#11 Prospect: Colten Teubert

Colten Teubert is destined to be a crowd favorite in Edmonton. A tough, physical defenseman with a large mean streak, he stands out as a strong skater with size. I count him as the 2nd best defensive defenseman in the system, and the 5th best defender overall bubbling under. 

Winter 2011: #11

Summer 2011: #15

AHL coach Mark Morris: "Like most guys who enter the American Hockey League, the biggest challenge is making the reads. He is a strong skater, so if he makes a poor read he has the ability to eat up ground and shut people down. What I like about him is that he seems to get a piece of somebody every time he is on the ice, and he is a hard guy to play against. At times when he handles the puck, he might not make the best choice, but he keeps the game fairly simple. He is an old school defenceman in my books; the type of guy that everybody will appreciate over the course of time.He's not going to wow you in the beginning, but I think over time he will prove that he is a force to be reckoned with and he can be a reliable, dependable defender."
NHL Director of Central Scouting EJ McGuire: "Colten is a smooth skating defenseman, who can skate the puck out of trouble and can jump up the ice with the puck. I like Colten for a lot of reasons, but most of all for his ability to take charge of the game. He projects as a support three or four defenseman, at least initially in the NHL, with a good offensive upside who won't hurt you on defense."

"He's big, strong, mean ... and he just continues to get better."
Regina Pats Head Coach Curtis Hunt: 

Colten Teubert on himself: I consider myself a punishing defenseman. I'm the guy that you put out against your top players and tell me to shut them down. I think I have a great shot from the point and get it through.

The Hockey News: Teubert is a classic defensive defenseman who excels in the shutdown aspect of the game and plays with a pretty wide mean streak. “He’s not as polished as [Luke] Schenn, but he’s meaner than Schenn,” one scout said. “He’s a nasty guy to play against.” One scout said Teubert might tumble on draft day because he can be a little erratic and compared him to Bryan Marchment. Another scout wonders what all the fuss is about with Teubert. “I think he’s a little overrated,” the scout said. “He has pretty average hockey sense. He has good size and mobility and he competes, but I think his hockey sense keeps him from being a top pick.”

Morey Gare after his trade to Edmonton: "We like a lot of things about his game that we're kind of lacking with our organization. He has good size and strength, good mobility, we like his physical game and his toughness. Most importantly, his willingness to be involved physically in the game and to be hard to play against. We see him as more of a defensive defenceman who will be able to contribute some offence. He moves the puck well, too. We're really drawn to the whole package."

I believe Morey Gare's report on him is the one to adopt as a reasonable line in the sand. I think Teubert was hired because Alex Plante's mobility made him a question mark for the highest levels. Teubert is a better prospect because he combines size and speed, along with that mean streak. If they can coach him up on the coverage aspect--and he certainly looked capable as an Oiler earlier this season--then the Oilers have a legit NHL defenseman who can play a role.

I like Teubert as a prospect, believe he's going to have a career and cover the 250 game bet required to be considered (on the blog) a successful draft pick. I don't believe he's a better prospect than the defenders listed above and will explain my opinion below.


I've been dancing around this over the last few posts, and now that we're at Colten Teubert it's time to be very specific. I think Colten Teubert's outer marker is Jason Smith. Now, that's a fine, fine hockey player. Wish we had three of them, honestly. In 05-06, Jason Smith played 15:09 at evens, 4:13 at SH and 15 seconds a game on the PP. I think that's what we might see in Teubert's best seasons. I think David Musil's potential is similar.

The reason I ranked Oscar Klefbom, Martin Marincin and Martin Gernat above them is because they have a "wider" range of skills as prospects. We don't know the future, but if these kids reach their outer marker, they may have stats similar to Jaro Spacek that season (15:26, 3:24, 4:48 by discipline).

My rankings give zero reward for being close to the NHL. None. The wider the range of skills, the higher the ranking. It's very likely one of the three will fall down the list, not able to sustain the offense and exposing their weaknesses defensively. However, as we sit Colten Teubert's rank is 11th, and honestly if this was three weeks from now Dillon Simpson might jump ahead of him. This list is about potential.