Prospect Info: With the 26th selection in the 2013 entry draft, the Ducks select Shea Theodore

[Bender66]

Stephens has an article up with quotes from Murray but the stupid OCregister now makes people pay for that stuff.

Theodore, who'll turn 18 on Aug. 3, had 19 goals and 30 assists in 71 games with the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds in his second full junior season.

A left-handed shooter, Theodore easily led his team in defenseman scoring and ranked third on the T-Birds overall. The 6-foot-1 3/4, 178-pound rearguard ranked 11th among North American skaters on the final NHL Central Scouting rankings.

"Shea is a great skater and can really move the puck," Ducks general manager Bob Murray said. "The way the game is played now, that's really important. You need players like that. We are really excited."

 

[kducks]

Also with Nieds here, not a bad mentor to have for Theodore, like Nieds did for Fowler

Speaking of Niedermayer...kind of odd that he wasn't up on stage for that pick... Offensive D-man, New Jersey, etc.

 

[mightyquack]

Speaking of Niedermayer...kind of odd that he wasn't up on stage for that pick... Offensive D-man, New Jersey, etc.

I didn't realise he wasn't on the stage, I swear I saw him sitting on the Ducks table earlier?

 

[NEWFowler]

For what its worth, Central scouting had this guy ranked in the early teens if I'm not mistaken..

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

He was the 11th NA skater per CSS.

 

[HanSolo]

I do think there's a lot of potential there.

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

I have a feeling with a higher pick, we would've "went off the board" for him still.

 

[Yeaoh]

I have a feeling with a higher pick, we would've "went off the board" for him still.

Doubtful. The Ducks didn't have a nameplate for him on the jersey. IMO the guy they originally wanted was gone.

 

[Vipers31]

I have a feeling with a higher pick, we would've "went off the board" for him still.

It's possible. However, I'm happy our organisation doesn't got for "we had this guy in our top 1+x" like Toronto with Rielly last year, or Calgary in shameful fashion this year.

 

[Vipers31]

Doubtful. The Ducks didn't have a nameplate for him on the jersey. IMO the guy they originally wanted was gone.

I doubt that. At #26, you don't have a guy you originally want. You always have a bunch. Who knows if they even made any or how many.

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

Doubtful. The Ducks didn't have a nameplate for him on the jersey. IMO the guy they originally wanted was gone.

I didn't see the draft, but to me that means they thought would be gone by the time their pick was up. Theodore was clearly one of the top 26 guys on their board, so they probably had nameplates for the guys they thought they had a realistic chance of getting, and he should've been one. They don't bring two nameplates, they probably have 5-10.

 

[Elvs]

Yeah, seem like they took the BPA. I don't think there's any chance we'll see Fowler, Lindholm, Vatanen and Theodore with the Ducks at the same time. There's too little grit. Anyways, we get a good player. Remember that prospects can also be used as trade bait, and surely some of our prospects will be traded in the next couple of years. If all our good skating, "soft" defensemen develops the right way, one of them could surely give a nice return in a trade.

 

[I Need Quackers]

Doubtful. The Ducks didn't have a nameplate for him on the jersey. IMO the guy they originally wanted was gone.

Probably the opposite - they more than likely didn't think he'd be there.

Remember when Fowler was drafted?

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Trying to remember the last 17yo we drafted. Tverdovsky?

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I like this pick. The kid knows offense as a defenseman. The org has a lot of defensemen being developed before this draft. There is no need to rush this kid, which means he can stay with Seattle and continue to learn to play defense. After a year there, then he can continue to hone his skills in Norfolk for a year or two. Aside from Vatanen and Welinski, don't forget we have smallish Cooper as well for offensive defensemen.

There are a plethora of defensive defensemen in the NHL. We found Lovejoy (actually, he's a two way defenseman, but you get the point.) We got Lindholm, Clark, and O'Brien in Norfolk. Kevin Lind is a defensive d-man in Michigan, IIRC. Sbisa and Folwer are two way defensemen.

Anyhow, Ozolinsh was one of my favorite players as a Duck. He wasn't all that bad. heh Just pair him up with a responsible two way d-man.

 

[Ducks Nation*]

I for one love this pick didn't know much about him after watching some footage and reading up on him if we give him time to develop which we should be able to I think he will be solid.

 

[Mr Rogers]

Ozolinsh came to mind for me as well.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

I'll accept the pick because we have a pretty good track record with our scouting team. But I don't really understand the logic of looking for any D who might get you 50-60 points and be bad defensively (even with improvement) vs a D who will be very good on the blueline and still score 25-30 points. Or put another way, I like what Lindholm projects to be better than what Shea projects to be.

 

[Static]

That's the difference between a top 10 pick and a late first pick.

 

[Professor John Frink]

I'll accept the pick because we have a pretty good track record with our scouting team. But I don't really understand the logic of looking for any D who might get you 50-60 points and be bad defensively (even with improvement) vs a D who will be very good on the blueline and still score 25-30 points. Or put another way, I like what Lindholm projects to be better than what Shea projects to be.

Well there is value there. 50 point d-men certainly have a place in the NHL and certainly on this team in the future when you consider the only real offense focused d-men we have are Vatanen and Fowler(no he isn't a 2way dman no matter how you want to justify it).

But with guys like Clark, Warg, Lindholm, O'Brein, Cooper, the prospect pool could use another "pure" offensive talent. Especially because Madden admits Theodore is a good 3 years away from doing anything at the pro level. And as someone said, tough to compare a guy picked 6th overall and what he brings to a guy picked 26th overall.

From the quotes I have seen he is a project, but in the sense of he needs to get bigger and stronger and hone his defensive game. Not in the sense of we hope he becomes something. My prediction(something I hate to do) is that the guy will be an NHL player. Just not sure if the Ducks will get a Mike Green or MA Bergeron.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

If this guy ends up being a mike green type player then i won't complain. never heard of him, will research. guess we have to trust the scouts here

 

[getzforfighting*]

Well there is value there. 50 point d-men certainly have a place in the NHL and certainly on this team in the future when you consider the only real offense focused d-men we have are Vatanen and Fowler(no he isn't a 2way dman no matter how you want to justify it).

But with guys like Clark, Warg, Lindholm, O'Brein, Cooper, the prospect pool could use another "pure" offensive talent. Especially because Madden admits Theodore is a good 3 years away from doing anything at the pro level. And as someone said, tough to compare a guy picked 6th overall and what he brings to a guy picked 26th overall.

From the quotes I have seen he is a project, but in the sense of he needs to get bigger and stronger and hone his defensive game. Not in the sense of we hope he becomes something. My prediction(something I hate to do) is that the guy will be an NHL player. Just not sure if the Ducks will get a Mike Green or MA Bergeron.

as sad as it seems maybe the ducks are moulding fowler to be a more consistent 2-way dman and hope that one of vatanen/theodore can pull the powerplay.

It seems like fowler has been given the chance to be the man on the pp the last year or two but hasn't yet lived up to it. His shot obviously isnt a bomb so maybe Murray sees an opportunity to take a pp unit feauturing theo-vats and have fowler play with either beauch or a beauch replacement (lindholm,warg,etc) in the future

 

[KaseMeOutside]

and i have to agree with the train of thought, that you cannot teach high end offensive abilities. it's something you have and develop from a kid, to your late teens, tightening up the defensive side can be done and it's not like picking him at 26 is a reach, really given his rankings

 

[Markus078]

that you cannot teach high end offensive abilities.

It is not just the offensive ability. You can not teach high end skating and quickness. Sure you can improve it but either you have this high end skill or you don't.

Personally I was a little bit surprised that we passed on Erne/McCoshen but right now I like this pic a lot. It would be great if he would shoot right hand. Maybe he can take the same path Duncan Keith did

That he is one of the younger players in the draft is also great. The Ducks will take it slow with him so 2-3years away imho. It will be great to see what he will do next season in juniors.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

Sounds like Theodore was drafted to replace Schultz