Corbeil excited about NHL Draft
-By Willy Palov - Sports Reporter
The Chronicle Herald
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Sports/1188830.html

Few people could see the upside in being the starting goalie on the worst team in the league, but Mathieu Corbeil managed to find one.

The 18-year-old Halifax Mooseheads netminder saw his NHL draft stock soar this season even though he was lit up on a regular basis.

"It can be hard at times to keep your motivation up but when you look back it, it’s really good experience to build you up as a goalie," Corbeil said.

"I improved a lot over the year and I gained a lot of maturity and experience. Not every goalie my age gets that experience of facing that many shots in the situations I did. It’s definitely something that I added to my toolkit and I appreciate it a lot."

Despite posting a seemingly unimpressive 8-39-0 record with a 3.83 goals against average and a .883 save percentage, Corbeil enters this weekend’s NHL draft in Los Angeles as one of the top goalies available. The independent scouting service Red Line Reports ranks him 34th overall and many others project him to go as high as the second round. Should he get picked that early, it will cap an unexpected rise that began when he was a mostly unheralded prospect to start the season.

"At the beginning of the year I was only focused on the team and, really, it stayed that way the whole year," Corbeil said. "But it was also that I didn’t feel the scouts were interested in seeing me at the start of the season. But when I was (QMJHL) player of the week twice in a row (in November), that got some eyes on me. That was the first time I was hearing stuff from people about how scouts had started liking me. That was probably when it came into perspective and then I started realizing scouts might be watching me."

Corbeil will be accompanied by his parents and sister at the draft in Los Angeles. He said they will stay in California for a few days after the draft "for a little vacation."

"I’m excited to see where I end up but for some reason it hasn’t really sunk in yet," Corbeil said on Tuesday evening. "I don’t know, I don’t feel it yet. But I’m sure when I get to Los Angeles it’ll start to feel more real."

Other Mooseheads with a chance to get picked are defencemen Konrad Abeltshauser and Sawyer Hannay and forward Carl Gelinas. Of the three, Abeltshauser has the best chance of being drafted. Many believe he is a safe bet to go in the middle rounds and Red Line Report even has him ranked 40th overall.

"German D with smooth puck skill is an RLR sleeper," reads part of his Red Line Report write-up. "Tremendous tools and nice offensive upside. Quite mobile for a tall, gangly kid. Terrific puckhandler who regularly makes long stretch passes to break the trap."

Hannay is projected as a possible late-round pick, mostly because of his mean streak and underrated defensive play. Gelinas is a longshot to get picked but still has an outside chance.

Cape Breton Screaming Eagles defenceman Morgan Ellis also figures to be picked in the middle of the draft and Cole Harbour native Stephen MacAulay could hear his name in the later rounds. He is a forward with the Saint John Sea Dogs who is a dogged forechecker and plays with a physical edge. He is ranked as the 85th best North American skater by the NHL Central Scouting Service.

The first round of the draft is on Friday night, followed by the remaining six rounds on Saturday.