NHL Draft 2014: Tampa Bay Lightning draft grade
With the 19th overall selection in the 2014 NHL Draft, the Tampa Bay Lightning selected defenseman Anthony DeAngelo from the Sarnia Sting of the OHL.
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“Anthony is a skilled offensive defenseman. His puck skills and playmaking ability are excellent,” said NHL Central Scouting’s Chris Edwards. “He sees the ice very well and creates offensive scoring chances with great passes. He has a very good shot and gets it on net. DeAngelo likes to jump up into the rush and makes good decisions with the puck.”
DeAngelo is a player that fell on a lot of people’s boards because of question marks regarding attitude after a couple suspensions. When it came to his character concerns, Lightning GM Steve Yzerman told TSN that the team felt they did enough homework to justify the pick.
“We definitely had a long look at it,” Yzerman said. “We did our homework with the people he’s played for, the people he’s played with. His family. We think this is a young man with great potential. He’s gonna have to change if he’s going to make it as a professional hockey player and we believe in him.”
This is a pick that could really prove Yzerman to be a genius, or it could blow up in his face in a major way. That’s the only thing stopping this from being an “A” pick.
That being said, I really love this pick because of the fact that DeAngelo owns a skill set that could make him a dangerous play-making defenseman for years.
Final Grade: B
Sound off Wild fans! What do you think of Minnesota’s first pick? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.