Prospect Profile : Griffin Reinhart

This series of posts will be about potential draft selections by the Caps in 2012. This year we have two picks higher than the last few years, at 11th (from Colorado) and 16th. Due to the close proximity of these picks, these prospects could potentially be selected with either pick.

So today's prospect is...... Griffin Reinhart, Canadian defensman from Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL.

He's the son of Paul Reinhart, who played over 600 games in the NHL, and his brother Max is in the Calgary Flames system - so hockey clearly runs in the family.

Measuring at 6'4 and 207lb at just 18, he is fairly NHL ready physically. Although he is a fairly tough player, he is by no means one dimensional, scoring 12 goals and tallying 24 assists in 58 games this year. He has an incredibly hard shot, and is an very good skater for a player his size, meaning he is a quality puck mover and will not be knocked off the puck easily. He is generally a two way player, who can play both a shutdown role and a more offensive one - although with the better opponents at NHL level he may switch towards being a defensive defensmen, think Jeff Schultz with better skating and slightly more scoring.

A potential issue is the fact that he doesn't play very physically and his poise is apparently cause for concern according to scouts, even so, he could be a great fit with the Caps, possibly replacing Mike Green in a few years time.

He's ranked tenth among North American skaters so is more likely to be selected 11th by the Caps, but could potentially fall to 16th, similar to how Cam Fowler fell in 2010.