Joe Vrbetic, Goalie, 214th Overall

[Commandant]

 

 

A little write up on him here. 

 

Good value in the 7th. 

 

https://lastwordonsports.com/hockey/2021/07/20/2021-nhl-draft-scouting-reports-prospects-91-100/

[johnnyhasbeen]

Never a mistake to add to the goalie prospect pool. They mature so far beyond the draft age that you never know for sure .

[GHT120]

When looking at junior goalie stats I always remind myself that Patrick Roy was a sub-.875 Sv% goaltender in the QMJHL ... while Sv% is an imperfect stat at any level, in junior it can be the most deceiving ... it has also been said that in the long-run it **may** benefit a goalie to play on a terrible junior team and face a ton of shots and/or a ridiculous number of dangerous shots.

[Commandant]

Vrbetic's 2019-20 North Bay team was a dumpster fire 

[Sir_Boagalott]

6 hours ago, Commandant said:

Vrbetic's 2019-20 North Bay team was a dumpster fire 

 

No doubt.  I watched a clip of his 1st pro shutout and NB's defence looked absolutely ridiculous bad.  They were completely clueless in front of him, yet he got a shutout.  He seems like a decent late round pick that has long term potential to turn into something. 

 

7 hours ago, GHT120 said:

it has also been said that in the long-run it **may** benefit a goalie to play on a terrible junior team and face a ton of shots and/or a ridiculous number of dangerous shots

 

It looked exactly like that.  Playing on a crap team team probably does wonders for a young developing goalie.  

[JoeLassister]

My brain eveytime I read Joe Vrbetic :

 

[tomh009]

Has anyone seen Vrbetic play this year? His numbers are certainly much improved from last season, but is that just thanks to having a better defence corps in front of him?

[dlbalr]

41 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

Has anyone seen Vrbetic play this year? His numbers are certainly much improved from last season, but is that just thanks to having a better defence corps in front of him?

 

I've seen just a few clips here and there but the team is a bit better in front of him and he's two years older.  He got a starting role at 17 in the OHL and usually that's for one of two reasons - the goalie is either a top-end prospect or the team in the midst of a rebuild (it was obviously the latter for Vrbetic).  A little older, a little better, and a little bit better of a team (it's still not that good) and the recipe is there for better numbers.

[tomh009]

Thanks, Brian. How do you see his potential at this point? Does he look like he might have NHL potential? Please feel free to use your Ouija board for the answer! 😀

[dlbalr]

Goalies are so hard to project and if I'm being honest, my track record of predicting goalies isn't very good.  I have him in the back third or so of the prospect rankings this year (which is still pretty high for a recent 7th rounder) but I wouldn't peg him as having NHL upside yet.  I need to see an extended run of strong performance before really giving him a boost.

 

One thing that will be interesting is that he'll be an overager next year since he turns 20 in October and overage goalies in the OHL generally don't carry a lot of value as only a handful of teams are open to using an OA slot on a non-skater.  Will that limit his opportunities?  Will it force the Habs to turn him pro?  That will also play a role in his long-term projection.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

On 7/25/2021 at 9:07 AM, GHT120 said:

When looking at junior goalie stats I always remind myself that Patrick Roy was a sub-.875 Sv% goaltender in the QMJHL ... while Sv% is an imperfect stat at any level, in junior it can be the most deceiving ... it has also been said that in the long-run it **may** benefit a goalie to play on a terrible junior team and face a ton of shots and/or a ridiculous number of dangerous shots.

 

Side note - I read Roy’s father’s biography of his son. He described Roy being relegated to backup status by internal politics in junior (or maybe it was the next level down) with the team’s coach being a close family friend of the #1 guy. Basically, according to that story, if they had not pushed back hard and relentlessly, Roy never would have been a starter and we would therefore never have heard of him. Assuming this to be true, it’s kind of amazing to contemplate…the Habs could have been shy by two Cups and one of history’s greatest G would have been lost to obscurity, all because of an amateur-hour coach playing favourites.

 

As for this kid, hey, the Habs need G. They haven’t drafted a legit starter since the all-time-great Price (2005) and the admirable Halak (2003) - which is really rather incredible. You’d think you’d hit one by sheer fluke in the intervening 15 years, especially having hit the jackpot twice within three years in the early 2000s.

[dlbalr]

9 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

As for this kid, hey, the Habs need G. They haven’t drafted a legit starter since the all-time-great Price (2005) and the admirable Halak (2003) - which is really rather incredible. You’d think you’d hit one by sheer fluke in the intervening 15 years, especially having hit the jackpot twice within three years in the early 2000s.

 

To be fair, they really haven't tried to draft a legit starter very often since that time.  There was Fucale in 2013 in the second round and then the next highest goalie drafted since Price is Jason Missiaen at 116th overall, a fourth-rounder (who, like Vrbetic, was drafted in part due to his size).  In 15 years, they've really only attempted to draft someone projected as an NHL starter once.  Since they've had Price that long, it hasn't really been a need or a priority.

[tomh009]

But given how long goalies take to develop, we really do need some prospects in the pipeline, and not just Primeau (who might or might not make it to NHL starter).

[dlbalr]

2 minutes ago, tomh009 said:

But given how long goalies take to develop, we really do need some prospects in the pipeline, and not just Primeau (who might or might not make it to NHL starter).

 

Quantity of goalie prospects isn't an issue right now - Dobes has some upside, Dichow is having a good season, and Vrbetic is there as well.  At some point in the next couple of drafts, they may want to consider drafting a higher-rated goalie that they think has legitimate NHL potential but in terms of 'dart-throw' picks, they have quite a few of those already.

[Sir_Boagalott]

9 hours ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

Side note - I read Roy’s father’s biography of his son. He described Roy being relegated to backup status by internal politics in junior (or maybe it was the next level down) with the team’s coach being a close family friend of the #1 guy.

 

 

Unfortunately, that probably happens quite often and in lots of Cities. 

 

I know similar favouritism was happening in my City when I was young, and likely still is.  There are 3 large factories here, and 1 of the Coach's worked at 1.  If you had a kid that was the same age and had a higher skill level as the Coach's co-workers kids unless your  kid had unarguably vastly superior skills they had no chance at making the team. 

 

My bother wasn't overly good, but that happened to him and numerous other kids his age.  In fact, there was a tournament here, and 1 of the teams was unable to make it, so they had to create a Select team to sub in - and my brother was on it.  Well, his team should have been a huge under dog with 0 chance of winning it, but they easily won the tournament.  It was insane because none of the games were even remotely close.