Jeff Carter was flying high Saturday after becoming a high draft pick at the National Hockey League Entry Draft in Nashville.
Selected higher than most anticipated, Carter was taken with the 11th overall pick by the Philadelphia Flyers, where he will be reunited with an old friend in Craig Hartsburgh. Hartsburgh worked as the Soo Greyhounds head coach two seasons ago when Carter was in his rookie season as a Hound centre.
Carter's high selection was largely based on Hartsburgh's influence and Carter's all around skill that melds well to the NHL style play. Carter is big, strong, an excellent puck handler, a goal scorer, a playmaker, a faceoff specialist and, most importantly, has hockey smarts. Carter works on both the power play and penalty killing units while playing as well on defense as on offense.
The London native made a huge jump from his pre-draft ranking, where NHL Central Scouting had Carter pegged at 27th among North American born players. But Carter's character placed him a lot higher on the scouting lists that count, the one's owned by team scouts themselves.
The NHL conducted the first three rounds of the draft on Saturday while rounds 4-9 will take place today.