Jaeger White: 2013 WHL Draft Prospect

Jaeger White (Burnaby Winter Club)

White has elite offensive abilities that is very rare in 14 year olds. He has developed a scoring touch that is difficult to come by, and possesses world class vision that will allow him to put up a huge amount of points in the future.[sociallocker]

Oppositions have no choice but to focus on White when he is in the offensive zone. Any small opportunity he receives, he can make something happen and put up a score on the board. He has a wicked arsenal of shots and chooses the appropriate shot depending on the situation well. He just needs to work on releasing his wrist shots quicker to be more deceptive off the rush. Jaeger often plays like he has eyes located at the back of his head. He is able to locate teammates perfectly with a pass with his back facing them and catch opponents off guard. Just when you think you can go wrap him up along the boards when he is not looking, he makes a tape to tape pass to a teammate in the slot for a great scoring chance. He is able to create a lot of room for his teammates, and stays patient with the puck. He is able to dangle through a number of defenders at once and protect it well as he goes through traffic. Opponents always have to be on their toes when he is on the ice, with or without the puck.

The problems with White exists in the defensive zone. Firstly, his backchecks are quite poor. It does not seem like he cares too much about his play without the puck and hopes his teammates will be able to cover for him. He just glides back nonchalantly and is much behind the play. The only time he actually tries is when the puck is close to him and he senses that he can get the puck back. His coaches do not trust him in any sort of defensive situations and he rarely, if ever, kills penalties unlike the many top forwards who are trusted in every situation possible. If he wants to get more playing time, he will have to get better habits.

A very deceptive aspect of his game is his skating abilities. It seems like he is able to increase 2-3 gears and blow past opponents off the rush if he senses that he could go wide against them. His ability to turn on a dime around the boards is quite impressive when he picked up a lot of speed, and control the puck easily at the same time.

Jaeger White’s offensive abilities are undeniable. He will have success at the junior level scoring goals and putting up assists. However, the game at that level takes more than just being good in the offensive zone. He has to be responsible defensively for coaches to trust him and put him out on the ice. White just has to put his mind into backchecking and doing the dirty work in his own zone to get the attack going for is team.[/sociallocker]