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RD Alex Cotton - Lethbridge Hurricanes, WHL (2020, 132nd, DET)

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HasbeenHallzy

HasbeenHallzy

Registered User
May 14, 2015
985
234
Sudbury
I came across this guy last night and was pretty impressed. Turns out he went undrafted after putting up a mediocre 2g 9a in 54 games...

This season he's absolutely exploded and is sitting at 17g 40a in 52GP.

Does anyone have any info on his game?
 
He's a late bloomer who was a mid round bantam pick and barely played his 16 yr old year. Last year he was buried down the depth chart but this year he's a key top 4 dman and has played a good chunk of the year on PP1 with Cozens, Okuliar, Barlage and Addison(got shuffled a bit obviously during WJCs). Really smart player who moves the puck well and has good positioning. Solid shot that he gets through finding lanes well. Isn't super physical but isn't afraid of contact and still needs to fill out a bit. He's not a bad skater by any means but that's his main area he needs to keep working on. He's average but if he's to make the nhl he'll have to keep working on it. The rest of his game is very solid though so promising player and should be drafted this year.
 
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landy92mack29 said:
He's a late bloomer who was a mid round bantam pick and barely played his 16 yr old year. Last year he was buried down the depth chart but this year he's a key top 4 dman and has played a good chunk of the year on PP1 with Cozens, Okuliar, Barlage and Addison(got shuffled a bit obviously during WJCs). Really smart player who moves the puck well and has good positioning. Solid shot that he gets through finding lanes well. Isn't super physical but isn't afraid of contact and still needs to fill out a bit. He's not a bad skater by any means but that's his main area he needs to keep working on. He's average but if he's to make the nhl he'll have to keep working on it. The rest of his game is very solid though so promising player and should be drafted this year.
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you think he can crack the top 100? a lot of people in the W seem to like him.
 
Very interesting player, those are some huge numbers I havent seen much of him but if he has decent skating he seems like a good player to take a flyer on.
 
upload_2020-6-3_8-17-1.gif


My immediate thought when I saw this thread.
 
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Undrafted last year, defenceman Alex Cotton had an absolutely monster season and has been noticed as a draft re-entry. The Langley, British Columbia native led all WHL defencemen in points and was named to the league’s Second All-Star time. He put up 20 goals and 47 points for 67 points in 63 games for the Lethbridge Hurricanes. It was a real breakthrough after struggling in his first two seasons in the league.

Drafted in the fifth round, 99th overall, in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft, Cotton first saw action in the 2017-18 season, though it was limited. He played just five games but did not record a point. Instead Cotton played for Yale Hockey Academy Prep School, putting up 11 goals and 43 assists for 54 points in 32 games. He led the CSSHL in points by a defenceman. He added a goal and two assists for three points in three playoff games. In 2018-19, he played the full season with Lethbridge. However, Cotton was limited to just two goals and nine assists for 11 points in 54 games. There were signs of his offensive improvement in the playoffs though. Cotton had one goal and three assists for four points in seven games.

Our full report
Alex Cotton Scouting Report: 2020 NHL Draft #108 - Last Word on Hockey
 
This kid seems to have a clutch gene in him as well set up or scored the game winner or game tying goal late in the game numerous times. Was also a bright spot for Lethbridge in the 2019 playoff loss to Calgary. Played real good when the teams best players were away at the world juniors. The Last Canes Dman who was a PPG big dman was Nielsen and Cotton skates better. Will be interesting to see what kind of numbers he puts up next Year being the go to guy on the Hurricanes Blueline.
 
From another thread earlier in the year. LOVE this pick

Gardiner Expressway said:
I went back 7 seasons & this one in the WHL to find player comps for Alex Cotton and I'll say on paper his season has been very exciting.

Here are the guys who were his age and put up 0.9ppg or better..... really great names up there with him.

NamePts/GPAge (Season End)Season
Josh Morrissey1.2419.12014
Ty Smith1.1919.12019
Shea Theodore1.1318.82014
David Quenneville1.0619.12017
Alex Cotton1.0519.02020
Jett Woo1.0218.82019
Henri Jokiharju1.0018.92018
Joe Hicketts1.0019.02015
Jake Bean0.9818.92017
Calen Addison0.9719.12019
Travis Sanheim0.9419.12015
Ethan Bear0.9318.92016
Yegor Zamula0.9219.12019
Morgan Rielly0.8819.22013
[TBODY] [/TBODY]
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Henkka said:
How was Cotton at season 2021 ?

Still scored over point per game, even though Cozens left that team.

What are his flaws? It's odd that he did fall to 5th round.
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I haven’t seen him play, but I did watch a video of Detroit’s 2019 draft selections yesterday.

According to Will Scouch, Cotton has a lot of flaws in his game despite his point totals. He is overly aggressive to the point of being egregious and does not have the skating and hockey IQ to make up for his mistakes. While he does have some good stats on the surface, Scouch said he basically doesn’t have the necessary tools you’d want to see from a solid prospect. He’s good in the offensive zone, but is a liability everywhere else.

I can’t speak to how he did this season. Like I said, I didn’t see him play. But, I probably wouldn’t expect a great prospect. That being said, Scouch tends to gravitate towards prospects with more structured, projectable and refined games and Cotton is anything but that.
 
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It's great to hear that has these flaws. Because flaws can be overcome through development. Perfect product would not have any room to grow. That's the way how you like your low round prospects to be.

You try develop them and when some of them will hit, you earn your luck.
 
Was not signed to an ELC. Never saw anything in him, no surprise he was not signed up, since the Griffins defense is pretty contested at the moment.
 
Killerjas said:
Was not signed to an ELC. Never saw anything in him, no surprise he was not signed up, since the Griffins defense is pretty contested at the moment.
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Kid has a nice shot and could run a power play well at least at the junior level. Seems like the rest of his game didn’t improve enough to get a contract.
 
I'm assuming he's not NHL level prospect since he's 21 and can't get a Liiga contract.
 
GeorgeLeafer12 said:
potential player, he has developed nicely last year or two, sure
probably not with current trajectory but who knows.

gets great coaching, he is only 21, anything can happen
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Yeaaaah...no.

Alex Cotton has a booming shot. Decent passer but is one of the worst skaters I've seen drafted in recent memory. It isn't just "needs improvement" bad. It's "tear it down and start over from kindergarten" bad.
 
OgeeOgelthorpe said:
Yeaaaah...no.

Alex Cotton has a booming shot. Decent passer but is one of the worst skaters I've seen drafted in recent memory. It isn't just "needs improvement" bad. It's "tear it down and start over from kindergarten" bad.
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If his skating is that bad, how did he get drafted?
 
Jukurit said:
If his skating is that bad, how did he get drafted?
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I understand the logic on gambling on an overager that produced well when given the chance, but his skating is a giant red flag.

His offensive game is really good. Like I said, good shot, pretty good passer. He was able to produce very well at the junior level.

If I were a betting man I'd guess he goes on to have an OK career as a minor leaguer kind of like Oliwer Kaski. Minor league offensive defenseman that isn't very strong in his own zone and has heavy boots.
 
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I have watched all his games this season. A great attacking defender whose shot always finds its way to the goal. Leads Mestis (Fin 2.tier) points from the position of the defender. Stories from the ice rink tell that, he just found a great blade for his skates here in Iisalmi. Skating has looked smooth at Finland's second highest level.

A few defenders who have draftef to NHL (Kim Nousiainen, Otto Leskinen, Eric Hjorth) have been playing in Iisalmi recently. And Cotton is for far the best one.

He looks like a good teammate, allways chanting for others.

Needs some nastiness to play defense. He is a tall guy, but it would be necessary to gain more weight
 
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Working his way up the lower levels in Europe, he's now leading third-place Nitra in scoring in the Slovak Extraliga after a championship last spring.

He'll be 24 this summer. Is he past the point of being a "prospect"?

Rafalski?
 
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