Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Silent Rebel Yell

Brandon Sutter
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Country: Canada
Position: Center
League: WHL
Team: Red Deer Rebels
Height: 6'3''
Weight: 174
Shoots: Left
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Scouting Report: The hometown boy nicknamed "Brando" has above average hockey sense and as a result is always involved in the play .. has good anticipation of the developing play .. plays the point on the power play and mans the penalty kill .. has good hands .. owns a sneaky shot and is able to release off balance .. is a crisp passer and has solid vision .. able to advance the play under pressure but is by no means a playmaker .. is tall and lanky .. needs to fill out greatly .. agility is his best skating asset .. effective along the boards because he can stickhandle in tight spaces .. it remains to be seen whether more strength will improve skating .. goes into the battle zones but is not a force .. will hit and finish checks .. is assistant captain .. does not seem too comfortable yet in his frame as evidenced at times in his awkward stride ..blends in blueline in .. never consistently took charge and led that sustained kind of attack that you want to see in a top forward prospect .. tends to run out of gas more quickly than others .. is a hopeful type of draft pick for his size, hockey sense, and pedigree.
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2006-2007 Regular Season Stats
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71 games 20 goals 37 assists 57 points -3 54 PIM
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2007 Playoff Stats
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7 games 0 goals 3 assists 3 points +/-0 14 PIM
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WJC U18 - Team Canada
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6 games 1 goals 1 assist 2 points +/-0 0 PIM
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Draft Day Status/Projection: Sutter is the type of prospect who takes quality hours of sleep away from us at night. Pretty good in all facets of the game, is not necessarily underwhelming, but you wish the guy just did more and gave you a little something extra. Maybe he's not comfortable with his frame yet? Whatever the case may be, DraftBuzz ranks him 35 because he still has that "Marc Staal" next year potential explosion and projects his draft day range as 20-40.
*****
(photo courtesy of reddeerrebels.com)

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