I think there's an interesting discussion to be had around Schmidt, Kindel, and Potter.
I like Schmidt more than either Potter and Kindel.
Scmidt's mix of elite skating, elite shooting, nice goalscorer's instincts, and some nifty mitts to go alongside quite a mean streak for a 5'7 frame has me quite excited. Were it not for Caufield I'd be clamoring for us to draft him.
But yeah, all three guys you mentioned have some similarities in that they all have some size issues but otherwise interesting upside offensively and some unexpected "fire" to their games given their slight frames.
I see some very nice tools in Cullen Potter's skillset, how he manages to thread passes to high-danger scoring areas for his teammates, how he uses his speed and some good feints to give himself some space offensively. And he's an energizer bunny to boot as that motor of his litterally never stops.
But I'm a bit ambivalent concerning Potter's potential as a top-6 player in the NHL given that I have some questions about Potter's decisions with the puck offensively against stronger competition. And those concerns I have get compounded even more with Potter's lack of strength and issues with boardplay.
Against junior-aged and U18 competition, Potter looks great. But against tighter checking like in the NCAA this year I thought a lot of what made Potter special at lower levels kind of went away, which is not what you want to see in a prospect.
I say that, but I'd still have Potter in the 20s at the draft, which remains a really high ranking in my eyes.
And the reason for that is that guys with the type of non-stop energy that Potter displays are just so tough to count against. They tend to make much more of themselves than their skillsets would normally dictate, and often make people look foolish a couple of years after their draft.
Kindel I am a bit higher on than Potter, I'd have him 2-3 spots higher in my current draft ranking.
I think he handles contact better than Potter does, which is one part of the reason why I've got him higher, but at the same time I think that, of the three, Kindel has by far the worst skating ability.
Right now, Kindel isn't even NHL-average when it comes to speed, his acceleration is subpar, and his all-around skating mechanics are rough. Kindel'll need a lot of improvement on that particular facet of the game if he wants to ever make it to the pros.
But I think that Kindel's skating mechanics being in the state that they're currently in ironically gives him more room to grow going forward since he'll only need to clean those mechanics of his a bit to improve notably in mobility.
If Kindel had good skating mechanics while having his current skating ability, then I'd be much more worried.
As far as offensive abilities go, well, I personally think Kindel's Hockey IQ is a bit higher and that he also has much more well-rounded offensive skillset than Potter from what I've seen. Kindel's shooting ability is especially more impressive than Potter's in my eyes.
Similarly, I also prefer Kindel's off-puck plays in the offensive zone vs. Potter's, and how he manages to find sweet spots on the ice to be to stand an be dangerous but not easily-covered by opposing defensemen, and how Kindel manages to anticipate plays to retain possession when his team is in the offensive zone.
Moreover, I like how "versatile" of an offensive player Kindel can be for his team.
Kindel is used on the point on powerplays opposite Yakemchuk, and the rationale for that is how good of a shooter he is, and how he can manage to dish the puck as well as find holes in coverage to shoot from.
So yeah, Schmidt would be the lesser playmaker out of the three, but the better goalscorer and fastest out of the bunch. I think he also has the highest overall offensive potential of the three but that defensively he is also the worst of the lot.
Not that that's a high bar to clear. None of the three guys are especially strong defensively.
And that would be where I currently stand on those three.
They should all be first-rounders in my book, and if we have a pick in the second-round and they're there, we should pounce. Team fit be damned when you get such a high-value pick available.
