Drafted 64th Overall by the Montreal Canadiens
After being selected in the first round (27th overall) of the 2011 CHL Import Draft, Tim (Timothé) Bozon burst onto the scene with 36 goals and 71 points in 71 games this season for the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL. His performance earned him the Western Conference nomination for WHL Rookie of the Year. He stands a good chance to win the league award to be handed out after the WHL final. Bozon was born in St. Louis, Missouri but grew up spending his winters in Lugano, Switzerland and his summers in France. Bozon has already declared that he wishes to play international hockey for the French national team. He is the son of former St. Louis Blues winger Phillipe Bozon, joining Griffin Reinhart, Henrik Samuelsson, and Stefan Matteau as draft prospects who are the sons of former NHL prospects.
Left Wing/Right Wing
Born Mar 24 1994 — St. Louis, Missouri/Lugano, Switzerland
Height 6.01 — Weight 178 — Shoots Left
After coming over from Swiss team HC Lugano, Bozon adapted incredibly quickly to the North American style game. He is a natural goal scorer with an excellent wrist shot and a quick, deceptive release. Bozon is also a talented playmaker, as he possesses good stickhandling and puck control, good vision, and the ability to thread a pass through the eye of a needle. He’s a hard worker who gets in quickly on the forecheck and is effective in doing so. He has a bit of grit and physicality to his game, but isn’t what we would a “power forward”, however he’s not soft either.
Bozon possesses excellent skating which he uses to beat defenders on the rush and create offense. He has excellent acceleration and changes gears quickly. He also has good agility. Bozon could stand to work on his balance however, as he sometimes can get knocked off the puck. Increased muscle on his frame may go a long way to solving this issue.
Bozon is a decent defensive player. He works hard on the backcheck and plays an effective positional game. Bozon is good at pressuring the puck carrier in the defensive zone and at keeping his man to the outside. He cuts down passing and shooting lanes effectively. Bozon is able to use his skating ability to stay with and check almost any opponent.
We’d compare Bozon’s potential to be an effective 2nd line forward similar to Kris Versteeg of the Florida Panthers. His defensive game is such that he can develop into a player capable of playing in all situations.
.. and thats the Last Word.
