Montreal—Apparently the Columbus Blue Jackets were impressed enough by defenseman John Moore to make a deal with the Anaheim Ducks to secure his rights with the 21st pick of the first round. Moore, who played with Chicago of the USHL will either play in college hockey or junior hockey next season. The Vancouver Canucks followed Columbus with another American as they selected Jordan Schroeder from Minnesota.
Both players dropped in the draft when comparing where they were ranked by Central Scouting and their draft slots. Moore was ranked as the 6th North American skater while Schroeder was tabbed as the fifth-best skater.
Moore was the top-ranked defenseman in the North American pool based upon his skating abilities which are said to be world-class.
“I watched John Moore as an underage player and I knew he was a must see player for this year; he hasn’t disappointed me one bit. His first two strides are like Paul Coffey and he has been labeled as a world-class skater,” said Central Scouting’s Jack Barzee. “He is poised with the puck, he gets his shots through to the net and he has gotten a lot stronger this season. He resembles (Calgary Flames) defenseman Jordan Leopold and similar to Leopold at the same age he needs to get a little bit better at playing more aggressive and more physical, but John is going to be a one-two defenseman in the NHL.”
John Moore%2C courtesy of the NHL
Schroeder’s drop was based upon his size as was measured at 5-8. Despite his size Schroeder is a top-notch scorer and produced 13 goals for the University of Minnesota.
“Jordan has a good strong base where he’s hard to knock off the puck. Quickness is not an issue for him. He’s a strong skater and has real good speed,” said Minnesota coach Don Lucia. “He’s a thick kid. Jordan isn’t six-feet tall, but he’s thick. He’s strong physically throughout his body. He’s got what you’d call a good hockey body. He has a very heavy shot. He has elite hands and as heavy a shot as we have on our team. He can beat a goalie from far out.”
After the selections of Moore and Schroeder the Flames made a deal with the New Jersey Devils for their second first round pick of the draft. With their first pick the Flames grabbed Jacob Josefson from Sweden and then selected Tim Erixon from the same country. Washington then followed by selecting Marcus Johansson from Farjestads with their first pick of the draft.
Erixon’s dad Jan played in the NHL for the New York Rangers and many predict his son Tim has a long NHL career ahead of him too.
“Tim Erixon brings to his Swedish Elite League club team, the same kind of elite hockey skills that perhaps his dad, Jan Erixon, did for over 500 games in the NHL,” said Director of Central Scouting E.J. McGuire. “(He’s) a smart defenseman who can either lead a rush or support the rush from behind, he was on display at the World Junior Championship in helping bring his team to the final game.”
Washington was up next and selected Johansson who dropped in the eyes of scouts as the season went on. The young Swede is known as a player who can play on both sides of the ice and will not hurt his club.
PHN analysis: Moore and Schroeder fell in the eyes of some teams and will now have something to prove. They have time to get better but could be top-end players. Calgary’s selection should earn raves as Erixon has the potential to become an NHL-lifer. Finally, it seems as if Washington went after Johansson a bit ahead of prediction, but the club has had success drafting Swedish players and they will be given the benefit of the doubt.
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