Johnson or Kindl

Next summer’s draft promises to be top-loaded with quality blueliners.

In fact, there are currently 20 defensemen ranked in our top 50, led by NDTP star Jack Johnson (4th) and Czech Jakub Kindl (6th) of the Kitchener Rangers.

“Johnson is a heck of a talent,” according to McKeen’s correspondent Dave Fortier, who has followed both the OHL and the U.S. National Team Development Program extensively over the past few seasons.

“He’s almost too aggressive at times though,” warns Fortier. “Last weekend, some kid hit him in the groin, and Johnson responded by knocking him down and cross-checking him about 10 times while the kid was lying on the ice. That competitiveness is exactly what NHL teams are looking at. Johnson’s definitely got the game and still top 5 in my books.”

Kindl is more of a finesse type than Johnson.

"My biggest hockey role model is Nicklas Lidstrom from the Detroit Red Wings,” said Kindl in an interview with McKeen’s. “He is a terrific offensive defenseman and I like his play a lot. In the Czech Extraleague, I watch Radim Tesarik a lot and from the younger players I would mention Martin Vagner. They all play a style similar to mine and are fun to watch."

“Kindl is still getting comfortable with the greater physical demands of North American hockey,” says Fortier. “His defensive play has been stellar. No problems there. But, I feel we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg with Kindl. The best is yet to come.”

McKeen’s correspondent Robert Neuhauser has been following Kindl’s career path since the beginning. For more information on Kindl, please see Neuhauser’s excellent article A Blue-chip Czech, published earlier this year.