Vancouver Canucks 2018 NHL draft prospect profile #21: Bode Wilde
By Chris Faber
Bode Wilde is up next in our Draft Prospect profiles, this exciting defenceman lead all defenceman in points this past year with the United States National Development Program (USDP).
The Vancouver Canucks await draft day, where they will once again have the opportunity to draft more franchise players. In the meantime, we now profile 2018 draft prospect Bode Wilde.
The 6-foot-2 defenceman. has been developing with this USDP for the past two years after being a standout in the Chicago minor hockey leagues. Wilde was born in Montreal, Canada but moved down to United States when he was 12 years old in order to pursue his dreams of playing University hockey.
Wilde will see that dream come true next year as he will be joining the University of Michigan, a place that has been prepping NHLers for years and it will continue to with Wilde. He possesses a wrist shot that is very accurate and he can get that shot off with plenty of quickness. Next year should be a big year of development in the young Wilde’s game, he has size, speed and skill which will continue to grow at the NCAA level.
One thing that sticks out in Wilde’s highlight tapes is his confidence, when he has the puck in the offensive zone or on an odd man rush he is very confident, Wilde loves to shoot the puck and on odd man rushes he is very good at following his shot and looking for a rebound, this can cause Wilde to get caught from time to time but when you see the highlight tapes Wilde’s skill when confident is as high as some of the other offensive defenceman in this draft.
The stats rundown
*Counting Stats provided by EliteProspects
Height: 6’2″ / 189 cm
Weight: 196 lbs / 89 kg
Birthdate: January 24th, 2000
More from Draft
- Recapping the Canucks picks from rounds five to seven
- Canucks take Daimon Gardner in fourth round
- Canucks select Elias Pettersson in third round
- Canucks select Jonathan Lekkerimäki with 15th overall pick
- Five players the Canucks could draft with the 15th overall pick
Position: Defence
Shoots: Right
Team: United States Development Team
Wilde had a total of 20 goals and 40 assists in his USDP career, where he played 118 games. Last season he had 12 goals and 29 assists in a total of 61 games in the USDP.
His breakout passes are a high skill point in his game, when running the powerplay Wilde was often the man to begin behind the net and find the first pass to break into the opposing offensive zone.
The ability to get pucks on net and create rebounds is a key for why he runs a great power play and if Wilde can develop his current slapshot into an NHL calibre slapshot than he will be a licensed power play quarterback moving forward.
I love Wilde’s fit for Vancouver if for some reason they were to trade down and acquire picks or to be moving up from our second round pick to snag a guy like Wilde. His calmness and confidence when moving the puck up from the defensive zone and the ability to managing a power play are two traits that the Canucks would love to add to their arsenal of defenceman, oh and he’s a right hand shot to boot.
If for some reason Wilde drops to the Canucks in the second round they should be thanking the hockey gods, so I don’t see them being the realm of picking Wilde. Wilde actually seems like a guy who could shoot up the draft board on some teams, though we have him at No. 21 on our list some scouts have has him as high as 12-15 though some have him in the later 20’s.
Scouting report
"Wilde is a big, two-way difference–maker on the back-end…a big kid that is also a real solid skater…transitions smoothly…passes the puck with authority and accuracy…has a booming slap shot from the point that he can unleash in a hurry…he can be a real catalyst on the power play…shows nice leadership skills…calm puck handling, rarely displaying panic under pressure…generates time and space by using body positioning…uses his big frame to step into opponents and shut them down physically."
"A thoroughbred puck mover who likes to live on the edge with his reads, Wilde has the skills to become one of the top players taken from this draft. Some question his ability to defend, but Wilde has proven he knows how to do it when it’s asked of him. He’s only a tweak or two away from becoming his generation’s version of Scott Niedermayer."
"Big shot, wild pony who is a bit risky even for those who enjoy the new-aged defencemen. Uses size to add bite to his game."
What we think
I think Wilde is a solid first round pick, it is so hard to tell with defenceman aside from Rasmus Dahlin who will be an instant NHL player and who will take some time to develop, Wilde seems like a quicker development than some of these other later first round defenceman.
At 6’2 there are no questions about his size and if Wilde can develop a strong defensive game to match his offensive ability than I can see him having a ceiling of an Aaron Ekblad but more likely will hopefully be comparable to Kris Letang or Jared Spurgeon with more size.
Next: Vancouver Canucks: Jim Benning is adapting to the NHL draft
I have to mention the name as well, I mean Bode Wilde is one of the top names in this draft class and I do see him jumping up similar to what we are seeing with Jesperi Kotkaniemi. I can see a team picking Wilde at the 13-17 spot in the draft but I can also see him being available at 20-24. The NHL entry draft is a crazy event and this year some team will be going Wilde.