Prospect Info: Cole Candella 140th overall

[SaltyKesler]

20 points in 37 games as a draft eligible dman is pretty good production. Especially savvy to get him in the 5th round.

Unfortunately the rest of our picks besides Juolevi were crap.

Hey the Lockwood pick was a reach but it isn't crap

 

[Scurr]

I like what Benning has done at the draft with defensemen. The kind of players he's targeting are likely to produce some top 4 types as they have all shown some ability to move the puck. Tryamkin is the only "coke machine" I can think of and his skill level is actually quite impressive.

 

[VanillaCoke]

I'm kinda excited for this pick

 

[CanaFan]

I'm kinda excited for this pick

It's easily my favourite for the position.

 

[Pip]

Excited to see what he does next season.

 

[The Designer]

Was the top defender on the Bulldogs in points per game.

 

[Tobi Wan Kenobi]

 

[CouverNucks]

Hey boys and girls. I'm oddly enough from Hamilton and still living here now. Will be able to give reports on him throughout the season. Just from watching his games last year i can say it will become clear that this was a steal. This is probably closer to a 2nd rounder if he doesn't get hurt. We've got a promising kid in Cole. Will be attending most games this season so I'll keep you all updated.

 

[Gaunce4gm]

He looks as though he's got an absolute howitzer of a slap shot. Is it truly that hard or is the video making it look harder than it truly is?

 

[CouverNucks]

He looks as though he's got an absolute howitzer of a slap shot. Is it truly that hard or is the video making it look harder than it truly is?

No he does have a very hard shot. Usually makes people jump pretty badly when he misses and hits the glass. Pretty funny to watch. His shot is very hard but he has to work on keeping it lower, hit a couple guys up in the arms which obviously hurts a ton

 

[Josepho]

Yeah, a shot like that from the back-end would be amazing for us down the line. Aside from Tryamkin and Subban (if he makes it), I don't see us generating great shots from the point so it'd be fantastic if he panned out.

 

[Bad News Benning]

Hopefully the next Marco Scandella

 

[Virtanen2Horvat]

He will probably take a similar process as Subban. I think Subban deserves a better opportunity.

Anyways I think Candella will play up to 2 years of AHL and then be a 4th/5th Dman.

 

[VanJack]

Interesting that Jimbo seems to uncover a gem of a d-prospect in every draft...Tryamkin in the third round; Tate Olson in 7th and now Candella....finding d-men with some offensive upside and decent size late in drafts is gold.

 

[jeromemorrow]

Did Cole Candella regress this season?

 

[denkiteki]

Did Cole Candella regress this season?

Don't follow the bulldogs but he has 19 points in 64 games this year vs 20 in 37 last year so production is down... to a point where you got to wonder if you want to give him a contract.

 

[orcatown]

Did Cole Candella regress this season?

Doesn't look like progressed.

 

[F A N]

New coach? Slow to fully recover from wrist injury?

Based on the scouting reports I have read, Candella doesn't have the highest hockey IQ. He might be one of those guys who are slow to adjust to a new system. A lot of his offensive production comes from his big shot. The tools are there but a project for sure at this point.

I think he's playing behind Benjamin Gleason, who was actually the higher ranked player (given Candella's injuries) and who quite frankly is the better (OHL) player right now.

 

[Verviticus]

interesting predictions in this thread

it was still a good draft pick

 

[Josepho]

Not mad at Benning or the scouting staff for this one. There's a difference between a bad pick (i.e. Pettit, Stewart) and a decent pick that didn't work out.

Don't follow the bulldogs but he has 19 points in 64 games this year vs 20 in 37 last year so production is down... to a point where you got to wonder if you want to give him a contract.

Unless we see a massive spike in production, there's not a chance in hell you sign a player like this.

 

[VanJack]

Might be the same kind of player as McEneny, who also missed a big chunk of time to injury in junior and went unclaimed in the draft....very hard for OHL players--particularly d-men--to recover from lost games of development to a major injury.

What's his status?.....was 2017 his first draft-eligible year?....When does he need a contract?

 

[Red]

Might be the same kind of player as McEneny, who also missed a big chunk of time to injury in junior and went unclaimed in the draft....very hard for OHL players--particularly d-men--to recover from lost games of development to a major injury.

What's his status?.....was 2017 his first draft-eligible year?....When does he need a contract?

He's was a first time eligible last year so we have until summer 2018 to sign him.

Was a good pick at the time, on pace for a ~37 point season as a D-man last year. No reason or rush to sign him now - let's see if he can improve next year.

 

[Pip]

Very disappointing year.

 

[VanJack]

Very disappointing year.

Seems to me the Canucks have a sack-full of the same kind of d-men in Neill, Olson, Brisebois and Candella....won't be room for all of 'em.

 

[denkiteki]

Seems to me the Canucks have a sack-full of the same kind of d-men in Neill, Olson, Brisebois and Candella....won't be room for all of 'em.

Actually not exactly true.

Brisebois is a much more complete D than the others listed. Basically can do a bit of everything but not elite at any one thing, which also means he isn't bad in his own end. Neill on the other hand is elite offensively but still has work to do in his own end. Candella is suppose to be a 2 way D (like Brisebois) but at this point, i would guess (again haven't watched him play) is quite a bit behind Brisebois.

Olson is by far the most physical out of the bunch and had a great offensive year last year but that offense seems to have disappeared this year. That said he's quite unique in that he plays physical while the rest aren't nearly as physical. He was probably the most hyped out of the bunch after last season due to his production (~.72ppg vs ~.38 ppg now). I would rank him above Chatfield who we just signed recently as a UDFA so he'll likely get a contract along with everyone else (except maybe Candella).

You also forgot about Juolevi who's similar age as the ones mentioned above.

Of course its not realistic to assume all of them will be playing for Utica but some of them will be and others will likely be traded. That and remember we generally lose quite a few D due to injury every single season so we might carry extra D prospects just to go between AHL/ECHL. McEneny proved Ds could develop in the ECHL to being useful so its possible we have 1 or more of the above go to the ECHL initially then graduate to the AHL.