Patrick Leaver – Oshawa Generals – Player Profile

HT	WT	DOB	POS	CATCHES	OHL DRAFT	NHLCS	COUNTRY
6’0”	165	Sept 4, 2003	G	Left	158 – 2019	NR	Canada

SEASON	LEAGUE	TEAM	W	L	GAA	SV%
2018-2019	Under-18	Smiths Falls Bears	9	10	2.89	.902
2019-2020	CCHL2	Westport Rideaus	16	6	2.75	.920
2020-2021		DID NOT PLAY

Oshawa Generals netminder Patrick Leaver wasn’t listed on NHL Central Scouting’s preseason Players to Watch list not their November list. There really wasn’t much of a body of work to pass judgement on Leaver, especially with the lost season od 2020-2021.

It wasn’t until incumbent and undisputed number one netminder Zachary Paputsakis went down with an injury that still has him out of the lineup after just his third game of the season. Leaver has taken the crease and has appeared in all but one game for the Generals since then.

Leaver has done just enough to at least have a conversation about as we approach the end of November. He currently has a 9-4-2 record while sporting a 2.99 goals-against-average (sixth in the league) and a nice .914 save-percentage (second in the league) while playing the fourth most minutes.

The stats speak for themselves as Leaver enters his second go around in the NHL Entry Draft. But what about Patrick Leaver the goaltender intrigues me?

At 6’0”, Leaver doesn’t possess the typical size of the ‘new era’ goaltender. One area that needs to be improved on is that he plays small in the blue paint. While set for a shot, he is crouched over to far exposing a lot of the top of the cage and for a ‘smaller goaltender’ he will need to learn to play bigger. It’s those high shots he has the most trouble with but it is an area that can be improved with continued coaching.

On the plus side, Leaver is very athletic. His lateral movement from post to post is exceptional. He reads the play extremely well and his puck tracking is also exceptional. Size hinders him a bit in seeing long distance shots but he does an adequate job looking around players to find where the shot is coming from. In tight, he gets low and is able to take away the bottom portion of the net. He has a good glove hand and his rebound control is just okay, but not an area of concern as it’s something that can be improved.

Leaver has done nothing but give the Generals a chance to win almost every night he has taken the net. It will be interesting to see what the Generals decide to do once Paputsakis returns, but Leaver is definitely worth keeping track of as the season progresses.