Toronto Maple Leafs: Scouting Kody Clark and the Ottawa 67’s

The Toronto Maple Leafs front office only has a few days left to prepare for the draft.

In this post, I’ll be taking a look at the OHL squad, the Ottawa 67’s. Previously, I took a deep dive into the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads and it looks like I’m going to knock out a few more similar posts leading up to the draft.

While the Ottawa 67’s failed to make it out of the first round in the OHL playoffs, they still have something to celebrate. Two of their players, Kevin Bahl and Kody Clark will likely both be selected in the first few rounds of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft in Dallas.

Both, Bahl and Clark grew up in the Greater Toronto Area. Clark is Wendel Clark‘s son and he grew up in King City, Ontario. For those unfamiliar with King City, it’s just a stones throw north of Richmond Hill. While Bahl was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, he spent a fair amount of his childhood in the Toronto area. Oddly enough, both Bahl and Clark played for the Toronto Marlboros prior to joining the 67’s. They didn’t play together on the same Minor Midget squad as Clark played on the Marlboros Minor Midget one year prior to Bahl.

As some of you know, the Toronto Maple Leafs have some familiarity with selecting former Marlboros including Matt Finn and Connor Brown. Perhaps, the Maple Leafs will select another Marlboro at this year’s draft.

Kevin Bahl

Let’s take a peak at Bahl.

I’m not going to lie, Bahl is one big left handed defenseman. He is 6’6″ and weighs 231 lbs.

Unfortunately, a lot of times in the NHL, defenseman of his size don’t make it too far. Only few do. Teams at the draft that select defensemen of his size generally hope that they are aren’t drafting a typical shut down defenseman. Ever since the days of Mike Komisarek, the Toronto Maple Leafs have leaned less on players like Bahl. While Bahl is a very solid prospect, I wouldn’t be shocked if the Maple Leafs steer clear of him.

The one thing that he does have going for him though is that throughout his play last season it was evident that he is developing some offensive skills. In his first season with the 67’s, he was quiet in the offensive zone. In 57 games played, he had 1 goal and 3 assists in his first season. This past season, he showed a lot of improvement as he registered 1 goal and 17 assists.

If Dubas does choose to select Bahl, he might have found a diamond in the rough if Bahl continues to improve in the OHL.

Kody Clark

Let’s jump to Clark.

Clark is a 6’1″, 176 lbs right winger. Last season with the 67s, was a solid one for him. In 56 games played, he registered 18 goals and 21 assists. It was definitely an improvement if you compare it to the previous season in which he had 7 goals and 4 assists. Yet, Clark is no where near to being NHL ready. If he can continue to progress at this rate, he could be something special years down the road. We’ll have to keep our eyes pinned on him to see how he does in the coming season.

In September of last year, Toronto Star reporter, Dhiren Mahiban sat down with Ben Gallant, a scout from ISS Hockey. Gallant spoke of Clark in his interview and shared the following scouting report on the eighteen year old.

"“He’s certainly improved his foot speed, he’s a lot quicker,” said Ben Gallant, a scout with ISS Hockey. “He was always a guy that was pretty quick to get in on the forecheck and try turn pucks over, but with the extra weight, and the extra size, it’s helping him out a lot more.”"

Later on in Mahiban’s article, he shared that Clark is projected to be a third line winger and could be a potential asset on a special teams unit.

Recap

It’ll be interesting to see whether Dubas and the Toronto Maple Leafs front office decide to draft Clark or Bahl. Clark and Bahl, both have a lot of promise but it’s not written in stone on how they’ll turn out.

Next: Leafs Top Ten Prospects 2018

They will still need plenty of time in the OHL to grow and develop as they are far from NHL ready.

stats from eliteprospects.com