With the 19th pick in SB Nation's 2011 NHL Mock Draft, our Edmonton Oilers bloggers at The Copper & Blue select Matt Puempel, a left winger from the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League.
2011 NHL Mock Draft: Edmonton Oilers Select Matt Puempel With No. 19 Pick
Matt Puempel, LW, Peterborough Petes (OHL)
via Getty
Puempel, ranked the 28th North American skater in the final rankings from Central Scouting, has been a phenomenal two-year career on a horrible team in the OHL, the Petes. He put up 69 points in 2010-11, a year after being named the OHL’s Rookie of the Year in 2009-10. He’s a bit of a rarity in the top portion of this year’s draft in that he’s more of a pure goal scorer than a well-rounded player.
Matchsticks & Gasoline writes that Puempel doesn’t want to be labeled as a one-dimensional player, but he has some work to do on his defensive game before that becomes a reality.
At this point it is obligatory to talk about what a well-rounded player the seemingly one-dimensional prospect is. I will not bore you with such nonsense. Matt Puempel is a goalscorer. The hockey gods put him on this earth to score goals and, for his entire career since bantam, that’s what he’s done. He’s put the puck on the net, and a reasonable percentage of the time the puck has therefore gone in the net. He will sometimes pick up an assist off a rebound or because defenses are so petrified by his shooting that they forget he can pass the puck, but he is a shooter through and through.
For full coverage of the 2011 NHL Draft, stick with SB Nation’s network of 34 hockey blogs, covering the draft from every angle. Also, stick with SB Nation’s NHL Draft hub, where you can find all the latest player profiles and news surrounding the event, which takes place in St. Paul, Minn. on June 24-25.
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