Thursday, June 17, 2010

Prospects of interest (2nd Round): Quinton Howden



There’s a good chance today’s prospect may not in fact make it out of the second round. If fortune smiles on the Oilers, here’s hoping Stu MacGregor is sprinting up to the draft podium to open the second day of this year’s NHL draft to draft winger Quinton Howden, the first overall pick from the WHL’s 2007 bantam draft. He’s a big boy at 6’3” 183 and still has room to fill out his impressive frame in two more seasons with the Dub’s Moose Jaw Warriors.

The rankings:
THN: 23
ISS: 16
CSB: 19NA

I’ll be blunt here, I really do have a vested interest in watching this kid develop. He grew up half an hour from me, in the same hometown (and likely through the same bantam programs) as a cousin of mine. I’d love nothing more than to see a local talent putting on the Oildrop in a couple years time. I’ll do my best not to go all Pierre McGuire... but I promise nothing.

Coming off the potentially overbearing pressure that comes with being a high bantam draft pick (Philippe Cornet apparently couldn’t handle it), he struggled in his rookie season with the Warriors, putting up 30 points in 62 games. His transition from year one this year is quite impressive. He more than doubled his goal totals (from 13 to 28) while putting up exactly one point per game (28-37-65). It’s still not a huge offensive number, but he led his team in scoring as a 17-year old (the next four highest scorers were 19 or older). That speaks both to the maturity of the player, and the lack of scoring surrounding Howden. Expect his point totals to continue rising next year, if he’s not playing NHL hockey somewhere.

As a player, he’s been known to wear a lot of hats. While playing for his club team, he’s their go-to scorer. Internationally, he’s more likely to be a foot soldier and energy-type player. A very complete player in all three zones is what you’re going to get out of Howden as a 17-year old. At this point in most careers of NHL prospects, they have the back-checking abilities as Rob Schremp. Given his two-way abilities, it’s hard to imagine he’d have slipped past the Devils if they had retained their first round pick (Thanks, Ilya!).

One thing that may allow him to slip to #31 is his lack of one true talent. He’s a big body, but no scouting report I’ve read suggests he’s anything more than an average skater with moderate hockey sense, and lacks the ability to use his 6’3” frame to clear opponents out of his way. He’s one of the safest bets to make the NHL one day, but in no way is he a special talent at this point.

I think he’d be a perfect fit on the Oilers in a few years. He’s a big body who can score and has at least thought about the defensive side of hockey. He’d be a guy you could slot anywhere in your line-up and have success. If you want a big body to create space for Sam Gagner/Andrew Cogliano, throw him into the top-6 and tell him to go to the net. If you want a checking line with Shawn Horcoff, you know he’s not going to willingly give up goals against. To me, I see a lot of the kinds of things we’re seeing now in Dustin Penner. It’s kind of early to project him to our highest paid winger, but dammit he looks like a player to me. He's got all that talent, with a big body, a good home-grown Canadian kid, monster, strong...muscular...legs....

Sorry. I should stop now.

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