Better late than never as they always say. I promised I would give an in-depth at Olivier LeBlanc after the World Junior Summer Showcase and here it is.
LeBlanc played in two of the four games for Canada, both against the Czech Republic.
These were very competitive games, so I was able to get a good snapshot of LeBlanc as a player.
Scouting Perspective
LeBlanc was on the third pair in both games. He played with Senators first round pick, and former teammate Thomas Chabot, in his first game and Sharks second round pick Jeremy Roy, in his second game. For the most part those two players did a lot of the lugging of the puck. LeBlanc is a fine skater but he didn’t show great speed which is why he deferred to his partner to carry the puck. His first pass out of the d-zone wasn’t great either but I think that was more from unfamiliarity with his teammates.
LeBlanc didn’t get a ton of ice time at even strength but he did get most of the penalty kill assignments. He was on the top unit, always the first guy out there. While he didn’t stand out in terms of his shot blocking or clearing the puck he was very physical. Not just on the PK but the whole game. I would guess he was the most physical defensemen among the Canadians. He didn’t throw any huge hits but always took the body and was battling in front of the net and in the corners.
Offensively he played well. He scored a goal in his second game, ripping a one-timer from the point. LeBlanc has a hard shot and he likes to use it. He took quite a few attempts however he didn’t seem to hit the net very often which is a slight concern.
Statistical Perspective
I tracked three stats for LeBlanc: Corsi for and against, zone starts and zone entries. This will give us an idea about the kind of game he played. Was he stuck in the defensive zone or was he generating offense? We can see how he was used whether it be in an offensive or defensive role.
In the two games LeBlanc was on the ice for 38 shot attempts for and 32 against. When he was on the ice Canada got 54% of the shot attempts which is average and may have been slightly below average considering the way Canada dominated the games. Of the 38 attempts for, eight of them were by LeBlanc himself, which backs up the idea that he likes to the shoot the puck. The numbers also support the idea that he doesn’t have the best accuracy as only two of his eight shot attempts hit the net.
LeBlanc had some interesting deployment from the coaching staff. As one of the top PK options I would have expected him to get a lot of defensive zone starts. However that was not the case. LeBlanc started 15 shifts in the offensive zone, 15 in the neutral zone and just six in the defensive zone. Part of the reason for this was that the Czechs couldn’t get much offense going so there weren’t many defensive zone starts for the Canadians.
As discussed before LeBlanc didn’t rush the puck much at all. He dumped the puck in three times and only once did it lead to a shot attempt. He really seemed to get rid of the puck quickly either passing it off to his d-partner or quickly up the ice to a forward. With the talent team Canada had they didn’t need LeBlanc to be that kind of player. He did his job staying back and making the simple plays quickly and effectively.
Overall LeBlanc had a good camp. Despite that though, he's still a long-shot to make Team Canada come December. He is going to have to be spectacular in Cape Breton to earn consideration. Up next internationally for LeBlanc will be the Subway Super Series in November. A good showing in the Super Series and a strong start in Cape Breton will go a long way towards LeBlanc earning a spot on the Canadian blue line.
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