Prospect Info: William Whitelaw, 66th Overall

[LastWordArmy]

William Whitelaw, born in Rosemount, Minnesota on February 5th, 2005, is a forward playing in the USHL. The young center stands at 5’9” and 172 pounds, and played with the Youngstown Phantoms this past season. He is currently committed to play for the University of Wisconsin next year. This season, he scored 36 goals and 25 assists for 61 points across 62 USHL contests.

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2023 NHL Scouting Report #45: William Whitelaw

The USHL has been pumping out NHL talent for years. This year, William Whitelaw is hoping to be the next in line.

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[CBJWerenski8]

This is a long term play. If he has 1st round skills (which I keep reading and hearing he does) with an opportunity to put it together then I am fine with a swing for the fences type deal.

I do care about the personality red flags. However, he is just a kid, and I am willing to let him mature. If he's able to grow out of his attitude and puts it all together I think he can make it as a top 6 scorer. If not? Probably a European or AHL scorer.

 

[Ice9]

Attitude can be adjusted. Not having any attitude or personality is a tough fix. NHL hockey requires a "I'm good, I'm a badass ". attitude or your head may be handed to you. (Sometimes, it still does)

I see a confident/smarmy, streak in all these picks. Kids who played with heart. Seldom can that be taught.

 

[GoJackets1]

Attitude can be adjusted. Not having any attitude or personality is a tough fix. NHL hockey requires a "I'm good, I'm a badass ". attitude or your head may be handed to you. (Sometimes, it still does)

I see a confident/smarmy, streak in all these picks. Kids who played with heart. Seldom can that be taught.

Entirely different sport obviously, but the Bengals have done really well recently drafting kids who play hard. A lot of them also had leadership qualities though, which is where this may differ with Whitelaw. But I won't pretend to know the kid and give him a chance.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Entirely different sport obviously, but the Bengals have done really well recently drafting kids who play hard. A lot of them also had leadership qualities though, which is where this may differ with Whitelaw. But I won't pretend to know the kid and give him a chance.

Well, As a bengals fan. They completely draft team players now. All character "team first" guys, even as free agents. Leadership is subjective. Not everyone needs to be a leader but everyone needs to be a "team" guy and buy into the common goal.

Also, NFL players are more or less expected to contribute right away and are all 20-21 years old by the time the become pro. They pretty much already are who they will become since their college environment takes a lot of that responsibility. The NHL has the opportunity to still mold 18 year olds in their development as they transition into become adults.

 

[Fro]

 

[Cowumbus]

Via Earegood:
Quick skating, a high-skill release and plenty of stickhandling tools to keep plays alive — Whitelaw could be an excellent offensive contributor. But the noise around Whitelaw suggests that he’s not a great locker room guy, to say the least. Just read this passage from EP Rinkside’s “industry chatter” section, which is usually where pro scouts share their unreserved beliefs under the almight power of anonymity:

“There’s a reason he was left off the World Junior-A challenge team. It has nothing to do with his hockey abilities. He thinks ‘I am better than all of you guys. My teammates suck.’ Add in that he’s small. Not a fun guy to put your name on the line with.”

 

[Xoggz22]

Via Earegood:
Quick skating, a high-skill release and plenty of stickhandling tools to keep plays alive — Whitelaw could be an excellent offensive contributor. But the noise around Whitelaw suggests that he’s not a great locker room guy, to say the least. Just read this passage from EP Rinkside’s “industry chatter” section, which is usually where pro scouts share their unreserved beliefs under the almight power of anonymity:

“There’s a reason he was left off the World Junior-A challenge team. It has nothing to do with his hockey abilities. He thinks ‘I am better than all of you guys. My teammates suck.’ Add in that he’s small. Not a fun guy to put your name on the line with.”

Interesting. I would hope that the connections CBJ had within the Youngstown Team would have brought something like this to light. It's also possible that he's simply immature and may be an ass right now but will get his bit of humble handed to him when he's smoked by another player. He'll have a wake up moment and if this is a real issue he'll either correct it or be gone.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

“There’s a reason he was left off the World Junior-A challenge team. It has nothing to do with his hockey abilities. He thinks ‘I am better than all of you guys. My teammates suck.’ Add in that he’s small. Not a fun guy to put your name on the line with.”

if he has that attitude in the USHL as a projected (by many) first round pick, it's annoying but likely backed up by his actual talent relative to the rest of that team. if he makes it to the NHL and still has that attitude, he's probably a moron lol.

that said… his shot/skill/skate combo gives him a real shot to be a top six scoring threat in the NHL someday. personally, i actually want that type of attitude from guys like that to some extent. obviously there's a difference between being absurdly confident (good) and being a tool (bad) but it can be a fine line.

 

[stevo61]

if he has that attitude in the USHL as a projected (by many) first round pick, it's annoying but likely backed up by his actual talent relative to the rest of that team. if he makes it to the NHL and still has that attitude, he's probably a moron lol.

that said… his shot/skill/skate combo gives him a real shot to be a top six scoring threat in the NHL someday. personally, i actually want that type of attitude from guys like that to some extent. obviously there's a difference between being absurdly confident (good) and being a tool (bad) but it can be a fine line.

Challenging teammates vs acting like your teammates are scrubs are 2 different things though. Michkov got hate as a teammate for being a kid and saying guys had to work harder, thats a better attitude even if he maybe acted a bit too emotionally. These comments sound like hes on the wrong side of the cocky/confident line but I guess sometimes especially from the outside people can have different opinions about the same situation. Will be interesting to follow, hopefully he grows out of that Yakupov type of mentality if thats what is actually going on because you cant outskill a garbage attitude

 

[Viqsi]

I didn't realize that his attitude issues weren't already common knowledge. I figured that was a large part of why we got him with as late of a pick as we did.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I didn't realize that his attitude issues weren't already common knowledge. I figured that was a large part of why we got him with as late of a pick as we did.

There must be a bunch of posts about it in the draft thread because I recall the discussion too and I’d never heard of the kid before.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

I didn't realize that his attitude issues weren't already common knowledge. I figured that was a large part of why we got him with as late of a pick as we did.

I just remember the second after we picked him the NHLN guys were like “woah boy. This kids a character..and not in the best ways” or something like that

 

[GoJackets1]

I think a “cockiness” character risk in an 18 year old, projected by some to be a first round pick, is exactly the kind of risk it’s fine to take in the 3rd round.

 

[Jovavic]

Either he grows out of it, gets it beaten out of him, or he grows up a tool, no other options

 

[CBJWerenski8]