Five to Watch at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft
Tuesday - June 16, 2009 
The first round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft takes place on Friday June 26, 2009, beginning at 7:00 pm at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. 20 CHL players are ranked by NHL Central Scouting in the top 30 amongst North American Skaters. John Tavares scored a league-high 58 goals and 46 assists for 104 points in 56 games as the OHL scoring champion. At the CHL Awards Ceremony in May he was the recipient of the NeilMed Top Prospect Award. A threat on special teams, Tavares led the league with 21 power play goals and six shorthanded goals. He was named the Boston Pizza OHL Player of the week three times and the CHL Player of the Week twice. He was also named the All Weather Windows OHL Player of the Month for January. He has won two straight World Junior gold medals with Team Canada and was named tournament MVP in Ottawa. This season Tavares competed in his third straight ADT Canada Russia Challenge and Subway OHL All-Star Classic before setting a new OHL record for most career goals with 215. "He is probably better than any other player in the Draft from the top of the circle down at being a threat to score. He’s an offensive player who is reliable in his defensive zone and getting better at that, but yet not asked to do that very frequently. He is pure offense and for his first years in the NHL will probably be asked to do just that." - NHL Director of Central Scouting E.J McGuire. Click here to view the complete NHL Prospect Profile for John Tavares. Brayden Schenn – Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) Brayden Schenn scored 32 goals and 56 assists for 88 points in 70 games to finish seventh in WHL scoring and also led his team with 18 points in 12 playoff games this season. He had 24 multi-point games this season and played for Team WHL at the ADT Canada Russia Challenge. He was named a Boston Pizza WHL and CHL Player of the Week for the week ending January 18 when he scored one goal and six assists for seven points in two games. Last season he was named the WHL Rookie of the Year scoring 71 points in 66 games. He competed internationally with Canada’s Under-18 team that won gold at the 2008 World Under-18 Championships and the 2008 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. Brayden is the younger brother of Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Luke Schenn. "Brayden is of the power-forward ilk. He has learned a little about the NHL from his older brother Luke Schenn and he knows how to go to the net. He is a threat to score at all times on the ice and dishes the puck very effectively to his linemates in getting the amount of assists that he does. He takes the puck to the net with the kind of authority that a Jonathan Cheechoo does, yet has puck dishing capacities that maybe a Joe Thornton does. Both are tough players, both are tough to move out in front of the net and Brayden fits that ilk perfectly." – NHL Director of Central Scouting E.J McGuire. Click here to view the complete NHL Prospect Profile for Brayden Schenn. Stefan Elliott – Saskatoon Blades (WHL) Stefan Elliott scored 16 goals and 39 assists for 55 points in 71 games for the Blades and finished sixth amongst WHL defencemen in scoring, also registering 15 multi-point games from the point. Elliott was named the Subway Scholastic Player of the Year at the CHL Awards Ceremony in May. He competed internationally with Team Canada and won a gold medal with the under-18 program at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament and also participated with Team Pacific at the 2008 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and Team British Columbia at the 2007 Canada Winter Games. "Stefan is your all-around, good NHL prospect defenseman. For the Saskatoon Blades, he is an equal mix of solid defense and good offense. Sometimes he is leading the rush, he has that capability, but more often he's supporting the rush or starting it with his good first pass out of the zone." – NHL Director of Central Scouting E.J McGuire. Click here to view the complete NHL Prospect Profile for Stefan Elliott. Peter Holland – Guelph Storm (OHL) Peter Holland scored 28 goals and 39 assists for 67 points in 68 games for the Storm. He had 21 multi-point games with five game-winning goals. He played for Team OHL at the 2008 ADT Canada Russia Challenge and registered two assists with the Western Conference All-Stars at the 2009 Subway OHL All-Star Classic. Holland was named to Team Canada’s Under-18 team that competed at the 2009 World Championships this past April in Fargo, North Dakota. He also won a gold medal with Team Ontario at the 2008 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. "When he is competing, he is very noticeable and effective. He is used both on the power-play and penalty-kill units, and at times he has been used at the point on the power-play. He skates very well, smooth, and he generates good speed. He has a very good shot." – NHL Central Scouting’s Chris Edwards. Click here to view the complete NHL Prospect Profile for Peter Holland. Philippe Paradis – Shawinigan Cataracts (QMJHL) Philippe Paradis scored 19 goals and 31 assists for 50 points in 66 games and also scored 12 points in a 22 game extended playoff run with the Shawinigan Cataractes this season. He had nine multi-point games including a five-point game February 13 with a hat-trick and two assists in 9-2 win over the Lewiston MAINEiacs. He was named the QMJHL Offensive Player of the Week for the week ending October 27. Last season he was given the RDS Rookie Excellence Award at the midway mark of the season and competed with Team Quebec at the 2008 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. “I think Philippe has more skills than his offensive record shows and a good upside. He’s a good skater, with good size at 6’2” and he can shoot the puck. He goes to the net well and has good ability to score.” – NHL Central Scouting’s Chris Bordeleau. |