Blake Wheeler

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pittengineer

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Jan 1, 2004
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Oggy said:
Can i have information on him?

want kind of player Wheeler is?

:help:

Will be a senior in high school this year. Might play juniors instead though. Already accepted to U. of Minn after he finishes school. Big athletic guy. 6'4, 200lbs as a 17 year old. Is an all around athlete(140 yards on 13 catches in state AA championship football game). Scored 100(44+56) points junior year in high school. Decent skater with good scoring skills. Could become a better skater as he adjust to his size(good old growth spurts). Looks to be a late 1st/early 2nd this year.
 

JeSuisReine

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Feb 21, 2004
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pittengineer said:
Will be a senior in high school this year. Might play juniors instead though. Already accepted to U. of Minn after he finishes school. Big athletic guy. 6'4, 200lbs as a 17 year old. Is an all around athlete(140 yards on 13 catches in state AA championship football game). Scored 100(44+56) points junior year in high school. Decent skater with good scoring skills. Could become a better skater as he adjust to his size(good old growth spurts). Looks to be a late 1st/early 2nd this year.
1st or second round!? Really....He got a lot of attention from the MN state high school tournament.....but I think it has to remember that he is playing class A high school hockey. I honestly don't think his talent is that of a first round or early second round. I'd say late second maybe.....
 

pittengineer

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JeSuisReine said:
1st or second round!? Really....He got a lot of attention from the MN state high school tournament.....but I think it has to remember that he is playing class A high school hockey. I honestly don't think his talent is that of a first round or early second round. I'd say late second maybe.....

I would love to see him fall to late 2nd. I believe he was ranked 46 by CSS before his season this year(might be off). I think an 100 point junior year should bump him up to the 28-38 range in both ranking and draft position. I would like to see if he chooses to go to the USHL or remain in school next year, but he remains undecided right now.
 

Dr.Sens(e)

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Feb 27, 2002
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Sounds like he is really rising up the charts. Ever since his domination of the championship tourney of which he was the MVP (and in front of a bunch of NHL scouts), he seems to be a hot commodity.

It's always tough to project a player based on that level of competition, but given his size and skill levels, he definitely could slip into the first round.

Mckeens currently has him at #39th, which is obviously early 2nd.
 

PuckFan01

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pittengineer said:
Will be a senior in high school this year. Might play juniors instead though. Already accepted to U. of Minn after he finishes school. Big athletic guy. 6'4, 200lbs as a 17 year old. Is an all around athlete(140 yards on 13 catches in state AA championship football game). Scored 100(44+56) points junior year in high school. Decent skater with good scoring skills. Could become a better skater as he adjust to his size(good old growth spurts). Looks to be a late 1st/early 2nd this year.

I think Wheeler is a good skater already. Some of the goals he scored this year were of the variety in which he outskated the opposing defense (some of whom were future D-1 players in their own right and will get drafted this year). 6'4, 200 lbs. players usually don't jet around like waterbugs anyway. The scary thing with him is that he is a late bloomer who appears to be getting significantly better. Once he focuses on hockey all year, watch out.

I believe if this kid slips past the middle of the 2nd round, somebody is going to get themself a steal.
 

Spectacular_Bid

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Mar 22, 2004
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I just don't see how this kid could be a late first/early second round pick. I know at 6'5", gm's are drooling over this kids possible potential but he was playing bantam AA two years ago. I understand that he dominated Minnesota high school but he was never tested and is totally unproven. Hopefully this kid makes the jump to the USHL next year instead of playing high school again as a late senior, maybe then we will see what all the hype is about. Now like Steblick said, this kid may end up being the next dominate power forward or he may be a flop but either way NHL gm's need to re-evaluate how they scout/draft. If Blake Wheeler is a first round pick then Cedar Rapids (USHL) 6'5" foward Nathan Perkovich shouldn't be too far behind.
 

PuckFan01

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LemonDrop_27 said:
I just don't see how this kid could be a late first/early second round pick.

If you haven't seen him play, can you really fairly judge whether or not he is worth a 1st or 2nd round pick? :dunno:
 

Spectacular_Bid

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Mar 22, 2004
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You are correct, I have never seen Blake Wheeler play but I have seen many Minnesota high school games and many many good Minnesota high school players. I think you may have missed my point though. All I'm saying is that he is totally unproven. He may in fact be first round material but you can't be sure because he's never been tested. I think taking a kid like Blake Wheeler in the first round is a huge long shot. But you are correct, I have never seen him play.
 

sushinsky4tsar

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I agree with the above posts. I haven't seen any more of Wheeler than the couple of games on tv where Breck won the class A championship, including one where he scored a hat trick in a period. Great scoring touch, impressive skating & stickhandling at times, a little awkward at other times. For a guy that big, I didn't see the nastyness you might want to see, but he certaintly wasn't soft. He could get that nastyness in college w/ better competition. However, I'd have to agree, he's just so raw and untested I wouldn't want to use a late 1st or early 2nd on him.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the guy in the Wild system, but at #42, I want a guy like Booth or other more proven prospects. If he's available in the late 2nd, I wouldn't mind seeing us package all our 3rd and 4ths to go get him. But I wouldn't be in tears if we forgot the notion altogether, and see if he makes it to the 3rd (unlikely).
 
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