Claimed:Matt Johnson Rookie [Final 8/8]

[M-Dawg 0]

Matt Johnson looks to impact the VHL and VHLM

 

Matt Johnson, #20, unleashes a slap shot on the opposing team's goalie

 

Recently-discovered Matt Johnson is looking to make his mark on the VHL and VHLM soon. Johnson was born on June 22, 1998 in Pitt Meadows, BC, but moved across the Fraser River to Port Coquitlam at age 2. The now 17 year old, 6'0, 180 lb. left winger has played with the Juvenile A1 PoCo Pirates for the past two seasons. This season, in 20 GP, Johnson put up an impressive 15 goals and 8 assists for the Pirates, and has impressed scouts near and far with his fast-paced play and intelligence on the ice. 

 

STRENGTHS

1. SCORING - When Johnson steps out on the ice, the first thing any spectator will notice is his absolute laser of a shot. His accuracy and power are unmatched by any of his opponents. His specialty is to the left of the net in the slot, where his natural LW position places him in and where his teammates always look to set Johnson up for one-timers and wrist shots that go in about 95% of the time. It's not only his ability to shoot that makes MJ a scoring threat, though. His ability to skate to an open spot, where teammates can pass the puck to his stick easily, is a simple but unprecedented skill that earned him an endless amount of scoring chances and goals during the season. His stick-handling has also progressed immensely. He is often seen moving the puck around his body and moving around defensemen easily.

 

2. SPEED - No matter where the puck is, Johnson will be in the right position to make the right play because of how fast he skates to his spot on the ice. His speed is most often seen on breakouts and odd man rushes, where Johnson is passed the puck and left alone to get a shot on net due to him outskating defenders and whizzing past them towards the goal mouth. However, even on the backcheck, Matt's speed enables him to catch up and cover attacking players, resulting in the breakup of scoring chances. 

 

3. PERSONALITY - Although Johnson is not the most vocal person in the locker room, it's amazing how his presence left a great impression on every single one of his teammates. Seriously, reporters interviewed each and every single one of Johnson's peers, and literally every person had something genuinely positive to say about him. Endless amounts of positive encouragement from his mouth, little to no negativity, friendliness towards everyone he sees, and a respect for people - yes, even his closest rivals - that he maintains.

 

CONS

1. CHECKING - Despite his speed and reasonable size, Johnson's game does not currently include bodychecking. Although he does play the body on attacking forwards and blocks them from skating past him, he hesitates to throw actual hits on puck-possessing players, opting for pass interceptions and stickchecks instead. This is one aspect Johnson will need to work on if he wants to play against the world's best.

 

2. DEFENSE - Even though his speed enables him to break up scoring chances on rushes, Matt's defensive zone positioning needs to be worked on. He is often caught puck-watching, and in some instances let his defenseman sneak past him and get a shot on net. He also sometimes leaves too much room for shots or plays off the boards. Although it's in a decent spot, this attribute could be a crippling weakness for Johnson if he does not address it soon enough.

 

3. PASSING - He's mainly a sniper, but even the most prolific scorers in the game have fantastic passing as well. It's not that Johnson won't pass, it's that at this point in his career, he can't pass. Okay, that may be a very large overstatement, but MJ's passes often miss the intended target, usually because he forgets to compensate for the motion of his teammate and sends it where they were instead of where they would be. His 8 assists from this past season with the Pirates proves that he's not completely inept, but expect coaches to be spending some extra time post-practice with Johnson to improve his playmaking ability. 

 

Overall, the potential and work ethic of Matt Johnson have GMs looking at him for a possible pick in the upcoming S44 VHLM Entry Draft. Most believe that his shortcomings can and will be worked on over the next few seasons of Matt's career.

Edited June 9, 2015 by M-Dawg

[Tylar 219]

Overview: 2/2 - Well done. Hit all the major points that need to be done in the rookie profile. Will definitely be watching to see how you fare. You look like a solid player/member, Good luck!

 

Pros & Cons: 3/3 -Yup, great pros and cons. Lots of information. 
 

Grammar: 2/2 - Good other than a few words that are really two words rather than one. 
Recently-discovered (not exactly sure why the hyphen is there, but I could be wrong)
backcheck = back check

bodychecking = body checking

stickchecking = stick checking

 

Presentation: 1/1 - Simple and clean with bolded headlines. 

 

Overall: 8/8

[M-Dawg 0]

Thanks for taking the time to grade this

[CowboyinAmerica 2,894]

Claimed