E-Mac's 2011 NHL Entry Draft Top 120: Ty Rattie #34

By Eldon MacDonald

34. Ty Rattie - “The Magician” - RW - Canada

Vitals: Size - 5’11”, 163 lb.; Shoots right; Born: 5-Feb-93 - Airdrie, AB
Team: Portland, WHL
2010-11Stats: 67-28-51-79-55-(+20) + WHL playoffs 21-9-13-22-22-(+11)

Rankings:
19 - Kirk Luedeke's Top 50
21 - hfboards Readers’ Poll
21 - Cory Pronman's Top 100
21 - Guy Flaming - The Pipeline Show Top 30
22 - NHL Central Scouting's Final Rankings (17th North American skater)
25 - Bob MacKenzie's June Poll of Scouts
26 - Dean Millard -The Pipeline Show Top 30
27 - Christopher Ralph's Top 210
28 - ISS per TSN
29 - Craig Button's Top 30 of 8-Jun-11
30 - The Scouting Report's Top 100 Skaters
33 - Future Considerations Final Rankings
33 - The Hockey News per TSN
34 - E-Mac's 2011 NHL Entry Draft Top 120
Draft result:
32 - St. Louis Blues

No, Ty’s Dad (Rob) and his uncle (Brent) didn’t win any Stanley Cups or gold Medals but they did win the Air Canada Cup together, Canada's national midget championship. Therefore, you shouldn’t be too surprised that Ty set scoring records for goals (75) and points (131) in the AMBHL (Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League) and that he was selected second overall in the 2008 WHL Bantam Draft after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Then in 2008-2009 he played a year of midget AAA scoring 54 points in 34 games and followed that up with a solid but unspectacular rookie season in the DUB with 37 points in 61 games. 2010-11 started spectacularly for Ty as he spent most of the first part high on the leaderboard for WHL scoring and he also was Canada’s highest scorer at the 2010 World Under-17 Challenge with nine points in five games. However, once Ryan Johansen and Nino Niedereitter returned from NHL camps, Ty went from first line, top power player minutes to secondary duties. Naturally, his scoring would decrease in such circumstances but he still managed to finish the season with 79 points in 67 games, still very good for a draft eligible player.

When you think of Ty Rattie, think offense, think vision, think smarts, thinks hands, thinks slipperiness. Ty is a smaller guy (5’11, 163 lb.) who plays with a chip on his shoulder and can score goals and is an excellent shooter. However, he is more known for his creativity and passing skills and the ability to make those around him better. He developed quite a chemistry with Sven Bärtschi and later Craig Cunningham (when he was acquired from Vancouver). His negatives are his size, the lack of elite straight ahead skating talents (he is very agile and strong on his skates which compensates somewhat) and his play without the puck. However what worries me is that he will never be an elite offensive player in the NHL if he doesn’t become less of a perimeter player and more of a guy who will pay the price in the dirty areas.

The rankings have him going between 17 (Bob MacKenzie’s poll) and 34 (me). A team that believes it can unleash that 75 goal magician from his bantam days and turn him into someone who will be effective in and around the blue paint is going to pay that first round price. For the others who are not so sure that they have the elixir to make that happen, early second round is more likely.