Claimed:#15 - Essian Ravenwing [Reviewed]

[der meister 3,183]

Introduction
It's very easy to pick 6'2" center Essian Ravenwing out of a crowd. No, it's not his all-world playmaking skills, his unique stride, or even his difficult-to-understand accent - it's his poise, the physical stature and confidence of a man who knows exactly what he wants and how to accomplish it. The 27-year-old native of Machynlleth, Wales moves like a man who does not accept failure, which bodes well for any team that drafts him. 

 

Pros:
Passing
When Ravenwing gets the puck on his stick, he's going to look to pass to an open teammate 90% of the time. Fortunately, he has the ability to complete the majority of those passes, leaving it up to the open skater to bury the puck. For proof of his playmaking prowess, just look at his stats from the league he played in back in Wales:

 

2014 - 22GP - 4G - 41A - 45P
2015 - DNP
2016* - 2GP - 3G - 22A - 25P

*Retired/Banned from the league after 2 games

 

That's the offensive skill that Ravenwing brings every night. In the VHLM playoffs, he notched 2 goals and 12 assists in 9 games, a point total that - as of this scouting report - had only been passed by one player, who also had the benefit of 3 extra contests.

 

Teammates celebrating another perfect Ravenwing pass

 

Puck Handling
It seems almost a natural assumption to make that a pass-first player probably has really good puck handling skills. Ravenwing is no exception. His ability to dipsy-doodle with the puck has led to some embarrassing gaffs for opposing defenders, and the 204 pound center will certainly only get better with experience.

 

Faceoffs
For a big centerman, faceoffs are a key component. The simple truth is that with possession of the puck, the other team can't score. In the VHLM playoffs, Ravenwing finished with the second-highest win percentage with a staggering 67.64%, only trailing team mate Sean Blacker, who posted a monstrous 77.89%.

 

Focus on display.

 

Cons
Checking
At this stage of his career, Ravenwing lacks physicality, despite his background in a variety of martial arts. Something of a pacifist, it is doubtful that his checking ever reaches anything above average levels.

 

Scoring
As his point totals suggest, Ravenwing is a pass-first, pass-second, and pass-third kind of player. He doesn't have a terrible shot, but shooting is just something that he doesn't really do. It's much more befitting his style and mentality to beat his opponents with creative playmaking than with popping water bottles.

 

Experience
At 27 years old, Ravenwing is one of the older players in history to launch his VHLM career. He also only had 24 games of experience in Wales, spread across three years, before joining the VHLM. This will obviously improve with time, but he's at a severe disadvantage right out of the gate, as he started playing hockey more than 20 years later than many of his peers.

Synopsis
Thomas Crypl, better known by his Battle-Name of Essian Ravenwing, is one of the fastest-developing prospects in his draft year. As one of the VHLM's leading scorers in the playoffs, Ravenwing showed that he has the ability to simply take over games. Add in the fact that he has publicly declared his interest in spending his entire career with one team, it seems like a lock that Ravenwing is a first round selection in both the VHLM and VHL drafts. The sky is the limit for this Welshman, with the only real question being which team is going to benefit from selecting him on Draft Day. 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2016 by der meister
the [code] tag screws everything up :(

[evrydayimbyfuglien 600]

Review:

I like that two-game season point total lol

 

Very well done. I feel like a broken record here. Nothing to critique.

[der meister 3,183]

1 minute ago, evrydayimbyfuglien said:

Review:

I like that two-game season point total lol

 

Very well done. I feel like a broken record here. Nothing to critique.

 

Point total based on that Bio piece

 

[CowboyinAmerica 2,889]

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