consider a top prospects strengths, weaknesses and future potential. Seven games are tracked, six against top-half teams, and the data can be found in the description of all of my Scouching Reports.

I track a number of metrics during these seven games to try to encapsulate how a player plays. These metrics are outlined and defined below:

The goal is to use data and video to craft as accurate a profile of a player as you can. To me, an ideal player is one that moves pucks offensively with control, stops transitions coming towards them, drives shot attempt differentials in high and medium danger areas of the ice, completes passes at a high level while attempting to put pucks into dangerous areas of the ice. How they do it and if it’s “projectable” is where the video comes in. Do they play with speed or patience? Are they often primary puck carriers? How physical are they when shutting down offense? In my view, there are many ways to be a successful hockey player, but at the end of the day you have to get results. The data provides the results, and the video can identify the mechanisms that drive those results. It’s important to be clear about a player’s pros and cons with data and video to back it up, but it’s also important to remember that these are young players that are usually years away from stepping onto an NHL ice surface. Identifying weakness is just as imperative as identifying strength, and these reports can provide solid objective analysis of a player’s game and their ensuing results, be they positive or negative.

Welcome to the 2017-18 Season

Ryan Wagman — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 13:12:14 +0000

Welcome to McKeen’s Hockey’s 2017-18 prospect coverage.

“My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.”

― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Although these pages have been largely quiet since draft recaps, we hope and trust that you enjoyed the fruits of our labor from the Annual guide book, which was released a few weeks ago. In addition to the usual in-depth scouting and analysis provided by Gus Katsaros and friends, we have leveraged the increased depth of our global prospect coverage into providing you with a much deeper look into the next generation for each and every one of the NHL’s 31 teams.

If the old saw about “no rest for the wicked” is even halfway correct, all scouts and prospect hounds must have been truly wicked in their previous lives. No sooner was the annual guide wrapped up than was the preseason beginning. And no sooner did we grow accustomed to watching new combinations of players feel one another out on the ice in the preseason than did the regular seasons begin.

And while I would not have minded a few more weeks of rest and relaxation, when the buzzer sounded, we were ready for the new year, whichever league we are covering.

We were very happy with the growth of our expanded coverage last season, allowing us to provide nearly unprecedented depth throughout the hockey playing world. Our scouting team was everywhere, all at once. From Kelowna to Kazhakhstan. Fromm Switzerland to South Bend.

But it is never enough. As Lewis Carroll wrote (see top) if we continue to run as fast as we can we will stay in place Well that is not good enough. We want to go further. We will run twice as fast.

In other words, our team has grown enormously. And is still growing.

As the year progresses, these pages will feature exclusive scouting reports and other features from a jam packed roster of scouts and prospect analysts. More butts in the rinks. More eyes on the players. More brains evaluating. More voices in the room. I am pleased to introduce the 2017-18 McKeens Propect Staff

Ryan Wagman (@RAWagman) – Director of Prospect Scouting, USHL, AHL Central, NCAA West (Big 10, NCHC, WCHA)
Leslie Treff (@HFNYRangers)– AHL Atlantic, NCAA East (Hockey East, ECAC), New England Prep
Jeremy Houghtaling (@JGHoughtaling) – AHL North
Tom Dorsa (@TomDorsa) – AHL Pacific
Mike Sanderson (@MikeRSanderson) – QMJHL
Craig Smith (@Red_Vikreig) – QMJHL, CCHL
Scott Crawford (@Crawford1Scott) – OHL, OJHL
Brock Otten (@BrockOtten) – OHL
Kevin Olexson (@MrKOMan) – WHL, BCHL
Vince Gibbons (the_vincanity) – WHL, AJHL
Jimmy Hamrin (@jimmyhamrin) – Sweden
Marco Bombino (@marco_bombino) – Finland
Roman Solovyov (@croulmane) – Russia

And it is still not enough. We are planning to add at least two more to the staff in the coming weeks to beef up our representation in Central Europe and Russia. Also, it should go without saying that Iain Morrell, the McKeens godfather, will be cross-checking the entire planet.

In addition to the frequent player profiles, we will spend more time looking at the local league, in and of themselves. More time preparing for and analyzing the WJC. More time looking at the varying development speed of already drafted/signed players. More frequent updates on the evolution of the draft rankings. To that end, expect to see our first look at the top of the 2018 draft class within about two weeks and at least monthly updates afterwards.

Are you ready?

We are.

OHL Prospect Watch: Fischer nets benefits, Sokolov swells

David Burstyn — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 21:42:22 +0000

The Windsor Spitfires took a late flyer on Christian Fischer in the 2013 OHL Draft (11th round, 213th overall), and are now reaping the benefits.

The native of Wayne, Illinois found instant success in his OHL debut and has been terrific in the first half for the Spitfires, emerging as the team's leading scorer.

Initially committed to go the NCAA route, however, just days after completing his fall orientation at the University of Notre Dame, he opted to sign an entry-level NHL contract.

Selected 32nd overall in the NHL draft last summer, Fischer joins an impressive posse of OHL-bred prospects in the Arizona stable that includes Ryan MacInnis, Dylan Strome, Brendan Perlini and Christian Dvorak.

Fischer gives the Coyotes' prospect pool a true potential power forward - something they currently lack.

He plays to the style and identity of the Spitfires as he is a gutsy, hard-nosed competitor who brings a contagious work ethic. His game has been further enhanced with the acquisition of Brendan Lemieux in December as the duo formed instant chemistry. Fischer has racked up 18 assists in the 18 games since Lemieux's arrival and climbed among the top 15 league scorers.

Despite all the helpers this season, scoring has never been a problem for Fischer who notched 31 goals in 66 league games with the USNDTP U18 squad in the USHL last year. His totals were all the more impressive considering he was slotted in more of a defensive role yet still found ways to constantly contribute offensively. A strong performance at the 2015 U18 World Championships helped vault him into the second round of the NHL draft.

Employed by Coach Thompson on both special teams, Fischer’s two-way game has been a shot in the arm for the Spitfires who currently sit atop the West Division standings due in part to his attention to detail with and without the puck.

His overall game continues to develop, most notably his skating which has marked some improvement. He helps compensate for mobility weaknesses by constantly moving his feet and attacking all areas of the ice.

Here are notes and observations on some other OHL prospects on the McKeens watch list.

Dmitry Sokolov (2016), C, Sudbury

The third-overall pick in the 2015 Import Draft has laboured through his first North American season as he battles with consistency which has resulted in him being benched for periods at a time in games. Easily the most skilled player on Sudbury's roster - is the current goal and points leader - however he knows it and does not lead by example with his on-ice work habits. Sokolov is an opportunistic player who takes advantage of power play time to record his points; and is not as effective in even-strength situations. His skating mechanics are somewhat slushy and it takes him a while to get going. Adding on 15 pounds in his first month abroad has not helped matters as he is playing over-weight and it has negatively impacted his game.

Ben Gleason (2016), D, Hamilton

The Ortonville, Michigan native was granted a new lease on life in his sophomore season thanks to an early-season trade out of London where he could barely crack the line-up. Thrust into a top pairing role on the Bulldogs' back end, Gleason has flourished and now ranks among the OHL's top 15 blueline scorers. A swift and agile skater, he is able to rush the puck up ice with ease - exploiting good athleticism and a strong acceleration gear. One attractive trait about his puckrushing is that he does not slow down with the puck in possession. However, he is not blessed with an overly imposing frame at 6-0, 170 which tends to hamper his defensive game. Too often he gets danced around in his own zone and, as he offers very little in terms of physical 'push back', he can be rather easy to play against. Steadily gaining confidence in utilizing his shot more assertively - has scored an impressive seven goals, albeit none in his last 18 games. Projecting his NHL chances, he ranks as a long-shot given his size, physical play, and offensive sizzle.

Tye Felhaber (2016), C, Saginaw

More was expected from Felhaber after a highly successful rookie campaign where he finished fifth in team scoring (63-20-17-37). However, he has struggled with consistency and consequently has been bounced between the third and fourth lines. He does see occasional time on the power play in an attempt to bring out his game as he oozes the type of puck skills and offensive ability that can break open a game. Possesses excellent vision and an outstanding stick, but is far too uninvolved to take advantage of those skills. Only an average skater who lacks pop, yet is very shifty and elusive and can side-step players and spin off checks. Employs more stops and starts to his game, but rarely challenges the dirty areas and keeps things generally to the outside. Despite having good tools, his unwillingness to compete and move his feet in defensive situations may have him on the outside looking in at this point.

Dylan Wells (2016), G, Peterborough

Began this season on a high note by winning gold at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial where he was spectacular all tournament, and especially in a semi-final shoot-out win against the Russians. The top goaltender selected in the 2014 OHL Priority Selection - 22nd overall - Wells has backed up veteran Matthew Macina and has yet to show signs of flat out winning over the starting duties for the Petes. Wells has instead struggled this season - allowing five or more goals in ten games - or half his total appearances (20). Despite a shaky sophomore OHL campaign to date, Wells does look the part of a projectable goalie as he is a great skater who moves effortlessly in his crease and challenges shooters aggressively. Though blessed with a good-sized frame (6-1/185) however, he tends to make himself smaller in the crease due to a compact stance which can result in him being beaten upstairs. Wells needs to find more game-to-game consistency as he is prone to guessing on shots at times - and his game unravels as a result.

Ontario Player Notes: Observations at all levels from Sean LaFortune

Sean LaFortune — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 16:54:03 +0000

Photo by Terry Wilson/OHL Images

While I mentioned it on twitter the day of the trade, Saginaw Spirit fans have reason to be excited by the acquisition of new starting goaltender Evan Cormier. The former North Bay Battalion backup goaltender was arguably the top 97 born goaltender in the league, and could be among the top rated Ontario based goaltenders in Ontario next year. While it’s still fairly early in his Saginaw Spirit career, the early returns are promising, as he is sporting a .920 save percentage in his first three games with the team. So what's to like? He's a big, cool, comfortable goaltender who mixes positioning and economical play. He is smooth and confident, limits his movements and plays an economical style. Remember his name for next year, he should be at the top of the draft eligible goaltenders....Speaking of next year, Goaltender Jack Lafontaine has become one of the most sought after players in the OJHL. The 98 born goaltender leads the league in both GAA and SV, which is fairly amazing considering his young age. The Kitchener Rangers drafted him in the 3^rd round of last year’s OHL Draft and are in need of a goaltender next year with newly acquired Jake Paterson graduating to the Red Wings system, so it would seem a perfect fit. Not so fast, as Lafontaine has yet to commit to the Rangers and is expected to keep his options open, especially considering that some top NCAA programs are hot on his trail... While it’s extremely early, remember the name Bode Wilde. The 2000 born defenceman plays for Detroit HoneyBaked U14, and I had the opportunity to see him play a few weeks ago in the Port Huron SilverStick, where he took away tournament MVP Honours. It’s hard not to love what he brings to the table, an agile, 6'3" defender with excellent feet and offensive tools. His game screams ‘upside’. I wouldn’t put him in the Jakob Chychrun category, but he’s knocking on that door. Not sure what route he will take, but the Montreal-born skater who plays in Detroit will be at the top of either the QMJHL or OHL draft charts next year....Don Mills Flyers winger David Levin has been deemed eligible for the 2015 OHL Draft. Doesn't sound like big news, but when you consider the path that he took to become an elite prospect, it’s fairly important. Born in Israel, Levin didn't grow up playing on ice, his love for the game was born from roller hockey, and he didn't even start skating until he moved to Ontario at the age of 12. Now 16, there are a lot of teams suggesting that he would be their top pick if they were picking first in April. While it’s early for that, the fact that his name is even attached to that level of hockey is pretty incredible given his background and history with the game….I’m not sure if there is a more undervalued NHL Draft prospect that Sault Ste. Marie Greyhound forward Zachary Senyshyn. The big, mobile winger has impressive hands, good offensive instincts and a powerful skating stride. Add in the fact that he's playing a top role on the best offensive team in the OHL, it’s hard not to like what he brings to the table. If he falls past the third round, it'll be surprising, he could be this year’s Remi Elie...Liam Herbst play during the CHL Top Prospects game was rewarding to see. Anyone who knows me knows my affinity for the goaltender, who is the best I've ever seen at the Minor Midget level. He has all the tools, big, mobile focused and controlled, but has struggled to stay healthy over the past few years. While he's still got a long way to go (he has yet to complete his first full season in the OHL) but if he has his injuries behind him, look out, he has the ability to be a steal in the second half of the draft, especially considering that Ontario has a relatively thin goaltending group this year.