Colorado Avalanche: Cody Glass Brings 2-Way Prowess

If the Colorado Avalanche trade down in the 2017 NHL Draft, two-way center Cody Glass might be on their radar.

The Colorado Avalanche are waiting for the 2017 NHL Draft with great anticipation. The Draft Lottery takes place April 29, and the Avs have the highest chance of winning picks #1 through #3, with #4 being the lowest they’d drop.

If the Avalanche get a top-two pick, and keep it, I expect they’ll select either Nolan Patrick or Nico Hischier. However, GM Joe Sakic has said he’ll make trades that benefit the team, and trading down the draft for more picks or prospects might make sense.

It’s unlikely they’d drop lower than #10, though, unless the returns were huge. Center Cody Glass might be a player the Colorado Avalanche consider if they do trade down.

Cody Glass

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2016-17 Team:

Portland Winterhawks

(WHL)

April 1, 1999 (18 years old)

Ht:

6’2″

Wt:

179 lbs

Position

: Center

Shoots:

Right

What comes up again and again in scouting reports about Cody Glass is that he’s a two-way center. He’s known for playing a 200-foot game and playing defensively responsible hockey.

That’s not to say he doesn’t have offensive skills — his 94 points (32 goals, 62 assists) should tell you otherwise. As Elite Prospects points out. he can dictate offensive chances while on the rush. The site points out he’s an aggressive attacker — hard, fast and consistent — with excellent puck control. Overall the site considers him a “dangerous two-way center.”

Peter Harling of Dobber Prospects considers Cody Glass to be something of a sleeper pick, calling him “underrated, undervalued.” His 94-point season was a breakout one for the center, who tripled his offensive production. As Harling points out, his lack of international experience makes him something of an unknown quantity. Harling adds:

“Glass thinks the game fast, has a high hockey IQ and has great vision combined with soft hands and excellent puck skills. His compete level is elite and the main development opportunity for Glass is to continue to add strength and mass to his projectable 6-2 frame.”

It looks like Glass has some power forward potential. Indeed, according to Cody Glass himself, working on his strength and size is a priority for the offseason:

“I’m going to work on my strength. Rich Campbell [Portland’s strength and conditioning coach] and I are working at keeping my weight up and building more explosiveness.”

Glass’s Winterhawks coach, Mike Johnston, thinks size is the key to Cody’s success:

“With his skill and skating, I just project where he’s going to be when he’s 10-15 pounds heavier, so he can be stronger in those battles and protect the puck.”

Ben Kerr of Last Word on Sports concurs:

“He shields the puck well, using his body to keep defenders away, while also having the good balance to fight through checks. Glass is good in board battles, and could be even better as he adds some muscle to his frame.”

So, Cody Glass is considered to need some development. However, Future Considerations sees a lot in the young center to like:

“An excellent puck mover, he finds teammates with ease and is a huge possession asset…has the confidence and protection skills to rag the puck until he finds an open teammate…execution of passes is excellent and he is especially skilled at changing angles with his hands to create passing lanes”

That comment about possession is interesting — most scouting reports remark on Cody Glass’s possession skills.

Most scouting reports also remark on Cody’s hockey IQ. However, Future Considerations makes an interesting comment: “[Glass] has a knack for dictating the pace and slowing the game down when he’s on the ice.”

That’s not an observation that comes up with prospects too often.

Ben Kerr compares Cody Glass to Patrice Bergeron in terms of style.

Cody Glass is action:

Cody Glass and the Colorado Avalanche

If this were two years ago, I would say Cody Glass was second only to Michael Rasmussen for prospects the Colorado Avalanche want (remembering they chose #10). Scouting reports kept emphasizing his size (blame them, not me), his grittiness and his compete level.

That’s not to say these qualities aren’t valued by the current regime. However, Glass isn’t considered to have elite puck skills, at least not yet. And the most that was said of his speed came from Future Considerations: “Although his foot speed is pretty good for a guy his size, first step accelerate could improve.”

MORE COLORADO AVALANCHE PROSPECTS:

Cody Glass is scouted to go between #6 to #16. He’s #6 on Central Scouting’s list of North American skaters. Colorado won’t drop any lower than #4 unless they trade down. Honestly, I don’t see them selecting Cody Glass unless they trade below #10 and he’s the best still available.

That said, I find it interesting that he’s such a possession player. He seems like a good fit for the Los Angeles Kings.

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