Selected 13th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2008 NHL entry draft.I have seen Colten play many times in the past 2 1/2 years. His overall skating ability is very good. His skating style is conducive to positive further development, with a smooth stride and excellent strength and balance. For his size, he has better than average speed, mobility, and agility. When he accelerates, he tends to lean his upper body forward which hurts his puck handling ability. In terms of offensive skill, he does not possess a great deal of creativity with the puck. In the offensive zone, his strongest attribute is his shot -- which is usually hard and accurate. He is usually effective in getting the puck to the net. My biggest concern with Colten is his defensive zone awareness and positioning. Once in awhile he appears to lack focus. The good thing is that he demonstrated in the World Jr. Tournament that he knows how to play his position, and also how to play within his limits -- in other words not overhandling the puck. In terms of physical play Colten uses his size and strength to his benefit. He plays the body with authority and can deliver strong body checks. He is willing to fight, and while his technique is raw his strength allows him to deliver big punches and outmuscle his opponent.
Projection:
During World Jr. Tournament, one TSN commentator (Pierre McGuire, I believe) compared Colten to Luke Schenn. While both Colten and Luke can play physical, they are different types of players in my opinion. Right now, Luke possesses more confidence and composure with the puck and consistently passes the puck accurately. On the other hand, Colten is a better skater than Luke.
Although he has struggled somewhat since his return from the World Jr. Tournament, I project Colten to be a top six defenseman in the NHL. His overall physical ability and skating will allow him to play in the NHL. I do believe he may need one season in the American Hockey League to help him learn the defensive side of the game more thoroughly. Making the jump from Jr. to the NHL is very difficult for a defenseman.
Note: I intend to provide projections on other drafted players in the near future.
4 comments:
Do you have plans to do an article on Jordan Eberle.
Brad,
How important is level of competition when you are evaluating a player. In other words, if a kid puts up huge numbers against lesser-thans, is that a red light. Does that mean he competes harder against teams that he believes he can succeed against?
Do you red flag a kid who only succeeds against lesser thans?
Do you qualify goals and production based upon time of game, situation in which it was scored etc?
Do you use linemates as criteria? In other words a guy puts up no numbers with weaker linemates?
I am sure you are aware of all these things. But, would you actually quantify production based upon these variable?
Do you have a numerical system?
CDSC
Thats a great read Brad, thanks for your insights.
Brad:
If you read Rod Pedersen's blog, there are alot of the Regina fans that are not real happy about the effort that Tuebert is bringing to the game lately. How hard is it for him to keep the intensity up in junior when he has played WJ's and has signed an NHL contract and knows he will be going pro next season?
It seems this is quite common as I have seen it before with other players that return from WJ's or NHL camps.
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