NHL Draft 2012 Prospects: #28 Mark Jankowski

The draft, hands down, is the best time of the hockey season. Maybe I'm just saying that because the Wild haven't been seen post-season action since 2008, but that is besides the point.

So, on June 22nd-23rd, we will all sit down in front of the television/computer and watch the draft. But if you are wondering, "who's who", then you haven't been reading HW because thats my job.

So without further ado:

Introducing our 2012 NHL #28 Draft Prospect - Mark Jankowski

Accomplishments & Awards:

Prospect Jersey (What Would They Look Like In a Wild Jersey?)

Summarized Scouting Report

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

HW Projection:

Video Evidence:

Where Does He Fit In The Wild?

The Wild need a guy with slick hands but do they need a raw prospect like Jankowski?

Conclusion

No one knew who Jankowski was at the beginning of the season, some still don't know.

Jankowski is an extremely raw prospect that plays in an unknown league of low caliber competition, but he still displays an interesting skillset and high potential ceiling. Jankowski is a smooth skating forward that possesses great hands, great on-ice vision and great playmaking abilities. He has a good frame that he is still filling out and will only get better as he gets stronger and more mature.

The biggest problem with Jankowski is the level he is playing at. He is playing in a Canadian prep school, which is probably the lowest possible level of competition out there (I know you can probably find worse, but you get my drift). He dominated his league, as expected, but can he survive USHL, NCAA, and finally the NHL?

With the lack of high potential forwards in this year's draft, some team picking near the end of the first might like to take the gamble. Jankowski has great upside with great tools that would make magic on an NHL team, the question is whether he can adapt to tougher competition appropriately. Seeing as he is just coming out of Canadian prep, he will need tons of time to slowly develop.

Special thanks to HFBoards, Future Considerations, The Hockey Writers, TSN, OHLProspeccts and The Scouting Report

Update 6/15/2012 from BReynolds:

I spoke to the PR team at Stanstead, and they would like to point a few facts out about their program-

The conversation I had with them makes me hope (for the Wild's sake) that Jankowski somehow falls to them in the second round, or Fletcher can pull of a trade to add a late first. There is a great story here, both on the kid, and the program. Keep your eye on both Jankowski and Stanstead.