The Rock's Prospect Scouting Report

[Phil 5,119]

The Rock's Prospect Scouting Report

 

The Junior review is in, the season has completed, and the draft is tomorrow. Although the comparison of what was touted in the Junior review and what happened over the course of the season does not add up for Phil the Rock Johnson, one thing has definitely be established. He will be a first-round pick.

The Rock’s season was not a standout one, but let us be honest, it’s hard to make any impression when you average just 11 minutes per game. In those 11 minutes, he averaged:

1 shot every 17.4 minutes
1 point every 104.6 minutes
1 hit every 5.5 minutes
1 hit taken every 38 minutes

Okay, so his hits to hits taken ratio is pretty great, but productivity-wise, he suffered a lot. Will this effect his draft stock? Player Agent, Phil Knight thinks that if you are questioning that, then you’re a f***ing idiot:

“His a big man that played limited minutes. It doesn’t take a genius to see that with his practice hours rate, he’s turn into an amazing playmaker in no time. The man will constantly give you repossession of the puck and couple that with his ability to pass and make plays, the oversaturate pure-goal scorers of this league will rise to stardom quickly because of him.” 

 

His physical presence should NOT be under-estimated. Despite only playing 11 minutes per game, he put up 151 hits. To put that into perspective for you, the league leader, Braxton Hunter, had 289 hits... but averaged over 22 minutes per game, which is 1 hit every – yes – every 5.5 minutes. However, he had 109 hits received, taking a hit every 14.9 minutes – well more than 2 times the amount Johnson did.

The Rock will present far more take-away opportunities for his team than giveaways. The ratio of hits to hits taken has long been underrated in the VHL but it will be the Rock’s mission to enlighten the VHL to the importance of this stat.

His player build so far is nothing that really stands out. He’s rated by the VHL to have 70s in most stats, which doesn’t suggest that he’s much of a playmaker, but as his rookie season progresses, it will become clear that his strength, checking, defense, and passing will be his stand-out attributes. 

 

His Player Agent, Phil Knight has tried to promote the Rock’s shining attributes and how it can help VHL teams win the Continental Cup. He’s explained his position to many of the GMs so it will be interesting come draft day, whether he’ll stand around 8th pick, or slip lower, or rise higher. So far it looks like he’ll be selected by the Seattle Bears, as they have 7th and 8th overall selection this season, But we will have to wait about 30 hours to see what the VHL thinks of the Rock.