Draft Pick 2015 #99 - LW Austin Wagner (Regina Pats)

[Holden Caulfield]

Not that familiar with him myself.

Click to read more...

 

[Scottkmlps]

http://mayorsmanor.com/2015/06/scouting-info-on-austin-wagner-kings-fourth-round-draft-pick/

 

[King'sPawn]

Solid player. High end speed and compete level. From Jordan Weal's alum in Regina.

 

[johnjm22]

Interesting pick. Very young. He's been playing in the OHL since he was 15.

Put up respectable numbers as a 17yo this past season.

 

[LAKings88]

I read scouts were high on him. Looking for those articles now.

I think he has the potential to be LA's best pick from this draft.

 

[Captain Mittens*]

[Yt]D69H6ciR10o[/MEDIA]

 

[Eesh]

Austin Wagner is an absolute steal as a 4th round pic. This kid is going to be good. Big, fast, aggresive and can put the puck in the net. He has a will to win. GREAT pick by the Kings. I've watched him play over the past year for the Regina Pats of the WHL.

 

[Peter James Bond II]

Austin Wagner is an absolute steal as a 4th round pic. This kid is going to be good. Big, fast, aggresive and can put the puck in the net. He has a will to win. GREAT pick by the Kings. I've watched him play over the past year for the Regina Pats of the WHL.

Thanks for the input. Everyone keeps mentioning his speed. He also impressed at the combine. The fact the Kings traded up from 104 to 99, says the Kings scouts did not even want to chance him going in the next 4 picks! They must have had him rated just after Dergachyov and got that deal in with Phi.

At 6'1 and 180, he could end up being 6'3 and 200 and some real upside.

http://lakingsinsider.com/2015/06/27/introducing-austin-wagner/

.

 

[R S]

Really like the choice for you guys.

http://whl-from-above.blogspot.ca/2015/05/final-whl-rankings-2015-nhl-draft.html

#11 Austin Wagner

Team: Regina Pats
Position: RW/LW
Shoots: L
Height: 6’1
Weight: 178
GP: 61
Goals: 20
Assists: 19
Points: 39
Pts/Gm: 0.64
PIM: 53

Player Analysis: Austin Wagner is a rangy winger with absolutely blazing speed for the Regina Pats…owns arguably the best straight-line speed of any draft-eligible WHL forward…he isn’t just fast for his 6’1+ frame, he’s an absolute burner in general…has extremely good acceleration with the ability to get up to nearly full speed in only 2-3 quick strides…owns that elite speed despite a somewhat hunched stance with his upper body…has quick feet and makes use of crossovers to change angles to generate a bit more speed while in tight space…uses his straight-ahead speed to generate regular breakaway chances and 2 on 1’s…is hard to slow down once he gets going and likes to drop his inside shoulder and drive to the blue ice off the rush…he also likes to spin back into his defensive zone without the puck in order to gain a running start before charging through the neutral zone, joining the rush…drives lanes aggressively once he’s in the offensive zone…owns a good wrist shot that he likes to fire while on the rush…has a heavy shot but it’s still an area that could be refined with time regarding his ability to get it away when in traffic…hasn’t scored on nearly as many plays as you would expect given how many grade-A chances his speed helped generate…his puck handling ability in tight spaces wouldn’t be considered a huge strength but he has shown some growth there…has a tendency to get ahead of himself when carrying the puck…has consistently shown me that his feet might be faster than either his hands or his head…has been prone to skate into traffic or leave himself prone to being stick-checked because he gets up the ice and into the teeth of the defence ahead of his line mates…
h
ands will need to be refined…isn’t a pure receiver of the puck and tends to bobble the puck fairly frequently…away from the puck his physical play is a noted strength…throws massive, thundering hits with regularity…that speed, size, physicality combo allows him to excel on the forecheck…while I do have some already-noted concerns about his offensive processing ability I don’t have those same concerns defensively…he reads the play well without the puck on defence, aided by the fact that he was brought along slowly as a 4th line player as a rookie in 2013-14…this season he spent time in a variety of roles inside the Pats top 9 forward group, including having the ability to play both wings…saw time both on the powerplay and the penalty kill and has good two-way value looking forward…Pavel Padakin and Adam Brooks were common linemates for him this season, spending 25 of Regina’s final 55 regular season games together despite injuries and some line shuffling…is definitely one of the biggest risers in the draft this year after scoring only one goal in 42 games last season…was very consistent in his offensive production this year with his first half numbers nearly matching his second half numbers (0.65 PPG compared to 0.63 PPG)…his 20 goals during the regular season were good enough to be tied for 8th in that category among all first-year draft-eligible WHL forwards….15 of those goals came at even-strength, with that tally being the 9th best among all first-year draft-eligible WHL forwards…suffered an upper-body injury late in the season which forced him to miss several weeks worth of action…is listed at 6’2 on his WHL page but only 6’1 by Central Scouting…

he definitely looks taller and longer than 6’1 to me…his style of play reminds me a lot of Erik Cole as both are big guys who can really skate, have two-way sense and own great shots…was a 5th round choice, 94th overall, by the Regina Pats at the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft…overall I project Wagner to be a guy who offers a team a lot of versatility as he will be able to play any role on any line with the proper development…ideally I see him as a top 9 winger with 20 or 25 goal upside at the NHL level…I anticipate we’ll see him slide off the board some time within the top 75 picks (I have him rated as a late 2nd or early 3rd myself), although I wouldn’t be shocked if some teams liked him as a top 50 guy given his frame, NHL-ready skating ability and versatile overall skillset…

 

[Captain Mittens*]

^^^

Thank you for that

 

[kingsfan]

My favorite pick of the draft because it actually tries to put some skill into the fold.

 

[King'sPawn]

Ranked #43 by ISS. He was also ranked as the 4th best defensive forward from the draft. They list his strengths as his speed, PK duties, and working hard for 200 ft. For weaknesses, they say he doesn't read the game well and his physical play is weak. For his skills, they say, "Aggressive forward who competes very well and shows a well-rounded game in all zones."

Ranked #57 by Future Considerations. They write, "A raw and developing power winger. Has high-end speed and accelerates extremely well for a big guy; has very powerful edged. Unfortunately, we feel like his brain and hands sometimes fail to catch up to his impressive wheels."

Ranked #55 by Hockey Prospects. They wrote, "One of his best attributes is his physical style of play. He connects with a lot of power with his checks and doesn't look off an opportunity to deliver the body to the opposition."

 

[no name]

Sounds like some contrary scouting reports. I guess that means that it's hard to use scouting reports as a bible. Most guys see them once and make report. We all know that anything can happen in one game.

 

[Fat Elvis]

Sounds to me a little like Trevor Lewis.

 

[Reaper45]

Sounds to me a little like Trevor Lewis.

Bingo.

 

[LAKings88]

Sounds like some contrary scouting reports. I guess that means that it's hard to use scouting reports as a bible. Most guys see them once and make report. We all know that anything can happen in one game.

Yep. Never doing a mock draft ever again.

 

[Jason Lewis]

Sounds like some contrary scouting reports. I guess that means that it's hard to use scouting reports as a bible. Most guys see them once and make report. We all know that anything can happen in one game.

Too true.

Even after multiple watches of the same prospect, people can have vastly different reports. Maybe one guy focused on his defensive game more than his offensive skills. Could be something as simple as he made a bad pass out of his own zone once, and all of a sudden the scout or person watching becomes fixated on that. It is hard to have an unbiased view of things sometimes. You get a different set of eyes, a different set of opinions and a different brain processing every view of the kid. Not to mention it varies game to game.

Scouting is incredibly difficult and I do not envy those guys one bit.

I remember going to camp a few years ago when Radko Gudas was an invitee for the Kings. I thought he looked tremendous. Assertive, physical, intimidating. Walked away feeling like he was a solid player. I talked to Nelson Emerson afterwards and he was less enthusiastic about pretty much everything I was enthusiastic about. Really made me think.

 

[Reaper45]

Too true.

Even after multiple watches of the same prospect, people can have vastly different reports. Maybe one guy focused on his defensive game more than his offensive skills. Could be something as simple as he made a bad pass out of his own zone once, and all of a sudden the scout or person watching becomes fixated on that. It is hard to have an unbiased view of things sometimes. You get a different set of eyes, a different set of opinions and a different brain processing every view of the kid. Not to mention it varies game to game.

Scouting is incredibly difficult and I do not envy those guys one bit.

I remember going to camp a few years ago when Radko Gudas was an invitee for the Kings. I thought he looked tremendous. Assertive, physical, intimidating. Walked away feeling like he was a solid player. I talked to Nelson Emerson afterwards and he was less enthusiastic about pretty much everything I was enthusiastic about. Really made me think.

And Gudas is now an NHL'er who established himself as a top 4 dman pretty quickly. I'm with you Jason I saw it in him too.

 

[Captain Mittens*]

Austin Massachusetts

 

[LAKings88]

Too true.

Even after multiple watches of the same prospect, people can have vastly different reports. Maybe one guy focused on his defensive game more than his offensive skills. Could be something as simple as he made a bad pass out of his own zone once, and all of a sudden the scout or person watching becomes fixated on that. It is hard to have an unbiased view of things sometimes. You get a different set of eyes, a different set of opinions and a different brain processing every view of the kid. Not to mention it varies game to game.

Scouting is incredibly difficult and I do not envy those guys one bit.

I remember going to camp a few years ago when Radko Gudas was an invitee for the Kings. I thought he looked tremendous. Assertive, physical, intimidating. Walked away feeling like he was a solid player. I talked to Nelson Emerson afterwards and he was less enthusiastic about pretty much everything I was enthusiastic about. Really made me think.

I went to that camp too. I was disappointed when LA did not sign him.