C Giorgio Estephan - Lethbridge Hurricanes, WHL (2015, 152nd, BUF)

[S E P H]

I swear I though there was a thread for him, but didn't find anything in the search department.

He has been mega hot for the last month and a half. I thought he was going to go down the Alex Forsberg route instead of the Curtis Lazar, but he has finally found some rhythm to his game playing a a very bad club. He is a decent, but not overly physical player that really has a "utility" trademark. He can play powerplay, penatly kill, last five minutes with a one goal lead, or out there down a goal as well. Hard to say how scouts value since he had a brutal start to his draft year campaign, but has been developing into more consistency lately. Again, personally speaking I think he deserves a late round selection, but I think majority of teams might prefer him as a training camp instead.

How do you guys view him? Has he played well enough to get over that "hump" in scouts' eyes? Does he still have a lot left to prove?

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[HeavyHitter99]

He's actually one of the hurricanes best players. 2nd in points and has one of the better +/- on the team. Imo he would be better on a different team, the Hurricanes are in last place, have scored the least amount of goals and don't have a ppg player iirc. He plays in all situations like you stated but has been touted for a couple years as an goal scorer with a very good shot.

If he was on a better team I honestly think we would be looking at a 1st round pick but based on his early struggles (not all his fault) I see him falling to the 4th round or so. He could end up being a steal.

 

[tv14]

Curious about him too. Was highly rated the last couple of years, dropped off the map with a slow start this year but he is tearing it up. His numbers have seen a huge rise since their coach got fired.

December: 3 goals, 7 assists, 10 points in 9 games.
January: 8 goals, 11 assists, 19 points in 10 games.

29 points in his last 19 games is pretty dang impressive.

 

[zjh]

He's got great offensive instincts. Still has some work to do on his skating, a little bit sluggish still. Just a pure goal scorer in midget, he just had a 6th sense for getting open and burying pucks. Looks like he is starting to figure it out at the WHL level, which is great for him and the Hurricanes.

 

[sbtatter]

He's got great offensive instincts. Still has some work to do on his skating, a little bit sluggish still. Just a pure goal scorer in midget, he just had a 6th sense for getting open and burying pucks. Looks like he is starting to figure it out at the WHL level, which is great for him and the Hurricanes.

I like estephan a lot, and he deserves credit for staying with lethbridges program even though his start this season suffered for the gong show that was the hurricanes. Good skill, combined with his don't quit attitude equals being drafted IMO

 

[R S]

Still has a lot to prove for me, although I'm glad he's trending upwards.

Has lots of tools to work with offensively but I really did not like his game when I caught him live earlier this year. Too fancy, very one-dimensional. Glad to see he's playing better.

 

[sbtatter]

Still has a lot to prove for me, although I'm glad he's trending upwards.

Has lots of tools to work with offensively but I really did not like his game when I caught him live earlier this year. Too fancy, very one-dimensional. Glad to see he's playing better.

His game has improved exponentially in the last six weeks. I think enough there for a team to gamble a late round pick on IMO

 

[MS]

A player who had had a bizarre development curve over the past couple years.

#4 overall bantam pick, came in with a lot of hype, had a pretty solid 16 y/o season, then completely fell on his face for the first 3 months of this year to the point where it didn't even look like he'd be drafted (I don't think he's ranked on the CSS midterms).

Then, out of nowhere, he goes out and puts up the most dominant stretch of hockey this year of any WHL draft-eligible forward. 27 points in his last 15 games.

Has probably put himself back in the top 3 rounds of this draft just that quickly. Big talent with very soft hands and a good shot, and quality vision of the ice.

 

[Free Edler]

Estephan's strong play may be a case of a rising tide helping all ships. Turfing Drake Berehowsky has been a godsend for quite a few players on that Lethbridge team. What a disaster of a coach he was. One of the worst hires in recent WHL history.

 

[R S]

His game has improved exponentially in the last six weeks. I think enough there for a team to gamble a late round pick on IMO

I know it has. But a good 6 week stretch isn't enough for a lot of NHL teams to roll the dice on.

Hopefully he keeps it up because I know he's a skilled kid. A big last couple months and he could easily be a top 4-5 round player.

 

[zjh]

Here's a guy who could benefit greatly from an opportunity to play at the U18's in April.

 

[MS]

I know it has. But a good 6 week stretch isn't enough for a lot of NHL teams to roll the dice on.

Hopefully he keeps it up because I know he's a skilled kid. A big last couple months and he could easily be a top 4-5 round player.

Disagree.

It isn't just a 'good 6 week stretch', like 12 points in 15 games or something. It's the most explosive 6-week stretch that any WHL draft-eligible player has had this season. Including guys projected in the first round, and he's doing it playing with nobodies on a bad team (one of his linemates through this stretch had 3 career WHL games before the stretch started).

For me, that immediately ramps him up ahead of all the middling Karnaukovs and Sideroffs and Gabrielles and whatnot who have shown nowhere near that high level of play, despite perhaps more consistency.

Hell, this stretch of production basically gets his seasonal production on par with those guys ... and a guy like Sideroff is in the 3rd-4th round on most listings it seems.

Scouts will be shifting him way up, and quickly. He's inside my top-15 WHL guys right now.

And if he keeps this going with a big last couple months, he's in the top 50 picks, not the 5th round.

 

[R S]

Disagree.

It isn't just a 'good 6 week stretch', like 12 points in 15 games or something. It's the most explosive 6-week stretch that any WHL draft-eligible player has had this season. Including guys projected in the first round, and he's doing it playing with nobodies on a bad team (one of his linemates through this stretch had 3 career WHL games before the stretch started).

For me, that immediately ramps him up ahead of all the middling Karnaukovs and Sideroffs and Gabrielles and whatnot who have shown nowhere near that high level of play, despite perhaps more consistency.

Hell, this stretch of production basically gets his seasonal production on par with those guys ... and a guy like Sideroff is in the 3rd-4th round on most listings it seems.

Scouts will be shifting him way up, and quickly. He's inside my top-15 WHL guys right now.

And if he keeps this going with a big last couple months, he's in the top 50 picks, not the 5th round.

It's fine to disagree. I see your view and think it has some validity.

I just like to weight the entire season a bit more, while also paying close attention to uptick's in a second half. A full body of work is an important thing.

I'm not saying he's not a good player or worth a potential 3rd or 4th round pick. I just would have preferred to see better performances from him throughout the year rather than just one impressive 6 week burst.

 

[MS]

It's fine to disagree. I see your view and think it has some validity.

I just like to weight the entire season a bit more, while also paying close attention to uptick's in a second half. A full body of work is an important thing.

I'm not saying he's not a good player or worth a potential 3rd or 4th round pick. I just would have preferred to see better performances from him throughout the year rather than just one impressive 6 week burst.

Well, if he'd done this all year we'd be talking about him alongside of Merkley and Harkins.

I'll take a guy who looks like garbage for 2 months and then like a #1 pick for 2 months over a guy who looks like a 'meh' 4th rounder for the entire season, every day of the week.

The guys being talked about as 3rd-5th round WHL forwards haven't shown anywhere near this sort of explosiveness or upside. The sort of breakthrough Estephan is currently showing is what you want to see from any prospect, and makes him a very attractive commodity.

 

[R S]

Comes in as my 28th ranked WHL player for 2015, essentially deemed as a 5th-6th rounder for me.

http://whl-from-above.blogspot.ca/2015/05/final-whl-rankings-2015-nhl-draft.html

#28 Giorgio Estephan

Team: Lethbridge Hurricanes
Position: C
Shoots: R
Height: 6’0
Weight: 188
GP: 64
Goals: 23
Assists: 28
Points: 51
Pts/Gm: 0.79
PIM: 18

Player Analysis: Giorgio Estephan is an extremely skilled offensive pivot for the Lethbridge Hurricanes…skating stride is quite wide, which seems to give him good balance…top speed is good but not great for a player of his size and skillset…while the wide stance to his stride gives him good balance, it seems to hurt his acceleration which is also only good but definitely not great…overall skating and mobility will need to be taken up a notch or two to make a successful jump to the next level…possesses extremely soft hands with the ability to corral very tough passes on a regular basis…is a very good stickhandler with a large bag of tricks at his disposal to beat players on 1-on-1 plays both in the neutral zone and off the cycle…also has an extremely good shot…has a very quick release…knows how to find soft spots offensively and how to get into proper shooting position quickly for bang-bang chances, making him even more dangerous off the cycle…one-timer is a major threat on the PP while also being dangerous if he can find open space in the offensive zone at even strength…I did question his vision at times during my viewings of him…seemed to have some tunnel vision from time to time, failing to notice players who were wide open in scoring areas…also tended to try and be a bit too fancy at times when trying to make plays…could stand to be a bit more north-south at times and go to the net with a bit more regularity…away from the puck he’s smart positionally on the forecheck…also showed some good hustle with regularity on the backcheck…has some good footwork defensively and does a pretty good job interrupting passing and shooting lanes with his stick, making up for his slight lack of speed and mobility…has a decent level of physicality and compete on the defensive side of the puck, even though he projects far more as an offensive player going forward…has a bit of chippiness to his game but I wouldn’t call him a mean or overly aggressive player…he spent the last part of the year in the middle of Brayden Burke and Tyler Wong and their line was one of the hottest in the WHL due to their fantastic chemistry with each other…along with spending the majority of the year as their #1 centre Estephan was also their main powerplay threat and also saw time as a penalty killer…the coaching change partway through the year seemed to lift major weight off his shoulders as my viewings of him in the second half were night and day compared to the first half…this year he more than doubled his point totals from 2013-14 where he put up 24 points in 64 games as a rookie on a very bad Hurricanes club…his offensive progression this year regarding actual production was staggering as the year wore on…he put up only 0.47 points-per-game in the first half of the year, more than doubling that to 1.09 from January 1st through the end of the year…that was an increase of over 130%, one of the highest such marks of any draft-eligible WHL skater…his 23 goals during the regular season was good T-5th best among first-year draft-eligible WHL forwards while he finished 9th in points and PPG among that group…scored 12.57% of all Hurricanes goals this season, the 4th highest such mark of any first-year draft-eligible WHL forward…either scored or assisted on 27.32% of all Lethbridge goals this year, good for 7th best among all first-year draft-eligible WHL forwards…was recognized by the Hurricanes this season for his perseverance, dedication and sportsmanship…he was picked 4th overall by the Hurricanes in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft…overall I see Estephan as a talented kid who is trending in the right direction…despite having some concerns with his skating and pure hockey sense, there is no doubt that he has the skill to project as a top 9 forward at the NHL level if his development goes well…for me, his somewhat bizarre choices with the puck at times and skating issues (albeit fixable) hold me back from ranking him much higher than a 5th rounder…ultimately I expect we’ll see him come off the board in or around the 6th round of the 2015 NHL Draft…

 

[Revelate]

OT winner tonight. 11 game point streak. 55 points on the year.

 

[jackstar]

OT winner tonight. 11 game point streak. 55 points on the year.

It was a beauty too. Faked out the entire building with a fake drop pass and went five hole. He is a very entertaining player to watch. Great hands and is very flashy which from a spectators point of view is great.

 

[Woodhouse]

Estephan's GWG:

 

[Thorton02]

Estephan's GWG:

Sick move Giorgio

 

[TheMistyStranger]

Damn. That shows fantastic awareness of where his teammate was as well.

 

[izzy]

Wow, that'll be on Barbers IG page

 

[ChadS]

Genious move. Really wanted the Wings to pick him in the late rounds...

 

[sah braise]

Estephan's GWG:

Wow. The fake drop pass looks so good when done right

Kid made it look easy too. Great goal

 

[Sticks and Pucks]

How does he compare with teammate Brayden Burke right now?

 

[Chainshot]

Very pleased that his late season blossoming has continued with production through this season. His confidence seems to be soaring.