A Case For Klimchuk
Posted 8:27 PM ET | Comments 11
A lot of controversy erupted when the Flames chose Emil Poirier over hometown prospect Hunter Shinkaruk in the 2013 draft. But after watching the games at the US development camp, I think it became obvious why. Poirier is a more complete player with better size and speed.
But what about Morgan Klimchuk? What if the Flames would have taken Klimchuk ahead of Shinkaruk?
Klimchuk seems to be a bit of a forgotten piece of the first round for some Flames fans. Maybe because he was the third of the three picks, maybe because there was so much talk about the first two, or maybe because he was buried in Regina all year.
Klimchuk seems to be channeling the ghost of Rodney Dangerfield these days, being snubbed for an invite to the WJC as well. Especially considering his performance at the under 18 tourney where he won two gold medals and was second leading scorer, playing with Connor McDavid on the first line in his second appearance.
Morgan was generally ranked as a late first round to early second round pick, but some notables had Klimchuk ranked in the top twenty including Craig Button who had him at 18.
With such a deep draft in 2013 anyone rated in the top 20 has to be considered a top prospect. And I believe Klimchuk is.
Klimchuk has an even more complete game than Emile Poirier. He plays much bigger than his size, dishing out hard open ice body checks at times, playing tough along the boards, but also plays the point on the powerplay.
Klimchuk can literally score from anywhere. He can score with his wicked wrist shot from the high slot, the top of either faceoff circle or in close. He can score from either point on the PP with his slapshot. He can score in tight with his quick hands, and gets a lot of goals in the greasy areas. He navigates traffic exceptionally well and goes to the net hard.
He sees the ice well and can set up players as well as he can score. From sneaky back passes, to breaking passes, to goalmouth and cross-ice passes, he can do it all.
Morgan also kills penalties and can create shorthanded chances if he gets a chance to use his speed going the other way. Not as fast as Poirier, but still very fast.
And just to top it off he also has a couple of decent moves, but that is not really his game.
Klimchuk had 36 goals and 40 assists in 2012-13 for the Pats who were sorely lacking talent beyond leading scorer Lane Scheidl(80pts) and Klimchuk since losing Jordan Weal to the AHL. Klimchuk’s 76 points more than doubled from his first full season where he scored 18 goals and 18 assists on the second line.
In 2011-2012 Hunter Shinkaruk was on a similar path when his point totals more than doubled from his first year, but dipped slightly in his third year after Emerson Etam was lost to graduation. Shinkaruk still scored an impressive 86pts. Shinkaruk’s +/- took a beating as well in 2013 falling from plus-17 to minus-13.
Shinkaruk is more dynamic than Klimchuk, but is nowhere near as versatile or rugged.
This was only Klimchuk’s second full year of Junior and he just turned 18 in March, so his progress next year should go a long way to helping project where he might end up in his hockey career.
With Regina:
I embedded these videos, but although they show up in the preview, they do not show up in my post, so here are the links, with apologies.
http://youtu.be/ju3r_UhMhmw
Under 18:
http://youtu.be/SYqDuGmOQ8U
Factoid: I have noticed there are problems posting replies to my blog. I checked it out and have determined that there is a syntax error that results from having too many (or not enough) apostrophes in the SQL statement. This error can be circumvented by not using apostrophes in your post. Eg..instead of using don’t, just post dont.
Cheers and thanks for reading
But what about Morgan Klimchuk? What if the Flames would have taken Klimchuk ahead of Shinkaruk?
Klimchuk seems to be a bit of a forgotten piece of the first round for some Flames fans. Maybe because he was the third of the three picks, maybe because there was so much talk about the first two, or maybe because he was buried in Regina all year.
Klimchuk seems to be channeling the ghost of Rodney Dangerfield these days, being snubbed for an invite to the WJC as well. Especially considering his performance at the under 18 tourney where he won two gold medals and was second leading scorer, playing with Connor McDavid on the first line in his second appearance.
Morgan was generally ranked as a late first round to early second round pick, but some notables had Klimchuk ranked in the top twenty including Craig Button who had him at 18.
With such a deep draft in 2013 anyone rated in the top 20 has to be considered a top prospect. And I believe Klimchuk is.
Klimchuk has an even more complete game than Emile Poirier. He plays much bigger than his size, dishing out hard open ice body checks at times, playing tough along the boards, but also plays the point on the powerplay.
Klimchuk can literally score from anywhere. He can score with his wicked wrist shot from the high slot, the top of either faceoff circle or in close. He can score from either point on the PP with his slapshot. He can score in tight with his quick hands, and gets a lot of goals in the greasy areas. He navigates traffic exceptionally well and goes to the net hard.
He sees the ice well and can set up players as well as he can score. From sneaky back passes, to breaking passes, to goalmouth and cross-ice passes, he can do it all.
Morgan also kills penalties and can create shorthanded chances if he gets a chance to use his speed going the other way. Not as fast as Poirier, but still very fast.
And just to top it off he also has a couple of decent moves, but that is not really his game.
Klimchuk had 36 goals and 40 assists in 2012-13 for the Pats who were sorely lacking talent beyond leading scorer Lane Scheidl(80pts) and Klimchuk since losing Jordan Weal to the AHL. Klimchuk’s 76 points more than doubled from his first full season where he scored 18 goals and 18 assists on the second line.
In 2011-2012 Hunter Shinkaruk was on a similar path when his point totals more than doubled from his first year, but dipped slightly in his third year after Emerson Etam was lost to graduation. Shinkaruk still scored an impressive 86pts. Shinkaruk’s +/- took a beating as well in 2013 falling from plus-17 to minus-13.
Shinkaruk is more dynamic than Klimchuk, but is nowhere near as versatile or rugged.
This was only Klimchuk’s second full year of Junior and he just turned 18 in March, so his progress next year should go a long way to helping project where he might end up in his hockey career.
With Regina:
I embedded these videos, but although they show up in the preview, they do not show up in my post, so here are the links, with apologies.
http://youtu.be/ju3r_UhMhmw
Under 18:
http://youtu.be/SYqDuGmOQ8U
Factoid: I have noticed there are problems posting replies to my blog. I checked it out and have determined that there is a syntax error that results from having too many (or not enough) apostrophes in the SQL statement. This error can be circumvented by not using apostrophes in your post. Eg..instead of using don’t, just post dont.
Cheers and thanks for reading
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07 The Flames Direction: Maligned by Many, Understood by Few.
08 Jay Feaster: The Inaugural Year. Part I.
10 Jay Feaster: The Inaugural Year. Part II.
10 Jay Feaster: The Inaugural Year. Part III
11 The Calgary Flames and Moneyball.
15 Jay Feaster: The Sophomore Year. Part I.
16 Jay Feaster: The Sophomore Year. Part II.
21 %$#@ Lockout!
26 Flames Playoffs Chances: Reason for Optimism?
08 Jay Feaster: The Inaugural Year. Part I.
10 Jay Feaster: The Inaugural Year. Part II.
10 Jay Feaster: The Inaugural Year. Part III
11 The Calgary Flames and Moneyball.
15 Jay Feaster: The Sophomore Year. Part I.
16 Jay Feaster: The Sophomore Year. Part II.
21 %$#@ Lockout!
26 Flames Playoffs Chances: Reason for Optimism?
Good read. I think after selecting their man in Sean Monahan the Flames could afford to reach a little further down the line for their next picks. People will be skeptical as soon as you go off the board by a few picks anyway. Monahan is the real deal and he was a treat to watch in Ottawa the last few years.
Still in shock that they did not draft or acquire another pick to draft Fucale
Thanks thirsty. Yeah Flames had to be happy with having 3 picks in the first round this year. Monahan basically fell into their lap, and they had to be happy with that too. Calgary will probably end up bottom five in the league this year, maybe next year as well so they might be lucky enough to get two top five picks, which would be huge.
@adgo43 Interesting thought since Calgarys 2nd round pick(traded to Montreal for Cammalleri) was used on Fucale.Calgary has a few good goalie prospects though. Jon Gillies could be a good #1 in a few years. Laurent Brossoit and Jani Ortio are other possibilities beyond Berra and Ramo.
You and thirstyfin are my favorite reads these days! You both are very knowledgable! Keep up the great work! :D
Also awseome take on Both klimchuck and piorier. Ekbald next year and the rebuild should be well on its way!
Thanks brad I am humbled...Ekblad sounds good to me, thanks HC...Sam Reinhart would be a good consolation prize..
Ekblad and McDavid!
Why do people think that the Flames needed Fucale, I will never understand...
@adgo43 OK ;-).@Iggy only...probably because of the uncertainty in net for the coming season. People see we are rolling the dice with a veteran backup, and two veteran Euros and think the Flames dont have much in the pipeline.
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