RD Roman Schmidt - USNTDP, USHL (2021, 96th, TBL)

[Pavel Buchnevich]

This is try three in recent years for the NTDP at developing a big defensemen with some offensive skill, and I have a feeling this will go a little better than the prior two. Schmidt looks a little raw with how he processes the game, but he has pretty good offensive skill, skating and his defense doesn't look bad either.

EP lists him as a left-shot, but I'm nearly sure I'm seeing him shoot RH, so I think their listing is wrong.

Roman Schmidt at eliteprospects.com

 

[William H Bonney]

Yes, he's right handed.

It'll be interesting to see if he gets an opportunity to stand out enough to contend for a possible top 2 round selection. He has the 'tools' as they say, but he's also stuck on a pretty offensively talented blueline. Not sure he's going to get a ton of opportunities offensively behind Hughes, Gallagher, Hreshcuk, and Behrens.

 

[Coaches Coroner]

Yes, he's right handed.

It'll be interesting to see if he gets an opportunity to stand out enough to contend for a possible top 2 round selection. He has the 'tools' as they say, but he's also stuck on a pretty offensively talented blueline. Not sure he's going to get a ton of opportunities offensively behind Hughes, Gallagher, Hreshcuk, and Behrens.

the Kitchener Rangers took him with a high 2nd round pick in the recent OHL draft. They think there's a good enough chance they could maybe get him to take the risk (they made a similar pick in NCAA committed Vukojevic, who went to Green Bay USHL first, then came here). As a Ranger fan I'm cautiously optimistic but not getting my hopes up high. If he's not getting the ice time to really showcase himself, maybe we could pry him away with a promise of top 4, all situation minutes.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I highly doubt it. Wroblewski has been known to rotate the lineup a lot. He'll play, and he already plays a regular role. He isn't the go to guy, but it's not as if he'd be guaranteed PP1, PK1, ES TOI leader in the OHL. I don't see why he couldn't be a top 4 guy on this team. It's early in his first of two seasons at the NTDP. He's one of the better prospects on the team from the early looks of it, so I don't see the reason to start even discussing this yet.

 

[William H Bonney]

Agreed. I wouldn't count on him looking elsewhere unless he's desperate for a possible starring offensive role and it's too early for him to chase that. He's somewhat regularly paired with Luke Hughes, so he gets a regular shift with a top defenseman on the team. He's just not a PP guy right now because they can throw out a lot of talent on the blue line. It's pretty rare for the NTDP to lose guys after a single season in scenarios where it's not a mutually desired parting.

He's also going to get more opportunities sooner rather than later this year. The U18s are an average NTDP team at best and there's a serious lack of skill with their defensemen (which the U17s have in abundance), so multiple U17 defensemen are likely to be promoted (i.e. Hughes and Gallagher or Hreschuk) later this year, which is going to open up a lot of opportunities for the remaining U17 guys.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Schmidt have a similar NTDP career as a guy like John Beecher. Both big guys who came in with good hype, but get limited offensive opportunities due to playing in pretty deep birth years for their respective positions. When a bunch of guys from Beecher's U17 season were promoted, he got a bigger role and produced, and then in his U18 season his role was reduced again as all those promoted guys were back. But he still went first round given his tools and the glimpses he sometimes showed with a more prominent role. Schmidt could be a similar benefactor when teammates are promoted and if so, it'll be interesting to see how he performs.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I think this guy has pretty good potential, but he’s raw. He’s a good defensive player and skates well. I also think he has better offensive potential than the offense he currently shows. He has good hands, can move the puck and has some passing vision.

It looks as if the offensive instincts aren’t there yet. He might just not have them, but he’s also a project player, so it could take more time to show. I do think he’s a significantly better prospect than similar style prospects like Adam Samuelsson and Alex Vlasic, but he may never develop an offensive game.

I would have to think though that a defenseman whose his size, good defensively and can skate will at least be a second rounder.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I like this guy's game, but there's still no offensive instincts present in what he shows. Thats about the only thing in his game I don't like. He might have some untapped potential because the offensive tools are there between the hands, puck moving, the size and power to shoot the puck hard, but he's very timid in the offensive zone.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I'm slowly trending towards calling him a defensive defenseman. I like the player, but I'm starting to question if he actually has offensive potential.

 

[NHL Dude 120]

Does he compare to Methot?

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Does he compare to Methot?

Same style of player. I'd compare him to Carlo with a very outside chance he's more comparable to Parayko eventually.

 

[NHL Dude 120]

Definitely a sens target for our 2nd round pick.

 

[BigHitter67]

Back in 1991 young D like RS were pretty well guaranteed of having a long 15 yr +NHL career ahead of them. I’ll go out on limb and say no position in pro sports has changed as much as the D position in the NHL in last 30 yrs

 

[jvr32]

Signed with the Kitchnener Rangers in the OHL:

 

[thethinglonger]

Here's some footage from a game in March:

 

[bigdog16]

Back in 1991 young D like RS were pretty well guaranteed of having a long 15 yr +NHL career ahead of them. I’ll go out on limb and say no position in pro sports has changed as much as the D position in the NHL in last 30 yrs

In 1991 you could barely skate and play on a 4th line

 

[MMC]

Welcome to Tampa

 

[Nemesis Prime]

Tampa.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Yet another NTDP player that falls after a bad WJC18. If draft position matters, the coach should be sacked at about 6PM. All these kids are falling mostly due to coaching this year.