2015 NHL Draft Profiles: Travis Konecny
Travis Konecny – 5’10, 176-pound forward from the Ottawa 67s (OHL)
Travis Konecny Rankings
- #12 by ISS Hockey
- #11 by Future Considerations
- #14 by McKeen’s Hockey
- #14 by NHL Central Scouting
- #15 by Bob McKenzie
Travis Konecny’s Scouting Report provided by Brock Otten of OHL Prospects.
Travis Konecny Strengths
- Konecny is a hard prospect not to like. He plays the game the right way and is a very well rounded player. His speed is electric.
- Towards the New Year (including a fantastic showing at the CHL Top Prospect’s Game), the light really seemed to turn on for him. He’s at his best using his speed in short bursts offensively, dictating pace by stopping and starting quickly.
- He’s also at his best when he’s engaging physically, throwing big hits and agitating on the forecheck. Konecny also possesses a fantastic wrist shot with a pro calibre release.
- As the captain of the 67’s, it goes without saying that his leadership qualities are also significant.
Travis Konecny Criticisms
- At the beginning of the year, he struggled to find his game, and seemed to be putting too much pressure on himself. His speed is electric, but the creativity was being stifled because he was forcing plays that weren’t there.
- Durability questions – I think that, really, the only strike against Konecny is size. At 5’10, Konecny plays a much larger game (and needs to play that way to be successful). And he’s run into some injury issues, including a shoulder injury that kept him out late in the year and in the playoffs.
The Verdict
- From Sean Lafortune: “If you believe in his skill and compete level, then he’s a top 6 winger who can score and create off the rush. If you’re unsure about the growth that he has left and his ability to remain healthy, his projections would be more limited, projecting him as a bottom 6 forward, quality penalty killer and depth scorer…. He tracks back in support quite often; he played wing a lot more recently and that’s probably going be his future, but he definitely can play center.”
- In a lot of ways, it resembles Robby Fabbri’s situation last year. Come draft day, watching where Konecny goes is one of the things I’m most curious about.
Travis Konecny Career Accomplishments
- Number one overall selection in 2013 OHL Priority Draft.
- Bronze medal winner at the 2014 WJC U18s for Team Canada.
- 2013-14 OHL Rookie of the Year and First Team All-Rookie Player.
- Captain of the Ottawa 67s for the 2014-15 season and Captain of Gold-Medal Winning Team Canada at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament.
- Player of Game for Team Orr in the BMO NHL-CHL Top Prospects Game.
- Voted Best Skater in the Eastern Conference in OHL Coaches Poll.
- Ranked second at 2015 NHL Scouting Combine in consecutive pullups (13).
Travis Konecny Interview
Courtesy of The Pipeline Show:
On comparisons to Brendan Gallagher:
Yeah, that’s definitely flattering. It’s definitely somebody that I try to model my game after. If I’m ever asked a question about NHL comparison, that’s definitely who I use. The way he competes and battles day in and day out, whether he is on the scoresheet or not he’s going to work hard and try to contribute to his team any way he can. That’s the way I try to look at myself and model my game after him.
On playing his aggressive style at his size:
I know I’ve always had the hard-nosed working characteristic, but at the same time when you’re a smaller guy sometimes you’ve got to get nitty gritty, maybe get into other guys’ heads to open up some space for you to do your thing.
On becoming a well-rounded player under the guidance on Jeff Brown:
It’s been a great year. It’s been a great experience coming in, not sure what kind of coach Jeff Brown was going to be, and now that I’ve spent a year with him I know he’s about maturing each player into a professional and that’s what he’s trying to do with me. I’ve learned a lot this year, and just the way he approaches the game and the way to win hockey games; it’s not all about the scoresheet. Whether there’s five minutes left or ten minutes left and you have the lead, it’s just about bearing down and playing for your teammates.
On his slower start to his year and taking on the ‘C’ with the 67s at a young age:
I definitely think that I had a slow start. At the same time, it was trying to figure out my game at the start of the year. How to play to the best of my abilities but also how to help my team and not hurt us. Getting the C this year was quite an honour for the background of the Ottawa 67s and for them to believe in me at a young age to lead the team. The older guys on the team definitely helped me and showed me the ropes in the OHL and how to deal with certain situations. For what we did this year, and for me being the captain, I give credit to the guys in the room for helping me along the way.
On whether he’s pass or shoot first:
I’m told I pass a little bit too much sometimes. I look to shoot then I try to dish it off, so I have to shoot a little bit more, but I think I’m a pass-first kind of guy.
Experts Take: Travis Konecny
Sean Lafortune (@SeanLafortune) speaking about Travis Konecny on The Pipeline Show:
Travis and a lot of the 67s were kind of saddled with a poor start this year and it took a while to turn on, and Travis was one of the reasons why they’ve kind of made a 180 degree lately. His game has kind of gotten back to where it was. He’s a pretty dedicated hockey player; he has to be, he’s 5’9-5’10, 180-pounds. He’s very competitive, very dedicated to the game. He tracks back in support quite often; he played wing a lot more recently and that’s probably going be his future, but he definitely can play center. He’s got such a high-end shot and he’s so good down low despite his small frame. He’s powerful, he’s built a lot like Bo Horvat in the same sense, a little smaller but the same sort of body size. He’ll win battles down low. I think that coming into the year we had higher expectations for him because of how good he was as a 16 year old, and he came down to Earth again at the beginning of the year, but at the Prospects Game and further on from there, his game has kind of gotten back on to where you’re really falling in love with a player like that and you could really see him going top 15. From a projection standpoint, I think there’s a lot of value in him similar to Crouse in the fact that I think you could play him on a third line-second line role and probably produce pretty healthily in the NHL. There’s a lot of value in guys like that and you can’t necessarily always get franchise guys after the first four or five picks. A guy like him who could be a 40-50 point and play two-ways and play a high-compete with leadership capabilities as well, I think there’s a lot of elements to his game that translate from there.
Dean Millard (@DuckMillard) speaking about Travis Konecny on The Pipeline Show:
Jeff Brown is the head coach there, and Jeff Brown sounds like he’s doing something similar to what Brent Sutter has done over the years, in that: Take player A, and say, “do you want to be a 50-goal scorer in junior, or maybe a 25-30 goal scorer and have a long NHL career?” I’m going to turn you into a better player, you won’t be as flashy of a player as you want to be, you maybe won’t have as gaudy stats as you might if I just let you go, but I’m going to make you a hockey player. It sounds to me, from the people I’ve talked to, that’s kind of been going on with Travis Konecny. Jeff Brown has said, “you’re going to be a full-ice player. You’re going to play in all three zones, you’re going to kill penalties for me, you’re going to play on the powerplay. You’re going to play in these situations and you’re going to be an NHL player, rather than just a really good junior player.”
Travis Konecny Statistics
SEASON | TEAM | LEAGUE | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011-12 | Elgin Middlesex Chi. Bantam AAA | AHBPL | 63 | 78 | 74 | 152 | 137 | | | ||||||||
Elgin Middlesex Chi. Mn Mdgt AAA | AHMMPL | 3 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | | | |||||||||
2012-13 | Elgin Middlesex Chi. Mn Mdgt AAA | AHMMPL | 27 | 31 | 35 | 66 | 72 | | | Playoffs | 11 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 43 | ||
Elgin Middlesex Chi. Mn Mdgt AAA | Midget | 54 | 53 | 61 | 114 | - | | | |||||||||
2013-14 | Ottawa 67's | OHL | 63 | 26 | 44 | 70 | 18 | -15 | | | |||||||
Canada Ontario U17 | WHC-17 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | | | |||||||||
Canada U18 | WJC-18 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 4 | | | ||||||||
2014-15 | Ottawa 67's | OHL | 60 | 29 | 39 | 68 | 34 | -1 | | | Playoffs | 5 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 4 |
Travis Konecny Video
Travis Konecny – Shift by Shift:
Travis Konecny – Highlights:
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