2011 NHL Entry Draft Prospects: Zack Phillips
by Joe Fortunato on May 24, 2011 6:00 AM EDT
in New York Rangers Analysis
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Continuing with our prospect previews lets take a look at Zack Phillips of the QMJHL.
Phillips opened eyes this season with a massive 38 goals and 57 assists for 95 points in 67 regular season games this year for Saint John. He then backed that up with nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points in 17 playoff games.
Phillips, who plays on a line with expected top-five pick Jonathan Huberdeau, is a big-time player who's known for both his goal scoring abilities and his vision on the ice. For a Ranger's team that's in desperate need of offense, Phillips might be exactly what the doctor ordered.
Now, just for full disclosure, the QMJHL is a very high scoring league. That's not to say the numbers aren't impressive, his 95 points were good for fifth place in the entire league, it's just something to note.
Join me after the jump for more analysis on Phillips. (Also, enjoy an actual photo of one of our draft prospects for a change. Phillips is number seven.)
Here is the scouting report from Bruins 2011 Draft Watch:
Banged up his shoulder in the QMJHL championship series- if he misses Memorial Cup it will hurt him a bit mostly due to being out of sight, out of mind while linemate Huberdeau has stepped it up to another level. A bit of a surprise to the general public when he appeared ninth overall on The Hockey News' 2011 Draft Preview which was released last week in Canada. However, some scouts are telling us that Phillips in the top-10 isn't much of a shocker to them given his big goal scoring potential and a natural nose for the net that players like Jeff Skinner have forced NHL teams to respect. Phillips is not an explosive player, and he's certainly benefited from skating alongside playmakers like Huberdeau and Michael Kirkpatrick this season, but to insinuate that he's not a lethal scoring threat is to sell the former Massachusetts prep player short. The former Lawrence Academy standout (19 goals, 48 points in 30 games) from Fredericton, NB was involved in a car accident that killed teammate Mark Frattaroli in September 2008 (Frattaroli was driving when the vehicle struck a tree). Zack is an October 1992 birthdate, so he's on the older scale of the 2011 class, but he had a tremendous season with 38 goals and 95 points. At 6-1, 195 pounds, he can drive hard to the net and has outstanding hands to finish off plays in close.
Upside: First- or second-line winger and power play ace
This is what was on his NHL player card scouting report:
Saint John head coach Gerard Gallant
"Zack has great vision and is strong on the puck. He's a solid center and has come a long way in a short time. He kind of reminds me of an Adam Oates-type of player ... he's strong on the puck down low and in the corners and has nifty hands."
And here is a tiny blurb on him from Adam Kimelman's 2011 mock draft:
SKINNY: Coach called him Adam Oates-like, but was top 10 in Q in goals and assists
All of the reports on Phillips say things you want to hear. The kid has a fantastic shot but, more importantly, he has a knack of being in the right place at the right time. That's one of those intangibles which cannot be taught, making it an obvious highlighted point in his draft profile. His vision is another talking point, garnering close to an assist per game this season.
If that wasn't enough to impress you then his playoff resume should push you over the edge. Just like in the regular season, he managed well more than a point per page in the playoffs, and was a key cog in the Sea Dogs playoff run. It's good to see a player, especially a young one, flourish so well in the playoffs.
Phillis has all the tools to be a power play monster, another area the Rangers are in desperate need of help, and even played the point a little for the Sea Dogs. His willingness to go into the tough areas of the ice and emerge with the puck really rounds him out as a first round pick. His willingness to drive the net really just puts the cherry on top.
Phillips, who most mock drafts have going in the 16-20 range, should be on the board when the Rangers make their pick.
Do you want to see Glen Sather, Gordie Clark and company call Phillips' name?
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Stay away..not a knock on Zach but over the past 10 years NYR have drafted 9 players from QMJHL who have played a combined total of 1 NHL game.
Our best draft from QMJHL was back in ’96 of Daniel Goneau followed by Christian Dube.of ’95….yeah, steller picks there.
I’m not sure if it is because the QMJHL is had to get a read on since the offense is a bit inflated or if we don’t have good scouts there or a combination of both…but my gut says stay away.
Aucune clause de Mouvement
by Blueshirt in Paris on May 24, 2011 6:57 AM EDT reply actions
And I know this has been beat to death but whenever I look back at drafts, this one just kills me everytime….Look at all those numbers…then look for the 0’s.
Round Num. Drafted By Player Pos Drafted From GP G A Pts PIM
1 1 Pittsburgh Marc-Andre Fleury G Cape Breton Screaming Eagles [QMJHL] 367 0 8 8 32
1 2 Carolina Eric Staal C Peterborough Petes [OHL] 560 226 278 504 429
1 3 Florida Nathan Horton C Oshawa Generals [OHL] 502 168 180 348 467
1 4 Columbus Nikolai Zherdev R CSKA Moscow [Russia] 421 115 146 261 225
1 5 Buffalo Thomas Vanek R U. of Minnesota [WCHA] 469 204 182 386 286
1 6 San Jose Milan Michalek L Ceske Budejovice HC [Czech] 449 131 150 281 251
1 7 Nashville Ryan Suter D U.S. Junior National Team [Intl] 463 31 161 192 366
1 8 Atlanta Braydon Coburn D Portland Winter Hawks [WHL] 379 26 85 111 328
1 9 Calgary Dion Phaneuf D Red Deer Rebels [WHL] 470 85 183 268 644
1 10 Mtl. Canadiens Andrei Kostitsyn R CSKA Moscow [Russia] 326 87 99 186 155
1 11 Philadelphia Jeff Carter C Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds [OHL] 461 181 162 343 288
1 12 NY Rangers Hugh Jessiman R Dartmouth College [ECAC] 2 0 0 0 5
1 13 Los Angeles Dustin Brown R Guelph Storm [OHL] 513 141 164 305 377
1 14 Chicago Brent Seabrook D Lethbridge Hurricanes [WHL] 474 39 153 192 422
1 15 NY Islanders Robert Nilsson C Leksands IF [SEL] 252 37 81 118 90
1 16 San Jose Steve Bernier R Moncton Wildcats [QMJHL] 385 76 83 159 197
1 17 New Jersey Zach Parise C U. of North Dakota [WCHA] 420 163 178 341 145
1 18 Washington Eric Fehr R Brandon Wheat Kings [WHL] 230 46 47 93 78
1 19 Anaheim Ryan Getzlaf C Calgary Hitmen [WHL] 430 126 289 415 417
1 20 Minnesota Brent Burns D Brampton Battalion [OHL] 453 55 128 183 325
1 21 Boston Mark Stuart D Colorado College [WCHA] 306 14 27 41 308
1 22 Edmonton Marc-Antoine Pouliot C Rimouski Oceanic [QMJHL] 179 21 32 53 74
1 23 Vancouver Ryan Kesler C Ohio State University [CCHA] 484 131 157 288 445
1 24 Philadelphia Mike Richards C Kitchener Rangers [OHL] 453 133 216 349 397
1 25 Florida Anthony Stewart R Kingston Frontenacs [OHL] 185 18 33 51 93
1 26 Los Angeles Brian Boyle C St. Sebastian’s [Mass. H.S.] 189 33 18 51 167
1 27 Los Angeles Jeff Tambellini L U. of Michigan [CCHA] 242 27 36 63 88
1 28 Anaheim Corey Perry R London Knights [OHL] 450 168 201 369 537
1 29 Ottawa Patrick Eaves R Boston College [H-East] 370 70 62 132 139
1 30 St. Louis Shawn Belle D Tri-City Americans [WHL] 20 0 1 1 2
Aucune clause de Mouvement
by Blueshirt in Paris on May 24, 2011 7:49 AM EDT up reply actions
We talked about this in the last thread
Jessiman was not a bad pick at all.
He put up 47 points in 34 college games in his first year, then got injured badly and simply never recovered. He was supposed to be a big-time prospect. He just got injures and it changed everything.
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by Joe Fortunato on May 24, 2011 8:44 AM EDT up reply actions
I know, I know…but it still hurts (pun intended)
Aucune clause de Mouvement
by Blueshirt in Paris on May 24, 2011 9:24 AM EDT up reply actions
The only concern here is how much Philips is being carried by Huberdeau.
Should be noted that even though he’s listed as a RW, he took 969 faceoffs for St. John’s (though only won 44.9% of them)
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The only concern here is how much Philips is being carried by Huberdeau.
Bang…that was my first thought when I read that he played on a line with Huberdeau, as with Vlad there are better choices out there (McNeil) but the Rangers can do worse
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by Kevin Power on May 24, 2011 11:46 AM EDT up reply actions
I wouldn’t be disappointed if they drafted Phillips but I am skeptical. He’s definitely got offensive ability from what I’ve seen … but I do question his ability to put up those kind of numbers sans Huberdeau and Co. That team is just LOADED. Was hoping to see him at 100% in the Memorial Cup tourney…unfortunately that’s not the case. I give him props for playing through the shoulder injury. I’d be surprised if the Rangers take him though. They generally don’t look to the QMJHL with their 1st round picks.
Comparable to a Claude Giroux?
That's exactly what I was thinking
the Rangers have passed over QMJHL prospects before, and generally don’t like taking them for a number of reasons.
Some mock drafts have Phillips going as high as 13 and as low as 25, so he could be a reach at 15.
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"We can trade Lisin for a gun, then hold it to Drury’s head and make him waive the no-movement clause" - XLII
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by Joe Fortunato on May 24, 2011 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't like it one bit.
I knew nothing of him, still don’t . Something about the name I guess. I would rather see them draft Zack Morris, Or Screech for that matter. Stay away from the QMJHL. Does anyone know the particular Reason that Stats get inflated through this league?
NIce....
I had a great one too but that takes the cake…
Sticking with McNeil… We need a legit powerforward type player… btw… next year philthy will be in dire cap troubles since they have like 40k in space for this year to sign 2 forwards… JVR is a RFA… should we place a bid? I think so… if we don’t get him we do what san jose did to Chicago… (SJ offered Hjalmerson a contract as a RFA, and Chicago had to match or lose him, they matched and had to give up Niemi who has been spectacular again the playoffs, they lucked out with Crawford though)
@clalicata17
Idk about JVR, I think he is solid, but I just don’t see the great play all the time. To me he is very inconsistent. This playoffs was the first time I actually seen him dominate games, maybe its because I don’t tend to watch the Flyers very often but I just don’t see it.
by CrazyRangerFan on May 24, 2011 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m all for it. It is a very comparable situation to what San Jose did to Chicago.
At the best we can get him for a good price for the next few years, and at the worst we raise his price and the Flyers are screwed when they need to resign some other guys like Giroux.
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To me he is very inconsistent.
He’s 22. Except for the very best, the whole league is inconsistent at that age. Not that I would give JVR a deal, but you can’t judge these kids on consistency, very few have it, and the ones that do are not available.
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JVR also saw a boost in minutes this year, and last season he was getting 3rd/4th line duty for 11 minutes per game…
Same happened to Giroux had a huge playoffs followed by a year of great strides (this year)…
JVR showed his abilities in the World Juniors, he’s a PWF which takes a little longer to develop, and Grachev was a convert in many facets so he will take much longer to pan out as a PWF since he went from non-north american hockey, then to north american hockey, then from juniors to AHL then from center to wing… he’s been a constant convert, if he doesn’t pan out in the next year and half then we can maybe move on…
I agree, consistency is something that is hard to come by when you look at consistency in the perspective of a whole season, great players like crosby and ovechkin are consistent throughout the whole season, those are all world talent players, the top tier of players have consistent stretches, they may not score every single game, but they score over 4-5 games then maybe have a stretch of 3 pointless games only to pick up points again the next few games…
At 22 you can’t determine consistency of a career… AA is only 23, he’s made great strides and has become more consistent with his play, not only point scoring…
Players like Zherdev and Wolski don’t put out that consistent effort, they disappear for 7-8 games then score a bit… then disappear again…
@clalicata17
yeah I guess thats true he is only 22, I guess Im just expecting more out of a number 2 overall.
by CrazyRangerFan on May 24, 2011 7:58 PM EDT up reply actions
So you think he might be an option? What do you think the Rangers should tender to force Philly to make a move (while trying to give up as few of picks as possible)?
I’d tender him the limit that costs a 2nd rounder in compensation. If they match, or if that’s his price, so be it. I wouldn’t give up a 1+3 to get him.
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by George E. Ays on May 24, 2011 6:03 PM EDT up reply actions
I'd still rather pick McNeill over Zack
McNeill seems more of a solid pick to me, don’t know why.
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