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Tropical Storm: Forecasting Roland McKeown

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The trade deadline hasn’t even passed and the Canes farm system has already been added to. Wednesday, GM Ron Francis moved Andrej Sekera to the Los Angeles Kings for a 1st round pick and defensive prospect Roland McKeown. Who is Roland McKeown? Let’s take a look.

Draft

Showing his pedigree, McKeown was selected with the 2nd overall selection of the 2012 OHL priority draft by the Kingston Frontenacs. Two years later he was drafted in the 2nd round 2014 (50th Overall) by LA but was rated higher than that in many publications.

Stats

Skills

McKeown is a 6’1", 197 lb. defensemen currently playing for Kingston of the OHL. He is a great skater and is known for his puck moving qualities. He leads the breakout for his team and is not afraid to skate the puck if need be. McKeown also has a rocket of a shot from the point and uses his smarts to join the rush regularly.

Defensively, McKeown still has room for improvement. He uses his body well to clog lanes and position himself, but overall he is not considered physical. His mobility and quickness allows him to be aggressive at times with the knowledge that he can catch back up to the play. As he matures, he has room to add bulk to his frame and he will definitely need to improve the physicality he brings to the game unless he wants to be pigeonholed as a power play specialist.

Future

Depending on how the Canes want to go into next season, McKeown doesn’t have much chance to crack the Canes lineup. Having just turned 19 in January, McKeown’s only options for 2015-16 are to play in Raleigh or go back to the OHL. For Canes fans, the best option at this point would be to have McKeown come to camp and skate with the coaches and play in the prospect tournaments before going back to Kingston. With the knowledge he picks up from the Canes staff, he can use his season to work on adding an edge to his game and work on his overall game.


Video

Video via YouTube user DumbassShello

Video via NHL.com

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