Everything about Stefan Noesen led you to believe that this would be his breakout year. He has good size, is a deceptive skater, possesses a good shot, and will drive to the net.
But it was his excellent work ethic that led us to believe he would be able to put up points in his second OHL season.
His 34 regular season goals were second to only Gabriel Landeskog's 36 by draft eligible players, tying him with Alex Khokhlachev and Matt Puempel. His 77 points were fourth among draft eligible players behind Ryan Strome, Shane Prince and Ryan Murphy.
But Noesen doesn't get mentioned with the upper class of the draft. In fact, there are many that see him as a mid second rounder. So Noesen would need a strong playoff performance to possibly move up in some rankings.
His Plymouth Whalers got off to a great start upsetting the heavily favoured Kitchener Rangers in 7 games in the opening round. Noesen was a stud for the Whalers in that series scoring 4 goals and adding 5 assists in those 7 games.
In round two, the Whalers were swept by the eventual champion Owen Sound Attack. Noesen scored twice in that series to finish the playoffs with 6 goals and 5 assists in 11 games. His 6 goals were by far the best on his squad while his points were second on the squad.
Noesen was also recently invited to Team USA'a evaluation camp for the World Junior Championships, one of 4 OHL Draft Eligibles to be invited and with Jared Knight of the London Knights also invited, he is one of only five OHL'ers invited.
Noesen was also picked as one of the top 10 right wingers available for the NHL Entry Draft. here
It is our view that Noesen has proven all that he could prove and should be a very early second round pick.
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