Mitchell Callahan / Kelowna Rockets WHLRW-R / 5-11, 175 / 17-Aug-91
Skating: 50 / Skill: 40 / Sense: 40 / Compete: 65 / Tough: 75
Strengths: Excellent fighter. Fearless style and works hard. Just enough skating and skill to be interesting.
Weaknesses: Might not have the frame to play his style at the next level.
Who'd have thought the toughest guy from the Dub in this year's draft would be from Southern California? The rugged style and fighting ability is the big draw here. But has just enough skating and skill to make for an intriguing middle round sleeper.
Great on-ice work ethic. Is strong defensively and a decent penalty killer. Lots of improvement from September to March this season. I think there could be some hidden offensive upside. Even if his best case upside is only a 5-10 goal scorer in the NHL, with the defensive play, physical style, and willingness to drop the gloves, that could be a really valuable guy to have.
Summary: I don't care that he's only 5-11, this guy can play it tough. I'd want to roll the dice on this guy with a late 3rd or a 4th.
Draft Day: Was previously listed as a late-91 birthdate, so he's gone under the radar a bit. But NHL teams have certainly noticed. There's a chance he goes shockingly early (2nd round isn't impossible). Otherwise I think he might be a middle rounder.
4 comments:
I wouldn't necessarily call Callahan the toughest draft eligible player from the dub. Based on your list alone, I'd consider both Sena Acolatse and Cameron Abney tougher than Callahan. That being said, I agree with your assessment. Callahan is one of my favorite players to watch in the league.
That being said thank you for your hard work. It's much appreciated.
You might be right, Shawn. Just on pure fighting ability it's certainly arguable that Abney or Acolatse (or even non-first year eligibles Rigby Burgart or Tyler Halliday) are "tougher".
And one thing that argues in Acolatse's favor: he seemed to get more of his "offers" to go turned down this season than before. The fact that many opponents don't want to drop the mitts with him says a lot.
Thanks for the comment.
That's true. The league isn't the same way it used to be with plenty of tough guys willing to answer the bell.
It's too bad Tayler Jordan left the league when he did because I thought he had potential. Of course he definitely had plenty of areas which needed improvement but he had the size and willingness for that type of role. Since he's returned to the league he hasn't looked quite the same in my opinion.
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