(Buffalo) On paper, Logan Cooley is listed at 5’10” and 174 lbs. We therefore expected a relatively puny young man (for a hockey player), but it was rather a boy with good bones who presented himself for the interview, in the lobby of a downtown hotel.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
“There are guys who still grow up to 20 years old. I hope to take an inch or two and reach 6′, but Patrick Kane is still dominant and he’s 5’10! “, he recalls.
The mention of Kane is interesting. Fifteen years ago, the forward became just the sixth American to be named first overall in the National League draft. There have been two more since – Auston Matthews and Jack Hughes – and now Cooley hopes to add to that short list. NHL Central Scouting lists him as 2e rank of North American hopefuls, Cooley evolves in the center, where the Canadian needs help, and the team considers him interesting enough to invite him to dinner this Thursday evening.
What if we had, sitting in front of us, the player around whom the Canadian will try to orchestrate his recovery?
A product of the Penguins
It was in Pittsburgh, in the lands of Sidney Crosby, that Cooley’s journey began. The Penguins have had an equipment donation program for several years to introduce kids to hockey, and it was through this program that Cooley got his first skates.
“I was on the ice with Sidney Crosby, he recalls, still incredulous. But I was 5 years old, I don’t have tons of memories! I knew who he was, but I was so young, I was just trying to balance on my skates! »
The stories of top draft picks are often those of players who have flown through the competition all their lives, who have been the best wherever they have been. Not Cooley.
Whether with the Penguins Elite (his minor hockey organization) or with the United States National Development Program, Cooley was never the best forward on his team, at least until the season just ended. flow out.
Another example: in December 2019, the firm International Scouting Services publishes its list of the 10 best hopes for the 2022 draft. A list dominated by Shane Wright, but where the name of Logan Cooley does not appear.
“He wouldn’t even have been in the top 50 At that time ! reacts his agent, Brian Bartlett. He always had the smarts, the work habits and the talent, but he was small. Even in the national development program, he was maybe the fourth or fifth striker in the team.
“So he has shown steady progress since that time. That explains why people think his potential is higher than Wright’s. Wright has always been seen as the best prospect of his age. It’s not the same type of progression. Logan worked hard. »
What has become of it, over the course of this progression? A forward seen by many as the most dynamic of the 2022 vintage. Cooley may be a supporter of the Washington Capitals, he admires Crosby and tries to be inspired by him in certain aspects of his game.
I think I’m pretty good in tight spaces, in the corners and in the back of the territory.
Logan Cooley
Cooley is aware, however, that he still needs to get bigger if he wants to excel in the NHL. That’s why he says he’s ready to spend the next season at the University of Minnesota.
“I want to play in the NHL as soon as possible, but I also want to have an impact. It can be difficult for a player who arrives young, especially games abroad. If I need a year in college to grow and gain muscle, that’s okay. But if a team wants me right away, that would be just as well. It will depend on what happens in the draft. »
Dinner with the Canadian
Cooley’s name comes up from time to time when it comes to players who are likely to come out at 1er row on July 7th. But he nevertheless serves as a negligee.
As an indication, the Elite-Prospect site lists the rankings of 13 hopefuls, from the NHL Central Scouting to those of analysts such as Bob McKenzie, Craig Button and Sam Cosentino. None place Cooley at 1er rank ; all but one rank it 2e or 3e.
Except that Cooley is on the radar of the Canadian, one of some 15 teams to have interviewed him this week at the hopes evaluation camp. And it’s not just because he was once a teammate of Jack Hughes, Kent’s son. “I know Jack quite well, but I’ve never met Kent,” he told us on Tuesday. Our meeting took place a few minutes before said interview.
“You know Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes, they’re pretty approachable guys,” recalled Brian Bartlett on Wednesday. Logan and the Canadiens people described the meeting to me as a good, flowing conversation. »
A conversation that will continue this Thursday, at dinner, without Kent Hughes, however, since he left Buffalo. For Cooley, it will be the second meal on the arm of a team this week. The Arizona Coyotes, who are obviously not fussy about spending even though they will play the next three seasons in a neighborhood arena, also invited him on Tuesday. They hold the 3e choice.
What should we interpret from this invitation? A simple strategy to scramble the cards? A preventive meeting if ever the Canadian receives an irresistible offer to drop a rank or two?
“We must not exaggerate the scope of these dinners, warns Brian Bartlett. The Canadiens are going to invite a few players to dinner this week, and Logan is going to have dinner with a few teams. You know, these people have to eat somehow. Might as well find an excuse to put that on the company’s expense allowance! »
A lost hope
PHOTO ANDRÉ PICHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Jacob Olofson
A team that drafts an established player in a European league usually has four years to come to an agreement with him, before losing their negotiating rights. Wednesday was therefore the deadline for the hopes of the 2018 draft. The Canadian therefore officially lost the rights to Jacob Olofsson, a striker that the team had claimed in the 2e tower (56e in total) in 2018. Olofsson has 6 points in 25 games in the Swedish first division this season and he has played 20 games in the second division. The Canadian therefore loses the rights to a second-round hopeful for the second year in a row, after Joni Ikonen (58e rank in 2017) last year. This is obviously not an ideal outcome for an organization. But in defense of the Canadian, this 2018 draft does not seem to be one of depth at the moment. Only four players drafted after Olofsson have reached 50 games in the NHL so far.