LA Kings moved up from No. 159 to snag Ben Meehan at No. 140 at the 2020 NHL Draft.
For now, this is what you need to know…
Early Notes
How about this comment on new LA Kings draft pick Ben Meehan – Think of a more physical version of Alec Martinez. Good puck mover / offensively minded.
Both players played with USHL @RidertownUSA and coach Mark Carlson. He does a great job developing prospects.
— John Hoven | The Mayor (@mayorNHL) October 7, 2020
Meehan will head to UMass-Lowell soon (Kings prospect @Andrelee71.is already there, had a great freshman year after being selected by LA in 2019).
The LHD is Boston-born and plays with abundance of toughness. Known for being a big hitter.
— John Hoven | The Mayor (@mayorNHL) October 7, 2020
More on Meehan from a top NHL scout – Puck moving, offensive dman. Very aggressive and competitive player. Able to get pucks out of zone quickly, good offensive instincts. High character. Injury derailed an impressive first year in USHL, was one of top scoring dmen at that time.
— John Hoven | The Mayor (@mayorNHL) October 7, 2020
The @LAKings got a good ☝️!
Congrats to freshman defenseman Ben Meehan (@benmeehan14), who was the 140th overall pick in the 2020 @NHL Draft!#UnitedInBlue pic.twitter.com/hjLJo5mUfW
— UMass Lowell Hockey (@RiverHawkHockey) October 7, 2020
Guess I forgot about Rob Blake being the GM of the Kings. He got a 1st hand viewing of Ben Meehan last summer at Cedar Rapids camp. His son Jack was a draft pick of the Riders and attended camp.
— Scott Herbst (@herbst20) October 7, 2020
Vitals
Height: 6’0
Weight: 190 lbs.
Shoots: Left
Team: Cedar Rapid Roughriders
League: USHL
Position: Defense
Statistics
Regular Season
2019-20 Season: 25 GP, 8 G, 10 A, 18 Pts
Tournaments
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Awards for 2019-20 Season
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Scouting Reports:
From The Draft Analyst
A physical two-way defender with an aggressive mindset in all three zones, Meehan is a 2001-born native Baystater committed to UMass-Lowell. He is incredibly active in the offensive zone, where he activates like mad to keep plays alive. Meehan spends a chunk of time near or below the circles, and he uses fluid backskating to retreat back to his point position. Most of his reads are smart and timely but he also has the confidence to corral the puck and walk it away from pressure.
From Hockey Prospect
He maintains good stick positioning and proper gaps. Early on, he seemed like much more of an offensive defenseman but rounded into a more all-around player. He didn’t chase the game around so much and it gave us more confidence in his hockey sense. Meehan displays some good skills from his own zone. There’s enough to his stickhandling skills and lateral movement that make him a really good option on breakouts and even carrying the puck across a line, maybe a line and a half. There’s a dual threat there for the first forechecker to ponder and Ben can freeze
him just long enough for his skating to take over and achieve a clean exit. He has some good wheels on him, he’s strong multi-directionally with a sound stride. In his own zone, he displays some pretty advanced box-out principles and can wall-off potential screeners from his goalie’s vision.
Highlights:
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