Welcome back to Top Shelf Prospects, the daily column that brings you the next crop of professional hockey players. Each day I will bring you a new player profile or topical article in the lead-up to the 2015 NHL Draft. Be sure to bookmark the site, follow me on Twitter, and spread the word for the site that will bring you analytical and critical profiles and scouting reports! Last Word On Sports is your new headquarters for everything “Draft”! For a Complete Listing of all our 2015 Draft Articles Click here.
Daniel Sprong is likely to be the highest drafted Dutch born player ever. Born in Amsterdam, he moved to Canada in 2005 to face stronger competition than what was available in the Netherlands. After being the 13th overall pick in the 2013 QMJHL draft, Sprong’s 30 goals was the most by any 1997 born player in the CHL last season. He was part of the QMJHL all-rookie team. Sprong picked up where he left off and scored 39 goals and 88 points in 68 games for the Islanders this season. He added 7 goals and 11 points in Charlottetown’s 10 playoff games. Sprong is eligible to play for the Netherlands in International Tournaments. He has avoided playing in such tournaments to this point, as he has not wanted to declare which nation he will play for over the entirety of his career, and the level of competition that Netherlands faces just isn’t going to help his development. He has applied for Canadian citizenship and hopes to have it in time to try out for Canada’s World Junior team in one of the next two seasons. Sprong has been featured on this season’s
Daniel Sprong
Right Wing — shoots Right
Born Mar 17 1997 — Amsterdam, PQ
Height 6.00 — Weight 180 [183 cm/82 kg]
Daniel Sprong is a pure sniper. He has a bullet wrist shot with a deadly release. He is dangerous every time he touches the puck, and loves to shoot. In fact there are times when he might get too focused on taking the shot instead of looking for a teammate. Don’t get the wrong impression though, Sprong also has excellent passing ability and can thread the needle and play the role of playmaker if a linemate has an opportunity. He just needs to work on doing it a little more often. Sprong has excellent stick handling ability and the soft hands to get the puck past defenders or to finish plays in tight. He shows effort in the corners, but Sprong must get stronger to win board battles. He has high hockey IQ and the ability to find open spots in the defence to set himself up to unleash that wrist shot or a strong one-timer.
Daniel Sprong has great speed and outstanding acceleration coming off the wing. His ability to change speeds while carrying the puck can help him to blow past a flat-footed defender. He also has very good agility, and edgework, and can slip by a a defender with quick cuts. Add to this his stick handling ability, and you have a player who can be a threat to go coast to coast at any time. Defenders must respect his speed, and when they back off he can use the open space to unleash his deadly shot. When working down lown, he must get stronger and be better at taking a hit going forward. This is specifically true of his lower body, where some more muscle would help him be more powerful and better balanced to be stronger on the puck.
Defensively Strong’s game is a little up and down. There are times where he shows good instincts, and strong positional play. He helps on the backcheck and supports the defence. However he dosn’t always bring this consistent effort every night. If the Islanders are down a goal or two, he can feel that he needs to do it all offensively and start to cheat, looking for a long breakout pass and not always get back hard in the defensive zone.
While there are some things he needs to work on, strength and defensive consistency, I still feel that Daniel Sprong has a very high ceiling, and could be a first line wingers if developped properly. His game is reminiscent of Phil Kessel, though this is a stylistic comparison and not a talent based one.
Below are some videos of Daniel Sprong in action.
Bookmark the site and check back tomorrow for the #25 prospect on our draft board.
