Fourth Round, 93rd Overall
Submitted by pete on June 27, 2009 - 10:34
Name: Alex Hutchings
Position: C/RW
Height: 5.10
Weight: 173 lbs
Club: Barrie (OHL)
Shoots: Right
Rankings: CSS- 44(North American Skater), Red Line- 43, THN- 48, TSN- 58
Statistics: Barrie (OHL), 63 GP, 34-34-68, 60 PIM
Thievery. That's how we feel about getting Alex Hutchings in the fourth round. Pure thievery. We wouldn't have blinked if the Lightning took him in the second round, so the fact he's slipped this far is very exciting. Hutchings is one of the best skaters in the OHL and he is intelligent with a high motor. He plays in all phases of the game, and for a little guy he's surprisingly willing to get his nose dirty along the wall. Hutchings has scoring line upside, and unlike Panik, he plays an honest enough game that he can also play on your lower lines if you need him to. Bottom line: the Lightning got a hockey player. Red Line compares Hutchings to Chris Kunitz.
Money quote from Brian Lawton tweeting from the draft, "Our Dir. of Amateur Scouting Jim Hammett was so excited about getting Hutchings he started drinking my pop on accident." If we were there, we'd be drinking Lawton's pop too.
Update:
Bonus money quote from Red Line, which rates Hutchings as the 14th most underrated prospect in this draft: "Skates well, scores a bunch of goals, plays hard, and sound in his own end. Yet no one seems to take much notice." In addition, Red Line ranks Hutchings as having the 12th best hockey sense in this draft class. Victor Hedman, incidentally, was 2nd.
