Sean Couturier’s road to the NHL Draft
Sean Couturier managed to do what no other Canadian prospect managed to do last December, and it put him in a league of his own when all of the draft eligible players from throughout the CHL met at the 2011 Home Hardware NHL Top Prospects Game in January.
Though Couturier far from stole the show in front of the dozens of professional scouts looking for their first official taste of this year’s NHL draftees, nothing could take away from the fact that he and he alone represented his country at the 2011 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.
Now he’ll simply have to retain the experience and put it to good use.
“It was a great experience and I’m just trying to stay at the same level as I was over there,” said Couturier following his Team Cherry’s 7-1 loss to Team Orr at the annual prospect showcase.
After erupting for four points in Canada’s initial World Junior exhibition game – an 8-0 drubbing of visiting Switzerland – Couturier laid relatively low for the tournament itself managing a humble three points in seven games.
Like the the handful of peers with whom he shares the dubious honor of being named hockey’s next generation, Couturier has been all over the place this year, bouncing from his QMJHL Drummondville Voltigeurs, to the Team Canada selection camp and finally to the tournament in Buffalo itself.
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But what sets Couturier apart from Canadian born and bred prospects like Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Ryan Murphy – and puts him in an elite category along the same lines as John Tavares and Taylor Hall – is that he showed Canada enough to land a coveted spot on the World Junior roster.
Nugent-Hopkins, widely considered along with Gabriel Landeskog to be one of the biggest threats to supplant Couturier from the No. 1 spot next June, was scratched from the final roster, a testament to the faith the club must have had in the towering Couturier.
Since the conclusion of of last year’s NHL draft, Couturier’s name has been just as synonymous with the words “2011 first overall pick” as Hall’s was in 2010 (if not more so), but it’s not something the 18-year-old wants to dwell on prematurely.
Rankings, Couturier understands, are volatile. When the NHL released its most recent Central Scouting reports, it was the first time Couturier’s name didn’t grace the top of the list (rather Swedish-born, Kitchener Rangers-trained Landeskog).
“I try not to think too much about it,” said Couturier in regards to lists, rankings and mock drafts, etc. “They’re only lists. There’s a lot of hockey left to play, too, so we’ll see come June.”
He’ll opt instead to let his performance do the talking. Not only has Couturier, the son of former NHL draftee Sylvain Couturier, shown an ability to put the puck in the net (let’s just say he spent the 2009-10 campaign becoming the first 17-year-old to lead the QMJHL in scoring since Sidney Crosby), he’s also shown a versatility that could reduce the amount of time it takes him to adjust to the pro level.
Though he’ll have plenty of work cut out for him in the weight room prior to the start of the 2011-12 NHL season, there’s no denying the fact that the prospect’s sheer length has and will continue to work to his advantage. Though listed at 6’4″, Couturier’s reach is on full display any time he sets foot on the ice.
It’s Couturier’s combination of size and the hockey mind with which he combines that size, that makes him such a desirable package for NHL teams looking to add players who can step right in and contribute as a pro.
But Couturier hasn’t found himself glued to the NHL standings as the 2010-11 campaign progresses. At least not yet.
“Not really. I mean, there’s too much hockey left. Things change often, too, so I don’t pay much attention to them.”
In addition to his brilliance on the scoresheet, Couturier is unafraid to battle in the corners, or grind out possessions in front of the net if it means giving his team an advantage. What he currently lacks in bulk, he makes up for in a knack for knowing exactly when and how to strike to spoil his opposition’s attack.
Couturier’s ability to skate and tendency to battle for everything he can get his hands on is what has helped him thrive with the Voltigeurs in limited time this season. In 42 games with the team, he’s managed 24 goals and 71 points.
Keep in mind that all this follows a 2009-10 campaign in which he scored 41 goals and 96 overall points in 68 games.
With just months left between now and the 2011 NHL Draft, Couturier’s fate lies in the hands of scouts and general managers anxious to help turn their teams around and nab themselves a star in the process.
Until then Couturier is left with no other choices but to sit back, wait, and hope that the teams at the bottom of the NHL standings see in him what his country saw last December.
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