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Franchise Player
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Calgary
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Draft Thoughts (Wheaties Edition):
If you were to take a survey of Brandon Wheat KIngs fans asking who their favorite player on the team was, I would bet a fair number of them would say it was C/RW Caleb Hadland, a 5'10",181lb pitbull on skates. Hadland was drafted in the first round, 22nd overall, by the Wheaties in the 2021 WHL Draft, and made his debut in the 2022-23 season, which was shortened to 38 games (with only 7 points) due to an injury suffered at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge where he broke his fibula. This season, with Brandon finishing the regular-season in 9th-place in the WHL, and 13th in goals-for, Hadland registered 12 goals and 39 points in 68 games, to go with 61 PIM. He was the only member of the team to play a full 68-game slate. Hadland finished 7th in team scoring, and had to compete with older players (and 17 year-old future star Roger McQueen) for ice-time on a fairly veteran-laden top-six, stacked mostly with players 19-and-over. Perhaps that's the reason he could only muster 1 goal in 4 playoff games, as the Wheaties were swept by the eventual WHL-Champions, the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Hadland gets time in all situations for Brandon under Head Coach, and former Calgary Flame Marty Murray, and he's responsible at both ends of the rink without any flashiness, and no real dynamic qualities. He gets noticed for his style though, as he seems to think that he's a 6'2" power-forward, but looks at times more like a rabid Wolverine. He loves to stir the pot and drive his adversaries nuts, while renting space in their heads. Despite his diminutive stature, he's difficult to play against, and not at all afraid to muck it up with much larger opponents in the greasy areas of the ice- he's always in the thick of the battle, and usually wins. On the forecheck, he applies supreme pressure on opposing defensemen, causing turnovers and picking pockets- most of his enemies can't contend with his sky-high compete, or his unrelenting motor, and are simply outworked. He fights for every inch of ice, and plays an energetic, but rather disciplined, physical game. Making him even more dangerous is his strong skating ability, with a peppy first-step, quick acceleration, and smooth edgework, augmented by his uncommon workrate. Hadland goes hard to the net, with all of his goals seemingly coming from within ten feet of the crease, using his keen hand-eye coordination, and soft hands to capitalize on rebounds, and finish passing plays. He isn't afraid to use the middle of the ice, and can locate pockets of space in coverage to unleash a wrister that has NHL velocity behind it, or to employ his threatening catch-and-release.
Hadland is intelligent, with the ability to outthink opponents, but while he owns a fair amount of quality distribution skill, true creativity only comes in flashes. He's not a high-end playmaker who can connect through layers of traffic, instead relying on a safe, simple passing game with quick touches- he doesn't often hold on to the puck for too long. He can, however, delay for a moment or two to wait for the better option to arise, and to make the right decisions. There's a good amount of deception in his game to open space, and to work the puck to the middle and to high-danger areas. Hadland also has fairly good puck-skill, with smooth handling, and tight protection. He supports the play well at both ends off the rink, relocating after dishing off to recieve the return pass, and finding the right places to be a playable option. Looking at his metrics, his defensive numbers are excellent, but they show a weakness in his contribution to his team's transition- it seems that he defers a lot to teammates to carry through the neutral zone. On the backcheck however, he applies his work-ethic and physicality to suffocate opponents, and is highly engaged and disruptive. He takes away the middle effectively by angling opponents to the outside. Hadland is a character kid and a leader, and has been so at every level, even wearing the "A" at times for Brandon as a 17-year-old. His stats from this year are rather paltry, but he's a prime candidate for a huge breakout in the coming years for the Wheat Kings. If he's deemed good enough to be drafted, look for him in later rounds.
Last edited by Sandman; 06-16-2024 at 01:50 AM.
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