McGuire's musings

Central Scouting director E.J. McGuire offered some quick-hit observations on D Keaton Ellerby, F Angelo Esposito, F Zach Hamill, D Thomas Hickey, and D Kevin Shattenkirk, the five prospects who visited with the Bruins this past weekend.

Keaton Ellerby (No. 4 North American skater)

"If the teams drafting in front of them want forwards and if [Peter] Chiarelli and his staff want defensemen, he could very well be there. We've got him ranked at No. 4. He's big -- 6-4, 186 -- but still on the string-beany side. Yet he's a perfect prototype as an 18-year-old putting weight on. If he stays string-beany, he could look like Chris Pronger. And he was still strong enough to lift the Stanley Cup."

Angelo Esposito (No. 8 North American skater)

"We were asked, 'Whatever happened to [Phil] Kessel? How did he screw up so much from our midterm No. 1 to No. 5? He'll never make it now.' He not only made it, but made it right away. It's the same with Esposito. He ran into a couple scoring drought problems. He fell into Patrick Roy's doghouse. He wasn't the first guy out there on the power play. In junior or at all levels, the first power-play unit grabs 1:20, the other group gets 40 seconds. That's important for the building-up of stats. He's a wonderful player and a good kid. He'll be an NHLer. Whether he's at No. 10 or No. 1 shouldn't matter to his drafting team. There is a parallel to [Kessel] -- how does he drop from the No. 1 midterm guy? The answer was that he went into a scoring drought for any number of reasons. He played great instead of super-great in the second half."

Zach Hamill (No. 9 North American skater)

"Boy, do scouts struggle when they watch the Everett Silvertips. [Former coach] Kevin Constantine plays a strict, strict defensive style. Hamill became a power-play specialist. He won the WHL scoring title with 93 points. Scouts say Kevin gives guys heck for going over the blue line. Zach is a skillful guy, like a Patrick Kane or Daniel Briere type. He learned from Constantine, so that will allow him to get to the NHL much quicker. He'll be more responsible when he gets there."

Thomas Hickey (No. 26 North American skater)

"I like Thomas. He's a Seattle player who's an offensive defenseman. He's not very big. He's like Brian Rafalski -- diminutive, offensive, jumps up with the puck. Every team needs one or two. As soon as you get three, your team is labeled as having a small defense that's susceptible to hard forechecking. But every team needs one or two of them. Scott Niedermayer is not an overly impressive physical specimen, but he's only got four Cups."

Kevin Shattenkirk (No. 34 North American skater)

"Maybe in the second round if he's there. He was the captain of the Under-18 team. He's in the category of a smaller type of offensive defenseman. He jumps up with the puck. From my viewings of the Under-18 team, he was jumping up with the puck and jumping into holes appropriately. I like him. If he's around in the second round and Boston picks him, I think they'll be pleasantly surprised. He's a good kid and a good defenseman. If it's in the second round, Boston's got a winner down the road."