F Josh Lawrence - Saint John Sea Dogs, QMJHL (2020 undrafted)

[Daneurism]

He dominated his age group when he was younger. It wasn't just hype. I saw him play a couple WSI games where he was just as impressive as Byfield.

 

[BigHitter67]

He dominated his age group when he was younger. It wasn't just hype. I saw him play a couple WSI games where he was just as impressive as Byfield.

Whenever I read or hear someone going on about a kid in Bantam dominating his peers you know whats the very first thing I ask ? Whats the kids birthdate? If its Jan , I tend to take the hype with a tiny grain of salt . If its June..I take note of the name. IF its December..shit I'll get out and try and watch the kid in person if I can..lol. Its called the Relative Age Effect and while of course some of these 14 yearold 'January phenoms' continue onto stardom, the majority of them ,who've enjoyed the 'age advantage' since Novice hockey invariably come back to pack by adulthood - aka NHL draft age. Its simply the way it is.

 

[Schooner Guy]

Whenever I read or hear someone going on about a kid in Bantam dominating his peers you know whats the very first thing I ask ? Whats the kids birthdate? If its Jan , I tend to take the hype with a tiny grain of salt . If its June..I take note of the name. IF its December..shit I'll get out and try and watch the kid in person if I can..lol. Its called the Relative Age Effect and while of course some of these 14 yearold 'January phenoms' continue onto stardom, the majority of them ,who've enjoyed the 'age advantage' since Novice hockey invariably come back to pack by adulthood - aka NHL draft age. Its simply the way it is.

Also big kids like Byfield take longer to start to realize their potential. Lawrence is small and likely peaked too soon. It will be interesting to see if he does get drafted.

 

[Daneurism]

Byfield's always been a great player. There's a misconception that he's raw or something and realized his potential later. He's literally been a beast since I saw him play in Minor Bantam. Probably before that too.

 

[scoutman1]

Any thoughts on whether Lawrence will even get drafted?

Hard to say if he gets drafted, he never turned out like a lot of people though, he is a decent talent but not a franchise player in the QMJHL like once though...I think it is 50/50 if he gets drafted, but if he does it is late late draft. He would be a decent player to have in the system because he still has talent to be brought out and could find his niche, I think a team like Montreal will take a flyer on him late in the draft.

 

[TopC0rner]

Hard to say if he gets drafted, he never turned out like a lot of people though, he is a decent talent but not a franchise player in the QMJHL like once though...I think it is 50/50 if he gets drafted, but if he does it is late late draft. He would be a decent player to have in the system because he still has talent to be brought out and could find his niche, I think a team like Montreal will take a flyer on him late in the draft.

I would draft Brady Burns before Josh Lawrence. I think he'll go undrafted this year.

 

[Yoshidas Island]

Ended up undrafted, unfortunate.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

 

[GermanSpitfire]

 

[B17 Apricots]

I was really surprised no one signed him this past summer, even to an AHL deal. Same for Théo Rochette. They went head to head in the Q championship last year and when everything was done I thought they were guaranteed to get contracts. Kept waiting and waiting... absolutely nothing. Both Lawrence and Rochette went to Switzerland after the Q ended. So now that this season's over a little check-in.

Stylistically, Lawrence has some Yanni Gourde in his game. Small, tenacious 2-way center. Great on faceoffs, good skill. He finished his last 2 Q seasons phenomenally. Surprisingly he ended up in the 2nd tier Swiss league while Rochette went to the NL. If you're keeping tabs on them they both pretty much did exactly what they needed to do. Lawrence was third in the SL in scoring, and Rochette had a very respectable rookie season in the top Swiss league. Obviously they're both long shots here but I think they're worth keeping little tabs on. More so Lawrence personally, I think he's got traits that are more projectable. He's a guy where if the skill doesn't translate he's got other tools to be a solid role player.

I'm not going to completely count the kid out yet. Gourde was also undrafted from the Q. At 22 he had an underwhelming AHL season, followed it up at 23 splitting time between the ECHL and AHL. Finally had his first full season at 26/27. Similar sort of players, same frame. If Lawrence has a slimmer of hope to an NHL path he's gotta hope a better league takes a chance on him next season.

 

[hockeykid87]

I remember this kid was primed to come play for the Penticton Vees wayyyy back in 2018-19. Family came in for a visit. He had his scholarship to BU I think it was. A few weeks later he gets drafted by his hometown team in the Q and that was that.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Just saw his numbers from his first year in Switzerland. Not sure how the leagues work there but with 30 goals in 45 games would have thought he'd have moved up from the second to the first division.

Any chance he receives an AHL deal if not an ELC?