Name: Cody Glass

Overall Ranking: 1

Position: Center

Age: 19

Place of Birth: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Height: 187 cm / 6’2″

Weight: 81 kg / 179 lbs

Shoots: R

Drafted: 2017 Round 1, 6th Overall

Last Season:

Portland Winterhawks – 64 GP, 37 Goals, 65 Assists, 102 Points, +/- = +42

Summary:

Oh look everyone, the first ever draft pick by the Golden Knights makes it to the top of the Golden Knights Watch inaugural top 12 prospect list, in other breaking news, the sky is blue, taxes are due in April, and we’re all getting older. With the obvious out of the way, it would may be useful for us to explain how we rate the Golden Knights’ prospects.

First, we’ve intentionally omitted all of the 2018 draftees, because, frankly, they haven’t played enough for us to know anything more than what we read from other sources. Unfortunately, the Knight’s Watch budget doesn’t have a per diem allowance for trips to Moscow to watch guys like Ivan Morozov tear up the MHL… yet. So, we take what we know about them from draft, track their in-game stats, and watch their games as much as time allows. All ratings are subjective, but we estimate where they could land on the VGK depth chart and where their ceiling will be within optimistic and realistic expectations (This is one of the reasons why guys like Jack Dugan and Jake Leschyshyn made the list). We admit that we wear homer glasses now and again when evaluating McPhee’s picks, but we do our best not to fall in love with a player just because he’s in the system. We routinely have internal discussions about players we disagree about. For example, Jack Manning is not very high on Leschyshyn, while Ken sees a lot of potential in his game. McPhee may like Leschyshyn more than both of us.

That said, as soon as the Erik Karlsson trade rumors started to surface, there has always been a question mark hovering over Cody’s future as a Golden Knight. It has been reported that McPhee has declared any deal involving Glass to Ottawa as a non-starter. Apparently, Glass is the only prospect in Vegas’ system that would entice Pierre Dorion to pull the trigger. So for better or worse, Cody Glass may be the reason that Erik Karlsson doesn’t play for the Knights in 2018. From our point of view, McPhee is making the right decision.

Dating back to the draft 2017 draft when McPhee had the 6th overall pick, McPhee had a lot of great options to choose from. The Canucks’ Jim Benning was even prepared to trade down from 5th to 6th in exchange for a second round pick that would ultimately be traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Keegan Kolesar. In other words, McPhee could choose from a wide range of high-end prospects that would define the Golden Knights’ future. McPhee could have had any of Elias Pettersson(Vancouver Canucks), Gabe Vilardi (Los Angeles Kings), Martin Necas (Carolina Hurricanes), Casey Mittelstadt (Buffalo Sabres) and Owen Tippet (Florida Panthers) just to a name a few of the best names from the 2017 class, he ultimately chose the then-consensus top pick on the board. While some of the players that McPhee passed on are likely to start their NHL careers earlier than Glass, first is not always best.

The architect clearly has huge hopes for Cody Glass, as do we at Golden Knights Watch but the question that a lot of people have asked is this:

Why?

Many fans have said they are happy to deal Glass to get Erik Karlsson. In our opinion, that would be a terrible waste. If we were in McPhee’s shoes, we wouldn’t deal Glass and we say McPhee got a great talent with that 6th overall pick. Here’s why:

Cody’s highlights say it better than we ever could. He’s one of the best play-making centers in the WHL and has picked up right where he left off in his Draft+1 year. The skills he brings to the ice are exceptional. He has excellent vision and offensive creativity and can thread a pass to the crease, dangle the puck to attract defenders and find the open winger for the shot on goal. As he gained more time as the top line center in Portland, his skills became more refined and elite. He has added significant muscle to his large frame, and would have a very decent shot at landing a job on most teams in the NHL.

Glass’ biggest improvement has been to his shot. Leading up to the 2017 draft, one of his biggest criticisms was that he didn’t shoot enough when he had good lines, which was a damn shame given his dangerous shot and has the ability to beat WHL goaltenders regularly. Glass seems to have listened to that critique and has worked on his numbers, getting 5 more goals this year (bringing the total to 37) and he looks he is marrying his playmaking abilities to his dangerous shooting skills. If that marriage goes well, Glass could be a cornerstone of the Knights for years.

Rookie camp is upon us and with Glass is looking to steal a spot on the main roster for himself. If Glass doesn’t make the opening night roster, it will likely be due to a lack of room on the roster as opposed to any deficiency in his play. With 5 quality centers on the Knights roster, keeping Glass in the NHL would likely mean losing another asset on waivers or through leveraged trade. While Glass could stand to improve his skating, you’d be hard-pressed to call that a weakness. Cody Glass’ family struggles have been well-documented, but his playing career has never been affected. His entire life has been building to the opportunity that waits for him in this year’s camp. He’s ready to burst out and become the next great player in the NHL. We are pulling for Glass to force his way into the lineup.

Vegas Full Prospect Rankings:

#1 Cody Glass

#2 Nick Suzuki

#3 Erik Brannstrom

#4 Nic Hague

#5 Lucas Elvenes

#6 Maxim Zhukov

#7 Ben Jones

#8 Zach Whitecloud

#9 Jake Leschyshyn

#10 Jack Dugan

#11 Dylan Coghlan

#12 Jonas Rondbjerg