From: The Hockey Newsby Ken Campbell
College free agents historically have flopped more than they’ve thrived at the NHL level, but a lot of scouts are predicting big things for Tyler Bozak, the newest member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
While Christian Hanson will give the Leafs some depth and Boston University defenseman Matt Gilroy will almost certainly be able to step in immediately once he signs with an NHL team in a couple of weeks, a good number of scouts think Bozak will ultimately be the best player.
“I have no doubts about this guy, none whatsoever,” one scout said. “It’s a hell of a signing by the Toronto Maple Leafs.”
“Bozak, hands-down,” said another scout when asked which of Hanson, Gilroy or Bozak will ultimately be the best NHLer. “He’s a very smart player, has great hockey sense and he’s a right-shot center and every team is looking for that.”
Kind of makes you wonder how 30 teams passed on him in the draft. Part of the reason was when he was playing in the heavily scouted B.C. Junior League, he was about 5-foot-8 and 155 pounds. Now he’s 6 feet and 180 pounds.
The scouting reports on Bozak were far less than complimentary during his first two years in the BCHL. But then he played as an overage player in the league in 2006-07 and had 45 goals and 128 points. All the scouts in the league would have seen him that season because he was playing with Jamie Benn, who was chosen by the Dallas Stars that summer.
The only issue was Bozak had already passed his eligibility to be drafted and any team wanting him would have had to sign him as a free agent.
“That’s the problem,” a scout said. “You don’t sign free agents to NHL contracts coming out of the B.C. Junior League, but maybe we have to start looking into that.”
While Christian Hanson will give the Leafs some depth and Boston University defenseman Matt Gilroy will almost certainly be able to step in immediately once he signs with an NHL team in a couple of weeks, a good number of scouts think Bozak will ultimately be the best player.
“I have no doubts about this guy, none whatsoever,” one scout said. “It’s a hell of a signing by the Toronto Maple Leafs.”
“Bozak, hands-down,” said another scout when asked which of Hanson, Gilroy or Bozak will ultimately be the best NHLer. “He’s a very smart player, has great hockey sense and he’s a right-shot center and every team is looking for that.”
Kind of makes you wonder how 30 teams passed on him in the draft. Part of the reason was when he was playing in the heavily scouted B.C. Junior League, he was about 5-foot-8 and 155 pounds. Now he’s 6 feet and 180 pounds.
The scouting reports on Bozak were far less than complimentary during his first two years in the BCHL. But then he played as an overage player in the league in 2006-07 and had 45 goals and 128 points. All the scouts in the league would have seen him that season because he was playing with Jamie Benn, who was chosen by the Dallas Stars that summer.
The only issue was Bozak had already passed his eligibility to be drafted and any team wanting him would have had to sign him as a free agent.
“That’s the problem,” a scout said. “You don’t sign free agents to NHL contracts coming out of the B.C. Junior League, but maybe we have to start looking into that.”
1 comment:
Just think guys....
in five years, THN will discover William Wrenn and/or Jason Zucker.
What a concept!
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