Prospect Info: 2020 4th Rd Selection - #122 OA (via VGK) - RD William Villeneuve (QMJHL) - 6'1 181

[96]

Happy w this pick too

 

[torontosports10]

his defensive play seems atrocious by what I've seen/heard, but he is great offensively

Nope, it's his skating that held him back from being a higher pick. His plus/minus from two years ago was atrocious, but he was also 16, a rookie, and playing top pair minutes against much better teams on a terrible, rebuilding Sea Dogs team.

 

[torontosports10]

Finally, my favourite NHL team selects a player from my favourite/local junior team. Thrilled with this pick! Needs to work on his skating for sure, so hopefully Mrs. Underhill can get started on that with him right away.

 

[sxvnert]

Underhill will fix his stride in no time.

Hasn't happened yet. The goat is still a terrible skater.

 

[IrishInOntario]

yeah I have seen that too, but scouching seems really low on his defense. He does have a negative goal differential, but that may just be the team he's on as his relative goal differential is quite good

Could be a little bit MacKenzie Weegar like when he was in Halifax. Weegar was overshadowed by Mackinnon, Drouin, Frk, Ehlers and Meier (holy crap that team was loaded) and he had warts as well. He could always skate, but people had serious questions about his decision making and at 6'0, 200lbs he was tough, but not imposing... Gifted offensively, however, and logged huge minutes in Halifax's Memorial Cup run.

Wound up not being drafted until the 7th round, despite serious production. Developing into a really nice player for the Panthers.

I'm hoping Weegar is basically what we got in Villeneuve.

 

[notdoneyet]

I laugh at posters who just make bullshit remarks to make themselves look knowledgeable and no nothing about the kid

if he puts his mind to it by working hard on his skating and adding some sold muscle he will make the big show

it will all be up to his commitment on whether he does. He has all the basic tools now he has to put it all together

 

[LeafGrief]

Love this pick. Great value and it looks like he has lots of tools to work with. If he can fix his skating and get bigger, he could be a player.

Rookie camp is just going to be pure strength training and eating contests with this year's draft lol

 

[Captain34]

Hasn't happened yet. The goat is still a terrible skater.

Compare his skating from his draft year to today and you will see that he made great strides. For a guy his size, he's not a bad skater. Hopefully, William's skating will improve as much as the Goat's has.

 

[Alerion]

Could be a little bit MacKenzie Weegar like when he was in Halifax. Weegar was overshadowed by Mackinnon, Drouin, Frk, Ehlers and Meier (holy crap that team was loaded) and he had warts as well. He could always skate, but people had serious questions about his decision making and at 6'0, 200lbs he was tough, but not imposing... Gifted offensively, however, and logged huge minutes in Halifax's Memorial Cup run.

Wound up not being drafted until the 7th round, despite serious production. Developing into a really nice player for the Panthers.

I'm hoping Weegar is basically what we got in Villeneuve.

Small nitpick but MacKinnon and Frk were gone to the pros before Ehlers and Meier showed up in 13/14.

 

[ErnieLeafs]

Hasn't happened yet. The goat is still a terrible skater.

Goat lacks foot speed, but his skating is MUCH better than it was when we drafted him

 

[nobody]

how many games have you actually seen him play. All young players have warts

his hockey IQ is very high

his skating and strength need to improve

he will be a steal at 122

I've seen zero games. But looking at the different scouting reports, it doesn't sound promising. I hope I'm wrong because at 6'2 right handed shot we can sure as hell use a player like that. But like you acknowledged his skating and strength and from what I've read his defensive game needs work. I was really high on this kid and super excited to read up on him when I saw that he was ranked so low by most scouting agencies as I thought he'd be a potential steal but after years of watching the draft and teams going after guys like these, they rarely pan out and turn into something of value, so I'm not going to hold my breath.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

We have absolutely the worst goaltending in the Q
This pick is going to surprise us

his production is really impressive. Comparable to Dobson and Chabot in their draft years

 

[Hockey Crazy]

Compare his skating from his draft year to today and you will see that he made great strides. For a guy his size, he's not a bad skater. Hopefully, William's skating will improve as much as the Goat's has.

Making great strides is one of the most important steps to improving your skating...




Sorry - new dad here

 

[The Podium]

Whats wrong with this guy? Seems like he checks all the boxes, bad skating?

 

[The Iceman]

Surprise surprise, calculator boy picks another smurf winger...

Please try to follow along. He is a D

 

[IrishInOntario]

Small nitpick but MacKinnon and Frk were gone to the pros before Ehlers and Meier showed up in 13/14.

You're right... It was over 2 years.

Year #1 (2013) was...

Weegar
Mackinnon
Drouin
Frk
Ashley
Abelthauser
Fournier
Fucale

Year #2 (2014) was...

Weegar
Drouin
Ehlers
Meier
Ashley
Andrews
Fucale

They ran a bunch of talent through that team in back-to-back years. Overall point, however, is that Weegar was largely overlooked. If I remember correctly, Florida traded back into the 7th round of the draft, by flipping a 7th round pick to Montreal the following year and took Weegar with one of the last picks of the draft. Now he's a respectable top 4 guy in Florida.

I'm hoping we get something similar out of Villeneuve.

 

[Auston Escobar]

Please try to follow along. He is a D

Of course it’s another Russian!

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

Finally, my favourite NHL team selects a player from my favourite/local junior team. Thrilled with this pick! Needs to work on his skating for sure, so hopefully Mrs. Underhill can get started on that with him right away.

Chris Didomenico?

 

[notdoneyet]

his production is really impressive. Comparable to Dobson and Chabot in their draft years

they both played on good teams

last years team was one of the worst in the league

this year the team has improved but goaltending is the worst in the league

his defense may be better than we think playing with shit goaltending

 

[Duffman955]

His stats look good, how come he fell so far?

 

[TheMadHatTrick]

Very nice pick. The top dman point producer.

 

[Once]

From Saint John in ON now- I got to see him play during their 2018-2019 season and he stood out offensively as a 16 year old playing top pairing minutes lol. I think he was a top 5 pick in the Q draft, and I only know that because of chatter amongst the Johners.

Interesting that he dropped to the fourth round.

 

[Lucky Luke]

In my opinion, he is a more well-rounded player than Poirier.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Whats wrong with this guy? Seems like he checks all the boxes, bad skating?

Nothing is really wrong with him, but he is not really elite in anything either. Just a guy who can become a good all-around 2nd pairing guy, which is why I am surprised he made it to the bottom of the 4th round.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

I laugh at posters who just make bullshit remarks to make themselves look knowledgeable and no nothing about the kid

if he puts his mind to it by working hard on his skating and adding some sold muscle he will make the big show

it will all be up to his commitment on whether he does. He has all the basic tools now he has to put it all together

Yeah kills me too ... but I have heard he was 2nd pick in Q draft and has developed into one of most well rounded D today in league ... he is da guy who is picking up for Jeremy with all his screw ups