Prospect Info: 62nd overall Jake Lechyshyn

[LastWordArmy]

http://lastwordonhockeyprospects.com/2017/05/27/jake-leschyshyn-scouting-report/

Click to read more...

 

[Bart9349]

http://lastwordonhockeyprospects.com/2017/05/27/jake-leschyshyn-scouting-report/

Jake Leschyshyn’s injury has the potential to push him further down draft boards than he would otherwise go. He has the potential to be a top two centre in the NHL, but rebounding from that injury and continuing his development will be key.

Potential. Time will tell.

Nice interview on NHLNetwork.

 

[Anarchy Joe]

His dad was a NHLer so he has blood lines seems like a solid high upside player which works out well for us

 

[Vegas Mac]

Welcome to Vegas Jake. Good young forward with bloodlines, get to work son!

 

[airbus220]

What do you do when you have a torn ACL.

At the NHL Combine Jake was #2 in BenchPress 70-80% of BodyWeight.

 

[derriko]

Bumping this. Read a lot about this guy and I'm calling a greater than PPG breakout year for him.

Brooks is aged out, and Steele has a good chance at the pro's. Those are the top two forwards gone on the team. I don't know much else about the team, but if he has solid wingers, I don't think that's unreasonable.

If he finds himself centering the top line next year, he's going to turn heads.

Right now his ceiling is about a bottom six shut down center. But if he breaks out he might show people there's more to his game than just being a defensive center.

If he plays about 70 games and hits 90 points, there's a real chance he's a future 2nd line center in the making.

Even if that doesn't happen, I love those all or nothing glue guys. I could see him carving out an Andrew Cogliano type career. Gritty and tenacious, he is a player who does so much that doesn't show up on the score sheet.

The pick has really grown on me. By far getting the least hype out of the first two rounds for the Knights, but this guy might have been a hidden gem due to the injury.

 

[KenSinBin]

Heard some interesting stuff about him while I was in Chicago at the Draft, and then while at Dev Camp.

Let's start with the good, the team thinks this was one of the biggest steals of the Draft (behind Brannstrom). They think really highly of him and fully expect him to be a major impact player moving forward. Were shocked they were able to get him.

The bad news is that there was a bit of a cryptic message about his injury. Sounds like it might be worse than originally expected. He said he would be back at the beginning of the year, doesn't seem as though that'll be the case.

 

[derriko]

That doesn't make sense. An ACL injury was the death of an NBA player not but a few years ago, and now players come back just as fast, or faster than they were before.

Karlsson had his god damn Achilles chopped in half and regained about 90% of his skating ability.

Modern technology is a wonderful thing.

 

[airbus220]

the team thinks this was one of the biggest steals of the Draft (behind Brannstrom).

How can Brannstrom be a steal if he didn't fall.
Tell me which mock draft had Brannstrom at #15 or higher.
Tell me the last time a 5'8 D was drafted at #15.

 

[The Duck Knight]

How can Brannstrom be a steal if he didn't fall.
Tell me which mock draft had Brannstrom at #15 or higher.
Tell me the last time a 5'8 D was drafted at #15.

None of that matters. All that matters to Vegas as far as Brannstrom being a steal is where they had him ranked on their draft board. If they had him at say 7 and got him at 15 they feel it was a steal.

 

[airbus220]

None of that matters. All that matters to Vegas as far as Brannstrom being a steal is where they had him ranked on their draft board. If they had him at say 7 and got him at 15 they feel it was a steal.

If no other team had Brannstrom in the 1st round they stole him from whom.
It's like stealing sand in the desert.

 

[sabresfan65]

If no other team had Brannstrom in the 1st round they stole him from whom.
It's like stealing sand in the desert.

You ever tried digging sand up in Las Vegas?!?!

 

[Vegas Mac]

Heard some interesting stuff about him while I was in Chicago at the Draft, and then while at Dev Camp.

Let's start with the good, the team thinks this was one of the biggest steals of the Draft (behind Brannstrom). They think really highly of him and fully expect him to be a major impact player moving forward. Were shocked they were able to get him.

The bad news is that there was a bit of a cryptic message about his injury. Sounds like it might be worse than originally expected. He said he would be back at the beginning of the year, doesn't seem as though that'll be the case.

Rolling the dice on guys with injuries is a great way to get value, but yeah now we gotta wait and see how well he comes back from it.

And it is kinda funny they consider Brannstrom a steal. Clearly they were very, very, very high on him if they feel that way. I'll just admit I feel better about him as a pick there at 15 after watching him at the rookie camp, and leave it at that.

Rooting for all these guys, either way. Hope we hit on them all.

 

[derriko]

Rolling the dice on guys with injuries is a great way to get value, but yeah now we gotta wait and see how well he comes back from it.

And it is kinda funny they consider Brannstrom a steal. Clearly they were very, very, very high on him if they feel that way.

Not only did he slide due to injuries, he was buried behind arguably the two best players in all of the CHL in Steel and Brooks.

He doesn't have the offensive skills of either of those guys, and he is 1-2 years younger than both of them.

I don't see any possible way Steel is returned to Juniors, so unless they make a trade or have someone I don't know about in Regina, sounds like Jake is now their de facto 1C.

He was already a penalty kill monster, but now he is going to get some quality pp time, and much better line mates. From what I read the wingers he had flanking him were garbage last year. Seems to past the smell test as they traded away a ton of wingers who were putting up terrible offensive numbers.

It was a testament to his abilities to put up almost a ppg with nobodies before his injury.

Watch out for this guy. I would put money down he breaks out offensively next year and becomes one of the top players in the WHL. I could even see him getting to wear the C, or at least a letter.

Since they are hosting the Memorial Cup next year, I bet the GM trades a bunch of futures to build a contender. That's only going to help Lechyshyn.

On Brannstrom, you gotta take team comments with a grain of salt.

Every single year Ottawa drafts a kid either Murray or Dorion said they had him ranked like twice as high as where they got him. Every team does it, it's just a way to build hype.

But I truly do believe them in this scenario. McPhee likes offense, offense, offense, so if we hear they had Makar / Brannstrom ranked neck and neck I would absolutely believe them. Over Heiskanen I bet too.

 

[Edge]

Personally, I think he projects as more of a solid third line/bottom six player. That's not a knock, I just don't think the offensive ceiling at the pro level is quite as high as some of the guys you normally project as having two six upside.

With that said, he's a heck of a value pick and definitely worth taking a flyer on in the second round of a draft that tends to be a bit all over the map.