Top Prospects Game: Schenn-ing at the right time

McKeen's correspondent David Burstyn continues his review on the Top Prospects Game with a report on some of the WHL forwards who participated. Cody Eakin, Brayden Schenn, Scott Glennie, Levko Cooper, Cater Ashton and Evander Kane are featured.

Cody Eakin (2009), LW, Swift Current

Named the Player-of-the–Game, Eakin potted two goals while playing alongside Tavares and Paradis .. injuries have plagued him this season, however when healthy, he has produced modestly, including 10 points in his last 12 games in the month of January .. skilled but also very underdeveloped physically .. nonetheless, he did take exception to a late Doherty hit against Tavares and willingly defended his teammate .. shows a physical dimension to his game .. uses his wiry frame along the boards to out muscle the opposition and make plays .. soft hands propelled by quick wrists that can launch a shot up high in an instant as was evidenced by his first goal .. patient in traffic areas and has a knack for finding the open man or placing a perfect shot .. deft skater with surprising quickness .. his stride is not exceptionally long but it does garner good speed .. positionally, he is very astute in the neutral zone and knows where he needs to be to break up plays .. he is a responsible player defensively .. Eakin had a good playoff last season (12-3-4-7) and will need to build on that to prove to NHL scouts that he is durable and can withstand the physical abuse associated with a long playoff drive.

Brayden Schenn (2009), C, Brandon

Schenn has exploded in the month of January (12-4-14-18) and finds himself within the top 13 in WHL scoring .. he creates with the puck rather effortlessly, as he has outstanding puck skills and instinctively knows where his linemate is going to be .. played once again with Glennie, as the duo have been terrorizing goalies since they joined the league as well as in numerous International tournaments .. Schenn uses his body to shield the puck and as such, creates in traffic .. his skating is still a serious concern, as he lacks lateral agility .. his hands are certainly quicker than his feet and he uses them well to disguise his skating flaws .. capable of making tricky moves in close, Schenn is adept at both passing and shooting .. he has all the tools both offensively and defensively to be situated on one of any NHL teams' top three lines .. improvements in skating is a must, however the intangibles that he brings coupled with his offensive intelligence can not be overlooked.

Scott Glennie (2009), RW, Brandon

Glennie has the most goals scored of all 1991-born RW's in the CHL .. he has many tools including a hair trigger release that could be the fastest in the draft .. he is a good skater who is agile in traffic .. he has great hands and outstanding offensive instincts .. he pounces on loose pucks and plays with jam .. he converts on his scoring chances and usually puts it in the back of the net the first time .. his shot is accurate and hard .. defensively, his game is sound .. he is able to gel with any set of linemates and understands his positioning in correlation to the play .. Glennie has a Miroslav Satan-like quality to him in that he scores and scores often.

Levko Koper (2009), LW, Spokane

Koper has had a difficult time scoring goals this season, including a 21-game goalless drought .. this drought is even more alarming when you consider Bowman, Wahl and Johnson were playing in the WJC, thus giving him key PP time in their absence .. Koper makes good use of his sturdy frame, however he relies and needs others to complement his north-south game .. he is an ok skater with polished agility and uncompromising balance .. his strength on his skates' aids him well in down-low situations, however he takes too long to make a play .. his decisions with the puck are not always the best ones .. will take lazy penalties because he simply stops moving his feet .. game is more designed to be that of a shutdown, fourth-line winger.

Carter Ashton (2009), LW, Lethbridge

Ashton is a beast of a player with an NHL-sized frame .. he struggled in this contest, as he was simply not able to keep up and rarely touched the puck .. his performance in this game did not help his overall draft stock but Ashton's size and determination will make it difficult for some NHL teams to ignore him .. has posted modest numbers this season, however many of his goals have come via the PP .. awkward skater, with too long of a stride .. he can not reach high levels of speed with his skating stride and has no second gear .. he makes terrific use of his size to dislodge the opposition off it .. he physically intimidates the opposition into skating into poor areas .. Ashton would be an ideal checking-line winger at the NHL with minimal scoring upside.

Evander Kane (2009), LW, Vancouver

Kane has been a model of consistency and has scored points in all but five games this season .. a late addition to the WJC, he helped Canada capture its fifth consecutive gold medal for his simple, yet outstanding play on the PK unit .. a dynamic skater with blazing speed, his balance comes into question on occasion and will need to be monitored further .. he has learned and adopted a more patient game and it has translated on the scoresheet .. still as vigilant as ever when attacking the goal, especially on the side down low .. cuts hard to the net and his goals are scored in a multitude of ways .. he is fearless in his approach and shows a hunger to score goals that is unrivalled by his peers .. more of a finisher than a playmaker, he still boasts creativity in his passing skills .. Kane's game is based on speed and his hair-trigger release .. he leads his team in goal scoring, as the Giants have only lost four games all year .. Kane's draft stock would soar if he is able to lead the Giants to another Memorial Cup.