Payne eager for draft

[Scurvy 1,538]

Brian Payne of the San Diego Marlins begins his draft year with more ups than downs.  The humble six-foot one inch, 225lb southpaw defenseman has shown he belongs in the league even though it took him some time to adjust to the faster and bigger league.  Upon joining the league there is one thing that stands out for Payne and that was his work ethic.  He devoted hours to earning TPE at the fastest rate possible so that he could contribute to his club and their playoff push in a very tough division.  Let’s start by rating the positives and negatives of this bruising defenseman.  

 

Positives: 

 

Physicality: Payne lives up to his name and plays a heavy and violent game.  Cut from some old school cloth the likes of Scott Stevens or Chris Pronger he plays a defense first type of game and loves to stop the opposing players from scoring.  He takes pride in being a defensive defenseman and likes doing the little things to help the club win, even if it doesn’t show up on the score sheet.    Payne will also drop the gloves when the team needs him and wont shy away from standing up for his teammates.  

 

Locker room:  Payne is the ultimate team player.  For him, it’s not what shows up in the goals and assist column but the wins and losses of the club.  He will do what it takes to win and will keep earning TPE to help whatever club chooses him in the draft. 

 

 

Negatives: 

 

Scoring:  Payne needs to work on his confidence in shooting and break out passing.  At the ladder half of the year his scoring touch improved greatly. He ended the season with 11 G 20 A 31 P and a dismal -21 Plus/Minus.  However, in 11 playoff games so far, he has shown some improvement with 5 G 11 A – 16 Points in 11 games.  We would like to see this continued improvement and consistency next year.  

 

Discipline:  This by far is the biggest negative in Payne’s game. Over the 72 games season he had a whopping 128 PIMs with no majors.  The Marlins play a physical game, and some penalties are to be expected but Brian needs to keep his head as to not put his club in jeopardy by always being on the penalty kill.  

Overall, we are excited to see where Payne goes in the upcoming draft and whatever team gets him will be thrilled.  He plays with passion and is humble and willing to learn the ins and outs of the league.   The team that grabs him will have a long-term asset willing to do what it takes to become the best defenseman he can.  

 

 

[Shindigs 1,771]

18 hours ago, Scurvy said:

Payne will also drop the gloves when the team needs him and wont shy away from standing up for his teammates.

Recent JST performances seem to lend a lot of credibility to this statement. With 5 fights and 4 wins in 6 games.

 

18 hours ago, Scurvy said:

Discipline:  This by far is the biggest negative in Payne’s game.

After a somewhat tumultuous start to the JST tournament Payne is sitting on a cool 63 PIM in 6 games. Scouts are hoping that this may be a sign that he's "Getting it out of his system" in time for next season.