REVS Top 15 2014 NHL Prospects #4.Roland McKeown

 REVS 2014 NHL Draft Prospects (August 10/13)

1.Sam Reinhart

2.Aaron Ekblad

3.William Nylander

4.Roland McKeown

5.Jake Virtanen

6.Blake Clarke

7.Nick Ritchie

8.Leon Draisatl

9.Michael Dal Colle

10.Jakub Vrana

11.Ivan Barbashev

12.Jared McCann

13.Anton Karlsson

14.Joshua Ho-Sang

15.Sam Bennett 

Honourable mentions:

Oskar Lindblom

Haydn Fleury

Nick Schmaltz

RECAP to date of players we have looked at

Sam Reinhart

6'1, 183 lbs

Kootney Ice- Games 33 Goals 16 Assists 34 Points 50

Canada U20- Games 7 Goals 2 Assists 3 Points 5

Aaron Ekblad

6'4, 216 lbs

Barrie Colts- Games 31 Goals 14 Assists 17 Points 31

Canada U18- Games 5 Goals 2 Assists 2 Points 4

Canada U20- Games 7 Goals 1 Assists 1 Points 2

William Nylander

5'10, 170 lbs

MODO J20- Games 1 Goals 0 Assists 0 Points 0

MODO- Games 11 Goals 0 Assists 2 Points 2

 Rögle- Games 18 Goals 4 Assists 4 Points 8

Södertälje-  Games 6 Goals 5 Assists 3 Points 8

Sweden U18- Games 4 Goals 4 Assists 2 Points 6

The player I listed in August at #4.

Roland McKeown

6'1, 185 lbs

Games 37 Goals 7 Assists 22 Points 29

One writer says  "Total package on the blueline; IQ on both sides of puck. Impressive +16 in 11 GP in Oct". That's pretty bold words on this young man. Is a solid plus player and while can push the puck up the ice offensively he can provide a shutdown presence on the blue line that has some teams anticipating this draft rather eagerly. Has proven to be a good leader in the jr ranks.

Has won some nice trophies to brag about. Won a U18 championship, Ivan Hlinka Gold medal, made all-rookie team. Has outstanding skating skills and can skate east/west or north/south with relative ease. His top end acceleration and speed make him a difficult player to stop at top speed coming into the offensive zone. Can execute crisp one time passes well but most often likes to lead the rush with his puck on the stick. A extremely smart defender with good positioning and good instincts.

Should the Oilers make a push up in the standings in the later half they stand a good chance of landing a player like Roland who could only be another solid player brought into the stable for the future years ahead. Not exactly what Edmonton fans want to hear ( future) but Roland could be a top end 2 d-man , likely will settle more into a 3-4 d-man role if he continues this trend in a upward arrow.

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