NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Connor Hobbs

Get to Know Connor Hobbs

Date of Birth: January 4, 1997 (18)
Place of Birth: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Ht: 6’1” Wt: 187 lbs
Shoots: Right
Position: Defense
Team: Regina Pats

After seeing limited ice time with the Medicine Hat Tigers early in the season, Connor Hobbs took his first foray into the business end of the hockey world, and demanded a trade. While waiting for the Tigers to make a deal, Hobbs played 4 games for the SJHL’s Nipawin Hawks and played for Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge. After sitting out for three months Hobbs was finally traded to Regina where he took over as a top pairing defenseman for the Pats.

Statistics

What Scouts See

Cody Nickolet, WHL Scout for Future Considerations Hockey:

Connor Hobbs is a personal favourite of mine for the draft. He’s definitely raw, but has all the tools you look for in today’s defenceman. He’s got size, plays an aggressive style in all zones, passes the puck hard, has a big shot and is a killer physically. His skating remains a major work in progress but that’s proven to be an area players can work on. I have him rated as a 3rd round type of guy personally, even though I doubt he goes that high.

John Paddock, Regina Pats Head Coach

He does a lot of things really well. He’s big, he’s got good skills, he moves good on the ice. He’s everything we hoped for. For somebody who shoots the puck like him, you hope there’s going to be more offence. I think there will be. More than anything, he’s 17. Last year he was playing midget hockey. When he’s 18 and 19 years old, he’s going to be a really high-end defenceman.

What BSN Avalanche sees

For the Regina Pats, Connor Hobbs is the kind of “jack of all trades,” two-way defenseman that a team can rely on to play lots of minutes in a variety of situations. Hobbs’ skating needs a lot of work, especially in transition, but he is very mindful of his gap control and smart enough in his defensive zone that his legs don’t get him into trouble. Hobbs isn’t particularly big or physical, but he stands up very straight and looks bigger than his 6’1” frame. Hobbs has a good reach and does a great job of disrupting offensive plays with a poke check.

At times, Hobbs is a too passive in his defensive zone, always waiting for the play to come to him instead of aggressively chasing down forwards and taking the puck. Overall, Hobbs is a safe and steady player in his own end and needs to take a leap towards being more dominant next season, controlling the pace of the game by aggressively managing his own zone.

Hobbs makes a good outlet pass and carries the puck well through the neutral zone, but he’s not particularly dynamic once he gets established on the offensive end of the ice and he sometimes struggles to get rid of the puck quickly. Hobbs’ biggest asset offensively, however, is a heavy slapshot which he does a good job of firing through traffic.

NHL Potential

Connor Hobbs certainly has the high end tools to potentially develop into an NHL player in time. He plays big minutes in all situations in Regina and could make a big step forward by playing a full season next year. On the high end Hobbs projects as a top 4 defenseman who can eat lots of minutes, but it will take significant time and development to get there.

Expected Draft Position

In the second half of the WHL season Connor Hobbs made his way into the Top 100 for both NHL Central Scouting Services and Future Considerations. He should be a mid round selection sometime after the 3rd round.

How Prospect Fits in Avalanche Organization

The Avalanche have an abundance of high quality defensive prospects, but the majority of them are on similar timelines for reaching the NHL. Drafting a project player like Hobbs is still a good fit for the prospect system as he will almost certainly play out his full time in the WHL before attempting to go pro. So while the Avs have a lot of defensive depth in their prospects now, it will run out quickly, and a player on Hobbs’ timeline would help restock the cupboard.

In many ways it’s difficult to assess Hobbs accurately given his shortened season and three month hiatus from hockey, but if he played a full season of WHL hockey as well as his final 24 games in Regina, he would be significantly higher on many draft boards. As a result, Hobbs could be a very good value pick for the Avalanche in the 4th or 5th round with the potential to make big gains right away next season.

Here’s a look at some of the other defenseman who might be drafted near Connor Hobbs:
Ryan Pilon
Dennis Gilbert
Vince Dunn
Brendan Guhle
Simon Bourque