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2ND ROUND, #51 OVERALL - AKIL THOMAS

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Peter James Bond II

Peter James Bond II

"Man, we were right there" - De-Luc-sional
Mar 5, 2015
3,682
5,520
Akil Thomas
Ht/Wt: 6' 0"/171 lbs
Position: C
Team: Niagara (OHL)

2017-18
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Niagara IceDogs “A”		OHL68225981366
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Canada U18WJC-18411200
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Ranked #32 by HOCKEYPROSPECT.COM
Ranked #17 by FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
Ranked #27 by ISS HOCKEY
Ranked #26 by MCKEEN'S HOCKEY
Ranked #15 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (NA Skaters)
Ranked #28 by TSN/McKenzie

Great pick! Basically EVERYONE had Akil rated 1st round. Led his team in scoring.
#1 in all of CHL players (in their first draft eligible year) in points with 81

Akil Thomas at eliteprospects.com

Good skating C,plays all situations & point on the PP,slick puck skill & great vision, ISS Hockey 2017

Sam Cosentino - SportsNet - April 28: "Not sure if he’ll play centre or the wing at the next level. He is a jack-of-all-trades player who understands the game well. Could stand to be more selfish at times."

Steve Kournianos - SportingNews/The Draft Analys - April 28: "Skilled center who can control the puck for extended periods and punish opponents for giving him the smallest of windows. Thomas, who was born in Florida but reared in Canada, has an excellent shot and can play the wing as well."Cam Robinson - Dobber Prospects - January 9th: "A buzz-saw of a player. Needs to add strength, but moves as quick with the puck as he does without."

Sam Cosentino - Sportsnet - December 6th: "There is an element of him that leaves you wanting more, but having said that, what you see and what you get on a nightly basis is still pretty good.
Click to read more...
 
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Ranked #32 by HOCKEYPROSPECT.COM
Ranked #17 by FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
Ranked #27 by ISS HOCKEY
Ranked #26 by MCKEEN'S HOCKEY
Ranked #15 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (NA Skaters)
Ranked #28 by TSN/McKenzie

Not a bad get at #51
 
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can skate and is shifty...wicked moves at 1:00 nice steal and amazing pass - patience, vision and slowed it down last second before dishing it. at 1:20. amazing, elite stuff...when he slowed it down and gave the goalie a good look and then flipped it across, the goalie was frozen. smart kid. Amazing moves at 2:29

 
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All of a sudden, the Kings have the best stable of prospects in YEARS.

Vilardi
Clague
Brickley
Anderson-Dolan
Petersen
Kupari
Thomas
Strand
Kehler
________________

(then the next tier - talent level that is good, but the 'LEVEL' of prospects we were used too, the last 3-4 yrs.
Not to take anything away from these, some may pan out.

Brodzinski
Mikey Anderson
Rempal
Eyssimont
Austin Wagner
Matt Luff
Matt Roy
Marcus Phillips
MacDermid
Villalta
 
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I commented about him in the draft GDT. To me, he will develop into a top 6 guy.

Had a strong season in Niagara this past year.

I love his skating ability, he can really move out there.

He’s not perfect by any means but if he continues his development path, the sky is the limit for this kid. I figured he was a late 1st rounder but what do I know.
 
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I have watched several videos of Thomas. I know it's all highlights, but I am impressed by his willingness to cut to the middle. He likely won't have that kind of space in the NHL, but it shows courage. He also scored quite a few of his goals by getting dirty in front of the net. Good stuff.
 
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LAKings88 said:
Mark Yannetti, on Akil Thomas:
He’s a higher … creative guy. He played on a solid team but not a great team but not a great team where he was forced into doing a whole lot more work … He’s a good skater, like a really good skater. He’s not in the elite mold like a Kupari, he’s a next-level back in terms of skating. He’s really versatile in terms of the way he can create offense. He’s got individual skill where he’s able to create space for himself and beat players one-on-one, but he’s also got the vision where he can pull back up, where he can show some subtlety and use more creatively to enhance his linemates. He’s very sound physically at this point. He played a lot of minutes for the Niagara team, probably too many minutes, and at times he was worn down, at times he was tired. As a result, he fell into some inconsistent play this year. As he grows, a lot of that is just simply going to change itself without even any work, and then he has to work a little bit more in terms of his preparation day-to-day to alleviate some of those consistency concerns. But as we’ve seen with this always, maturity fixes 90% of that, and then Glen Murray and Nelson and Mike O’Connell fix the other 10%. It’s something we’ve had some really good success with. Chris Byrne, we might’ve interviewed him for two hours one time and another hour and a half another time. I’m sure it was a whole lot more fun for Chris and me than it was for him. He’s out with some really hard questions and maybe one of our two or three toughest interviews of the year. He was really open and honest. He tried to answer the questions rather than give us the answers we wanted, and when a kid does that, … that makes me more sure that the inconsistencies will be washed right out of his game when he matures.
Click to expand...
Thomas looks like a pretty damn good skater to me. If Kupari is a level above him as a skater, great.
 
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Peter James Bond II said:
All of a sudden, the Kings have the best stable of prospects in YEARS.

Vilardi
Clague
Brickley
Anderson-Dolan
Petersen
Kupari
Thomas
Strand
Kehler
________________

(then the next tier - talent level that is good, but the 'LEVEL' of prospects we were used too, the last 3-4 yrs.
Not to take anything away from these, some may pan out.

Brodzinski
Mikey Anderson
Rempal
Eyssimont
Austin Wagner
Matt Luff
Matt Roy
Marcus Phillips
MacDermid
Villalta
Click to expand...
Well said, though i would put mikey anderson in the first group before Strand.

Nitpicking
 
riznat said:
Gong off reports and these boards he seems like a better pick than Kupari. Have a good feelng about him.
Click to expand...

I like Thomas too, but don't underestimate Kupari. Staff thinks he is a right handed Kempe with more skill, elite speed and puck handler with a good shot but less snarl in his game. Maybe not a great passer or vision, but serviceable. Hockey IQ is a bit of a question mark, but Kempe has the same issue.

Pronman said of Kupari "his potential is among the very best in this draft class."
 
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Mark Yannetti, on Akil Thomas:
He’s a higher … creative guy. He played on a solid team but not a great team but not a great team where he was forced into doing a whole lot more work … He’s a good skater, like a really good skater. He’s not in the elite mold like a Kupari, he’s a next-level back in terms of skating. He’s really versatile in terms of the way he can create offense. He’s got individual skill where he’s able to create space for himself and beat players one-on-one, but he’s also got the vision where he can pull back up, where he can show some subtlety and use more creatively to enhance his linemates. He’s very sound physically at this point. He played a lot of minutes for the Niagara team, probably too many minutes, and at times he was worn down, at times he was tired. As a result, he fell into some inconsistent play this year. As he grows, a lot of that is just simply going to change itself without even any work, and then he has to work a little bit more in terms of his preparation day-to-day to alleviate some of those consistency concerns. But as we’ve seen with this always, maturity fixes 90% of that, and then Glen Murray and Nelson and Mike O’Connell fix the other 10%. It’s something we’ve had some really good success with. Chris Byrne, we might’ve interviewed him for two hours one time and another hour and a half another time. I’m sure it was a whole lot more fun for Chris and me than it was for him. He’s out with some really hard questions and maybe one of our two or three toughest interviews of the year. He was really open and honest. He tried to answer the questions rather than give us the answers we wanted, and when a kid does that, … that makes me more sure that the inconsistencies will be washed right out of his game when he matures.
 
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