NHL Draft War Room: Miles Gendron

by

by Eldon MacDonald (edited by @ChrisRalphTHW)

Miles Gendron

THW’s NHL Draft War Room Rankings – Jun-14: #78

THW’s NHL Draft Rankings – The Next Ones Edition (aka Chris’s List): #94 (March 2014)

Miles Gendron
Miles Gendron (Photo: Dan Hickling)

 

  • Hashtag: #ThePromise
  • Team: Rivers Academy, HS MA
  • Commit: University of Connecticut
  • Position: Defense
  • Shoots: Left
  • Height: 6’2
  • Weight: 181 lb.
  • Born: Shrewsbury, MA, 28-Jun-96
  • Twitter: @mgendron10

Stats

Other Rankings

  • 71 – Craig Button of TSN – Jun-14
  • 89 – NHL Combined – Final, Apr-14

Worth Retweeting

Profile

Quotable

  • Quote 1: USAToday.com – Kyle Woodlief, “Gendron played at Rivers School, which is not even a powerhouse among New England prep schools. He is still a fish out of water in his own end, but when he has the puck on his stick, watch out! He accelerates and goes end-to-end faster than anyone in this class not named DeAngelo. Regarding his defensive game, which is clearly a work in progress after only one year, we like to put it this way: He’s like a male driver who refuses to ask for directions — hopelessly lost, but making great time!”
  • Quote 2: Boston Herald–Former NHLer and Rivers Academy Coach Shawn McEachern, “Most of the NHL scouts say he’s a 5 skater, as high-end as there is, He could break the puck out by himself. He can just fly. He’s really smooth, fast, and the main thing is he plays with his head up when he skates. He stands out because he sees the ice so well. He’s so elusive, teams try to get in and forecheck him, but he can get away and get up the ice in a hurry.”
  • Quote 3: Penticton Western News – Emanuel Sequeira, “Gendron played last season in Massachusetts for Rivers School and skates effortlessly with his 6-2, 81 kilogram frame and has high-end skill. His potential piqued the interest of several junior teams as he’s ranked 74th by NHL Central Scouting for the 2014 NHL draft.  Gendron was named the Independent School League’s 2013-14 MVP, won the league Sportmanship award and was named a league all-star.”
  • Quote 4: CSNNNE.com– Joe Haggerty, “He’s got a chance. He’s an NHL skater right now. He’s a ridiculous skater. The con is that he’s playing at Rivers, and he’s such a dynamic skater that he’s got so much time to make plays right now. He’s got such great wheels that he’s got 5, 6 or 7 seconds to make plays with the puck because he’s that much further ahead of everybody else.”

From the War Room

Eldon MacDonald, THW:  A few words on Miles Gendron:

  • The Promise – Miles is like that dream Italian sports car – man can it go, all the gears, top speed, cornering, almost as fast in reverse. A recently converted defenseman, Miles shows the promise of potentially great things to come with his close to best-in-class skating ability.
  • Offense – Miles is all about offense, puck rushing, passing, stickhandling, wrist shot. Add some high-end creativity, vision and dynamism and you are starting to look at one exciting hockey player.
  • Defense – Let’s be honest, it is not there yet (the defense) – gap control, stick, positioning and most of the rest. The promise for NHL teams is that Miles has the time to develop his defense when he plays for the Penticton Vees, a regular powerhouse team in the BCHL, in the fall and the University of Connecticut for four years after that.
  • Combine: I think Miles really helped himself with the combine testing. He showed that he is a world class athlete by finishing fifth in both vertical jump events and ninth in one of the Wingate tests (average power output). It showed to scouts that there was substance behind that “promise”.
  • Awards and Achievements – Top senior high school hockey player in Massachusetts (John, Carlton Award), MVP and all-star of the Independent School League
  • Improvements to make – Besides the obvious improvement to defense that is required, Miles also needs to fill out his frame and work a bit on his slapshot.
  • Draft placement – Some teams (the ones that have a great system to begin with like Detroit) may be prepared to take Miles reasonably early in spite of his need to put his defensive game together as he goes to the next level in Penticton in the fall. I would be surprised if Miles lasted beyond round three as The Promise he has shown to date with his skating and his offensive abilities is just too much for NHL teams to forego for long.