With the 24th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, the Nashville Predators selected Philip Tomasino of the Niagara IceDogs. Stats and scouting reports below.
Position: C
Height: 6’00”
Weight: 181lbs
Shoots: Right
Country: Canada
Composite Rankings via EliteProspects:
Ranked #17 by THE ATHLETIC
Ranked #18 by HOCKEYPROSPECT.COM
Ranked #22 by FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS
Ranked #18 by ISS HOCKEY
Ranked #20 by MCKEEN’S HOCKEY
Ranked #14 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (NA Skaters)
Ranked #30 by ELITEPROSPECTS.COM
Ranked #22 by TSN/McKenzie
Previous season stats:
2017-18 – Niagara IceDogs – OHL
61 games – 5 G – 19 A – 24 PTS – 18 PIM
2018-19 – Niagara IceDogs – OHL
67 games – 34 G – 38 A – 72 PTS – 32 PIM
Scouting Reports
McKeen’s Hockey
He is a highly athletic center who is a plus skater, with good vision and a strong wrist shot. He is an explosive skater with a separation gear and a ton of power in his first few strides. He is also able to use his edges as another form of separator. Those feet, in conjunction with his hands, serve to make him one of the more dynamic forwards coming out of the CHL this year. He is a very creative, skillful stickhandler and is not limited to playing in straight lines.
He can create chances just as easily for himself as he can for his teammates. When it comes to scoring, many of Tomasino’s goals come within a few feet of the crease. Sometimes he is finishing off a rush with a deke down low, other times he is barging in to knock in a rebound. He lacks the power in his shot to score regularly from distance, but he has the quick release needed to catch netminders off guard.
He has the overall package to be a top six regular, whether at center or at the wing, and to his credit, he plays with enough energy that he could force himself into the lineup as a bottom six developmental role before he has reached his projected level.
Hockey Prospect
Tomasino is a swiss-army knife forward whose versatility made him effective. He’s a unique-player in the sense that he’s more than the sum of his parts in areas on the ice, that in theory he should struggle in. Specifically, with how dangerous he can be around the net-area and on the forecheck, despite his average-height and thin-build. The main attributes that allow him to counteract his physical limitations are his fearlessness, his agility, and his creativity that’s produced through an impressive level of hockey-sense and puck-skills.
Arguably the most improved area of Tomasino’s game that made us more comfortable with his skill-set was his execution rate when driving down a lane during rush-sequences. In some viewings, he was effective primarily around the goal-line, or during the powerplay where he was effective both in the slot area and around the net. However, as the season progressed, Philip showed the ability to beat defenders using his agility and hands, as well as score a bit more frequently from the hashmark area. Although his release is good, he doesn’t generate a lot of power on most of his shot attempts. So, he’s still less effective while shooting in-motion when coming down the wing than when he’s in-tight to the net. Areas of improvement include his consistency on a game-to-game basis and filling out his frame so that his style of play can further translate at the NHL-level.
