Draft Profile – Blake Siebenaler

Rather than do my typical scoring chances post I have decided to change it up and do a summary on draft eligible defencemen Blake Siebenaler. I have seen him play numerous times this season for Niagara. He is currently listed at 6’1, 183 so he needs to add some muscle as he continues to develop and grow. Central Scouting has him ranked 47^th on their list of North American skaters which would have him going in roughly the late second early third round of the draft.    

As a fancy stats enthusiast the first place I always look at is a players stats. I am a big believer as you know of the 0.6 points per game for CHL defencemen. Siebenaler had 30 points (6G, 24A) in 68 games, which is only 0.44 ppg. Normally I would advocate to not drafting a player like this, however from watching him, there are several reasons for his limited offensive output.

The first would be limited special teams time. He plays on the second defensive unit with Vince Dunn on both the power play and penalty kill, as well second pairing time on 5 on 5. The deflated power play ice time is big reason his point totals are low. If he get first power play time next season we should see his point totals rise considerably just through the added ice time alone.

The second reason his point totals are low is that Niagara is not a very good team so the teammates Siebenaler plays with are not the best. As mentioned he gets second pairing minutes for all situations which means he conveniently misses playing with the much talked about Perlini, Verhaege, Difrusia line. The second line on Niagara consists of Billy Jenkins, Jordan Maletta and Eric Ming. All three of those players were passed over in their respective NHL draft years, which give you an idea of their (lack of) skill. This line gets killed in the possession battle, consistently playing in the defensive zone. When this line does create pressure it is usually started by the defencemen, either Siebenaler or his partner Dunn.

Siebenaler is an excellent skater; he has a real fluid motion and gets up the ice quick. He is able to create turnovers in his own zone and rather than pass to his inferior line mates he simply carries the puck out of trouble. Not only does he take it out of his own zone, he has good stick handling and puck control which allow him to carry the puck through the neutral zone and into the offensive zone. He along with Dunn are a big reason why Niagara gets any chances from their secondary lines. From what I've seen of his shot it’s decent but nothing special. He doesn’t get a lot of chances to shoot however as he is the one who has to create the scoring chances. He doesn’t have line mates who can set him up consistently.

Defensively he does a good job of cutting off the lane and forcing players to take low quality shots from the outside. He has good stick work which he uses to create turnovers. His ability to leave the zone is great as mentioned previously. When he gets closed off he has the vision and IQ to make a good first pass out of trouble. He is not very physical but that’s not an issue as he has the puck a lot. Plus physicality can be taught very easily in my opinion.

To conclude here’s my quick profile on Blake Siebenaler.  

Siebenaler is a two way defencemen, with great skating stride. Has the ability to carry the puck out of traffic and makes a good first pass. He plays on a poor Niagara team which limits his chances offensively. Defensively he keeps players to the outside, preventing chances. He is not the most physical player but creates turnovers with good stick work.