E-Mac's 2011 NHL Entry Draft Top 120: Keegan Lowe #72

By Eldon MacDonald

72. Keegan Lowe - “Mr. Oiler” - D - USA

Vitals: Size - 6’1”, 176 lb.; Shoots left; born 29-Mar-93 Edmonton, AB
Team: Edmonton, WHL
2010-11 Stats: 71-2-22-24-123-(+33)+ WHL playoffs 4-1-0-1-4-(-2)

Rankings:
72 - E-Mac's 2011 NHL Entry Draft Top 120
105 - Christopher Ralph's Top 210
114 - NHL Central Scouting's Final Rankings (88th North American skater)
Draft result:
73 - Carolina Hurricane

Sure it helps if your Dad has won six Stanley Cups (current President of Hockey Operations for the Edmonton Oilers, Kevin Lowe) and your Mom has won two bronze metals for Canada at the Olympics (Alpine skier, Karen Percy). However, no matter who your parents are, at the end of the day, you have to do it on the ice yourself. So when you have a less than promising start to the season and you are designated a faller by many, most fall by the wayside. That was not the case with Keegan Lowe as he went to work on his deficiencies and turned his game around so that at the end of the year he ended up with a +33 on a rather mediocre Edmonton team. So when his Dad told The Hockey News - http://www.thehockeynews.com/article...egan-Lowe.html - “He kinda has everything we’re looking for. He has hockey sense and he’s competitive, he can play both ways. I think he’s a pretty well-rounded player.” - it wasn’t just the boast of a proud papa but a quote others in the hockey community could concur with.

So what do you get with Keegan, a defensive defenseman capable of shutting down the other teams top line, excelling on the penalty kill and playing strong positional hockey. He also has a nice shot, decent skating, a good first pass and plays with the hockey acumen you would expect from someone with a last name of Lowe. He still is reed-thin and needs to bulk up more than a little but somehow those are issues you are not too worried about. NHL Central Scouting has him fourth round but I am betting that at least one team (Edmonton or otherwise) will step up to the podium and call out the name of Lowe before the third round has ended.