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Prospect Info: Ryan Kujawinski

Brock

Brock

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Sidney the Kidney said:
If you don't mind hearing the opinion of an "outsider", Kujawinski is a guy I've seen play extensively as he plays for my home town's junior club.

Coming into this season, I had high hopes for Ryan. He was outstanding as a 16 year old last year, both in terms of his scoring touch and his two-way play. And he was MONEY in the faceoff dot, winning easily 65 to 70% of his draws (no exaggeration, he was literally winning draws with the frequency that Patrice Bergeron wins them at). I'd thought he had the potential to be a first round pick, with an Eric Staal-lite upside.

Unfortunately, this season just wasn't kind to Kujawinski. He just never seemed to get on track, and struggled out of the gate to put the puck in the net. It didn't help that he didn't seem to have any chemistry with his linemates until late December, when he was put on a line with Henri Ikonen and Sam Povorozniouk. At the time, Kujawinski had something like 5 goals in 30 games. In the 10 or so games that line played together, Kujawinski scored 5 goals.

But one thing seemed to be missing from his game, and that was consistency. Not just in terms of effort, but in terms of going to the areas of the ice he went to as a 16 year old to find success. If he can find that consistency, I think the Devils got a steal. Kujawinski definitely has first round tools -- good size, good hockey sense, good shot, decent wheels -- but the question will be if he can put them together on a consistent basis.
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I'll echo these sentiments.

I had Kujawinski as the 13th rated OHL player heading into the draft.
http://ohlprospects.blogspot.ca/2013/05/my-final-top-50-ohl-players-for-2013_26.html

He's a project pick but one that I think will work out.

I had him rated as the 3rd best OHL player for the draft heading into the season. But as STK mentioned, it wasn't a great year for him. He looked a bit lost at times this year. Like he was trying to find an identity on the team (after the two super rookies Spencer Watson and Sam Bennett took over his role from the previous year). He played his best this year when he had the spotlight.

He has the potential to be a very complete player if he can put it all together. And even if he doesn't, he could still develop into a pretty decent 3rd liner. I like the selection because I think he's got upside to play in the NHL in a variety of different roles.
 
Devils731

Devils731

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Devils just drafted Johnson last year. The Devils would have had to actively give away his rights for no reason to lose them.
 

AsherDoodle

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May 24, 2011
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Devils Dominion said:
Anyone know if Ben is still a Devils prospect?
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They still hold his rights but he is facing two sexual assault charges. He's prohibited from entering Essex County, Ontario except for court appearances and he is banned from contacting some of his teammates so he can't play for Windsor. I can't imagine any other OHL team will trade for him, so he likely isn't going to play at all next season.
 
Devils Dominion

Devils Dominion

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AsherDoodle said:
They still hold his rights but he is facing two sexual assault charges. He's prohibited from entering Essex County, Ontario except for court appearances and he is banned from contacting some of his teammates so he can't play for Windsor. I can't imagine any other OHL team will trade for him, so he likely isn't going to play at all next season.
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That's why I asked if he is even still in the Devils' plans.
 

devilsblood

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Mar 10, 2010
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Don't really see Kujawinski as a boom or bust type. My assumption is, the "inconsistency" that we hear of, is really from an offensive standpoint. Don't think he produced enough in that regard as people hoped. But I think with his size, skating and hockey sense, he'll be a solid 3rd liner even if his offense does not progress.

Like the pick.
 
Hockey Sports Fan

Hockey Sports Fan

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Really glad to see Button classify him as a kid with good hockey sense. To me, that means his "looking lost" this season might have more to do with some bad luck as opposed to actually not understanding the game. Beyond that, can't really knock a big center who wins faceoffs, skates well, plays D, and looks good around the net.

That's exactly the kind of pick I like to see after round two. Take a chance on a kid with potential. Do that enough and eventually you hit with someone like Jamie Benn or say, Adam Henrique.
 

devilsblood

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Eggers said:
Really glad to see Button classify him as a kid with good hockey sense. To me, that means his "looking lost" this season might have more to do with some bad luck as opposed to actually not understanding the game. Beyond that, can't really knock a big center who wins faceoffs, skates well, plays D, and looks good around the net.

That's exactly the kind of pick I like to see after round two. Take a chance on a kid with potential. Do that enough and eventually you hit with someone like Jamie Benn or say, Adam Henrique.
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This is just me reading tea leaves here, but I think the "looking lost" is more in regards to just not stepping into the "big-time offensive player" role that many pundits seemed to have him pegged for going into this past season.

I'd like like to know if the inconsistency/looking lost, bled into the defensive zone.

My guess, giving the reports, and his interview, is that it didn't. The good hockey sense, and good two way player labels usually is not applied to a guy who looks lost in his own end. I think all that talk is really in regards to his offense.
 
Hockey Sports Fan

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devilsblood said:
This is just me reading tea leaves here, but I think the "looking lost" is more in regards to just not stepping into the "big-time offensive player" role that many pundits seemed to have him pegged for going into this past season.

I'd like like to know if the inconsistency/looking lost, bled into the defensive zone.

My guess, giving the reports, and his interview, is that it didn't. The good hockey sense, and good two way player labels usually is not applied to a guy who looks lost in his own end. I think all that talk is really in regards to his offense.
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Yeah I was thinking the same thing. By all accounts, he's still a smart and hardworking player with defensive value. But knowing what we now know about stuff like shooting percentage and and shot attempts and whatnot, we know that goals and assists aren't usually the most effective way to predict future success. If someone like James Neal can hit an awful slump in an NHL season, then there's probably excellent hockey prospects that have some really awful luck in their draft seasons, too. It's just another factor that helps to outline how difficult it really is to find the best players in a draft of 18-20 year olds.
 
Saugus

Saugus

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devilsblood said:
But I think with his size, skating and hockey sense, he'll be a solid 3rd liner even if his offense does not progress.
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That's what I like about the pick too. Kids like him and Matteau are fairly safe, because the worst case scenario is that you're getting a bottom 6 grinder with some talent.
 
AverageAtBest

AverageAtBest

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I think Kujawinski is going to have a big year next year. His inconsistency was mostly because he was with new line mates fairly often. However he was good defensively throughout theyear, in the Top Prospects game he killed penalties. He definitely has a chance to be a Top 6 forward in the NHL but if he's not he would be a good 3C/LW. He's also a decent hitter too, he destroyed a guy and broke the glass.
 

devilsblood

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FrontenacSens said:
I think Kujawinski is going to have a big year next year. His inconsistency was mostly because he was with new line mates fairly often. However he was good defensively throughout theyear, in the Top Prospects game he killed penalties. He definitely has a chance to be a Top 6 forward in the NHL but if he's not he would be a good 3C/LW. He's also a decent hitter too, he destroyed a guy and broke the glass.
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Good to hear, these are in line with some of my basic assumptions.

How is he in the faceoff circle?
 
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