We recently (12/1/19) saw Doug play against St. Andrews College. In all honesty we came away shocked that he was an uncommitted 2002 and wouldn’t you know it, a few days later he committed to Boston University. So that got us thinking, how do NHL teams view Dougie Grimes and he his potential?
Doug Grimes (3.75 Star Amateur Rating, NHL Grade — C) Forward
Doug is a player who gets better every time we see him. Not only his physical skills, but his positioning and processing the game as well. There were times in the past where Doug would sometimes get lost in defensive zone coverage or appear to chase the puck in neutral zone transition. In our most recent viewing he was positionally sound in his end providing consistent slot coverage as the weak side wing. He also showed improvements in his game awareness and processing. Awareness Example – He is the weak-side wing covering the slot… when his weak-side defenseman would need to engage the strong side battle, Doug showed the awareness to slide lower to provide the net front coverage needed and in transition he was clever enough to “fall below the goal line” to be an outlet for an easy D to weak-side wing break out to the soft side corner. A year ago we are not sure if Doug would have made these reads or had the patience to be that sound defensively, but against St. Andrew’s he was very good away from the puck. So what will an NHL Organization think about his physical tools? Well, he’s a 6 year project and they’re going to say he’s a big kid who is going to Boston University. That is a huge long term plus if he gets drafted. BU will consistently have high end, high NHL draft picks coming on to their campus while Doug is there. Meaning, Doug will have to battle his ass off every day in practice and in the weight room competing against high end players who are National League prospects. Huge Plus. His feet will improve by osmosis, but we feel he is showing the signs of a kid who wants to be a player and will therefore put in the work needed to get stronger and quicker. Doug has the building blocks to be a physical force in the professional game. An NHL team knows that they can draft him and stash him (for years) before they will think about signing him to a contract. The drafting team knows they can bring him in for Development Camps each summer and keep reliable stats on his off-ice progress without investing a dime into him. And if he shows the consistent commitment into being a pro, they’ve got a 6’3 215lbs diamond in the ruff…. and that’s not a bad thing to have hanging around. In summary, Doug’s physical stature combined with his trending game will mean that there will be plenty of NHL eyes on him as the season progresses.