Brandon Hope - Prospect Scouting Report

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Brandon Hope - Prospect Scouting Report

 

 

Age: 25, Height: 6'1 Weight: 196 lbs

Nationality: United States of America

Position: Goalie, VHLM Team: Las Vegas Aces 

S100 VHL Draft Eligible, S99 VHLM Draft Eligible

 

VHLM Career:

Brandon Hope got his professional VHL career started in S98 with the Las Vegas Aces towards the tail end of the season. In his three starts with the team, he put up a 0-1-2 record, with a 0.901 save percentage and a 2.63 goals against average. Despite not winning in any of his first three starts, he had glimpses of strong play. He didn't face a high volume of shots and high quality scoring chances, so his 2.63 GAA should be the focus point of his play as he only ended up facing 81 shots over his three games, an average of 27 shots per game. The Aces at the time of his starts did not also have the greatest defensive core available, so his ability to put up strong numbers is further amplified by his ability to cover the net quickly, though his secondary attributes need work before he can become a bonafide starter in the VHLM. He has already been approached by VHLM teams that are looking to pick up a goalie of the future, and will likely find himself in a starting role by the start of next season!

 

Strengths:

This early in his career, it's hard to properly assess both his strengths and weakness with a large sample size to pull from, but his abilities are such things that we can review to see where he stands both now and in the future. His speed is absolutely the highlight of his game as it stands right now, with both his reaction time and hand speed being his best attributes by the end of S98. He's is a highly agile goaltender in the crease, able to move back and forth between posts with ease and recover from butterfly and scrambles with minimal strain. Hope also has a nack for being composed under pressure, showing a strong focus and ability to steal games when his team is outshot.

 

Weaknesses:

The first and foremost weakness of Brandon Hopes game is his minimal experience playing professional VHL/VHLM caliber hockey. He hasn't played in the JST, WJC, or even seen playoff ice in the VHLM scene, and with his small sample size of hockey played with the Aces, it's also not entirely known how well he'd preform in a full VHLM season. Past that, his statistical agility, size and skating need a lot of work at the VHLM level, as he relies too heavily on his hand speed and reaction time to make up for poor positioning and net takeaway ability. It will take time, and likely multiple seasons before he can round out these skills, so he is a bit of a project goalie before he can make a difference in the VHLM, even longer in the VHL pros proper.

 

Draft Notes:

All in all, Brandon Hope has the pieces needed, and the drive to improve his game to become one of the VHLs best goaltenders if given the opportunity. His rapidly learning and improvements in multiple fields has turned him into a reliable backup goalie at the VHLM level already, and he will only improve with time. He has the ability to start in the VHLM at a high level for at least two seasons as he's not draft eligible until S100, but by then he is projected to already be a VHLM backup. While he doesn't have draft projections readily available, he is one of top goalies in the upcoming VHLM draft, and will make an immediate impact for whatever team he ends up getting drafted for in a few weeks. VHL GMs and scouts should keep an eye on this goaltender and see what kind of player he becomes down the line.

 

Thank you for reading this Prospect Scouting Report!

 

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