Henry Mews

April 2024- Mews is an interesting case study. He’s very clearly an offensively tilted defenseman playing in a very conservative defensive structure in Ottawa. Despite the system, Mews produced at nearly a point per game pace this season, mainly due to effective puck movement and passing. The big question with Mews will be how much offense there actually is in his game, and can he extract that offensive potential in the higher leagues ahead? If he can, then he’s likely worthy of a 1st round pick. If he can’t, then his path to the NHL is a bit cloudier as he has just okay size and compete level but struggles defensively. If he hits, expect a power play contributor and a puck moving type of player. Jordan Harris 

February 2024 – Earlier in the season, our thoughts on Mews were mixed, and they remain the same for our mid-season rankings. Mews is a very effective passer who can move pucks up the ice and set-up teammates in the offensive end. His skating and shot are both above average and he’s got great hands too. Given his tools, you’d think he would generate offence more in-line with players like Parekh and Buium, but he isn’t. At teams he seems hesitant to activate while opting for a safer mission. Some scouts at Dobber believe this could be the result of playing within an Ottawa system that doesn’t lend itself to much risk taking. Given this perspective, it’s hard to gauge what the offensive upside is with Mews as it currently doesn’t match the skillset. On the back-end, it’s been a mixed bag. Mews can struggle in his own zone and really look over matched, especially under pressure. This leads to turnovers or an inability to exit the defensive zone. If the offence is actually better than what he’s shown, then our spot for Mews will hold. If it’s not a schematic issue, then we could see Mews dropping in our next rankings. – Jordan Harris

April rankings: 35th (-3)
February rankings: 32nd (-2)
November rankings: 30th