Brock
Registered User
If you don't mind hearing the opinion of an "outsider", Kujawinski is a guy I've seen play extensively as he plays for my home town's junior club.
Coming into this season, I had high hopes for Ryan. He was outstanding as a 16 year old last year, both in terms of his scoring touch and his two-way play. And he was MONEY in the faceoff dot, winning easily 65 to 70% of his draws (no exaggeration, he was literally winning draws with the frequency that Patrice Bergeron wins them at). I'd thought he had the potential to be a first round pick, with an Eric Staal-lite upside.
Unfortunately, this season just wasn't kind to Kujawinski. He just never seemed to get on track, and struggled out of the gate to put the puck in the net. It didn't help that he didn't seem to have any chemistry with his linemates until late December, when he was put on a line with Henri Ikonen and Sam Povorozniouk. At the time, Kujawinski had something like 5 goals in 30 games. In the 10 or so games that line played together, Kujawinski scored 5 goals.
But one thing seemed to be missing from his game, and that was consistency. Not just in terms of effort, but in terms of going to the areas of the ice he went to as a 16 year old to find success. If he can find that consistency, I think the Devils got a steal. Kujawinski definitely has first round tools -- good size, good hockey sense, good shot, decent wheels -- but the question will be if he can put them together on a consistent basis.
I'll echo these sentiments.
I had Kujawinski as the 13th rated OHL player heading into the draft.
http://ohlprospects.blogspot.ca/2013/05/my-final-top-50-ohl-players-for-2013_26.html
He's a project pick but one that I think will work out.
I had him rated as the 3rd best OHL player for the draft heading into the season. But as STK mentioned, it wasn't a great year for him. He looked a bit lost at times this year. Like he was trying to find an identity on the team (after the two super rookies Spencer Watson and Sam Bennett took over his role from the previous year). He played his best this year when he had the spotlight.
He has the potential to be a very complete player if he can put it all together. And even if he doesn't, he could still develop into a pretty decent 3rd liner. I like the selection because I think he's got upside to play in the NHL in a variety of different roles.