30. New Jersey Devils : Kasperi Kapanen 29. Los Angeles Kings : Brendan Lemieux 28. Tampa Bay Lightning : Julius Honka 27. Chicago Blackhawks : Conner Bleackley 26. Montreal Canadiens : Nick Schmaltz 25. Boston Bruins : Alex Tuch 24. Anaheim Ducks : Jack Dougherty
Now :
23. The Colorado Avalanche select Defenseman Travis Sanheim of the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL
6’4, 203lbs, 1996-03-29 : 18 years old
67 – 5g – 24a – 29p
Now baring some kind of Hampus Lindholm craziness where he jumps 20 spots in the draft, I think it’s relatively safe to say Sanheim will go in the 20’s. Sanheim has been a steady riser in the draft and after his recent performance at the U18’s for Canada; his stock is likely as high as it’s ever been. He is a smooth skater, a beautiful skater for his size. That’s his best strength; the guy is majestic on the ice and effortless. In a world where defensemen need more and more to be able to move around the rink, skating is a big factor for draft eligible defenders. This was his first season in the WHL and it seemed to show, he had a really slow start, but after adjusting his second half was terrific and culminated in an excellent U18 showing. His defensive game is rounding out, but primarily he’s a puck mover. He’s so good at skating with the puck and dominating possession. He wasn’t given top billing for the Hitmen and that combined with the slow start hurt his numbers, but one of the reasons he is climbing the draft so much is the expectation that he is going to explode next season with three of the top-4 defenders leaving the team. It will be the Sanheim-Thomas (Expected to go early second) show next season.
At 6’4 you’d love to see him play more physical, but sadly that isn’t his game.
The Avalanche at the NHL level require defenders and that isn’t a secret, but it’s also important to note that they still could use winger depth going forward, and with this draft being so forward heavy they have a difficult decision to make. Especially right wing depth, theirs is atrocious at the prospect level. I could easily see them take a winger at this spot, but Sanheim would be a good player to add to their defensive prospects like Bigras, Siemens, Elliot…actually come to think about it they also really need defense prospects too.
Comparison : Matt Carle
Thanks for reading.