Position: Left Wing
Age: 18
Date of Birth: January 24th, 1993
Place of Birth: Essex, Ontario
Ht: 6-0 Wt: 196
Shoots: Left
Puempel is a winger for the OHL’s Peterborough Petes. The Petes were one of the worst teams in the OHL last season, so that hurt his stats. His -33 is an area of concern- but it isn’t surprising given his pure offensive game. He has a fantastic wrister, and is deadly around the net, but the rest of his game needs more refinement. He’s got decent size, and if he could use it to make more space for himself in the offensive zone, he could become a second line fixture in the NHL.
2010/2011 Regular Season Stats:
| GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM |
| 55 | 34 | 35 |
69 |
-33 | 49 |
Scouting Report (The Scouting Report):
High expectations were bestowed upon the 2009/2010 CHL rookie of the year this season; one that proved to be pretty disappointing for Matt Puempel. A combination of a poor Peterborough squad and a late season ending hip injury made this season a difficult one for Puempel. Despite the negatives, Puempel still remains as one of the premier goal scorers in this crop. Puempel will likely make a living off his release and shot power/accuracy, but he improved some of the other areas of his game this season as well. It was evident that he started to take some steps to become more of a dominant player on his own and began to create a lot of his own opportunities instead of relying on a center to get him the puck.
Why he’d be a good fit in Columbus:
Puempel seems to me like a guy who will slip in the draft, given his underwhelming season, combined with his inconsistency. He’s a pure goal scorer, suited for the second line. While depth on the wing isn’t necessarily a concern for Columbus, adding a player of his ilk would go a long way to ensuring a continuous pipeline of offense up through the system. Paired with a setup man like Derick Brassard, he could be a 30 goal scorer if he can round out the rest of his game.
Puempel in Action: