Geekie getting up to speed Ice centre and top prospect for NHL Draft working hard to improve impressive skill set By: Mike Sawatzky Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Thursday, Apr. 7, 2022 Last Modified: 9:43 AM CDT Friday, Apr. 8, 2022 Updates

Conor Geekie is one of the most intriguing and perplexing candidates for the 2022 NHL Draft.

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This article was published 06/04/2022 (948 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Conor Geekie is one of the most intriguing and perplexing candidates for the 2022 NHL Draft.

The 17-year-old Winnipeg Ice centre has the big frame and small-man puck skills pro scouts crave, but it’s his foot speed — or a perceived lack of it — that has talent evaluators divided.

He isn’t a polished pro prospect, yet, but subtle improvements are showing up in the Strathclair product’s game. Strength, power and energy levels appear to be up. So is the offensive production.

The 6-4, 205-pounder has 22 goals and 65 points in 59 Western Hockey League games so far. By the time Winnipeg starts what could be a lengthy post-season run later this month, he will have already skated in twice as many games than in any previous season.

Puck Preps scouting service rated Winnipeg centre Conor Geekie No. 1 in Western Canada. (Geoff Robins / Canadian Press files)

Geekie has accepted he’s a work in progress.

“You saw me when I was 15 — I wasn’t the fastest player in the world by any means,” said Geekie earlier this week. “I’ve done a lot of work on my skating, a lot of strength stuff and I think I’m starting to incorporate my shot a little more. I hear it even from my billet mom and my billet dad, you know, ‘Shoot the puck more,’ and it took a lot for me to get used to it because I’m a pass-first guy.”

MAKING THE GRADE

When Joel Henderson evaluates the top prospects for the 2023 NHL Draft, he has the luxury of watching two of the very best playing on the same line.

At mid-season, the director scouting for Puck Preps scouting service rated Winnipeg centre Conor Geekie No. 1 in Western Canada with his linemate, Ice right-winger Matt Savoie, at No. 2 and Seattle Thunderbirds blue-liner Kevin Korchinski third.

All three are considered probable first-round picks.

When Joel Henderson evaluates the top prospects for the 2023 NHL Draft, he has the luxury of watching two of the very best playing on the same line.

All three are considered probable first-round picks.

The Regina-based Henderson, who also scouts for FC Hockey, said the Big Three remains the Big Three but the order they will be selected is difficult to judge. But since being put together on the same line, Savoie and Geekie are helping each other’s cause.

“(Geekie) can help transition the puck into the neutral zone with speed and both (left-winger Zach) Benson and Savoie are capable of finding open space, ” said Henderson. “Basically what I’ve watched (on video) today was how many times Geekie and Savoie, in the last number of games, have been able to create 2-on-1 chances. (Geekie’s) really strong on his outside edges and so he just turns, cuts and pivots to the middle and all of a sudden, boom, he’s a puck carrier and he and Savoie are on a 2-on-1.”

Geekie’s long-term development could hinge on how well he develops his ability to process information quickly.

“His ability to handle the puck at top speed for a guy of his size is actually really good,” said Henderson. “… It’s a very high-end trait. It just means that when (defensive) pressure comes and speed comes from situations, it’s not his hands that are the problem. It’s the read of how fast the gap is closing and how fast the pressure is there. And so as long as his hands are not the problem, which they’re not, it just come down to reads.”

There was a frustrating stretch early in the season — he scored only twice in 10 November games — but he has emerged from that funk with a vengeance. Most recently, playing on a line with fellow 2022 draft prospect Matt Savoie and Zach Benson, a likely first-rounder in 2023, Geekie has helped spark the club’s torrid run to an Eastern Conference title.

“There’s some ebbs and flows, obviously,” said Geekie, who has six goals and 11 points in his last nine games. “I think the month of November to December, I was a little snakebit when it comes to putting the puck in the back of the net. But that’s part of the game, right? You can’t really complain too much…

“I like to do things to the best of my abilities but it’s a special thing here with the team we have here, and I think that’s more more important to me right now.”

Winnipeg’s deep forward group has afforded Geekie a unique opportunity to showcase his skill set.

“One of his weaknesses is lateral mobility and explosion from a standstill and so who do you want on a line with him?” said Joel Henderson, director of scouting for Puck Preps scouting service. “You want guys on a line with him that can make up a little bit for his lateral explosion and to get to a few more loose pucks to maintain proper coverage.

“That just means that he has to be in good position according to the play, which he does and he has to be able to build speed through the neutral zone and retain control, which he does. And so Winnipeg is a great place where I get to watch Geekie work with players who I think are good fits for him.”

Matt Savoie (Daniel Crump / Free Press files)

Ice head coach James Patrick, who is not adverse to employing a line blender, likes what he had seen from the Geekie-Savoie-Benson trio.

“I don’t know if there’s another 17-year-old centre in the league with his size who’s put up the numbers or done the things he has,” said Patrick. “I think he gets lost in the shuffle when you (compare him) with Matt Savoie. Matt is a scorer and explosive and Geeks is a big-body playmaker. He can score, he’s got a great shot but they are different types of players and I do think if he was on another team, he would get a little or a lot more attention.”

Geekie’s attention to detail in the defensive zone is also getting higher marks. Teammate Ben Zloty, a draft-eligible 19-year-old defenceman in the midst of a career season, said the transformation has been a big part of the team’s overall improvement.

“The last couple months the coaching staff has been trying to get Geeks to play better without the puck and in the D-zone,” said Zloty. “He does that and better things happen on the offensive side — you can see that with that line… He works on his D-zone without the puck and he’s got tons of skill, everyone knows that. I think his IQ is through the roof. I think those are big things that can translate to the NHL or wherever he wants to go.”

Geekie’s attention to detail in the defensive zone is getting higher marks. (Geoff Robins / Canadian Press files)

How Geekie will eventually adapt to the NHL level is difficult to project.

Patrick, who played 21 seasons on big-league blue-lines, said Geekie has shown some similarities to Joe Thornton, whom he faced often during Jumbo Joe’s prime. The towering Thornton was never a classic power forward but an exquisite finesse player in a larger body. Can Geekie duplicate that?

“He’s got miles to go until he gets there,” said Patrick. “I’m saying as far as how he plays the game, a big body who can make plays… take it to the net and be hard to take pucks off of, that was Joe Thornton. And believe me, I played against him enough — he was a tough guy to handle and he was physically tough, too.”

Patrick suggests he is coaching a more mature, battle-hardened NHL prospect. Geekie, whose fitness testing grades out among the highest on the Ice, has eliminated the extended 90-second shifts he was more prone to take.

“You get scored on, you get it knocked off your stick, you don’t win the battle down low — from those situations, he’s gotten better,” said Patrick. “He’s learned. He turned the puck over earlier in the year and it cost us and it made him a lot more dialed in. He’s way more dialed in defensively.”

BLUE-LINES: The Ice is hosting its annual Pink the Rink Anti-Bullying Game on Saturday. The home team will be wearing pink-themed jerseys during the game against the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers. Game time is 7 p.m. at Wayne Fleming Arena.

The two sides meet again Sunday at 5 p.m.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14