By admin
Jack Hextall is a talented center who plays for the Youngstown Phantoms. He is 6’0”, 185 pounds, and has gotten physically stronger since last year. I’ve seen the difference in him over the course of one summer and half of a new USHL season.
His skating is excellent, and his shot is something to highlight. His wrist shot has a whipping action to it, but I noticed a tendency in his shooting. When most of his peers are going high, he goes low. To me, that’s one part of his game that sets him apart from some others in this draft.
“Yeah, something like my grandpa and my dad have always taught me, and one of my coaches when I was younger, I was just shooting low, and they say it has a higher percentage,” said Hextall. “Yeah, I think it’s just like a trend to shoot high now, and it looks sick when it goes in. So I think that’s why guys go high.”
Hockey runs in his family, and that’s helped to shape the player he is today.
“Yeah, my dad played college at USC, but they don’t have a team anymore. And then my uncle got drafted in the 2nd round of, like, I forget what year, but he got drafted by New Jersey, and then he played in the AHL.”
I think Hextall falls in the 20s at the very worst, and Top 15 is a possibility. He is one of the center gems in this draft, and his emerging talent is what makes it a bit harder to nail down draft-wise. I’ve seen the jump in him since last season, and I’m betting teams have seen that as well.
