Brendan De Jong profile and history
Brendan De Jong is a defenseman who played the 2016-17 season with the Portland Winterhawks. He was eligible for the draft in 2016 but was not selected, so he was an overage player in 2017.
De Jong has a big frame at 6 feet 5 inches tall but is very raw in a number of respects. First is that he needs to fill out his frame to have a chance to play at the NHL level someday. In addition, though he is said to possess offensive upside, he also needs to round out his game defensively. Finally, he is an average at best skater which is a tough starting point for any NHL defenseman. The upside is that he made significant progress from the 2015-16 and 2016-17 season which begs the question of he can continue the upward trajectory.
Brendan De Jong reading list
Brandon Rivers from DUBNetwork profiled De Jong toward the end of the 2016-17 season and documented the progess that De Jong had made.
Marshall Mackinder from Hockey Now discussed De Jong in an article prior to the NHL draft.
Sam Cosentino from Sportsnet.ca listed De Jong among ten players with a chance to increase their stock during the 2017 CHL playoffs.
Go Canes!
