NHL Draft Prospect Profile: Kieffer Bellows

Get to Know Kieffer Bellows

Date of Birth: 6/10/1988
Place of Birth: Edina, MN, USA
Ht: 6’0” Wt: 196 lbs
Shoots: Left
Position: Center/Left Wing
Team (League): U.S. National Development Team Program (USHL)

Statistics

What Scouts See

Curtis Joe, Elite Prospects:

Kieffer Bellows is a skilled power forward that can dominate games. Possesses high-end puckhandling ability as well as a crisp, accurate release on his shot. Proficient forechecker and loves to win puck battles, which stands out as a consistent part of his game. Strong skater that can bull through the opposition or go around them. Drives the net hard and is a decisive finisher. All-in-all, a competitor that punishes the opposition physically, as well as on the scoreboard.

The Draft Analyst:

Bellows’ approach towards every shift is to keep himself involved at all times in order to acquire the puck, using his physical gifts and wide frame to protect it as he maneuvers towards the net. Take our word for it – if a defender is nervous going back for the puck, Bellows will sniff it out and exploit that fear.

What BSN Avalanche sees

Shots for days. Bellows is the kind of player who gets the puck, looks to shoot once, looks to shoot twice, then shoots it anyway no matter what is going on around him. A slight exaggeration, but Bellow is the guy you want if your organization is missing a triggerman with an attitude. He’s a strong forward who will continue to be a wing in pro hockey despite his experience at center and he’s a guy who excels along the wall.

I don’t love his all-around game. Bellows works hard and finds ways to get open but defensively he seems to lose his way from time to time as his focus wanders a bit. He can get caught drifting quite a bit instead of reading and reacting in his own zone. Offensively, he’s not much of a creator for those around him. It’s not that he can’t create, it’s that he’s spent so much time finishing recently that he hasn’t developed that part of his game very much. He has a long ways to go to being a complete player.

Highlights

NHL Potential

Bellows profiles as a goal-scoring winger, pure and simple. Not the kind of dynamic power forward with playmaking like Matthew Tkachuk but Bellows is a powerful and aggressive player in his own right. Playing alongside Clayton Keller, a playmaker extraordinaire, allowed Bellows to develop and thrive with a shoot first, ask questions later mentality. I could see Bellows ending up as a 30-goal guy in the NHL if he reaches his full potential.

Expected Draft Position

Bellows is one of the few players whose ranking seems fairly consistent throughout. He’s a mid-teens guy who could easily slip into the 20’s.

How Prospect Fits in Avalanche Organization

Bellows would certainly fit the Avalanche M.O. with acquiring forwards who play the power game. The next time he’s confused for a finesse player will be the first and he’s the quintessential “bull in a china shop” style of player. At 10th overall, however, there would be significantly better options so if Bellows lands in Denver, it would have to be the result of the team moving down several spots to select to him. He would be the organization’s second or third best forward prospect behind only Mikko Rantanen and maybe J.T. Compher so he fills a need there. As a winger, though, he doesn’t answer the lack of quality center options in the pipeline and overall is not considered to be a realistic target for the Avalanche on draft day.