Montreal–Perhaps no player was slipping in mock drafts over the last week than Nazem Kadri, which shows why most mock drafts are not performed by those responsible for making the actual picks. On the other hand perhaps no player was shooting up the mock draft lists more than Scott Glennie was.
In real life the two players merged at the seventh and eighth picks as north and south met with Kadri going to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Glennie going to the Dallas Stars.
Part of Kadri’s fall may be explained by the fact he played with a broken jaw this year. Despite that fact he still picked up ten points while killing penalties and had an excellent playoff for the London Knights (OHL).
“Every hockey player has some adversity, whether it’s injuries or family issues. It’s just important that you fight through it,” said Kadri. “Breaking my jaw was a minor setback, especially for the World Juniors, it happened at a little bit of a bad time. But you fight through it, keep your head up, and never give up.”
Meanwhile Glennie sailed through the season and scored 28 goals while playing on the same Brandon Wheat Kings team as fifth overall pick Brayden Schenn. Early on the knock on Glennie was the fact he was playing with Schenn and some thought Glennie was being carried by Schenn.
“Glennie was mislabeled earlier in the year as perhaps being only a finisher for often linemate Brayden Schenn. Yet Scott took matters into his own hands with an equal number of goals and assists and contributed greatly this season with a power forward type attitude,” said NHL Director of Scouting E.J. McGuire. “Glennie might remind the fan of NHL players with power forward abilities coming off the wall like Jonathan Cheechoo and Jonathan Toews — that kind of offensive ability.”
PHN analysis; Count us as among those who thought these two players were moving in the correct direction as some of the other mock drafts. In the end Toronto GM Brian Burke thought enough of Kadri to draft him well ahead of Central Scouting ranking.
There is nothing not to like about Glennie and the Stars should enjoy him once he breaks into the NHL. It would not be surprising to see him develop into a hard-working forward who can score more than 20 goals each season.
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