You saw the title and wondered, ‘Could that really amount to a list long enough to be article-length?’ and the answer is yes. If I had included players listed at 6’6″, it would be twice as long.
Of the 471 players ranked by NHL Central Scouting this past season, seven are at least 6’7″.
It will surprise no one to learn that six of them are defensemen and one of them is a goalie. None are ranked especially high, but this isn’t to suggest they aren’t good hockey players, or that they’re only ranked because they’re so tall. This isn’t the NBA of the Manute Bol era; hockey is too difficult a sport to simply go scouting in foreign countries for young men with overactive pituitary glands.
That said, I doubt you can find too many hockey fans blind to the trend towards bigger players.
Unfortunately, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) lacks accurate data regarding the percentage of US men who are 6’7″ and there are no reliable international stats in this regard. The best HHS can do is inform us that approximately 3.1 percent of US males are taller than 6’2″.
If the US-based percentage of 3.1 held true among this international class of ranked players, I would expect to find about 14 players taller than 6’2″.
I found 77. Sixteen percent.
So without further ado, here they are, your 2015 6’7″ prospects:
Chris Martenet
Central Scouting, North American Skaters: 81
Martenet is a defenseman for the London Knights of the OHL, and by all accounts represents the best prospect of the basketball bunch. His two seasons at Shattuck St. Mary’s do not fail to impress.
Brendan Ross, writing for McKeen’s, says of Martenet, “His lanky long stride allows him to cover ice quickly and with his wide-wingspan Martenet has shown to be very difficult to beat on the outside. For a big man, Martenet owns good mobility and he hasn’t been shy to carry the puck up ice either …”
Stepan Falkovsky
Central Scouting, European Skaters: 44
Falkovsky is Belarus-born, and he has spent the past two seasons playing in the MHL, which is to the KHL what the AHL is to the NHL. While he struggled a bit in his rookie MHL season, this past season he has faired much better, scoring 4-7-11 points in 22 games, compared to just 2 points in 33 games his rookie year.
Nikita Pavlychev
Central Scouting, North American Skaters: 153
Pavlychev is a bit of an anomaly. Born in Russia, this past season he played for the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL, and he has committed to playing for Penn State in the fall.
Watch the big man take a penalty shot for Des Moines:
Colin Fontana
Central Scouting, European Skaters: 88
This Swiss blueliner weighs the least of the bunch, coming in at just 190 lbs.
Jack Van Boekel
Central Scouting, North American Skaters: 180
This 6’7″ 208 lbs defenseman plays for a much-improved Saint John Sea Dogs team in the QMJHL.
(feature image credit of Jack Van Boekel: David Connell/Saint John Sea Dogs)
Jack Flinn
Central Scouting, North American Goalies: 26
Flinn is a goaltender for Owen Sound Attack of the OHL. His page there says he’s actually 6’8″.
Jarrett Meyer
Central Scouting, North American Skaters: 201
Meyer, who also plays for Owen Sound, also comes in at 6’8″ (although he’s 26 lbs heavier, at 246 lbs.).
Not that we needed any perspective, but it’s quite something to imagine a player who was almost 6’7″ (6’6″) who was not only not a defenseman, but also a player who was not ranked by Central Scouting anywhere past the number one slot from the get-go in 1983-84: Mario Lemieux.
