- May 25, 2014
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This is more about liking Lockwood than disliking Gaudette, who I'd have ranked next. Just as I liked Tkachuk and had him as a top 7-8 pick in the draft.
Lockwood is just a really easy projection for me. His skating/motor/physical game/puck skills all should translate into a Hansen-type middle-6 forward at the NHL level if his development continues well.
Gaudette less so. He's obviously talented and doing well at his current level, but I'm not sure what he projects as and not sure how his production will translate. He might have a bit more upside than Lockwood but to me Lockwood is a much, much safer bet to become a quality NHL forward. And, again, is two years younger.
I agree to all those points on Lockwood but look at Gaudettes game it tranlsates VERY well to NHL: hes defensively elite he plays a full 200 foot game hes got high hockey IQ tons of energy and skill. Hes getting faster too somehow but its criticism is he needs to add weight as can get pushed off the puck. Thats not a huge problem for a 20 year old