Draft Profiles 2k21: Alright, let’s try to figure out whether or not Corson Ceulemans is going to be a Bruin based on things OTHER than his name.

Analysis:

Okay. Let’s get the first thing out of the way.

It would be extremely funny if the Boston Bruins just doubled down on having dudes who were named some form of “Carson” with almost the same last name. I cannot overstate how much I would love watching Jack Edwards trip over himself trying to keep the differences between them straight.

Now, let’s get into the actual player of Corson Ceulemans, and see if we have something here.

Ceulemans comes from the Alberta Junior-A system, playing for the high-octane Brooks Bandits, who are usually in the hunt for most goals scored by a team over the past decade. Ceulemans was understandably asked to play a more offense-first game as a result, and it has shown some real dividends: Ceulemans is a beautiful skater; able to get past the first layer of forecheckers easily using his speed and explosiveness, and skating with his head on a swivel; using the transition game as a weapon to further the offense’s goal of putting the puck on net, either by himself or by wiring a pass to his teammates. And that’s not to say he’s all offense, all the time! He’s showed some real physicality and good stickwork to potentially become a really annoying defender, especially at the U18 World Juniors.

While it’s a very lofty ambition, some believe that if he can put all these tools together, he has the potential to be one of the best defenders of this draft.

The big knock for Ceulemans at the moment is...well...his 2020-21 season was a grand total of 14 games, only 8 of which were domestic with the Bandits, thanks to The Thing What Happen. Further, while Ceulemans has plenty of individually elite skills, the single biggest thing dragging him down the rankings is his consistency; Sometimes he can get transition with no problem, other times he looks absolutely perplexed that there might be a forechecker near him. Sometimes he wires an incredible pass to create a goal, other times he gives up a clunker of a turnover. He’s an aggressive defender, but that means he can get caught flat-footed. It goes on and on with nearly every aspect of his game that it feels like he’s more like a collection of good parts only tangentially related to each other, and not a cohesive whole. With further coaching, he could be something real special, but he will be a project in every sense of the word.

As for ranking, he’s all over the place. Everyone agrees he’s talented, but the thought process on how capable he is to get all of those individual pieces together. He’s a project even for a draft full of projects. Personally, while it’s very tempting to say we need to fix the Left-side D with a bigger body, I think this bigger body could stand to play for another team. I think he has some interesting traits...but not enough to get me excited.

Rankings:

• 28th by EliteProspects’ Consolidated Rankings
• 55th by EliteProspects.com
• 12th by FC Hockey
• 27th by Neutral Zone Hockey
• 18th by TSN (Bob McKenzie)
• 27th by McKeen’s Hockey
• 22nd by TSN (Craig Button)
• 14th by NHL Central Scouting among North American Skaters
• 26th by SportsNet
• 39th by Recruit Scouting
• 34th by DobberProspects
• 51st by Smaht Scouting
• 29th by The Puck Authority