Where he has struggled to deliver a homerun with his first round selections, he has made many successful later round picks including the likes of Maxim Lapierre, Sergei Kostitsyn, and Ryan O'Byrne.
None, however, have grabbed the public’s attention like the recently departed Jaroslav Halak. When he was selected 271st overall in the ninth round of the 2003 NHL entry draft, Jaroslav Halak didn't seem like much more than an afterthought. However, the newly appointed head of amateur scouting and player development for the Montreal Canadiens, Trevor Timmins, saw something more.
In a draft year that saw the Habs pick Andrei Kostitsyn tenth overall, followed by Cory Urquhart, Maxim Lapierre, Ryan O'Byrne, and finally Halak, Jaroslav ended up being the biggest success of the bunch. Timmins knew about Halak's potential and took a flyer in picking him in the now-defunct ninth round.
He did so because he and his scouting staff believed that if Halak slipped through to the 2004 draft, he would end up becoming a second to third round pick. As such, he made the move to grab him in a classic low-risk late-round pick. In hindsight, Timmins looks like he made a brilliant move by picking a player who ended up being the toast of the 2010 NHL playoffs.
Fast forward six years to the 2009 NHL entry draft and Timmins was at it again, trading a 2010 pick to select Petteri Simila at 211th overall in the seventh and final round. As was the case with Halak, Timmins' thinking was again that he was stealing a late round gem that could become a high round pick the following year. At 6'6" and 189 lbs, Simila fits the mold of what is becoming the prototypical NHL goaltender: he's a giant.
Like Carey Price, Simila fills up a ton of net and doesn't leave the shooters much to look at. At 20 years of age, however, Simila is seen as a bit of a project. Simila played parts of the 2009-2010 season for the Niagara IceDogs team in the OHL. The result was a horrible 4.14 GAA and a .891 save percentage. Hardly the numbers of a star in the making, but by all accounts the IceDogs were a horribly bad team and Simila played in a diminished role, pushed aside by Mark Visentin.
Afterwards, Simila signed with the KalPa's Junior 'A' team, and will play the coming season there. There will be a transition period for Simila in getting used to the play in SM-Liiga, but he should see a lot more ice time and that can only benefit his development.
While Timmins and co. feel that Simila could become an NHL goaltender in the future, only time will really tell. Simila seems to have all of the physical attributes to get the job done so who knows? In a few years, we could be talking about this wunderkid who is playing lights out in the AHL and nipping on Price's heels. Or, he could become an afterthought. Just another late round burnout that never quite had enough to make the big league.
How he develops depends as much on his mental make up as it does on the Habs ability to properly bring him along—ability that this organization has sadly been failing in for far too long. But, with the revelation that has been the progression of P.K. Subban, maybe, just maybe, the Canadiens are turning a corner in the player development department.
If so, we might just start seeing stop signs with the word "Simila" written on them in the not so distant future. So keep an eye out for him, because he could end up being a gamer.
7 comments:
Kamal - I would seriously love for this kid to turn out to be another Jaro Halak. I also think the Habs organization has had issues with developing its younger players - something they remedied by making Guy Boucher head of the Bulldogs. With Boucher gone, I'm feeling pessimistic about prospects turning into players once again. I hope his replacement will be equally as adept at nurturing young talent.
Great article Kamal, i always love goalie talk!
Always tough with goalies as they often take longer then defencemen to develop. As you said, definitely a "big project". If he can turn out to be a great surprise, all the best. Definitely won't see him with the big team for at least 5 years, that's if he turns out to be a great surprise, gives us options.
I'm at work so can't chat too long but agree with Habswatch, very refreshing article compared to all the redundant news that's been going around in circles the past week.
Great job!
Stevo
Hey Tyg and Stevo and thanks for your comments!
Tyg: Yep, the loss of Boucher is a big one, but also like you said, let's see who they replace him with.
I just hope the Habs stop rushing players to the bigs. MaxPac took a serious step backwards because the team kept him in MTL. Hopefully, he'll still be able to round into form.
Stevo: Thanks for the compliments, glad you like the article! And yep, this is a project and there are NO guarantees that Similia will pan out to become anything more than a "coulda been".
That being said, he isn't even on the horizon now and, as you pointed out, we won't see him for at least 4 or 5 years.
Again, happy that you and Habswatch liked the article! Your feedback is great and invaluable.
K.
Very intriguing article, Kamal. I guess we will all wait and see now.
Homme de Sept-Iles
Once it gets to those late round picks they are for the most part hit or miss. Look at guys like Zetterberg who are insignificant picks and then bam.......top players in the league.
Here is hoping to Simila being another hit.
Salut Homme-de-sept-iles, et merci pour tes commentaire!
With a late pick like this, you never really know what will happen and chance are the he won't work out. But, IF Timmins is right as he was with Halak, then this could end up looking great for the Habs in a few years.
K.
Willey: Yep, you're absolutely right. Either way, it is a low-risk for the Habs because as a 7th rounder, Simila is not really expected to do much.
But, as I said above, IF Timmins ends up being right that Simila would have been a high pick the following year—as he was with Halak—then you never know what could happen.
Either way, I think he'll be a player to watch out of the corner of your eye.
Thanks for the comment!
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