Adam Erne – Quebec Remparts – 2013 NHL Draft

Adam Erne is a gritty player with very good offensive instincts and surprising speed for a young player of his size. It took him a while to get going early in the season, but when he did, teams had a difficult time

trying to slow him down. He produced great number for his first year in the league even though he played on the second line with average skilled players.

The first thing we noticed with Erne is his ability to come down the wing with very good explosion. While he is not as fast as his teammate Duclair, he has the speed to beat the defenders but also uses his body really well to go to the net. He lowers his center of gravity to drive to the net and create some havoc. Erne is also very smart with the puck and makes excellent decisions. He is able to create space down the wing to release a strong shot if he cannot beat the defender with his speed, but will need to work on his accuracy. The big power forward is also adept at getting in front of the net to score goals. He places him-self in the right spot and makes good use of his body to get his stick on loose pucks. We also like how mature he is in the neutral zone where he won’t force any plays, but will dump the puck into a corner or finding a teammate if he cannot do anything himself. Adam is an accomplished hitter too, delivering hard hits along the board and even in open ice. It will be interesting to see how far he takes his physical play next season and how much he grows.

Even though he wore down at the end of the season and did not have the same explosive element in the playoffs, Erne does not have a lot of glaring issues to work on and is a very intriguing power forward in the making. He plays a very smart and complete game. It will be interesting to see how much he improves in all the categories he already excels at, including his skill level. He has above average hands for the style of game he plays, but faster execution while dangling the puck could make him more dangerous offen-sively in tight spaces against his opposition. We are looking forward to see how he responds to more ice time next year, particularly on the first unit PP and some PK time.