Warlock Rookie Profile [1/2]

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Adam Warlock - Rookie Report

Adam Warlock playing a tight game in 2016 for the Spitfire

 

Name: Adam Warlock

Age: 22

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 240

Postion: D

Birth Country:  (we think)

 

 

When it comes to players who could end up being really good, but at the same time busting really hard - there's not too many candidates better than Adam Warlock. He has always shown extremely strong potential leading up to his VHLM and VHL days and was once known as a terrorizer on the ice for opposing players to play against. Coming in at an impressive and overpowering 6 foot 2, 240 pounds, he possesses the body frame he needs to be the pivotal, strong and dominant player that any organization would hope to come from one of their blue liners. Growing up, he seen much success and he was always larger than his teammates and opposing players. While the height may not have been that great of a factor, he always put in the work to sharpen his skills, progress his body and do whatever it took to be the player his team needed - and generally, that was a physical, shut down force. Luckily for those teams, he was exactly that. Heading into his later years, it seemed as though everyone started to catch up with him and his possessive, physical game seemed to slightly taper off. While he was still a good player on the ice, his potential and scouting reports seemed to dip. For example, below is a scouting report from when he was playing in the OHL for the Windsor Spitfire at age 16.

 

  Quote

Adam Warlock seems to possess every quality that professional organization are looking for. At any given moment of any any given game, you often catch scouts from numerous leagues and teams giving Warlock the heads up as he makes a strong defensive move, a smart play along the boards in the defensive zone, or a bone crushing hit. We don't mean to toot his horn early, but this kid has everything needed to become a big time player and the sky could easily be the limit for him. As his career progress and he matures, we only will continue to expect better from this gifted, raw talent. 

 

Again, that was from when he was 16 years old playing in the Ontario Hockey League for the Windsor Spitfire. Through the 2 seasons that he played for the Spitfire, he managed to collect 62 points in 68 games and 71 points through the 68 games. While those are both very strong and impressive numbers for a player like Warlock, what really impressed them was his 176/183 blocked shots and 211/199 hits. Night after night, he was a physical presence on the ice and at the time, he was largely credited for the teams success. He won one memorial cup with the organization. However, heading into his first season in the VHLM with the Ottawa Lynx and concluding the season, despite a strong performance (77 PTS/72 GP - 111 hits and 229 shots), his overall game seemed to slight and the effort wasn't there. At age 18, he was clocked in with the following scouting report for the VHLM's Ottawa Lynx. 

 

  Quote

Adam Warlock still has moments of what he used to be in the Ontario Hockey League, however, we feel as though those around him have caught up, adapted to his physical game and maybe came to find him a little predictable. Maybe predictable is the wrong word - but we've also noticed effort drop off in the young player. Going from a hard working player, heavily working on their game, to barely making the gym and noted as having slight issues with practice and workout programs. A scout for the VHLM was also noted as saying "Adam Warlock could be a good player, but the risk at this moment is too big. Led by a legendary agent isn't the only thing that will cut it. At the end of the day, we like to see results and right now we don't see enough". 

 

Despite the not so hot reviews in his initial VHLM season, it didn't overly affect his draft stock all that much. While the draft he was taking part in wasn't anything "special", it still had quite a few solid players. During the S58 VHL Entry Draft, Adam Warlock was selected 7th overall by the Toronto Legion and was noted at the time as having 119 TPE. If you glance now, he roughly has 50-70 TPE more than what he had then, so while not a huge drop off in anything, he also isn't making the gains that maybe some thought he could potentially make. While things weren't looking too hot for him, we feel as though a rebound could potentially be seen from the young blue liner. With a recent deal that seen Adam Warlock move to the Seattle Bears, along with defender Dexter Lane and a pick for fiesta centre Fook Yu and elite defender Fabio Jokinen, it's clear that the Bears see something a lot of GM's don't - and that's potential. With how current management runs his regime and with how decent and hardworking their developmental program is, we could see Warlock start to climb a little. 

 

Moving forward with the Seattle Bears, there's lots of areas for Warlock to work on as he isn't the most developed young player in the league. While he does have strengths, he also shares a few weaknesses and we'd like to point both out in hopes that maybe, somewhere out there, Adam Warlock is reading this and will make the changes needed in order to become that big star we know he can become.

 

Warlock Strengths 

Size

We mentioned it briefly at the top, but he possesses a frame which would allow him to become a very strong and effective player for the Seattle Bears organization (or any which he plays for). The requirement would need to be him learning how to use his size, how to train for his size and when to use it during a game. Being 6'2 may be a common thing in the VHL, but weighing in at 240 may not. This is definitely a plus for him and the Bears organization.

 

Mixing it up

This is another bonus he has and thats the fact that he's versatile. Not only can he play a little D and lay the big hits, but he can also shoot the puck. With the Bears recent moves in tossing Jokinen to Legion, it's time for someone to step up and take charge. While that guy could be Dexter Lane, the Bears certainly wouldn't mind for it to be both. We wouldn't be surprised if this is a thing he trains for in the end, but we'd be more looking at him becoming that shut down guy first.

 

Loyalty

If there's one thing anyone knows about Warlock or really any player that comes from the "Green" agency, it's that they're typically very loyal and understanding players. Additionally, they're able to still find a way to put in the work and become decent players for your organization. They always seem to find a way to become better, whether it's huge leaps or small consistent ones. If Warlock is able to grow and do it at a little quicker of a rate, Seattle really lucked out with this gem.

 

Warlock Weaknesses

Inconsistency

I'm sure it was a given that this was going to be one, and if you thought this, you were right. While his agency has made some incredible players, his presence has been less felt by the league and the players which he represents haven't been quite good, or for him "elite", as the old, past ones used to be. The effort has tapered off and the skills and training has dropped as well - but that never stops them from still producing solid players. However, if Warlock wants to improve and do so better, consistency will need to be found.

 

For being big, he's weak.

He's a rounded out player it seems at the moment and he's hit a wall at any sort of performance gains. He doesn't really stand out and more so blends in at the back of the pack and hopefully this changes for him. Despite having the big frame and the decent potential to be great, his statistics, TPE levels and overall attributes aren't anything too special and won't get him far if he's going to be playing in the big leagues a little earlier than expected.

 

Checking

Yeah, he's huge and somehow manages to play a tough game, but as you seen in the drop off from the OHL to VHLM, his hitting totals have really taken a.. well, hit. Right now his attribute is sitting in at 40 OV and that's not really that bad as some people don't even really focus on that for sometime, but being a defender in this league and wishing to be that guy that can play strong, it's something he may want to work on in the distant future. 

 

[HellBillyXIII 61]

Review: Perfectly done rookie profile man. Like this guys, he reminds me of my player Billy Pilgrim. Not many 240lb’ers playing hockey lol. Good work.