Habster:
Somewhat odd situation between Blake Wheeler and the Coyotes. The Coyotes wouldn’t give into Wheeler’s contract requests and he was probably getting advice from his agent who probably thinks his client will get better contract offers as a UFA.
The scouting community was a bit surprised when the Coyotes took Blake Wheeler as their 5th overall choice in the 2004 NHL draft. Granted, he had a great season playing at Breck (USHS) and did score 100 points in his draft year but he was still playing high school hockey.
With the exception of Ovechkin, Malkin and Radulov, the 2004 draft had one of the weaker talent pools to select from so maybe the Wheeler selection wasn’t such a bad choice at the time. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look good after this recent development.
It’s a bit of a risky move since Wheeler hasn’t played a professional game yet but does have a good skill set. Wheeler is also big (6’4″ 220lbs) and had decent production (GP-127 G-42 A-54 PT- 96) during his three years playing NCAA hockey with the Minnesota Gophers (with Habs prospect David Fischer). Let’s just say, he won’t lose any money from not signing with the Coyotes and will definitely get some decent offers from other teams looking to acquire a big, young and skilled winger.
The Canadiens should inquire about Wheeler’s contract demands as they could use his size, good skating ability and it wouldn’t cost much to sign him……..if you don’t ask, you won’t know!!!
Here’s how Hockey’s Future describes his game:
Talent Analysis
Over the last couple seasons, Wheeler has added a lot of size. He’s s filling out, and still growing into his frame. Wheeler is a good skater, has deceptive speed, and has great acceleration when needed, but needs to increase his stamina. He can stickhandle at top speed, but needs to develop more moves, especially power driven moves coming out of the corner. He needs to be a bit more creative on the forecheck, using his body and keeping his legs constantly moving. When he shows spurts of confidence driven play, he can be very effective on forecheck, most notably down low. He needs to continue to improve on creating space and or distance while he’s on the puck. He has the ability to play on special teams.
Youtube on Balke Wheeler: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pIOjjz4jEY