C/LW Cole Perfetti - Saginaw Spirit, OHL (2020, 10th, WPG)

[DrSense]

When picking a top forward, defensive play and role is vastly over-rated. Attitude towards their role is more important. Players like Kane were told to play as the high forward pretty much every time for offensive purposes, and some scouts would say "he never back checks". If the coach is saying he doesn't play the right way, that's one thing, but just judging where they go on the ice is a mistake. I'm pretty sure the coach wants Perfetti to keep playing the way he is.

Two of the Sens best two-way forwards of all time - Bonk and Hossa - were both deemed horrible defensive players as draft eligibles. Obviously made those scouts look kind of silly, especially the one quoted in THN's draft issue on Hossa. It was always kind of crazy to read that given he ended up as probably the most enthusiastic back checker the Sens ever had.

 

[JiricekSaveUs]

This is what I've been saying, but I think we have to account for the fact that Suzuki now looks like he's going to be able to play the middle of the ice. I don't think that Perfetti will be able to do that. He's played his whole junior career at winger. He's only played center internationally for Canada. The skating and compete level also isn't yet at the level where I think any team would want to put him in the middle of the ice.

I think Suzuki is somewhere between 6-10 in a 2017 re-draft, and Perfetti will be somewhere between 6-10 in the 2020 draft. But as of now, I'd say Suzuki is looking like the better long-term player due to positional value, although I think Perfetti might have slightly higher offensive potential.

he’s played center most of this year for Saginaw, including currently. I think he’s probably better on the wing, but he is a smart enough player to be able to play the middle in the NHL imo, maybe just not right away. I think it will ultimately come down to the need of the team drafting him.

 

[HabsMD97]

there's just something about him that I don't like, can't put my finger on it...he just gives me the feeling of all the other draft eligible players who put up huge points in junior but didn't have the IQ or skating to transfer it to the NHL level. His defensive game, physicality/size, skating, and over reliance on his hands worries me. I don't think he has a shot like a Laine where he can score from anywhere. He's gonna have to find ways to get to the slot/high slot where he can do damage with his shot but I don't think he has the tenacity and drive to consistently go there. I think he ends up more of a good complementary player rather than a play driver.

 

[Dominance]

there's just something about him that I don't like, can't put my finger on it...he just gives me the feeling of all the other draft eligible players who put up huge points in junior but didn't have the IQ or skating to transfer it to the NHL level. His defensive game, physicality/size, skating, and over reliance on his hands worries me. I don't think he has a shot like a Laine where he can score from anywhere. He's gonna have to find ways to get to the slot/high slot where he can do damage with his shot but I don't think he has the tenacity and drive to consistently go there. I think he ends up more of a good complementary player rather than a play driver.

Exactly. Just like Suzuki. Scrub.

 

[VictoriaJetsFan]

Isn't Perfetti's IQ one of his great strengths?

 

[HabsMD97]

Isn't Perfetti's IQ one of his great strengths?

depends on how you view IQ, everyone's got their own definition. Go back and watch the 2013 draft, bob mckenzie says according to the 10 scouts he interviewed, Drouin was the top prospect in terms of IQ in the entire draft. Now we see that's his biggest weakness. I personally don't see high hockey sense from Perfetti

 

[DrSense]

he’s played center most of this year for Saginaw, including currently. I think he’s probably better on the wing, but he is a smart enough player to be able to play the middle in the NHL imo, maybe just not right away. I think it will ultimately come down to the need of the team drafting him.

He might end up like Kane, where he is the winger 'officially' on his line, but that is only on his side of center. Once you get into the other team's zone, Kane essentially plays the center role. Gaudreau the same. Perfetti will be similar, although I don't see him being in Kane 's class. But Perfetti has been dominant at every level against his age group and is one of the highest scoring players in the CHL as a draft eligible. It's a weird year to see three dominant scorers in the CHL as draft eligibles. And the Drouin comparison might be a good one. He could end up better, but a 50-60 point scorer is probably the right projection at the NHL level - depending on his linemates. That can easily bump to 80 points with the right dominant center. Drouin is only 24 and could end up as a 80 point scorer in the next few years too, depending on linemates.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

he’s played center most of this year for Saginaw, including currently. I think he’s probably better on the wing, but he is a smart enough player to be able to play the middle in the NHL imo, maybe just not right away. I think it will ultimately come down to the need of the team drafting him.

Looks like you are right that he's playing center right now.

Either way, I think his ability to play the center of the ice is questionable. He's undersized with a mediocre compete level and mediocre skating for his size.

However, I hope a team would not base it on need. This is often a good way to ruin a prospect. If you think the guy projects as a center, he should play there, but forcing a player to play a position you don't think they project to because you have a team need is not a good idea.

 

[Dominance]

Looks like you are right that he's playing center right now.

Either way, I think his ability to play the center of the ice is questionable. He's undersized with a mediocre compete level and mediocre skating for his size.

However, I hope a team would not base it on need. This is often a good way to ruin a prospect. If you think the guy projects as a center, he should play there, but forcing a player to play a position you don't think they project to because you have a team need is not a good idea.

Exactly. Boldy and his massive turnaround since being properly deployed on the wing is a perfect case in point.

 

[Daneurism]

Perfetti's IQ is extremely high. Really isn't debatable at all.

 

[Daneurism]

Something else to keep in mind, and i'm not trying to throw Drouin under the bus here or anything, but character is HUGE for projecting players. Perfetti and Drysdale have that in spades

 

[newfy]

Something else to keep in mind, and i'm not trying to throw Drouin under the bus here or anything, but character is HUGE for projecting players. Perfetti and Drysdale have that in spades

Yep, a lot of fans get mad when their teams draft what appears to be lower upside players but have character and work ethic through the roof. Most of the time those harder worker/higher character players go on to have the better NHL careers and a lot of the time are defniitely the ones you want in a playoff series

 

[NorthernBridge7]

I echo the above posts about character. Certain players like Perfetti you can just tell from their interviews that they really take their hockey seriously & have that internal drive to get better. When you're trying to analyze a player's "projection," this is a very good quality to have. Another player I get vibes like this from is Shane Wright.

 

[bert]

depends on how you view IQ, everyone's got their own definition. Go back and watch the 2013 draft, bob mckenzie says according to the 10 scouts he interviewed, Drouin was the top prospect in terms of IQ in the entire draft. Now we see that's his biggest weakness. I personally don't see high hockey sense from Perfetti

You also compared him to Laine for some reason a player he is the polar opposite from stylistically, size even shot.

Perfetti has a very high hockey IQ, he is a scoring machine.

 

[DontEverTouchMyPuck]

Can't understand anyone debating his hockey IQ. Watched him live a number of games and isolated on him. Kid is smart, anticipates well. Put him with some talent and it explodes.
He's a Top 5 pick if not Top 3, for sure.

 

[bcspragu]

I personally don't see high hockey sense from Perfetti

Might need your eyes checked. I've seen Cole live probably 60+ times in the last 2 seasons, hockey sense is literally his best asset. Outside of his average skating, hes elite or excellent at almost every facet of the offensive game. Highest offensive upside in the draft not named Lafreniere.

Edit: As a side note, he has played center the last couple of games, being separated 5 on 5 from Suzuki and Coskey to spread out the offense. In those games 10 pts in 3 gp. Just saying.

 

[scoutman1]

depends on how you view IQ, everyone's got their own definition. Go back and watch the 2013 draft, bob mckenzie says according to the 10 scouts he interviewed, Drouin was the top prospect in terms of IQ in the entire draft. Now we see that's his biggest weakness. I personally don't see high hockey sense from Perfetti

Drouin's IQ was not his highest part of his game when drafted, he got there on pure skill amazing puck handling ability great passing game, highlight reel all the time...Drouin also is not the player he could be because of off ice issues that I am not going to speak about on here...but for IQ his ice IQ is no where near Perfetti's

 

[OldScool]

Reminds me a lot of Patrice Bergeron. Very high hockey IQ.

 

[HabsMD97]

Drouin's IQ was not his highest part of his game when drafted, he got there on pure skill amazing puck handling ability great passing game, highlight reel all the time...Drouin also is not the player he could be because of off ice issues that I am not going to speak about on here...but for IQ his ice IQ is no where near Perfetti's

You can say that in hindsight, but back then people including professional scouts thought it was his best attribute just like how people are saying with perfetti except the latter doesn't have drouin's skating.

 

[NA Hockey]

Questioning his IQ is the equivalent of debating if Lafreniere was great, Byfield was big or Drysdale is a good skater.

Perfetti literally is the smartest player just about every time he goes on the ice. He has been referred to as a genius by many scouts going back to his Bantam days. Every coach, NHL scout, Hockey Canada person refers to his "off the charts" hockey IQ as soon as they start talking about him. His IQ is what allows him to dominate despite average size and average skating.

As the kids say these days, he is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers.

 

[93LEAFS]

Reminds me a lot of Patrice Bergeron. Very high hockey IQ.

Someone like Marner is probably a better comparison in that regard. Marner had better vision and was significantly more elusive (Marner was faster, but the major difference was edgework), while Perfetti is better at finding weak spots in off-puck coverages and using a better shot to exploit that. Marner's path to success was always going to require him to be puck dominant at the NHL level since his value is mainly driven by his ability as a playmaker, while Perfetti's game has more adaptability in that he should excel as the 2nd option on a line in a goal-scoring role even if he struggles to create time on the puck due to weaker skating combined with his size, but if he can improve his skating and be more deceptive carrying the puck he also could be a great primary option on the puck and should excel when given time and space on the PP.

 

[scoutman1]

You can say that in hindsight, but back then people including professional scouts thought it was his best attribute just like how people are saying with perfetti except the latter doesn't have drouin's skating.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/nhl-draft-prospects-no-3-jonathan-drouin/

his draft scouting report, no one mentioned the IQ as a top quality...im from Halifax and still live here, I was here for the whole big hype train with Drouin and Mackinnon...you could see watching him on the ice his talent was higher than his IQ...though his IQ was not in question either as he had decent IQ but was far from his best attribute.

 

[93LEAFS]

NHL Draft prospects: No. 3 Jonathan Drouin - Sportsnet.ca

his draft scouting report, no one mentioned the IQ as a top quality...im from Halifax and still live here, I was here for the whole big hype train with Drouin and Mackinnon...you could see watching him on the ice his talent was higher than his IQ...though his IQ was not in question either as he had decent IQ but was far from his best attribute.

Bob McKenzie says in this clip that among the 10 NHL scouts he surveyed the feedback was he had the highest hockey sense in the draft. I mean, there may have been dissenting opinion as 10 scouts rarely uniformly agree on anything. But, Bob's stated before he gets his info from primarily people in charge of their teams draft lists (I think he said 8 out of 10 previously).

 

[HabsMD97]

NHL Draft prospects: No. 3 Jonathan Drouin - Sportsnet.ca

his draft scouting report, no one mentioned the IQ as a top quality...im from Halifax and still live here, I was here for the whole big hype train with Drouin and Mackinnon...you could see watching him on the ice his talent was higher than his IQ...though his IQ was not in question either as he had decent IQ but was far from his best attribute.

go look at his draft video, I could care less about what a random scouting report on the internet says about him, Actual scouts employed by NHL teams considered him to have the top hockey IQ

 

[JiricekSaveUs]

Can't understand anyone debating his hockey IQ. Watched him live a number of games and isolated on him. Kid is smart, anticipates well. Put him with some talent and it explodes.
He's a Top 5 pick if not Top 3, for sure.

Perfetti’s IQ is near the top of the draft. The issue is he doesn’t compete all the time, which can make him a liability at times.