Vinzenz Rohrer

May 2022 – The 27th overall pick in the 2021 CHL Import Draft enjoyed a productive first season in the OHL. He was 20th amongst draft-eligibles in primary points per expected 60 minutes of ice time, just below first-round candidates Danny Zhilkin, Owen Beck, and above Pano Fimis and Ruslan Gazizov. He made a seamless transition to the North American game and ended the season as the first-line centre and the team scoring leader. The 67’s are a rebuilding team and Rohrer did not have a lot of help. He acted as the team’s offensive sparkplug and was also relied upon on the penalty kill and in crunch situations and defensive zone draws.

Rohrer plays a responsible two-way game. Despite a lack of size, he fights hard for pucks and never stops skating. He is able to consistently make good passes and generate quality scoring chances but struggles to attack the slot against bigger and better competition. He does show flashes of high-end puck skills but does not consistently use them to drive offence. It is important to note he finished the year playing with an underperforming Tyler Boucher and rookie Luca Pinelli and did have a marginally better even-strength goals-for percentage relative to his teammates at 2.74%. It will be interesting to see how he progresses next year as the 67’s are a promising young team.

There is a solid offensive package here and the wrinkles in his game can be ironed out – skating and size are both things that can be effectively improved with good player development – but it is hard to see teams willing to take on a project like Rohrer before the third round. Kyle Watson