OHL – Defense (2017)

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Nicolas Hague (15 – 30)

  • DOB: 1998-12-05 / H: 6’6 / SH: L
  • Big physical defenseman with a nice power play shot …  Decent skater for his size … Excellent tools …  Plays in all situations … Solid defensively and has offensive upside …
  • NHL: “He brings an offensive dimension to his game,” Hockey Canada head scout Ryan Jankowski said. “He’s also effective in a shutdown role with that range, reach and the size he has. He’s growing into his body and growing into his ability. I feel he’s more than your typical huge physical defenseman; he’s a guy who moves the puck very well and brings an offensive component to his game.”

Conor Timmins (30 – 60)

  • DOB: 1998-09-18 / H: 6’1 / SH: R
  • Older draft eligible player … Excellent offensive numbers this season … Plays physical and aggressive hockey …  Worked hard on his skating in the off season …
  • Hockey Now:  Conor Timmins has grown into a leader on the ice for the Greyhounds with his confident play and effectiveness quarterbacking the power play and an effective penalty killer. Has good offensive skills and likes to shoot low, hard point shots that bounce out for rebounds and are good for deflections. Good first pass out of his zone keeps the breakout effective and puts his passes right on the tape. Great puck movement in all three zones. Plays a physical game and will throw a big hit, battle in the corners and clears his net in front. Doesn’t panic under pressure and is quick to the puck on dump-ins. Likes to jump into the rush and is a decent skater with good mobility in his own end. Needs to work on discipline and not get caught out of position in his own end.

Dmitri Samorukov (D) (30 – 60)

  • DOB: 1999- / H: 6’1 / SH: L
  • Average size … Willing to play physical …  Consistency Issues … Has a hard shot but not always accurate …
  • OHL Writers: Offensively, Samorukov has a bomb for a shot. He showed a knack for being able to get it through and on target. He would never ignore his defensive responsibilities and seemed to always make the right decision on when to pinch or when to go on the defense at the opposition blue line.  He has shown to have good hockey IQ, vision and decision making along with an ability to create time and space in order to make the right play.

Mid-Late Round Picks

  1. Eemeli Räsänen:  6’7 right hand shot Finnish defenseman with decent offense … Skating is an issue … Plays a physical style …  Has a hard shot … Solid in his own zone … He would likely be a project (60 – 100)
  2. Jacob Paquette: Good size at 6’3 … May, 26th birthday … Left hand shot … Not much offense … Smart physical player … Might project to be a shutdown defender … Decent skater (60 – 100)
    • Note:  One thing about Kingston whom Rasanen & Paquette play for, they are the lowest scoring team in the OHL.  The average OHL team scores 3.46 GPG, Kingston averaged 2.63.
  3. Noel Hoefenmayer: Little under-sized at 6′ and lacking strength…  Good offensive puck moving defenseman with good upside … Needs to work on his defensive game … Makes a good outlet pass and good when he has the puck on his stick … (60 – 100)
  4. Markus Phillips:  Not tall for a d-man but solidly built …  Solid defensively … Makes good decisions with the puck … Might not be an offensive defenseman but he put up 43 points in 66 games … (60 – 100)
  5. Brady Lyle:  6’1 RHD, born June, 6, 99 … Good speed, skating, mobility ….  Hockey sense and puck moving ability a plus …  Not overly strong and needs to improve defensive positional game … High upside (100 – 150)
  6. Adam Tilander:  6′ RHD, born, Sept, 18, 98 …  Smart defender … Does a lot of things really well but doesn’t excel at anything … Limited upside … (100 – 150)
  7. Reagan O’Grady:  Good size (6’2) right hand shot defender … Decent mobility … Two-way defender … (100 – 150)
  8. Hayden Davis … Big (6’20 right handed defenseman … With good mobility … Decent puck-moving skills … Lacks offensive numbers and needs improvement defensively … Has nice tools (150 – 200)
  9. Tom Hedberg:  5’11 Swedish d-man … Late birthday August, 10, 99 … Skating and puck moving a plus … Needs to gain strength … Needs to work on defensive game (150 – 200)
  10. Jacob Golden:  He’s a 6′ smooth skating defenseman … Doesn’t have much offensive numbers … He might play more next season with Vande Sompel & potentially Juolevi moving on (150 – 200)

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