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Take draftable CHL Forwards
Add their ES Goals & ES Points, then Divide by Games Played
1 * Kailer Yamamoto * 1.32
2 * Owen Tippett * 1.32
3 * Jonah Gadjovich * 1.27
4 * Nico Hischier * 1.23
5 * Nolan Patrick * 1.21
6 * Cody Glass * 1.20
7 * Nick Suzuki * 1.15
8 * Gabriel Vilardi * 1.12
9 * Mason Shaw * 1.11
10 * Jason Robertson * 1.10
11 * Kole Lind * 1.06
12 * Morgan Geekie * 1.04
13 * Aleksi Heponiemi * 1.03
14 * Nick Henry * 1.01
15 * Matthew Strome * 0.97
16 * Ivan Chekhovich * 0.97
17 * Jaret Anderson-Dolan * 0.96
18 * Lane Zablocki * 0.95
19 * Macauley Carson * 0.93
20 * Mitchell Balmas * 0.93
Standing slightly taller than Todd McLellan’s daughter, Yamamoto is certainly not of the typical coke-machine build that the Oilers have long coveted. Rather, Yamamoto is a (very) small winger with plus playmaking ability.
In his third season with the Spokane Chiefs, Yamamoto put up an impressive 99 points (42-57) in 69 GP, leading the WHL in goals, primary points, and primary points per game - even outperforming #2 overall pick Nolan Patrick offensively.
Billed as ‘this draft’s Johnny Gaudreau’, Yamamoto figures to spend one more season in the WHL barring exceptional rookie and training camps, but it’s encouraging to see the Oilers management coveting elite skill at the draft.
Yamamoto does, at first glance, appear to be undersized, but he was highly impressive at the rookie combine (4 Wingate, 2 Agility, 4 Pull-Ups) and has earned universal acclaim from scouts and NHL executives alike for ‘playing big’.
A pint-sized, yet dynamic, playmaker… small, speedy forward with excellent hockey sense and quick hands…has a strong work ethic that keeps him going…great overall quickness, first-step jump to create separation and an ability to alter speeds to create gaps…sneaky and stealth-like in finding prime scoring ice…very creative with the puck and shows off creative hands…uses his size to squeak through the tightest of holes…is a force in possession as he likes the puck on his stick, and is dangerous as a set-up man or shooter in the offensive zone…poised, clutch and aware…feisty on the forecheck, not physically, but uses his speed to force opponents into rushed plays while clogging up passing lanes with an active stick…one of those rare wingers who has the ability to affect the flow of a game like a center…a very special talent, high octane and cerebral.
Sound like someone we know?
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