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 23. Colorado Avalanche : Travis Sanheim 22. Pittsburgh Penguins : Nikolay Goldobin 21. St. Louis Blues : Joshua Ho-Sang 20. San Jose Sharks : Brendan Perlini 19. Tampa Bay Lightning : Ivan Barbashev
18. The Minnesota Wild select Defenseman Roland McKeown of the Kingston Frontenacs in the OHL
6’1, 195lbs, 1996-01-20 : 18 years old
62 – 11g – 32a – 43p - +38
In a draft starved for defensemen, somebody who wants one will have to settle for the third best defender in the draft earlier than expected. McKeown has been an interesting case and I think some of the luster has come off due to overexposure and higher expectations than many of the other top defenders in this draft who have either passed him (Fleury) or are close on his heels (Sanheim, Dougherty, Irving, Honka and Martin). Despite that he had a very good season including captaining the U18 squad for Canada and playing a strong role in a defensive defenseman capacity for them. As mentioned, expectations were high for a guy people hoped could jump Ekblad as the top defender throughout the year, but it became evident that this wasn’t the season for him to do it. McKeown is an all-purpose defender, at least in junior. He plays heavy minutes in the defensive zone, plus has the added benefit of one of the go to guys on the power play for Kingston. His real strength though and one that will carry over most prevalently to the NHL is his mix of physical defensive zone play. He can be heavily relied upon in a defensive role and one wonders if that might ultimately become his role in the NHL. This might be why he has slipped, as he doesn’t have the puck moving or vision that some of the other defenders have that distinguish themselves from him, which gives that magical word “potential… so much power.
His mobility is fairly high and he isn’t a pylon out there to be beat in his own end. The offensive potential to his game is fairly straight forward, he has a terrific shot. He might not have the playmaking ability and pure offensive instincts of say Honka, but man can McKeown shoot the puck, he causes a lot of havoc with it at both 5vs5 and on the man advantage.
With greater strength and a little luck with developing, McKeown could be an excellent top-four defenseman in the NHL. As for why the Wild would pick him? Well to be honest, they have accrued a lot of strong young players through drafting and trading, so the BPA might be the way to go this time around.
Comparison : Kevin Bieksa
Thanks for reading.