Name: Cody Glass Current team: Portland Winterhawks Height: 6’2” Weight: 179 lbs Birthday: 1999-04-01 Position: C Shoots: R

Cody Glass is an interesting prospect from the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL. At 6’2”, he’s got NHL height and reach. At 179 pounds, he’s probably 15-20 pounds lighter than he should be for his height. But that’s okay since he’s still just 18 years old. He has time to grow into his frame and put on the necessary bulk to stand up to the NHL game.

Glass isn’t an overly physical forward, preferring to use his stick and reach and a timely check to separate opponents from the puck. His skating stride is a bit funky and may need some work for him to become an NHL-level skater. Thankfully the Lightning have Barb Underhill as a contracted consultant to work with players on skating.

In his rookie season, Glass scored 10 goals and had 27 points in 65 games. He added three more points in four playoff games. He also played for Canada Red in the World Hockey Challenge U17 tournament where he went pointless in six games.

This season Glass took a big step forward offensively. In 69 games played, he scored 32 goals and 62 assists for a gaudy 94 points. That put him tied for seventh in WHL scoring, just behind fellow draft-eligible forward Kailer Yamamoto. He also played in three games for Team Canada in the U18 World Junior Championship tournament putting up two goals and one assist.

The big question for CHL-based prospects when they have big jumps in offense though is always to look at where they are getting those points.

36 of Glass’s 62 assists were primary assists, meaning that he made the last pass before a goal was scored by a teammate 36 times. Another piece of good news is that only nine of his goals and 19 of his assists this season came on the power play. Most of his scoring came at even strength which bodes well for his future offensive potential as his point totals are not being inflated by gaudy power play totals.

Once you get past the first five picks or so, NHL draft boards tend to start diverging. Some of it is difference of opinion, some of it is different weighting of different characteristics that causes a team to value a player higher than another. Some prospect ranking lists have Glass in the top ten, and some have him in the mid-teens. It’s very possible that he won’t make it to the Lightning at 14th, especially with how good his offense looked in the WHL.

If Glass made it to the Lightning, he would likely spend two more years in the WHL before turning professional. It’s rare for the Lightning in the Yzerman Era to jump a prospect straight from juniors to the NHL when the AHL is an option. Glass could end up being a guy that’s able to do that depending on circumstances and how his skating and faceoff ability develops. Glass would provide the Lightning with another center with some size with top six potential to go with their first round choice from last year, Brett Howden.

Statistics:

Cody Glass statistics Season Team League GP G A TP PIM Season Team League GP G A TP PIM 2008-2009 Winnipeg Jr. Jets Brick Invitational 5 0 2 2 2 2013-2014 Winnipeg Hawks Bantam AAA WBAAA 32 31 46 77 4 2014-2015 Team Manitoba CWG 6 0 0 0 0 Winnipeg Thrashers Midget AAA MMHL 40 23 32 55 26 Portland Winterhawks WHL 3 0 0 0 0 2015-2016 Team Red U17-Dev 3 0 1 1 2 Portland Winterhawks WHL 65 10 17 27 20 Canada Red U17 WHC-17 6 0 0 0 0 2016-2017 Portland Winterhawks WHL 69 32 62 94 36 Canada U18 WJC-18 3 2 1 3 0

Table via Elite Prospects.

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