Evidently it’s WHL defenseman Saturday over here, and after we talked about Kaiden Guhle just a bit ago, we’re taking a trip on over to Brandon to talk about our next addition to the board in Braden Schneider.
And if this were a proper mock draft, this would be the Flyers’ pick, and they would have picked up another defenseman from the Wheat Kings. And that’s pretty neat because, well, the first one they got turned out to be pretty good, huh?
BSH 2020 Community Draft Board, No. 23: Braden Schneider
2019-20 Season
Team: Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
Statistics: 7 G, 35 A in 60 GP
Pre-draft rankings
No. 9 (North American skaters) by NHL Central Scouting
No. 21 by Future Considerations
No. 13 by ISS Hockey
No. 38 by The Athletic (Wheeler)
What’s there to like?
Overall, Schneider brings a pretty complete game, particularly on the desserve side. He’s pretty mobile, a solid enough skater, and brings a distinct physical element to his game, and doesn’t really seem to rely to oheavily on one or the other, but rather is good about picking his spots and deciding which situation requires which side. He’s also strong on breakouts, as he’s a clean passer with good vision, and he doesn’t get easily rattled by pressure, which makes him particularly effective.
But where he really shines is his in-zone defensive coverage. His coverage in transition is fine, but his defensive zone coverage is a real high point of his game, as therein he shows good quickness and is able to anticipate plays well as break them up with strong positioning and a good stick.
There’s some offensive production there, as his stat line has told us, and we while we might expect him to kick in a little bit at the pro level, we shouldn’t expect big offensive numbers from him. he projects more as a penalty killer.
What’s not to like?
There are some concerns about his skating (which seems to be something that some scouts are more fussed about than others). He’s a fine skater for his size, and it isn’t a full-on weakness of his, but it also isn’t stellar, and if it’s just fine at the Junior level, he’s going to need to put in some work to get it to where it needs to be to let him be successful at the professional level.
And this second piece might come down to being a personal preference thing, but Schneider doesn’t really bring a terribly flashy game. He’s not going to be a huge offensive producer, but is rather more of a defensive defenseman. And he does project to be a good one! And there’s a lot to suggest that his game with translate well to the NHL level. But if that’s a mold of player that you don’t particularly care for, if the Flyers do go for him, this might not be a pick you’re thrilled by. But to each their own.
How would he fit in the Flyers’ system?
As we noted in our last profile, defense is the one area that the Flyers could stand to further add to their prospect pipeline, particularly with first round caliber talent. And Schneider might be an interesting fit, because his skillset does feel somewhat distinct from the other defensive top prospects in the pipeline. The Flyers—at the NHL level and waiting in the wings—do have a fair few defensemen who are strong play makers, and whose game is either more offense first or closer to two-way. With the exception of Mark Friedman (who, even then, I would argue falls more into that latter category), the Flyers don’t really have a prospect who is more of a defensive defenseman and already projects easily as an NHL player. And if that’s something the Flyers are looking for, a prospect who could be a nice support piece for one of those more offensive defensemen and also pretty immediately come in and chip in on the penalty kill, Schneider might well be the answer to that.
Could the Flyers actually get him?
This is a weird one, or at least has the potential to be. Though we have him going right around where the Flyers are set to pick, and some of the rankings that we listed above would suggest the same, personally I could see a team going a little rogue and grabbing him a bit earlier. Because, as you may have noticed as we’ve been working our way through these rankings, the first round is looking to be really forward heavy. And while we know that the best draft philosophy, as the adage goes, is to draft for best available, rather than position, but we know that teams don’t always stick to this. That said, it really isn’t hard to envision a scenario where a team, say with a pick in the middle of the first round and after Jamie Drysdale or Jake Sanderson have been taken, has decided that they absolutely must get a defenseman in the first round, and reach to pick Schneider. So if things go more or less as the rankings expect, he may be there, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a team went a little off-board and, well, surprised us.
2020 BSH Community Draft Board
- Alexis Lafreniere — LW, Rimouski (QMJHL)
- Quinton Byfield — C, Sudbury (OHL)
- Marco Rossi — C, Ottawa (OHL)
- Tim Stützle — LW/C, Manheim (DEL)
- Cole Perfetti — LW/C, Saginaw (OHL)
- Lucas Raymond — RW, Frölunda (SHL)
- Jamie Drysdale — D, Erie (OHL)
- Alexander Holtz — LW/RW, Djurgardens (SHL)
- Yaroslav Askarov — G, SKA (KHL)
- Anton Lundell — C, HIFK (Liiga)
- Connor Zary — C, Kamloops (WHL)
- Seth Jarvis — RW/C, Portland (WHL)
- Jake Sanderson — D, USNTDP (USHL)
- Noel Gunler — RW/LW, Lulea (SHL)
- Jan Mysak — C, Hamilton (OHL)
- Jack Quinn — RW, Ottawa (OHL)
- Jacob Perreault — RW, Sarnia (OHL)
- Mavrik Bourque — C, Shawinigan (QMJHL)
- Dylan Holloway — LW, Univ. of Wisconsin (NCAA)
- Rodion Amirov — L, Neftekamst (VHL)
- Hendrix Lapierre — C, Chicoutimi (QJMHL)
- Kaiden Guhle — D, Prince Albert (WHL)
- Braden Schneider, D, Brandon (WHL)
- ???
