Oilers pick at 71: Troy Hesketh

Not a lot of info on him. High school kids, going to Wisconsin, describes himself as a stay-at-home type. Listed at 6.02, 180.

From Madison (Wisc) Capital Times: Defenseman Troy Hesketh (Minnetonka, Minn.) is a UW recruit for 2011-12 who doesn’t show up in the rankings, but a recent growth spurt has him on the radar screen of multiple NHL clubs.

UPDATE: This later on Saturday (8PM) courtesy Oilers Chick at HF:

He has good size but is very lanky. He's about 6'2 and when I saw him this year, he looked to be around 165-170 lbs. He's an excellent skating two-way defenseman. What has really impressed me about watching Hesketh this year is his really smart positional play and the way he sees the ice. He's very good at being in the right place and having his stick in the right place to take away time and space.

Now keep in mind this is at the high school level, but as he progresses to the higher levels, this aspect of his game will serve him and his future teams exceedingly well. He reads plays well and makes good decisions not only with the puck, but also in defending in his own zone. While Hesketh is very competitive, I wouldn't necessarily say that he's of the tough guy variety.

He handles the puck well, has a good shot that should continue to get better with development, but could stand to shoot a little more. If anything, at times he looked to be too selfless with the puck - you know, the ol' pass-first-shoot-second way of thinking.

Like many of the Skippers, Hesketh has got good speed. At this point, I wouldn't say that he'll blossom into an offensive defenseman because even though Hesketh has proven he can score goals, he just doesn't fit the prototypical offensive defenseman mold.