An NHL.com feature on potential “sleeper” choices in the draft includes a discussion of what makes incoming freshman Nick Bonino an intriguing prospect:
Bonino, a senior at Avon Old Farms in Connecticut (the same boarding school program once attended by Brian Leetch and Chris Higgins, among others), was born on April 20, 1988. Compared by his coach John Gardner to Chicago Blackhawks center Jeff Hamilton, Bonino has been a dominant player at the prep school level, posting 26 goals and 56 points in 25 games this season. Prior to that, he scored 68 goals for Farmington High School in Connecticut. He is committed to playing NCAA hockey for Boston University in the fall.
The main issue that has held back Bonino: skating. He lacks an explosive first stride and won’t win many footraces with NHL caliber players. But several NHL scouts have said that if the player improves skating ability (for example, through intensive power-skating training), he has the hands and creativity to be a productive professional player.
“Look at Doug Weight. He never dazzled anyone with his skating but he compensated other ways. I’m not saying (Bonino) is going to have a career like Dougie’s, but he has the type of hands and creativity where you can take him and hope his skating catches up. Everything else is there,” says an Eastern conference scout.
The official NHL online draft center is located at here , while CSTV.com’s is at this link, where a Dave Starman feature points out that BU, with 51, is third among all colleges in draft choices, trailing only Minnesota and Michigan.
Hockeysfuture.com has tallied up the list of college affiliated players in the Central Scouting rankings of North American skaters and goalies. Among the skaters, there are four BU recruits--Kevin Shattenkirk, Colby Cohen, Andrew Glass (2008) and Bonino—in the top 26 ranked. Kieran Millan (2008) is 6th among goalies entering or committed to an NCAA school.
Shattenkirk, who has been slotted anywhere from 8th to well into the second round in the myriad of mock drafts found on the Internet, including a projected 12th by Montreal in the RedLineReport mock draft, is profiled by his hometown Westchester, N.Y., newspaper, The Journal News.
TSN.com’s top 60 ranks Shattenkirk and Cohen at 12th and 36th respectively.
The Boston Globe and Boston Herald each provided pre-draft coverage today.
And, in a draft-related trade, because his team needed to shed salary, ex Terrier Adrian Aucoin was traded by the Blackhawks to the Flames where he’ll rejoin Mike Keenan, who coached him in Vancouver where he scored 23 goals in 1998-1999. Aucoin struggled in Chicago after several standout season with the New York Islanders.
Finally, the Terrier Hockey Fan Blog has lined up an on-site correspondent for the draft. We hope to have a report over the weekend, but will keep you posted on the draft using a variety of online sources.
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