McLaren's Stock Rising As S74 Season Winds Down

[tcookie 897]

As the S74 VHLM season comes to a close, Miami Marauders forward Addison McLaren is just focused on his team's playoff race with the Philadelphia Reapers.

 

But there's a lot at stake in another way for McLaren, too, as the S75 draft prospect has started to garner more attention and has seen his stock rise for the upcoming draft. McLaren jumped from 35 to 22 in the most recent ranking published by VHCS and is expected to make another leap in the next edition.

 

For his part, McLaren admits he'd love to hear his name called in the first round. "I have a lot of confidence in myself, so if you ask me I'm obviously going to say I think I deserve to be there, and it's been a goal of mine, so yeah... it would mean a lot. But ultimately, it's something you can't control. It's a really deep draft with a lot of good names in it. I'll be happy wherever I go. But I've got other things on my mind right now, a great group of guys in Miami that we want to make a playoff push with."

 

McLaren's impressed with his hard work and tenacity, though scouts (and McLaren himself) would love to see his offensive numbers tick up a bit. "I think I can do more, but I'm just focused on doing what I can to help this team win, and contributing in some way even if it isn't necessarily bringing the offense." He has 14 goals and 23 points in 37 games with Miami.

 

McLaren is aware of interest from VHL teams already, and hopes to hear more as teams step up their scouting efforts as the draft approaches. "I'm not going to say who and I'm not going to say if I have any preferences or anything like that," he says. "Just looking forward to finishing this season up and hopefully making some noise in the playoffs with Miami, and we'll prepare for the draft after that."