Scott Howson worked the draft like a 20 year vet. He also comes out looking like the gun slinger and not Brian Burke who did nothing but sit pat.
Of what I heard is that John Moore was a very specific targeted player by the Blue Jackets and so when he slid as far as he did, Howson went up and got the kid he wanted. Here is the break down that I did on Moore before the draft.
John Moore, 6'2" and 189 pounds, of the United States Hockey League's Chicago Steel is the No. 2-rated defenseman and No. 6 in the final rankings by Central Scouting Service. Moore was second among USHL defensemen with 14 goals and fourth with 39 points in 51 games and he was named USHL Defenseman of the Year, but what has NHL GM's slobbering is that Moore can skate like the wind!
"The first thing that jumps out at you is his overall skating ability," Central Scouting's Gary Eggleston told NHL.com. "He's an excellent skater, great mobility, acceleration, great lateral movement. … He looks like an NHL skater right now. Beyond that, he has puck skills to complement his skating. He thinks the game well, has a pretty good overall game."
Moore is headed to Colorado College this fall which is one of the elite Division 1 hockey programs in the nation. He will get very good coaching at the hands of Head Coach Scott Owens. This situation would seem to make Moore even more attractive as he will get very good coaching, seasoning and competition but on someone else's dime.
Moore did have a pretty good combine and finished near the top in several of the tests.
Tied for 9th in Mean Power Output (watts/kg) with a 10.9
Tied for 9th in Bench Press (lb/lb body weight) with an 11.7
Tied for 6th in Push-Ups (max #) with 36
Was 4th in Push-Ups * Body Weight (lb) with 6898
Tied for 6th in Push Strength (lb/lb body weight) with a 1.60
Was 3rd in Pull Strength (lb) with a 286
Tied for 3rd in Pull Strength (lb/lb body weight) with a 1.50
What these test show is that Moore has good overall strength and only should get better with a good weight program at Colorado College.
This Winnetka, Illinois native's favorite team is the Chicago Blackhawks and some have compared him to one of the Hawks. Some relate Moore's game to
Duncan Keith and if the CBJ can snag a
Duncan Keith type player at #16, that wouldn't be too bad.
There is still a lot of picks to be made on Saturday. This will be an important day for the Blue Jackets as I know that Don Boyd wanted as many late round picks as he could get. He thinks there is some sleepers out there to get.
Fire The Cannon!
Eric Smith
Eric.Smith@HockeyBuzz.com
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