6-2 - 190lb DMan with the Lewiston Maineiacs

47. Eric Gelinas – Defenseman

Date of birth: May 08, 1991
Place of birth: Ottawa, Ont., Canada
Ht: 6-4 Wt: 185
Shoots: L

One-Timer: Gelinas had 39 points in 67 games for Lewiston of the QMJHL this past season. He is a dependable two-way blueliner who has yet to fill out his lanky frame, and thus at present time is not much of a physical presence. He does possess good hockey smarts, however, and plays an intelligent game at both ends of the rink. Coaches rave about his willingness to learn and consistency of play. He states himself he patterns his game after Pronger, but will have to develop a more physical style of play.

NHL Player(s) Comparison: Braydon Coburn




International Scouting Services: A good package of size and mobility, he competes, showing a willingness to finish his checks and battle along the boards. He's an offensive defenseman who is effective on defense because of his skating and his wingspan. He's not a big hitter, but he doesn't shy from contact. In the second half of the season, he finished with 2 goals and 4 assists in his last 23 games. Gelinas should develop into a solid two-way defender who will take care of business in the defensive zone. He has average hands but does show some offensive instincts. At best when he keeps things simple.

Style: Brent Burns

Blog by Gelinas for THN (http://www.thehockeynews.com/listings/169-Eric-Gelinas-Blog.html)

Lewiston head coach Don MacAdam
"He is one of the most consistent players I have ever coached. He's a smart kid who is always ready to learn."
http://www.nhl.com/ice/draftprospectdetail.htm?dpid=5303&tab=scr

Devils just took another player from Djurgarden.

Alex Urbom D

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/11306/2009_prospects_eric_gelinas/

On the ice, Gelinas benefited greatly from the coaching change, with an increased focus on consistent play and making smart decisions with the puck.

"He had a tendency to try to go through a whole bunch of people, go for that classic end-to-end rush and that's not a big part of anybody's game these days. Now when he moves the puck and joins the rush, he's become much more effective," explained MacAdam. "The biggest thing he's done is add a lot more consistency at a high level to his game and with that, he's just become a much more valuable player to us and I would assume catching the eye of scouts a lot more often. Whereas, early in the year, he had one good game and at least one, if not two or three, not so great games."

A converted forward, Gelinas pairs offensive ability with great skating and vision and is working hard to improve his physical play.

MacAdam views his physical ability as being a key piece to Gelinas' game, noting that "when he plays physical he typically plays considerably better," and pointing out, "he's got good size. At the moment, not a lot of great strength. I should say great height, he needs to certainly be serious about his training program this summer but he has the frame, the athletic build to really achieve some positives as a result of the physical training side. And when he does that, his skating is very strong now, his passing is excellent, his physical play is getting stronger, needs to get stronger and as he does get stronger, all those areas will improve."

International Scouting Services: A good package of size and mobility, he competes, showing a willingness to finish his checks and battle along the boards. He's an offensive defenseman who is effective on defense because of his skating and his wingspan. He's not a big hitter, but he doesn't shy from contact. In the second half of the season, he finished with 2 goals and 4 assists in his last 23 games. Gelinas should develop into a solid two-way defender who will take care of business in the defensive zone. He has average hands but does show some offensive instincts. At best when he keeps things simple.

Style: Brent Burns


http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre/feature/?fid=7335

http://www.nhl.com/ice/draftprospectdetail.htm?dpid=5303&sort=finalRank

• At 18 years of age, Gelinas led all Lewiston defensemen in points, registering 10 goals and 29 assists in 67 games in 2008-09. He also participated in the 2009 CHL Top Prospects Game.

• He patterns his game after Anaheim defenseman Chris Pronger and wears number 44 because Pronger used to wear it.


FAVORITES

NHL Team: Montreal Canadiens
NHL Player: Chris Pronger
Shootout move: “Fake slap-shot and go top shelf on the backhand.”
Goal celebration: “Fist pump followed up with pointing to the guy that fed me the puck.”
Video game: NHL ‘09
Movie: American Gangster
TV Show: Two and a Half Men
Actress: Jessica Alba
Cartoon: Family Guy
Website: Google
Book: Dave Morrissette’s book
Sport (other than hockey): Golf and Tennis
Activity away from the rink: Shopping
Breakfast food: Breakfast sandwich
Superhero: Superman

I like the Braydon Cobourn comparison in terms of mold. His potential is definitely a top 4 defenseman, I like.

6-4 185 is a beanpole, so he'll need to bulk that out. But I'm SO glad to see the Devils take Dmen in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Lets hope that trend continues in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th rounds too.

http://njmg.typepad.com/devilsblog/2009/06/devils-second-round-pick-eric-gelinas-d-lewiston-qmjhl.html
Devils' second round pick: Eric Gelinas, D, Lewiston (QMJHL) (updated with quotes)

The Devils selected Lewiston defenseman Eric Gelinas this morning with their second-round pick, 54th overall, in the NHL Entry Draft in Montreal.

In 67 games witht the Maineiacs in 2008-09. Gelinas (6-4, 185) lead the team's defensemen in points with 39 (10 goals, 29 assists) and added 80 penalty minutes.

"It's been my dream since I've been two years old, so it finally came true," Gelinas said of being drafted. "I have to keep working hard until I get to the NHL."

Gelinas' size is the most intriguing thing about him. He began the junior season at 6-2 and measured 6-4 at the NHL Entry Draft combine in the last week of May, so he's still growing.

He says he gets his height from his father, Marc -- former minor league pitcher in the Pittsburgh Pirates system whose career was cut short by injury.

"My father is 6-8, so that's probably why I keep growing," Gelinas said.

Gelinas is also good skater, which goes back to his days as a forward. He said he made the switch to defense out of necessity four years ago when he was playing bantam.

"I was going to get cut from the team and the assistant coach told the head coach, 'You can try him as a defenseman' and it turned out well," he said. "I probably was the first defenseman on the team and kept playing defense until this day."

Gelinas has heard the comparison to Chris Pronger because of his size and skating styles, "but there's a lot of difference in our games. But if you watch him skate, I think I skate like him. I probably handle the puck like him."

When asked to assess his own game, Gelinas siad, "I think I have really good skating ability. I pass the puck well. I think I have a good vision for good transition. That's my probably my biggest asset."

What does he need to work on?

"Right now, I'm working on my defensive zone play, positioning and stuff," he said. "I'm also working on getting more consistent and I want to be smarter also in my physical play, like how to use it."

The Hockey News quoted one scout as saying, "He's a great skater with strong offensive instincts, but to me he has too many brain farts in his game. He doesn't seem to think the game very well."

Another scout said: "Huge kid. He's got a bowlegged style something like Chris Pronger. Somebody told me his father is 6-foot-9, so maybe he's going to be as big as Pronger when he's done growing."

NHL's Central Scouting had him ranked 38th among North American skaters. International Scouting Service ranked him 72nd among all prospects.

I hope to talk with Gelinas on the phone and will post some quotes from him when I get them.

6-4 185 is a beanpole, so he'll need to bulk that out. But I'm SO glad to see the Devils take Dmen in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Lets hope that trend continues in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th rounds too.

Alot of scouting reports say he will fill out that frame in no time.

Interesting pick :)

His brother got booted for illegal substances in MLB. Yikes.

I love this pick.

We passed on Tatar. Yech.

I hope this kid pans out.

We passed on Tatar. Yech.

I hope this kid pans out.
At this point in the draft you go defenseman. I love this pick.

is he related to martin?

for the past few days his name was at the top of this website for like prospect info and it kept poppin out at me

I'm liking this pick the more I read about him. Big kid that can skate and contribute on offense. Good.

This is a boom bust type pick. He has ridiculous potential. He is a huge guy with great speed and great offensive instincts. If he grows to 6`6 220 and can still move out there we should have ourself a keeper. He is really thin, loads of room for improvment.

Welcome to the family!

http://mediacorus.corusquebec.com/corusnouvelles/nouvelles/2009/05/28/images/1580221_300.jpg

This is a boom bust type pick. He has ridiculous potential. He is a huge guy with great speed and great offensive instincts. If he grows to 6`6 220 and can still move out there we should have ourself a keeper. He is really thin, loads of room for improvment.

I heard he's still growing. AWESOME. I really really like this pick. I think he could end up being a very very good player for us.

I heard he's still growing. AWESOME. I really really like this pick. I think he could end up being a very very good player for us.

He grew like 2 inches this season.

Huge frame, with potential to grow an awesome 2-way game. This could be our "Cormier-esque" pick of the draft.

Wow this guy is already 6-4 and still growing. He supposedly skates really well, so even if he doesn't become a great scoring defenseman, he could still be very valuable as a huge strong defender who can keep up with and push around opposing teams's top players... At the very least you would think he could use his height / leverage to let off a nice slapshot from the point.

wait, we actually got a puck moving offensive defenseman who can shoot and bring the offense and is 6 foot 4???? why did it takes so long to get one of these?


Edit, draft is over and im like the fact that we picked up 3 HUGE defensemen with some size which we really missed. almost makes up for Josefson...

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/6d/fullj.90d7b151762be8a56dc3af844fdb8c93/90d7b151762be8a56dc3af844fdb8c93-getty-88659659cc091_2009_nhl_draf.jpghttp://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/0d/fullj.09bba6acf035369f2b4579059e9be01f/09bba6acf035369f2b4579059e9be01f-getty-88659659cc066_2009_nhl_draf.jpg

Now we can say Welcome to the Family.

Heard on these boards that his dad is 6'9 so he could be a monster.

He looks like an evil/bad guy from movies.
KICK ASS!!

those pictures are so cliche

First 45 games, 8 goals, 25 assists, 33 points, -4

He cooled off late in the season.

wait, we actually got a puck moving offensive defenseman who can shoot and bring the offense and is 6 foot 4???? why did it takes so long to get one of these?


Edit, draft is over and im like the fact that we picked up 3 HUGE defensemen with some size which we really missed. almost makes up for Josefson...

http://xs220.xs.to/xs220/07423/Lol_wut_pack.jpg

wait, we actually got a puck moving offensive defenseman who can shoot and bring the offense and is 6 foot 4???? why did it takes so long to get one of these?


Edit, draft is over and im like the fact that we picked up 3 HUGE defensemen with some size which we really missed. almost makes up for Josefson...

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd72/suriyasiero/553px-Lol_que.jpg

badass

Edit, draft is over and im like the fact that we picked up 3 HUGE defensemen with some size which we really missed. almost makes up for Josefson...

http://www.saabcentral.com/phpgallery/albums/album49/Lolwut_verbose.jpg

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/6d/fullj.90d7b151762be8a56dc3af844fdb8c93/90d7b151762be8a56dc3af844fdb8c93-getty-88659659cc091_2009_nhl_draf.jpghttp://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/0d/fullj.09bba6acf035369f2b4579059e9be01f/09bba6acf035369f2b4579059e9be01f-getty-88659659cc066_2009_nhl_draf.jpg

Now we can say Welcome to the Family.

God those gloves are horrid.

uhhhhh i didnt like the Josefson signing, it makes me nervous each time we take a european they dont like to work out for us most of the time. he sounds great but i wanted a big defenseman.... but we just got 3 of them so i dont know anymore

..... just ignore me when i talk about the draft or prospects.

http://www.saabcentral.com/phpgallery/albums/album49/Lolwut_verbose.jpg

I think that may be my favourite one of those "lol wut" pictures.

:laugh::laugh:

uhhhhh i didnt like the Josefson signing, it makes me nervous each time we take a european they dont like to work out for us most of the time. he sounds great but i wanted a big defenseman.... but we just got 3 of them so i dont know anymore

..... just ignore me when i talk about the draft or prospects.

okay, sounds good to me.

uhhhhh i didnt like the Josefson signing, it makes me nervous each time we take a european they dont like to work out for us most of the time.

Europeans are sometimes risky picks, because there is no guarantee the prospect will want to come over to North America. But in Josefson's case, everything I have read about him suggests that he is eager to make it to the NHL and is willing to play in the lower North American leagues to do it. He's also good friends with Tedenby and apparently Mattias has told him nothing but good things about New Jersey. Among the scouting reports there are no questions about whether he has the ability to one day make it to the NHL. Seems like a pretty safe pick, the only question is his upside. Will he peak as a third line defensive forward/grinder, or do we have a skilled future first or second line centre?

Europeans are sometimes risky picks, because there is no guarantee the prospect will want to come over to North America. But in Josefson's case, everything I have read about him suggests that he is eager to make it to the NHL and is willing to play in the lower North American leagues to do it. He's also good friends with Tedenby and apparently Mattias has told him nothing but good things about New Jersey. Among the scouting reports there are no questions about whether he has the ability to one day make it to the NHL. Seems like a pretty safe pick, the only question is his upside. Will he peak as a third line defensive forward/grinder, or do we have a skilled future first or second line centre?

3 years from now:

Tedenby - Josefson - Bergfors
Oduya - Urbom

Lundqvist

Lulz.

3 years from now:

Tedenby - Josefson - Bergfors
Oduya - Urbom

Lundqvist

Lulz.
Scratch out Lundy, put in Jonas Gustavsson.

**** yes.

3 years from now:

Tedenby - Josefson - Bergfors
Oduya - Urbom

Lundqvist

Lulz.

I hope you mean Joel, and in Lowell. When Tedenby Joesfson ever play together, they could be like Parise and Zajac Part Two, but they'll need a Langenbrunner...or just a big physical RW or something.

I hope you mean Joel, and in Lowell. When Tedenby and Joesfson ever play together, they could be like Parise and Zajac Part Two, but they'll need a Langenbrunner...or just a big physical RW or something.

Hai gaiz luuuuulz

http://www.bellevillebulls.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/palmieri_ab76188.jpg

I hope you mean Joel, and in Lowell. When Tedenby Joesfson ever play together, they could be like Parise and Zajac Part Two, but they'll need a Langenbrunner...or just a big physical RW or something.

Yes, because Joel is a goalie.

Kyle Woodlief posted a mock draft:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2009-06-23-woodlief-2009-mock-draft_N.htm

and had Gelinas as a first round pick.

Kyle Woodlief posted a mock draft:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2009-06-23-woodlief-2009-mock-draft_N.htm

and had Gelinas as a first round pick.

He was good for the first 5 picks. Then it all unraveled a bit.

nice read on devils prospects.

http://www.lewistonhockey.com/popupNews.php?id=913