Jordan Sambrook – Player Profile – Erie Otters

Height:  6’2”

Weight:  186 pounds

Date of birth: April 11, 1998 Markham, Ontario

Position:  Defence

Shoots: Right

OHL Draft: Round 10, 119^th overall, 2014 Priority Selection

Ranked 90^th among North American skaters on NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings, the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to Jordan Sambrook is that he might just be a valuable find for an NHL team come June’s draft. And with plenty of NHL scouts’ eyes on teammates Alex DeBrincat and Taylor Raddysh, one would assume Sambrook has had plenty of looks.

Sambrook has taken every opportunity handed to him, whether its teammates away at the World Junior Championships, injuries or suspensions and made the most out of those opportunities. As a rookie defender in the Ontario Hockey League he scored 9 goals while adding 18 assists in playing all but one of the Otters’ 68 games.

What is truly surprising, especially for a rookie defender, is that Sambrook’s 9 goals came on just 69 shots for a whopping 13.0 shooting percentage and averaging just over 14 minutes of even strength ice time per game. (All of his goals came on 5 on 5 action).

At 6’2” Sambrook has good size but will need to add some bulk and of course strength – there are times he gets knocked off the puck easily. He plays it safe and simple defensively with an ability to keep opponents to the outside. He retrieves pucks fairly well and makes a good first pass out of the zone and has shown the ability to skate it out.

He is however, a two way defenceman.

Offensively, Sambrook has some things to work on. He can get caught up ice on occasion and needs to work on when to pinch and when not to pinch. He could also work on his skating speed. He’s not slow, but an extra step would make him that much more dangerous.  He is, after all, still a rookie and these are not things that can’t be worked on. He possesses decent vision and an underrated shot from the point. He can quarterback a powerplay, but most of his PP time this season has been on the second unit.

Sambrook projects to be an all around two way defender who can play in any situation and be a minute munching defender. Last season he scored 13 goals and 11 assists for the Toronto Nationals in Midget and made the direct jump to the OHL this season without missing a step.

Thanks to Prospect-stats, we can compare Sambrook to London Knights’ defender Victor Mete.