Adin Hill
Position: G
Current Team: Portland Winterhawks, WHL
Date of Birth: May 11, 1996
Place of Birth: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 198 lbs
Catches: Left
Adin Hill fell into the goaltending racket almost by accident. At age seven, he played in a league that capped the goals that could be scored by any individual player at three. Hill would score those three early in the first period, then don the goalie gear and play the rest of the game in net. Twelve years later, he sports a 6’4″, 198 pound frame that provides an imposing visual barrier for opposition shooters, but has the athletic ability to dunk a basketball and make one or two athletic saves per game.
In his first full season in the WHL, Hill led all rookies with 31 wins, and led the entire league with a .921 save percentage. He is ranked #4 among North American goalies by NHL Central Scouting. Besides the size and athletic ability, he brings a well-developed mental component to the game:
He’s a quiet, confident person . . . He’s not the class clown; he surveys things and is very thoughtful about how he goes about his business. . . it’s the inner drive and belief that makes Adin who he is. — Portland Winterhawks Head Coach/GM Jamie Kompon
A Good Fit in Columbus?
In a word, yes. Sergei Bobrovsky remains The Man in Columbus, and will have that role for quite a while, if things continue to progress as they have thus far. However, behind Sergei are a long series of question marks. Curtis McElhinney seems likely to sign elsewhere Meanwhile, Oscar Dansk & Anton Forsberg are clearly ready for prime time. Goalies are the left-handed pitchers of hockey — mercurial and unpredictable — so it is an open question if and when those guys will be ready to move up.
Depth in goal is one of those things you don’t notice until you need it — and don’t have it. You can’t have too many promising young netminders, as they won’t all pan out, and even if there is a logjam of talent in the minors, a solid goalie prospect will always bring good return via trade. So, no reason not to stockpile them if you can.
It’s always difficult to predict where goalies will go in the draft, but I think it’s a fairly safe bet that Hill will be a 2nd rounder at best, 3rd rounder at worst. Columbus has plenty of picks in both of those rounds, so could easily afford to spend one for some goalie depth. Hill would not be a bad choice.
Hill Up Close
Here’s a nice look at Hill and what he brings to the ice: