Rookie Profile: Trevor Van Lagen [1/2]

[VanCanWin 180]

 

Name: Trevor Van Lagen

Age: 18

Position: C

Height: 6’-5”

Weight: 215lbs

Hometown: Toronto, ON

 

Player Overview

Trevor Van Lagen was born in city of Toronto. Always a tall, lanky kid growing up, Van Lagen excelled in High School sports. Playing as third string goalie in his first year of high school, Van Lagen made a late switch out of the crease playing his final three years of high school as a forward.  Due to this late switch, Van Lagen is a raw prospect but don’t confuse this with his natural talent. Van Lagen was recently drafted by the Halifax 21st with the 84th overall pick.  A gamble that he’s determined to make look good.

 

Strengths

Smarts: Van Lagen thinks the game like a goalie. This makes him a tremendous danger for opposition goalies. This is why he has developed a balanced passing and shooting mentality as it keeps the goalies guessing. Van Lagen has a knack for being in the right places at the right times. His hockey sense is off the charts which should help him get established in the league in his rookie year.

 

Offence: Don’t let Van Lagen’s balance of passing and scoring lead you to believe that he’s not going to have any great strength and rather a bunch of average skills.  Van Lagen has developed both his passing and his scoring above other physical aspects of his game where both are well above average for his age.

 

Determination: Van Lagen has the drive within him to thrive in everything he does. This is the strength that allowed him to make the switch to forward after playing all his life as a goalie. Van Lagen’s determination to be the best he can be has created a mature mentality that is well beyond his years. His compete level is off the charts!

 

Weaknesses

Skating: This is the one area where Van Lagen has had to work on the most after his switch out of the crease. He’s tall but sometimes can be a bit clumsy. Will have to put in the work here to improve this skill in order to keep up to the other talent in the league. 

 

Checking: Although he stands at a tall 6’-5” and weighs in at a healthy 215lbs, Van Lagen doesn’t play the tough game too often.  Van Lagen prefers to win via his skill and smarts rather than his strength and his play on the ice shows exactly this.

 

Discipline: The lack of foot speed and a dogged determination to win puck battles can sometimes be a hindrance to Van Lagen’s ability to stay out of the box. This is something he will have to work on as he gets acclimated to the pro ranks. There’s nothing like a rally killer than by taking an undisciplined penalty and Van Lagen has put his teams in this uncomfortable predicament far too often in the past.

 

Future Outlook

As Van Lagen begins his pro career, look for him to will his way to a prominent role as a big body, scoring center.  He’s fully committed to the Halifax 21st who instilled a belief in him and his career.

[Thranduil 293]

@VanCanWin can't wait to see what kinds of good things Van Lagen will bring to the 21st thing season!

[Saelven88 58]

1 hour ago, Lincoln Tate said:

Review:

 

Great profile done on Trevor, and the fact that he started as a goalie is a cool backstory. I'm a big fan of goalies and haven't heard too often of a player who started in net and then came out. The strengths and weaknesses are well done because of that element to his story, and I could envision him clumsily skating about, whacking at a puck. Don't get too comfortable in Halifax, I know of a team in San Diego that would enjoy having you on board, good luck this year!

San Diego seems a bit warm for hockey.... 

[Saelven88 58]

@Lincoln Tate

 

[Acydburn 1,555]

4 hours ago, Lincoln Tate said:

Review:

 

Great profile done on Trevor, and the fact that he started as a goalie is a cool backstory. I'm a big fan of goalies and haven't heard too often of a player who started in net and then came out. The strengths and weaknesses are well done because of that element to his story, and I could envision him clumsily skating about, whacking at a puck. Don't get too comfortable in Halifax, I know of a team in San Diego that would enjoy having you on board, good luck this year!

Over my dead body