I don't know where to put this so here goes.
Jonathan Huberdeau has the skills you want in a prospect cause he can do it all. I personnaly think he has the best set of hands in the draft and can stickhandle his way out of trouble without a problem. His vision is also excellent cause he likes to set up his linemates but he's been playing left wing with Zach Phillips as his center for the most part of the year.
I see alot of Claude Giroux in Huberdeau but if he's going to turn into a winger more so then a center, that's something Lou should think about since we already have Parise and Kovalchuk playing the left side.
Thanks
It's interesting the way he and Phillips play together, because in a lot ways Huberdeau still plays the roll of the centerman. He tends to stear into the neutral zone once his team has possession and be the guy who takes the puck up ice in the neutral zones. He does move to the left side more often, but just like all players on the ice, there is so much criss crossing, you don't get the feel he is playing wing a lot of the time. Huberdeau also steps into the middle and takes the draws on all PP's that I have seen, to more purely play the center ice role. Or so it would seem.
In terms of why he plays wing, i think it has something to do with leaving him up high so he can make breaks up ice. Phillips has no speed to speak of, so he would be wasted in this role. He is better to trail Huberdeau into the zone, and wait for Huberdeau to create space for him to use his shot and moves in tight. The center also often back checks a little further and isn't the guy to consistenly keep the D honest on the backend. Against Gatineau, Huberdeau constantly lurked higher in the defensive zone when the puck was on the right side, and his mates often fired long bombs for him when they got the puck. Huberdeau knew to go, and he did. Gatineau is a pretty good defensive team and probably the best coached team in the Q, so they contained this move to an extent, but you could see even with the Olympiques well prepared, he was ever dangerous out there. He had a few breakaways in the game I saw, although that was more of a product of him stripping defenders and doing some nifty give'n goes.
His hands are tremendous and he takes a back seat to know one in this regard. His straight away speed is very good, but not elite yet. But the key about his skating is his fluidity of moving forward, laterally and backwards with the puck. He does some crazy moves seamlessly from forward to backward, kind of the way Corey Perry does if you've watched him enough. Despite the frame, he still has a lot of filling out to do and likely needs another year in the Q.
Colour me sold. If the Sens land him at 6, I'll be buying a few rounds, where ever the hell I am.
