D Joshua Jacobs - Indiana Ice, USHL (2014, 41st overall, New Jersey)

[LastWordArmy]

Defense — shoots Right
Born Feb 15 1996 — Shelby Township, MI
Height 6.02 — Weight 193 [188 cm/88 kg]

5 goals 18 assists in 56 games this year for the Indiana Ice of the USHL this year.

He will play next year with the Greenbay Gamblers of the USHL before moving on the Michigan State University. Has some nice size and his skating ability is very good.

Full Scouting Report: http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/05/20/2014-nhl-draft-profile-45-joshua-jacobs/

Top Shelf Prospects considers him to be the 45th best prospect in the draft.

 

[Leidi J]

"Jacobs is a smooth skating two-way defenseman. He can grab the puck and skate it up ice or dish a strong stretch pass to a streaking forward. Closes off lanes and is willing to play physical in his zone. Has some mental lapses and many times his game has been hot or cold this season. (November 2013)"

Sounds good to me... should probably be a second rounder. Late second round, early third round at worst.

 

[IPreferPi]

How does Jacobs compare with the other projected 2nd-3rd round American-born RHDs like Doughtery, Glover, Haydon, MacLeod, and Collins?

 

[puckfan13]

How does Jacobs compare with the other projected 2nd-3rd round American-born RHDs like Doughtery, Glover, Haydon, MacLeod, and Collins?

Better than all of them I'd say. Has a lot of work to do but that is a weak crop you just listed. You are probably looking at a 5-6 guy with Jacobs, he has to bring his play more consistently and work on his puck skills. Making simple, safe plays quickly utilizing his skating and his sense is where his game is. Not going to blow your socks off. Good instincts and keeping it simple to move things along. He just has a better awareness and IQ than the players you listed.

 

[UpsideHockey]

Excerpt from E-Mac's War Room profile:

Eldon MacDonald, THW: A few words on Joshua Jacobs:

"Mr. Fluid – The first thing you notice about Josh Jacobs is the fluidity of his skating; it can help resolve a lot of problems as well as add to that offensive push when needed.
Offense – Fluid skater, puck carrier, the man to get you out of trouble.
Defense – Hard hitter, will use the body, provides that steady presence on the blue line that teammates, goalies and coaches like.
Improvements to make – On offense, Josh could work on putting a little more oomph in his shot. On defense, his high plus minus of +36 is potentially indicative that he doesn’t have too many issues – however, he still can have those mental brain freezes which usually go away with a little more seasoning.
Draft placement..."

Link to full article here

• 2014 NHL Draft Guide: The Next Ones
• 2014 NHL Mock Draft: Playoffs 2 Rnd Edition
• 2014 NHL Draft War Room: Prospect Profile Index
• Connect on Twitter

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[WeissFC]

How does Jacobs compare with the other projected 2nd-3rd round American-born RHDs like Doughtery, Glover, Haydon, MacLeod, and Collins?

Dougherty
Jacobs
Haydon (LVs)
MacLeod
Glover
Collins

IMO

 

[IPreferPi]

Better than all of them I'd say. Has a lot of work to do but that is a weak crop you just listed. You are probably looking at a 5-6 guy with Jacobs, he has to bring his play more consistently and work on his puck skills. Making simple, safe plays quickly utilizing his skating and his sense is where his game is. Not going to blow your socks off. Good instincts and keeping it simple to move things along. He just has a better awareness and IQ than the players you listed.

Dougherty
Jacobs
Haydon (LVs)
MacLeod
Glover
Collins

IMO

Very interesting, thanks for the insights. From what I've read I'd probably rank Dougherty and Jacobs above the rest but after those 2 it gets a little muddled for RHDs IMO, especially if you throw in other guys like Mayo, Irving, and Thomas in the mix. So I wanted to get some other opinions.

Anyways, even if the Coyotes blueline is a strength, all of Gormley, Stone, Summers, and Murphy figure to be in the NHL full-time soon, leaving the pipeline a little bare (and RHD is definitely weaker than LHD). So I'm expecting Maloney to restock the cupboard this year and it seems the area between 58 and the 73 would be an ideal place to do it.

 

[McDNicks17]

He sounds a lot like Jeff Petry.

Even right down to the school too.

 

[herbst20]

Defense — shoots Right
Born Feb 15 1996 — Shelby Township, MI
Height 6.02 — Weight 193 [188 cm/88 kg]

5 goals 18 assists in 56 games this year for the Indiana Ice of the USHL this year.

He will play next year with the Greenbay Gamblers of the USHL before moving on the Michigan State University. Has some nice size and his skating ability is very good.

Full Scouting Report: http://lastwordonsports.com/2014/05/20/2014-nhl-draft-profile-45-joshua-jacobs/

Top Shelf Prospects considers him to be the 45th best prospect in the draft.

Looks like he will be at Michigan State next year and not Green Bay per the MSU list:

http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-hockey/spec-rel/050514aae.html

 

[Canuck71*]

Really hoping this kid gets drafted in the late first round or early second. Hopefully the team that takes him has an input of where they want him to play. Sarnia owns his rights and he would be the top defenseman on the team next year along with Chychrun, getting a ton of minutes. He would improve Sarnia's defense immensely