Can anyone else hear Steve Perry of Journey singing?
“Ooo the wheel in the sky keeps on turnin’”
One season ended just a few short days ago and now with the NHL draft, another begins. It is time to put last season’s frustrations behind us. Many of the players from that team, for good or ill, are gone now. My esteemed Colleague Rick Buker already reported the latest departure from the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ last Cup team, Matt Murray – a Goalie I happened to still appreciate.
Ah, but there is no time to look in the rear-view mirror, Murray is gone.
So, who did we get for him?
Now that is an interesting question.
Maybe I am just flattering myself, but I cannot help but wonder if General Manager (GM) Jim Rutherford read my last post. Sure enough, the GM, I often malign, took a page from my writings. He dealt Murray to the Ottawa Senators for a 2nd round draft pick (Joel Blomqvist) in this year’s draft and picked up a prospect Jonathan Gruden. I didn’t ask for Gruden, but I did say trade Murray for a 2nd round pick and use it to take Blomqvist.
I still wish he would have pulled off the full deal I suggested and sent Kris Letang to that north bound train and garnered a 1st pick as well. I doubt he tried though. There still seems to be people out there that have not realized yet that Letang balances out his extensive upside with a fairly sizable downside. Letang’s downside may not be completely drag down his upside, but it certainly drops the net result close enough to the average Defenseman – at least to no longer justify his $7 million dollar price tag, Particularly with the team needing to find room to sign John Marino next year.
That is right Pens’ fans Marino goes Restricted Free Agent (RFA) next season. It may be harder to find the room to sign Marino next season.
But that is a discussion for another time. For now, with the out with the old accounted for (for the time being), let us talk about the in with the new. This particular trade came on draft day, so the organization picked up a new crop of prospects for their ever-drying pool.
Joel Blomqvist
Interestingly enough, Rutherford not only traded Murray to the team I suggested, but he got the draft pick I thought he should be able to get, one of Ottawa’s 4 2nd round picks. And now for the really scary part, he chose the player I suggested that he draft, Finnish Goalie Joel Blomqvist. So let’s start with him.
Blomqvist is 18 and will turn 19 on January 10, 2002. So, he will almost be 19 by the time the next season starts (assuming the start date does not change). He was born in Uusikaarlepyy Finland, he catches left-handed and is 6’-1” tall and 205lbs.
Blomqvist turned in a 0.931 Save Percentage (Sv%) in 34 games for Kärpät U20 of the Finnish junior A League SM-Liiga but was moved up for a couple of games to their professional league to play against men and not boys. He has already started to play this year posting a 1.50 Goals Against Average (GAA in 2 games) with a 0.914 Sv% in Finland’s top League again against men.
What are the Scouts saying about him in terms of assets?
Reading the scouting reports of Tony Ferrari (dobberprospects), Ben Kerr (lastwordonhockey), Jokke Nevalainen (dobberprospects), Mathieu Sheridan (thehockeywriters);
He follows the puck well, getting a good push laterally to get across the crease, staying square to the shooter and will fight through screens. He has good hockey sense, anticipating where the puck is going, staying a step ahead. He has great athleticism and never gives up on the play, making for some outstanding saves.
Blomqvist style is a hybrid. He tries to stay on his feet to cut the top corners but can drop down in the butterfly quickly to take away the low shots, he has a quick glove and good blocker. His rebound control is advanced for his age, he keeps the puck close to him when he can or kicks it into the corner when it is not. Even when he gives up a rebound, he recovers quickly and gets his body back square to the shooter.
Blomqvist is also a strong skater making it hard to beat him on the deke.
They say Blomqvist puck handling are good but he has not shown anything out of the ordinary, like long lead passes. He gets out quickly to stop dump-ins and moves the puck quickly with short passes to his Defensemen to start the transition game. However, the scouts I read admitted that they did not see him under heavy pressure trying to move the puck.
Mentally, Blomqvist remains calm in heavy traffic. He seems to know when to get whistle to slow things down or keep the puck moving to take advantage of a potential counterattack. Also, if he does make a bad save, he does not allow it to spiral out of control.
Not everything is roses though.
Kerr noted that Blomqvist tends to play deep in his crease not really coming out to challenge shooters or cut down angles. At 6’-1” he may not be small but since he doesn’t have that larger 6’-3” or taller frame Scouts are looking for, this could be a problem.
All of the scouting reports I read see him as spending at least 2 more years in Europe before coming to North America so he will actually be a post Crosby – Malkin Goalie. However, with nothing really in the pipeline, Blomqvist is a solid choice.
What is the old saying? “be careful what you wish for” I am in it now. Rutherford finally did something that I asked for. After all of the unsolicited advice I have freely offered him, he finally agreed. You know I will be rooting for this kid to be the real deal.
Jonathan Gruden
Jonathan Gruden is a 6’-0”, 172lb Left Wing who shoots left-handed. He was born on May 4th 2000, in Rochester, Michigan. He had 30 Goals (G) and 66 Points (Pnts) in 59 Games Played (GP) for the London Knights of the OHL last season. He was drafted in the 4th round, 95th overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 2018 Draft.
Gruden’s father, John Gruden, played 92 games on Defense for the Boston Bruins, Ottawa Senators, and the Washington Capitals from 1993 – 2004. His father had 1G and 9 Pnts in that span.
What are the Scouts saying about Gruden’s assets?
According to Kerr, Gruden is a good skater. He has very good acceleration (first few steps) but not great overall speed. He can change speeds quickly to fool defenders. Gruden also has good balance and is strong on his skates which helps him fight through checks, win battles along the boards and gain position in front of the net. Kerr also likes his agility and edgework saying that they allow Gruden to weave through traffic and find open space.
All these assets help Gruden get quickly in on the forecheck, pressuring defensemen into mistakes. They also make it hard to get the puck off his stick and keep the cycle going.
Kerr also suggests that Gruden is good at creating screens and battle for tip-ins and rebounds
(Maybe the new Patric Hornqvist? – we’ll see. Reading these scouting reports, you would think every player was the second coming, yet most of these guys never make it to the NHL).
Defensively, Gruden’s work ethic extends to his on zone as well. He brings back pressure to support the defense against the rush and comes down low to help break up opponent’s cycle. Kerr also thinks highly of Gruden’s ability to anticipate and break up passes, shutting down the passing lanes in his own zone, creating turnovers and transitioning that into offense. If true, Gruden could be an effective Penalty Killer.
What are the scouts saying about Grudens limitations?
Apparently, Gruden is not the most creative player, he is just a north – south guy. Also, Gruden doesn’t wow anyone with his shot.
All in all, Gruden appears to be a Mike Sullivan kind of guy.
Next up, I will look at the rest of the players the Penguins drafted.
My head is spinning.