Top Rangers prospects like Tim Erixon and Christian Thomas are scheduled to participate in September’s Traverse City Tournament, but there will also be a few relatively unknown players joining them.

Between now and September 10th, we’ll take a look at some of the less-touted prospects that will don the Rangers’ sweater at Traverse City.  Today, we look at…

Jordan Hickmott

HT: 6-1

WT: 183

Pos: C

Shoots: R

Birthday: 4/11/90

Team: Edmonton, WHL (scheduled to attend the University of Alberta this fall)

2009-2010 stats: 21g, 28a, 72gp, 31PIM, -8

2010-2011 stats: 28g, 38a, 72gp, 58PIM, 0-rating

2010-2011 playoffs: 1g, 4a, 4gp, 0PIM, -2

WHL.ca profile >

What’s They’re Saying:

The Prospect Park – “Hickmott is a good character person and a 2 time 20 goal scorer in the WHL and that is about it. Why Hickmott is on the Traverse City roster and Max Campbell (who has a AHL contract) is not makes us wonder if this is a mistake here.  Hickmott is a nice guy and a teammate of 2011 4th round pick Michael St. Croix but we have no expectations that Hickmott is going to earn an invite to the main Ranger's camp. In fact Hickmott is actually scheduled to enroll at the University of Alberta Golden Bears for the 2011-2012 season…Not a chance Hickmott would make John Tortorella a fan of his game as defensively Hickmott is not that great and at only 6' 180; Hickmott fits in what we call the generic category of forwards. To give you an idea of what we mean, Hickmott's 28-38-66 might look decent but in the WHL that means he was 53rd in scoring.  Not wanting to disrespect Hickmott as he does work hard but when you can put up 66 points and still wind up even for the season then questions will be asked about your defensive game.”

Daniel Lizee (TheScoutingReport.org) – “A cerebral player and uses his smarts and guile to get him by. He's a player that has shown nice progression throughout his junior career but I have questions about his ability to survive at the next level. His physical strength as a 20 year old going against younger players was lacking. If he gains some strength, he might have chance at an AHL career.”

Curtis Deem (TheScoutingReport.org) – “Jordan Hickmott is coming off of a career year with the Edmonton Oil Kings, scoring 17 more points last year than he had in any previous year in the league. He has a solid frame, and is capable of finishing around
the net.”

Guy Flaming (ThePipelineShow.blogspot.com) – “Jordan Hickmott is a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy. Plug and play. Got a couple offensive wingers that need a center to get them the puck? Hickmott. Looking for a penalty killer or a guy you can put out in the last minute to protect a lead? Hickmott. Anything but a star player, Hickmott is the Marty Reasoner kind of guy that can fill just about any role in a pinch. Not a stand out physically, his speed is average, hands average but every team needs those complimentary type players and that's what he is. Never the star, always a quality support guy for the star. Not sure he's a NHL guy but could be a good minor leaguer. He's enrolled at the University of Alberta and will play for the Golden Bears, a perennial favorite in CIS hockey, unless there is a pro contract with his name on it after NYR camp.”

Edmonton Coach Derek Laxdal (via The Prospect Park) – “Laxdal compares him to former Ranger Bernie Nichols and calls Hickmott's invite to Traverse City ‘a tremendous opportunity.’”

SouthCampusSports.com – “His hockey sense seemed to be very good from what I saw, and he's steadily improved over the last several seasons. Hickmott is the type of player that seems to have potential to further develop his game, and could be a late bloomer. He's going to get his chance to impress later this summer for the Rangers at their rookie camp, and like Koper and Ferguson could end up going onto the pro ranks before his CIS career gets started.”

Edmonton Sun – “Hickmott had been consistent through different wingers early on, mostly with Josh Lazowski on the right, but had settled in as a trio with Dylan Wruck on the left. Wruck had been surging to the top of the team scoring just behind Michael St. Croix when Lazowski suffered what might be a season-ending injury. Hickmott currently sits as the Oil Kings' third-leading scorer.  ‘That happens during a season, when you'll go four or five games, get really hot and getting two points a night. Then you'll go for a while and won't get anything.  I think for me and (Wruck), we need to keep plugging away and not get away from our game. Lately we've been doing that a little bit, getting frustrated. We just need to concentrate harder and it will come, not get frustrated when it doesn't.’  Sitting on the sidelines against the Saskatoon Blades this week didn't help Hickmott or the Oil Kings as they lost a close-but-no-cigar 4-3 game to the league's top team.  Hickmott plays a controlled, smart, two-way game.”

Kelly Friesen (Buzzing the Net) – “He was a difference maker for the Oil Kings, scoring 28 goals and 66 points last year. He could see the ice well, and also had strong positioning. Nothing about Hickmott really jumped out at me, but he seemed to not have an obvious weakness.” 

Thoughts: Hickmott enjoyed a much better statistical season in 2010-2011, but he’s hardly a prolific scorer.  After five seasons in the WHL Hickmott hasn’t drawn much attention from the hockey community and he’s set to attend the University of Alberta in the fall.  He appears to be a very average prospect and unless he plays tremendously well at Traverse City, we probably won’t hear much from him again after the tournament.

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