Prospects of Interest (2nd round): Alex Petrovic

Today’s prospect, shown here (#77) being filled in by Dylan McIlrath, is a hard-hitting defenseman from the Dub who has seen his stock drop considerably from where he was one season ago.

Alex Petrovic, an Edmonton native playing for Red Deer is a 6’4” body breaking machine with underrated offensive skills. He’s still among the most feared defenders in the WHL even though he had his clock cleaned by fellow 2010 draft-eligible prospect Dylan McIlrath at this year’s Top Prospects game. Some questioned his abilities after that quick bout, but as THN magazine puts it:

“Some scouts point to the fact Petrovic was beaten in a fight by Dylan McIlrath in the prospects game as the negative turning point. It shouldn’t have been, because McIlrath beats up pretty much everyone he fights.”

Here’s the youtube clip of the fight. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmo1jlN4VHg

I think it’s important to present this because even though Petrovic gets rag-dolled around, it shows the kid’s got balls. He wanted to test himself against the best on what is probably one of the biggest prospect showcases. Full credit to him.

The Rankings:
THN: 24
ISS: Not Rated
CSB: 29

Known more as a defence-first blueliner, Petrovic saw his point totals more than double this season (from 13 to 27) and his goal totals sky-rocket from one last year to eight this season, all while playing in nine fewer games. His offensive output brings to mind the scouting report of Alex Plante from 2007, which said in no specific words that this offense wouldn’t likely translate well to the NHL game. It’s fair then to expect any offense from Petrovic at the NHL level to be a welcome bonus to his skillset.

Already standing 6’4” and weighing in at 193 pounds, Petrovic will be an intimidating force on someone’s blueline once he completely fills out. Gaining another 15-20 pounds on his large frame would allow for even more damage from his already physical brand of hockey. He’s not just hitting people because he’s bigger and can do some damage, he’s hitting people because he likes it. An interview from McKeen’s hockey (http://mckeenshockey.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1078205) suggests we might have a new Scott Stevens on our hands here:

“My strength I believe, is my physical play with my body checks”

He also believes the things he can do with his long reach is a strength to his game, both in breaking up scoring chances and creating a good first pass out of his defensive zone. The coaching staff in Red Deer has had him working on his defensive game, and Alex seems to have bought into the system well. He’s taking care of his own end first but would also like to develop a quick offensive transition to his game, being able to quickly join the rush after a turnover.

Mike Remmerde, a well known and respected blogger/reporter has a slightly more glass-half-empty view on Petrovic. He lists his skating as a positive for a kid his size, but is quick to point out defensive lapses in the defensive zone:

“This guy’s reactions in the defensive zone just flat out confuse me. I just can’t understand how a guy with this kind of agility gets beat so often in his own end.”

I’m not too worried about these reported defensive liabilities because with proper coaching they can be eliminated. Let the kid make mistakes now and learn from them, it’s better to have these weaknesses exposed early on so they can be monitored and corrected at the junior level.

The Oilers organization has been high on these big, physical players at the last couple of drafts. They’ve taken hard-nosed defenders early in the past in Peckham (2006), Plante (2007), Motin (2008) and the forward Abney (2009) with some success. The blueline pipeline is thin as it stands right now with, to my knowledge, not a single junior aged defenseman in the system. It’s sure to be a lean couple of years without some changes in draft tendencies this year.

Petrovic fits the Oilers needs of defenders and improving team toughness, and that’s why I can see him being selected with the 31st pick. While there may be a couple higher ranked forwards left on the draft board, Petrovic could be a target for an early second-round selection based on organizational need. I may not agree with picking for position, but Petrovic is someone I’d consider making an exception for. Early projections and mock-drafts had him pegged as a sure first-rounder, Petrovic remains a potential Top-4 shutdown defender.