The Woodstock, Ont., native was picked 11th overall in the 2005 OHL draft, six spots after future teammate Drew Doughty. But unlike Doughty, Muzzin had to sit out the entire 2005-06 season because of back surgery. Upon arrival in Sault Ste. Marie, the Greyhounds found him to be rough around the edges, a big kid at 16 who hadn’t yet figured out his body.
An assistant coach at the time, Denny Lambert thinks Muzzin might have been packing 230 pounds onto an awkward frame.
“He was a man, but he was still a boy,” said Lambert.
A former NHLer himself who later became the Greyhounds head coach, Lambert was tasked with getting the boy in shape, chuckling as he recalls Muzzin furiously riding the bike to shave a few pounds.
Muzzin played only 37 games in his first OHL season and was still quite raw, but the Pittsburgh Penguins were intrigued enough to select him in the fifth round at the 2007 NHL draft. Penguins amateur scout Jay Heinbuck had just moved to Woodstock with his wife around that point. He kept hearing about this defenceman from the area and eventually saw enough to deem him worthy of a pick.
Muzzin was poised with the puck, owned a terrific shot and loomed large physically, Heinbuck recalled. But he hadn’t matured and his skating suffered from the awkwardness of his thick frame. He sputtered through two unspectacular seasons and was never signed by the Penguins. They felt other prospects were more worthy of a contract.
