Meet Jordan Schroeder the next Cliff Ronning
Jordan Schroeder, the Canucks first round draft pick for 2009, drafted 22nd overall.
According to TSN:
NHL Central Scouting’s Jack Barzee: “He’s a dynamic player, a leader and a type of player that has developed into a complete offensive and defensive threat every time he is on the ice. He has a rocket of a wrist shot and he can beat you by putting the puck in the net, going around a defender, or freezing the goaltender and passing it off to one of his wingers. The concern is going to be his overall size, like there was with Scott Gomez, with Brian Gionta and with Patrick Kane, but at the same age he is probably a little thicker and a little bit more compact than they were. He’s a great hockey player.”
According to Botchford‘s first reaction:
It will take some time before we know if the Canucks got the next Patrick Kane or Martin St. Louis in Friday’s NHL draft. What we do know right now, is they got value. Jordan Schroeder spiraled down the draft board to land in GM Mike Gillis’s lap at No. 22. Schroeder came into the draft ranked fifth among North American skaters. But teams clearly balked at his small (5-foot-8), and stocky (175-pounds) stature. Some scouts questioned his compete level, and labelled him a one-dimensional offensive player.
V.c » I was hoping the Canucks would move up to get the other small guy in the draft, Ryan Ellis who could be the power-play quarterback the Canucks have never really had, but instead we took another small guy, Jordan Schroeder who stands 5’8″ and weighs in at a decent 175 for a young guy who hasn’t gone through his bulking up years yet (and no i’m not talking about the apres-30 paunch many a guy gets). Anyway, yes it is generally better to get a guy who is 6’3″ then 5’8″ but in the new NHL there is more room for the little guys. Remember what Patrick Kane did to us in the playoffs not so long ago? And remember that all of us long-time Canuck fans know how good Cliff Ronning could have been if he played in a different era than the clutch-and-grab 1990s. Also, if you look at Schroeder’s stats for this past year they are decent albeit not dazzling, but notice that he collected a fairly impressive 11 points in 6 games at the World Junior Championships. And, if Gillis’s selection of Hodgson last year is anything to go by, it would appear he knows what he is doing when it comes to drafting. And Schroeder was ranked 15th by TSN so to get him 22nd is likely a score.
