Round 4 – 113th Overall
Original Pick: D Jeremy Price
New Pick: LW Mike Hoffman (130th to OTT)
Honorable Mentions: D Ben Chiarot (120th to ATL/WPG), W Gabriel Bourque (132nd to NSH)
While 10 players picked between 83rd and 113th played in at least 100 NHL games, finding NHL talent in the fourth round was significantly harder. Of course, the Canucks didn’t manage to do it, picking defenseman Jeremy Price. An offensive defenseman, Price had a successful college career, appeared in five AHL games for the Chicago Wolves and played 38 games in the ECHL. But after that, he called it a career.
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Discovering Mike Hoffman as NHL talent wasn’t easy, though. Hoffman got cut off the roster by the OHL Kitchener Rangers and made his way over to the QMJHL. In his first year in the Q, he had 24 goals and 48 points in 62 games. With his production that low and obvious holes in his defensive game, he was passed over in the 2008 draft.
It wasn’t until the 2008-09 season that Hoffman broke out in dominant fashion, scoring 52 goals and 94 points. Enough to justify his selection by the Senators. But even then, Hoffman still had holes in his defensive game and was an overager, so his pick was anything but safe. Not a Canucks mistake, just something that could have ended well for Vancouver.
Hoffman just broke into the NHL two seasons ago, with the 2014-15 campaign being his first full year in the league. Between 2014 and 2016, however, he had 57 goals and 110 points in 157 games. So, yes, Mike Hoffman looks like a big-time steal.
Next: Round 5