NHL Entry Draft Round 1: Rangers select “wrecking ball” Brennan Othmann

The first round of the NHL Entry Draft was held at the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey and the highly anticipated trades never happened.   As  result, the New York Rangers went ahead and took their 16th overall pick, making Brennan Othmann the 15th player selected in the first round.

Othmann is a left winger and most people thought that the team was going to look for a center, but considering that Othmann is at least two to three years away from even thinking of playing in New York, position really isn’t that important.

Othmann had been mentioned as a potential Ranger pick though when centers Chaz Lucius, Zachary Bolduc, Aatu Raty and Fyodor Svechkov were still available, he wasn’t such a sure thing.

On an interesting note, the Red Wings traded up to get the 15th pick, one ahead of the Rangers.  They gave up three draft picks to get Dallas’ first round pick and they selected goalie Sebastian Cossa.  The theory was that they knew the Rangers were looking at Cossa and the Wings didn’t want to let him get away.

Who is Brennan Othmann?

Brennan Othmann is a 6’0″ 175 pound left winger who turned 18 in January.   He is a native of Pickering, Ontario and he played his first year of junior hockey in 2019-20 with the Flint Firebirds of the OHL where he scored 17 goals and 33 points in 55 games.   When the OHL cancelled this season, he went to Switzerland where he played for EHC Olten in the second tier Swiss League.

As a teenager playing in a professional league among men, he scored seven goals and 15 points in 34 games. Despite playing ten fewer games than his teammates, he finished seventh on the team in scoring.

Othmann is destined to play again with Flint in the OHL when the league resumes play in the fall.

What the experts have to say

In the pre-draft rankings, most experts predicted that Othmann would go anywhere from 17th to 31st overall.  He was ranked the eighth best North American skater by NHL Central Scouting.

Does he fit the need the Rangers have for players hard to play against?  Look at what Eliteprospects.com had to say about him in their Draft Guide where they had him going 21st overall.

“Brennan Othmann plays with an attacking mindset every time he steps onto the ice. There’s no ambiguity in his game.  You put the puck on his stick, and he’s full steam ahead. It’s just that simple. And you don’t want to get in his way if you’re an opposing defenseman. He’ll run you right over if you get between him and the offensive blue line.”

They call him an “absolute wrecking ball” on the forecheck.  They also said that some players in the Swiss League say that he was one of the most difficult players to play against in the entire league.

ESPN’s Victoria Matiash had Othmann ranked 21st and pointed out that he needs work on his skating.  She says he has a “hard, accurate shot and admirable puck-moving abilities. He doesn’t shy away from grinding out front of the net and in other dirty areas.” She also cited his 64 penalty minutes as a “willingness to lay it on the line physically.”

Craig Button of TSN, Ryan Kennedy of the Hockey News and ISS Hockey had  Othmann ranked 18th overall, while McKeen’s Hockey and FC Hockey had him at 22nd.  For the Sporting News, FC Hockey’s Josh Bell called Othmann a “goalscoring winger with one of the best shots in the class  (who also) has the ability to set up his teammates”

Corey Pronman of The Athletic (subscription required) ranked Othmann 21st overall and projected him to a a second line winger who can score and “irritate opponents.”

Bob McKenzie of TSN had Othmann ranked 25th overall.

Sam Cosentino of Sportsnet had Othmann ranked 31st but did point out his stellar performance for Canada’s U18 gold medal winning team.

An early assessment

Brennan Othmann raised his profile with an excellent performance at the IIHF U18 World Championships  played in April and May in Plano, Texas.   He finished with three goals and six points in seven games for gold medal winning Team Canada.  He was second in goal scoring on the team.

All indications are that Othmann is the kind of  player that the Rangers are looking for.  A physical presence who is tough to play against and is a skilled goal scorer and playmaker to boot. The only question about the pick is whether the team erred in not going for a skilled center like Chaz Lucius or Fyodor Svechkov, both of whom were ranked higher by most experts.

The Rangers picked four centers in the 2020 draft so it isn’t like the pipeline is bare, but none are considered sure fire NHL players as a first rounder pick would.  It will be interesting to see how Othmann does in his return to Canadian hockey after his tenure in Switzerland.

What’s next

With the first round concluded the Rangers can now focus on rounds two through seven. They have two picks in the third round, three in the fourth round and one each in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds.  Those rounds will be televised on the NHL Network beginning at 11am on Saturday.

Blue Line Station will provide full round by round coverage of the rest of the draft with analysis of the picks and any trades that are made.