The Dallas Stars have selected goaltender Philippe Desrosiers with the No. 54 pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
Desrosiers began the season as the backup in Rimouski, but soon grabbed the starting job and never relinquished it. A sizable goaltender with superb technique and lateral movement, although he’s struggled finding the puck through traffic at times. He’s described as playing a very “tight” style of goaltending and rarely do pucks leak through him; he’s excellent with his blocker and even better covering the bottom of the net.
He’s been compared to, at times, Mike Smith although it seems at this point he’s a bit more of a “robotic’ goaltender than the emotional one you’ll find in Smith. He’s an incredibly technical goaltender with impressive positioning and puck control, but struggles at times with his reflexes and his glove side. He is described, however, as having top notch mental toughness and rarely allows a goal to negatively effect his mental state.
He led Team Canada to the Gold Medal at the U-18 World Championships this past season, and was compared favorably to Zach Fucale — who was the top goaltender in this draft.
Scouting reports:
HockeyProspect.com
There’s little to dislike in Desrosiers’ game. He plays a fairly robotic standard butterfly style with tremendous attention to details and accurate positioning. He is calm in front of his net and compacted. Pucks will rarely get through his body he appears big, shoulders high, displaying a picture perfect butterfly standing position. He plays the angles and positional game like very few 17 years old goalie do. He is waiting for the puck to touch him and gives himself the least reaction necessary to make the play. This great positioning helps him tremendously in regards to rebound control. He is already one of the best goalies in that area, rarely giving away any rebounds, pucks will be absorbed by his body and pushed aside lower shots in the corners. He handles the puck fairly well and likes to go out of his net to play the puck and initiating the transition himself. His reads are great and his anticipation is a very strong quality in Desorisiers’ game. These attributes help him again move laterally at the right moments to get in great position. His pushes are accurate and they assist him in making great point leg saves.
LastWordOnSports:
At 6’1″ and not even having reached his 18th birthday yet, Desrosiers has the good size that NHL teams have been looking for in Goaltenders in recent years. He takes advantage of his size, and challenges shooters, by coming out of his net and playing his angles very well. Desrosiers is an extremely aggressive goalie who really comes out far. He plays a solid butterfly style. His technique is tight and he rarely allows shots to get through him (ie 5 hole, under the arms, etc). He has very quick legs and covers the bottom of the net well. Desrosiers is extremely athletic and gets in and out of his butterfly quickly. Up top he has a quick glove hand, and is good on the blocker side. His technique is very good for a young goalie. Desrosiers is calm and poised in the net. He keeps a cool demeanor even after allowing a goal. This helps him to put the last one behind him, and be ready for the next scoring chance.