Peter Holland+Draft review intro

Hey all i'm going to do each player review seperately so that way on the side bar if you want to read about a particular player, you can.

The Anaheim Ducks entered the 2009 draft with 5 picks, including the 15th overall selection.

But before a pick was even made, Chris Pronger was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for 19 year old defensemen Luca Sbisa, former Duck Joffrey Lupul and two first round picks, one of which was the 21st pick in the 09 draft, which was later traded for picks 26 and 37.

With their first pick the Ducks went a bit off the board with Peter Holland. With Jordan Schroeder falling yours truly was surprised when the Ducks passed on the dynamic Golden Gopher forward but character concerns clearly played in issue in his fall to the Vancouver Canucks, namely he interviewed poorly according to Gare Joyce.

So the Ducks went with the 6’1 180 LBS Holland who is a two way player playing in a tight defensive system with the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League. Holland had a break out year nearly tripling his offensive production, from 8 to 28 goals and from 23 to 67 points. He is a really fluid excellent skater for his size, sometimes he is criticized for looking so effortless with it but there is a current Duck whos skating can be described the same way, Scott Niedermayer. Holland did a bit of everything for Guelph playing on both of the special teams units.

Holland has a very good wrist shot, he gets it off fast and it is a hard and fairly accurate one he reminds me a lot of Jeff Carter mainly due to that shot, he’s very comfortable handling the puck and entering the zone with it and dishing to teammates. Essentially he is a very toolsy player but as I said before he has received criticism for his style of play and he fell a bit in the rankings after a poor performance Vs Saginaw in the OHL playoffs where several scouts saw him play, but what is forgotten the next game Holland had a hattrick(Source: Interview on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVgIlI2XnO0 )
A lot of his criticisms such as perceived cockyness and effort are very similar to a player the Ducks drafted 19th overall in 2003…Ryan Getzlaf. No I am not comparing him directly to the Ducks franchise player, but you have to look at the Ducks recent history of drafting since the famed 03’ draft…Character has always been a huge deal to the scouting staff with high picks. Another example is Bobby Ryan, the Ducks were absolutely ROASTED on the internet for the pick, passing on such “future stars” as Gilbert Brule and Jack Johnson. But the Ducks cited his character as a big reason why they made the pick even though some accused Ryan as a lazy player who couldn’t skate. Eventually Ryans character pushed him to become a player who has worked extremely hard on his conditioning and skating. As a result he took the NHL by storm last year scoring 31 goals in 64 games, my point being the Ducks picking Holland should eliminate a lot of the so called effort issues. He proved to them he had decent character, they will be patient with him like they were with Ryan, Getzlaf, and Perry. The critics will no doubt bash the pick if some others taken behind him produce sooner but my message to Duck fans…

.Good things come to those who wait! How many top 10 lists were done on the 2003 draft included Getzlaf in 2005? Well almost every single one of them had Patrice Bergeron, who made the NHL sooner in the top 10 and usuall top 5, 4 years later…..patience paid off and Getzlaf is emerging as an MVP caliber player, while Bergeron is settling into being a 2nd line type of guy

Anyone who has seen Holland play knows he has the natural talent to be a quality NHL player but you know what, when you draft in the middle of the first and lower there are rarely any “slam dunks” each pick has some degree of risk, whether it be boom or bust potential or a relatively low ceiling(IE 3rd line center like 2007 first rounder Logan MacMillan). The other thing is don’t just judge Holland by current and future numbers with the Guelph STORM. They are a notoriously strict defensive team, this will HELP Holland become a better pro as he will have a good understanding of what it takes to be a two way player.