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2016 NHL Draft Profiles: Victor Mete

Victor Mete – 5’10, 174-pound left-shot defenceman from the London Knights (OHL)


Victor Mete Rankings

  • Ranked #74 by NHL Central Scouting (NA Skaters)
  • Ranked #55 by McKeen’s Hockey
  • Ranked #78 by Craig Button

Victor Mete Scouting Report provided by Brock Otten of OHL Prospects

Victor Mete Strengths

  • If he was over 6’0, we’re talking about Victor Mete as a surefire NHL first rounder. But as it stands, the undersized (5’10) defender is still a pretty special player.
  • It all starts with his fantastic skating ability. Offensively, he’s almost impossible to pin in his own end because of how explosive he is. He starts the breakout with the blink of an eye. Defensively, he uses his speed and overall mobility as an asset and is a very difficult player to beat one on one.
  • Mete is never out of a play and has worked hard to really increase his intensity level in his own end.
  • In terms of a puck-moving defenceman, Mete is as good as it gets. He rarely turns the puck over in the neutral zone and does a great job with his entries. When he does get trapped, his skating ability allows him to quickly recover.

Victor Mete Weaknesses

  • He doesn’t yet possess an elite shot and as such isn’t incredibly aggressive in looking to shoot (especially on the powerplay). Teams play him to pass and that limits his offensive effectiveness at times, but he’s still got lots of room to grow in that area.
  • At 5’10, and despite being mobile and willing to engage, it remains to be seen how well he’ll be able to defend at the next level. His IQ is solid, but bigger players overpower him occasionally.

The Verdict

How you view Mete depends on how well you think he will defend at the NHL level. Personally, I think there is enough evidence to suggest that he could easily develop into a Kris Russell kind of player. His performance in the OHL playoffs was exemplary and I think should go a long way in proving to NHL scouts that he can be an NHL player.

“If he’s 6-0 he’s a first-round pick,” said one scout, who nevertheless slots him as a solid second-round selection. “His coach played him in all situations on junior hockey’s best team. He’s a warrior, and one of the best skaters in the draft.”
McKeen’s Draft Guide


Experts Take on Victor Mete

HockeyProspect.com’s Ryan Yessie, courtesy of The Pipeline Show in November:
He came from the Toronto Jr. Canadiens program, which also produced defenceman Jakob Chychrun. That minor midget team, without a doubt, had a great blueline.

He’s an exceptional skater. I’m not a fan of using the word exceptional much; I sometimes see it used way too much. But you’re not going to find too many defencemen over the next ten years that can skate the way this guy does. He can skate north-south unbelievably quick, but he can also go east to west. He opens up passing options that just aren’t available for other defencemen just by using his skating and skating laterally across the ice. He can open up lanes, and he can take the puck and rush it out of danger.

His skating ability I can’t praise quite enough. The only thing holding this guy back, really, is his size. He’s listed at 5’10; I’d be very surprised if he is actually 5’10. He looks a little bit smaller than that. He needs to put on muscle. He got rocked a couple of weeks ago in open ice, and that was a concern. You see a guy his size, and he’s got to avoid the contact. He’s working on his defensive game. Skill wise, he’s fantastic, but the size is going to be what makes him a challenge to rank.

[The Knights having some big defencemen] opens things up for him, especially when he’s playing with a guy like Chris Martenet, who is 6’7. They’ve been shuffling their lines a lot. London is known for shuffling things up and mixing things up and seeing what does work and what doesn’t work, so he’s been with a couple of different guys, but all of the guys he’s been out there with have been 6’1 or bigger.


Victor Mete Statistics

SEASONTEAMLEAGUEGPGATPPIM+/-|POSTGPGATPPIM+/-
2013-14Toronto Jr. Canadi. Mn Mdgt AAA AGTMMHL3312183010|Playoffs143362
Toronto Jr. Canadiens Midget AAAGTHL10000|
2014-15London KnightsOHL58716231419|Playoffs101782-4
Canada Red U17 AWHC-1751124|
2015-16London KnightsOHL68830381853|Playoffs184711015

Victor Mete Video