OHL: Cool Kindl

The word 'kindle' is defined in the Oxford Dictionary as the act of 'setting on fire' or 'stirring up'.

Thus far in his North American debut, Jakub Kindl has certainly lived up to his handle.

The fifth-overall pick in this summer's CHL Import Draft, Kindl has been a defensive standout for the Kitchener Rangers in the absence of injured blueliners Boris Valabik and Matt Lashoff.

Despite not being selected as one of the three stars of the game, the native of Sumperk, Czech Republic was instrumental in keeping the St. Michael's Majors off the scoresheet as the Rangers posted a 2-0 shutout earlier this week.

Correspondent Patrick King files this scouting report on some of the game's more notable performers.

Jakub Kindl (2005), D, Kitchener

Logged a ton of icetime in all critical situations, likely surpassing the 30-minute mark .. a slick and composed defender with exceptional mobility and vision .. gifted on his feet, moves fluently in all directions .. accelerates rapidly using a smooth and effortless stride .. effectively stands up puckrushers at the blueline .. rarely gets caught way out of position, yet can recover instantly due to his superb first step and top-end speed .. did miscalculate once during a third-period dump-in, and was forced to take Ryan Rorabeck out of the play with a hipcheck, drawing an interference penalty .. exhibits impressive poise with the puck, rarely making a poor play when pressured .. strong puck-control skills and mechanics, while his passes are always soft and accurate .. late in the game with the Majors pressing, he twice flipped the puck high out of the zone applying just enough weight to avoid icings .. vision is among his top assets .. displays keen anticipation, appearing to be one step ahead of the play .. expertly positions himself to retrieve pucks from scrums along the boards .. showed good awareness to avoid a big check, deftly dancing around an attempted full-throttle hit from Cal Clutterbuck .. despite a good-sized frame, however, didn't see much of a physical dimension aside from the odd hipcheck .. more a positional thinker than heavy contact guy .. his offensive skills are largely dormant at this stage as well, though he did demonstrate an innate sense for when to support the offense .. releases point shots quickly, though his velocity needs some work .. one area of concern in his determination level though .. everything seems to come so easy to him that he appears to be working at less than full capacity, especially as an attacker .. this should sort itself out as he matures .. in conclusion, there is considerable upside here and all the tools to become a top NHL defenseman.

Devereaux Heshmatpour (2005), D, Kitchener

Paired with Kindl to begin the game, but later skated alongside rookie Matt Pepe .. received big workload due to injuries to Valabik and Lashoff .. an abrasive, 'in-your-face' defender who stays close to home for the most part .. likes to get his mitts in opposition's face, at one point engaging two players at the same time behind his net .. a mountain of a physical specimen who casts a bigger shadow than most at this level .. at times, he appears quite mobile for a player his size, not unlike a young Ed Jovanovski .. however, there's an awkwardness and an unstable quality about his movements, especially going backwards .. his straight-line speed and top gear are actually quite good, but he struggles to keep pace with quicker forwards on the cycle when forced to cut and change direction unexpectedly .. uses massive wingspan effectively to compensate for skating deficiencies .. perhaps even more glaring are his still-raw finesse skills .. not a frequent puckhandler, he often resorts to hard clearances off the boards .. in fact, most of his touches are hard, even on short outlet passes .. does display good tenacity, though, engaging opponents physically and trying to stay involved .. defended well during some one-on-one situations, though there are questions about his defensive acumen, as he appeared to be unsure of where to go on the ice, and can get pulled out of position in search of a big takeout .. played a discipline game early on, but gradually lost his cool .. following one offside call, he punched Craig Montgomery in the face, earning a roughing penalty .. also lost his composure after being on the wrong end of a Travis Elder hit, and went looking for revenge, shirking his defensive duties in the process .. took another penalty on the PK, slashing Ryan Wilson's stick in half .. yet, despite all the red flags, it's unlikely that he will freefall on draft day given his prodigious size and toughness.

Tyler Haskins (Det), C, St. Michael's

Detroit fifth-rounder has assumed a greater leadership role this season with the departure of former captain Tim Brent .. special-teams regular and top-line center between Cal Clutterbuck and Travis Elder .. a gifted faceoff specialist who usually wins most of his draws, though he had trouble dominating Kitchener's duo of Mike Richards and Evan McGrath in this affair .. showed terrific resourceful on one particular offensive-zone faceoff, tying up his man and then dumping the puck back to a defenseman with his skate .. sees the ice exceptionally well in all three zones .. consistently exhibits textbook neutral-zone positioning, almost always taking up ideal defensive spots .. senses danger well and works tirelessly away from the puck .. a talented puckhandler with excellent protection skills ..must continue to refine his shooting and finishing skills .. missed the top corner by a wide margin on one wrister after doing well to create a shooting lane .. also needs to upgrade his overall quickness, as he is still limited by a lack of dynamic speed .. nearly scored in the middle stanza, showing a quick burst to blow by a defender, but was unable to fool Carlos DiRienzo despite a nice deke .. appears to have added upper-body muscle, though he still gets pushed around easily, and often finds himself on the wrong end of some fierce hits .. a solid pro prospect given his creativity, smarts and 'never-say-die' attitude .. projects as a responsible playmaking forward once he physically matures and, ideally, gets a step faster.

Cal Clutterbuck (2006), RW, St. Michael's

A gritty, fearless sparkplug with understated offensive skills .. the definition of a 'bull in a china shop' despite his diminutive stature .. possesses solid leadership qualities and can inspire teammates with his physical play .. quickly earning a reputation as one of the better agitators in the OHL, as he often looks to hit everything in sight .. crashed the net with reckless abandon looking for a rebound .. after absorbing one particular hit in the offensive zone, took time to give DiRienzo a leg-jab with his stick .. at times, his brash style can be a liability, as he has a tendency to get drawn out of position looking to finish his check, no matter how inconsequential .. his defensive positioning in general is solid, though still needs improvement .. can be prone to floating near the opposition blueline on occasion looking for a breakaway pass .. possesses underrated offensive abilities, including a good wristshot and slippery one-on-one moves .. showed this elusiveness on one specific play, slipping Matt Pepe's check behind the net and spinning out front to create a wide-open scoring chance .. by no means a pretty skater, but still quite effective .. more quick than fast .. needs to upgrade all areas of his game, but the early prognosis is a fiery instigator in the Darcy Tucker tradition.