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LW Paul Bittner - Portland Winterhawks, WHL (2015, 38th, CBJ)

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TheJuxtaposer said:
To anyone who watches him regularly, who are his linemates and what kind of ice time does he get?
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For most of the season their 1st line has been Bittner/Petan/Bjorkstrand

In early Dec. and the WJC he played with a mishmash of people...Turgeon, Weinger, De Leo. During that period the team went 3-4 so they were certainly hurting for their missing top 6ers...although Bittner did well in that time frame
 
AmericanDream said:
From the games I have seen he has played with Petan and DeLeo on the top line. Though he has played with Bjorkstrand as well on that top line the flip around guys but Bittner and Petan have pretty much been together.plus Bittner put up great numbers with both Petan and Deleo gone at the WJC.
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foxygen said:
For most of the season their 1st line has been Bittner/Petan/Bjorkstrand

In early Dec. and the WJC he played with a mishmash of people...Turgeon, Weinger, De Leo. During that period the team went 3-4 so they were certainly hurting for their missing top 6ers...although Bittner did well in that time frame
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R S said:
I track the lines for every WHL team for every game. Have a browse:

http://whl-from-above.blogspot.ca/

- He has been with Petan and Bjorkstrand for the last 7 games.

- He's also seen time alongside various guys like Koules, De Leo and Turgeon.
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Awesome, thanks a bunch guys!
 
what I like about him is you don't see those monster 4-5 point games that some guys get then he goes scoreless in the next 2 games, then gets 2-3 points and then goes scoreless for the next few games...he has been as consistent as it gets where he since November hasn't had too many games where he didn't get a point...and that's what I like to see is a consistent every game effort which Bittner has been doing for the past few months...held scoreless last night, but there hasn't been many of those in the past few months for him..
 
Have done a lot of reading lately on NHL team's and their desire to find players who combine size with skill. Bittner is a guy that really fits that mold.

Paul Bittner – LW – Portland Winterhawks – 6’4 – 202

Games: 53
Goals: 26
Assists: 26
Points: 52
Pts/Game: 0.98
PIM: 52

Bittner is a no-brainer for this list due to his combination of length and immense skill level. While his lack of consistent physicality would keep me from calling him a “power forward” there is no doubt that he is trending towards becoming a 1st round pick in 2015. Bittner doesn’t usually go out of his way to throw his weight around on an overly frequent basis and only has 3 career WHL fights on his resume. But, that’s not to say he doesn’t play physical when he needs to or use his size effectively. He’s extremely long and tall and that automatically makes him a tough guy to defend both on the rush and once the Winterhawks gain the zone and set up offensively. His long reach allows him to protect the puck while also giving him a major advantage on the defensive side of the puck. His long and powerful skating stride continues to improve and he owns one of the best shots among the entire 2015 NHL Draft class (which has allowed him to pot 26 goals through 53 games so far this year). While his overall intensity from shift to shift has been a bit of a knock at times this season, there is no doubt that he has an enormously high ceiling. Expect him to be drafted within the first 20 or 25 selections come draft day in June.
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The rest of the piece featuring 8 other players is here: http://whl-from-above.blogspot.ca/2015/02/whl-offers-abundance-of-size-and-skill.html
 
Any chance he's on the board in the 20's where the Flyers could nab him with the Lightning 1st?

He's a LW'er which is a huge organizational need, big, good skater and has a good shot. Checks a lot of boxes.
 
seems to be rising in many rankings so not sure...Bobby Mac and his crew have him at 12th I believe...never know how it all falls but I doubt it if he is still around #20 and beyond.
 
jetkarma said:
A Paul Maurice type of player? continue the Portland link to Winnipeg?
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Would be a very good fit there. Him alongside Lowry on a 3rd line in a couple years would look pretty fantastic. Obviously he would be a good fit with Petan, too.
 
AmericanDream said:
seems to be rising in many rankings so not sure...Bobby Mac and his crew have him at 12th I believe...never know how it all falls but I doubt it if he is still around #20 and beyond.
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I was hoping that after the prospects game that maybe we could snag him with the Pittsburgh 1st, I highly doubt that now. If we could land Bittner or Svechnikov there I'd be a happy man.
 
R S said:
Would be a very good fit there. Him alongside Lowry on a 3rd line in a couple years would look pretty fantastic. Obviously he would be a good fit with Petan, too.
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He's got the size Maurice loves , how do you rate his skating and compete level?
 
AmericanDream said:
seems to be rising in many rankings so not sure...Bobby Mac and his crew have him at 12th I believe...never know how it all falls but I doubt it if he is still around #20 and beyond.
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I had my doubts so I checked. You're basically right. He's 14 on Bmac's list. Impressive. I'll have to take another look at him.
 
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jetkarma said:
He's got the size Maurice loves , how do you rate his skating and compete level?
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Skating is strong for someone who is 6'4 but he will need to ensure that he can keep it at a good level as he slowly gets heavier (which he needs to do).

Compete level is not a huge strength.

My blurbs can be found throughout this thread but here's a few more.

7 (5) – Paul Bittner – LW – Portland Winterhawks – Speaking of offensive production, Bittner has put up point-per-game totals since my last release as his Winterhawks continue to surge up the standings after a tough start. Despite that climb, Bittner does continue to drop a bit on my list. And while that might look like I’m souring on him, it’s more that I just like how guys such as Carlo and Wotherspoon are projecting at this point in time comparatively-speaking. A strong skater for his size, he possesses good hockey sense and a great shot. I want to see him use his size more effectively and more consistently from game to game. He’s a guy that I value in the 40th overall range right now.
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5 (7) – Paul Bittner – LW – Portland Winterhawks – After moving down a pair of spots in my December ranking, Bittner returns to his November spot at number five on the list. To be perfectly honest, I feel like I have been a bit too hard on the third-year Winterhawks forward. I was really not impressed with his slow offensive start (despite a positive live viewing of him during that time) and I think I held that against him for a tad too long. But it’s not just me changing my mind here, he has done a lot to win me back. Namely the fact that he has produced at over a point-per-game clip for the past 3 months with 34 points in 32 games since the start of November. As things stand right now, only Jake DeBrusk has more goals than Bittner’s 21 when looking at first-time draft-eligibles in the WHL. While I still want to see him ramp up his competitiveness and add more “heavy†to his game overall, he offers a unique blend of skating ability, length and offensive skill and sense. I think a lot of NHL teams are looking at him and seeing a Max Pacioretty type of player in the making, meaning he will surely attract attention in the top 20 or 25 selections.
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To be completely honest... I still remember opening night when, without Petan and Bjorkstrand, he gave a deer-in-headlights look. With them around, he's obviously often the unchecked man and can rack up the points.

Not that I don't think teams need complementary players at times, and maybe he gets on a first line to develop that way in the A. Not that he can't develop a sense to take over a game (which, BTW, Petan really has this year, no matter whether his numbers show that or not... not to mention Bjorkstrand.) Bittner does have work to do.
 
Kid dropped a hatty and two assists on Tri-cities tonight. A lot of it was clean-up as Portland buzzed around the net, but he certainly took advantage.
 
six sigma said:
Kid dropped a hatty and two assists on Tri-cities tonight. A lot of it was clean-up as Portland buzzed around the net, but he certainly took advantage.
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The guy has been on an absolute tear since Christmas time. Quite sure is beginning to answer questions surrounding compete level & consistency
 
It will be interesting to see what he does without Petan and Bjorkstrand as his linemates next season.
 
in his last 36 games since the start of December, he has only been held without a point 6 times..:laugh:

I think the consistency concern can go bye-bye...

I think the only thing is there is so much untapped raw potential that people want to see more because they know he can do more... I would suggest he is climbing into the top 10 conversation as we all know how much GMs put on size and skill...his combination of the two puts him in a very nice position come June.
 
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