Don did a great job of getting a scouting report on Kings third-round selection Andrew Campbell, courtesy of Ben Leeson, a reporter for the Sault Star who covered Campbell’s junior team in Sault Ste. Marie. On a related note, I’ve received several emails since the draft from people in Canada who have seen Campbell play and are excited about him. Lombardi described him as a Wayne Simmonds-type prospect, in terms of being a late bloomer, and there’s growing evidence of that. Here’s Ben Leeson’s scouting report…
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“Campbell is a come-from-behind prospect and made some very big strides in 2007-08.
He plays a solid positional game at both ends of the ice, is a solid penalty killer and won himself power-play time down the stretch this past season.
He’s tough for forward to beat because of his big wingspan and willingness to finish checks.
He’s not known as a tough guy, but we’ll drop the gloves and hold his own when need be.
He has a nice wrist shot that he gets off quickly.
He had success playing with slapshot artist Josh Godfrey on the power play last year. With Godfrey covered, Campbell often took a pass and snuck in deep and beat the goaltender.
While he’s deceptively strong, he could probably pack on a few pounds of muscle to handle the big boys in the professional game. And he’s not a bad skater, but getting quicker would help.”
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And here’s a video of Campbell (in the dark jersey) in action…