Giants coach: I want Samuel Honzek to play centre

[TheScorpion]

Sign me up for a dominant 6'4" centre ...

New Vancouver Giants coach Manny Viveiros wants Samuel Honzek to play down the middle.

https://theprovince.com/sports/hocke...entre-position

Giants coach Manny Viveiros says that he likes the idea of shifting Honzek from left wing to the middle of the ice.

Honzek will be Vancouver’s best player — he was the Calgary Flames’ first-round pick, No. 16 overall in the NHL Draft in June — and playing centre will have the 6-foot-4, 195-pound Slovak handling the puck more and even more of a factor defensively.

...

Viveiros will talk more with the Flames about their visions of Honzek’s development path. And there are bound to be points this season where it’s going to be tempting for Viveiros to load up a line and play Honzek alongside centre Jaden Lipinski, who was Vancouver’s other NHL Draft pick this summer as a fourth-round Flames selection.

All that said, a change in position for at least portions of the year appears very much in play for Honzek.

“For me, I would prefer him to play at centre,” Viveiros said. “I think he has the skill set.

“I think he’s skilled enough, smart enough, mobile enough and big enough to be able to do both (centre and wing). We’re obviously going to take into consideration where Calgary wants him, because we want to give him the best opportunity to play in the National Hockey League. But I also think that he could benefit from being able to play both positions.

Full article is worth a read ... but man this is good news.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Worthwhile experiment at this stage of his development. He can always go back to the wing, but with a better understanding of the pivot's mindset.

[TheScorpion]

A centre of Honzek's size and production would've comfortably been a top-10 pick.

[Toonage]

For those thinking Honzek gets a 9 game look, well, this a window into the orgs plan for him.

[bluejays]

Worthwhile to try the experiment now rather than later, but I hope if it doesn’t work or doesn’t show many promising large signs, themat they simply develop him as a winger. Nothing wrong with that.

[schteve_d]

I don't know much about him at all but I do like his write-up at Elite Prospects:

Rare is a shift where Honzek’s ability to protect the puck doesn’t appear. The 6-foot-4 winger gets and keeps defenders on his backcheck, using body positioning to create offence. But instead of just brute-forcing plays, he plays with a ton of finesse. He fakes cutbacks in one direction before going the other, turns to wait for pressure to arrive before accelerating, and combines the edges with in-motion handling to slip around defenders.

[Delthefunky]

Honzek strikes me as a pretty smart kid, so its worth a shot.

[CaptainYooh]

I don't know. Hockey players say that playing centre must almost be natural to a player to be any good at it. Not vise versa though. Natural centres can be moved to wings and be very effective. Are there good examples of wingers moved to centre after they got drafted and then staying there for the remaining of their careers?

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

I don't know. Hockey players say that playing centre must almost be natural to a player to be any good at it. Not vise versa though. Natural centres can be moved to wings and be very effective. Are there good examples of wingers moved to centre after they got drafted and then staying there for the remaining of their careers?

Tage Thompson strikes me as a recent one

[Reggie Dunlop]

Poll suggestion:

Harmless early season experiment or inexplicable career-ruining decision?

[1qqaaz]

Hopefully he’s more than 186 lbs now. AKA hopefully he’s actually a bigger Center rather than just tall. This is completely within his control, so there should be no excuses. I would hope that at the very least, this experiment would fine tune his defensive attributes.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Tage Thompson strikes me as a recent one

He was drafted as a centre, no?

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

Hopefully he’s more than 186 lbs now. AKA hopefully he’s actually a bigger Center rather than just tall. This is completely within his control, so there should be no excuses. I would hope that at the very least, this experiment would fine tune his defensive attributes.

He will fill out...he's only 18 YO.

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

He was drafted as a centre, no?

I'm actually not entirely sure, but he played wing for years as a pro.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Poll suggestion:

Harmless early season experiment or inexplicable career-ruining decision?

Or amazing career making decision.

[Drunk Uncle]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

I don't know. Hockey players say that playing centre must almost be natural to a player to be any good at it. Not vise versa though. Natural centres can be moved to wings and be very effective. Are there good examples of wingers moved to centre after they got drafted and then staying there for the remaining of their careers?

Dubois was drafted as a winger.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Drunk Uncle

Dubois was drafted as a winger.

Listed as a winger but in his draft year he centered a line with Svechnikov as his LW'er in Sydney

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Could be a game changer for the Flames if he sticks there.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Even if he only becomes good on draws, it's a valuable skill for a winger at the NHL level.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Even if he only becomes good on draws, it's a valuable skill for a winger at the NHL level.

Yep, very underrated skill to have as a winger. There's nights where a pissy ref seemingly kicks out the centres on every second damn face off.