Brandon Carlo is our 20th under 25

• Position: Defense
• Height: 6'5"
• Weight: 196 lbs.
• League Last Year: WHL
• Age This Year: 18
• Acquired: Drafted 37th overall in the 2nd round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

Brandon Carlo was drafted this year in the second round, and apparently we all have a lot of faith in him. He was the second-highest scoring defenseman on his team last year, the Tri-City Americans of the WHL. This puts him at about 60th in the whole WHL for defenseman scoring, either by rate or by totals. Kirk Luedeke says "Brandon Carlo is a huge (6-5) and mobile rearguard who is a better shutdown guy than offensive producer."

For me, personally, that sort of description sort of makes me want to run screaming the other direction, but I've tempered that with the NHL Scouting profiles of him. A story from November 2014 quoted Central Scouting's John Williams:

He's a very intriguing guy, He's a really good skater and has great mobility for a player his size. Obviously the reach and range are there. He handles the puck well and is one of the best guys I've seen so far this year at being able to use the boards to pass off the boards to a teammate or get it out. He can beat the forecheck by bouncing it off the boards and onto the stick of someone.

That's a lot more interesting. Being a good skater is what made him a second-round pick. If he can put his size, and his skating, and his passing together, he could really be something...down the road. If he makes the lineup this year, it'll be a surprise. Anything is possible, especially with the defensive core the way it is, but in all likelihood the Tri-City Americans can expect him to patrol their blueline. Them and the real Americans, Team USA. Here's the draft profile highlight reel from his WHL team:

Box Score:

WHL defenseman doing some work, here:

Social Media Minute

Wear a seatbelt, Brandon!

Loved being home in CO but glad to be back in the TC with the Ams #leonard

A photo posted by Brandon Carlo (@1996_carlo) on Aug 29, 2015 at 6:51pm PDT

And the list so far, as picked by you, the reader:

1. David Pastrnak (63%)
2. Torey Krug (47%)
3. Ryan Spooner (60%)
4. Zach Trotman (40%)
5. Brett Connolly (46%)
6. Colin Miller (21%)
7. Alexander Khokhlachev (27%)
8. Jesse Gabrielle (29%)
9. Zach Senyshyn (20%)
10. Joe Morrow (17%)
11. Zane McIntyre (25%)
12. Malcolm Subban (37%)
13. Seth Griffith (27%)
14. Danton Heinen (25%)
15. Jakub Zboril (39%)
16. Jake Debrusk (24%)
17. Matt Grzelcyk (27%)
18. Linus Arnesson (35%)
19. Brian Ferlin (25%)
20. Brandon Carlo (22%)

Who's going to be 21?