Hockey's Future on Derrick LaPoint

Hockey's Future has been rolling out their draft reviews over the past week or so, and recently released their review of Florida's draft. In that article they cover all of their draft picks, and here is what they had to say about Derrick LaPoint:

Derrick Lapoint, D
Fourth Round, 116th Overall, Eau Claire North High School (USHSW)
Born: 5-13-1988, Ht: 6’3, Wt: 175 lbs.

The youngest of the three defensemen taken by the Panthers in the 2006 draft, Wisconsin native Derrick Lapoint was so attractive to Florida that they traded into the bottom of the fourth round to grab him. An enticing package of offensive flash and defensive acumen, Lapoint shot up draft boards this past season during an impressive senior year. Selected as an all-state first team defenseman for the second straight season, Lapoint showed enough ability on the ice and character off it to be named the 2006 Wisconsin High School Player of the Year.

Heavily recruited in his senior season by a number of big hockey programs in the NCAA, Lapoint decided on North Dakota of the WCHA, where his brother is the equipment manager. As he will not be joining the Fighting Sioux until 2007, Lapoint plans on suiting up for Green Bay of the USHL this fall.

The transition to Division I hockey next year will be instrumental in determining how high the ceiling is for Lapoint, who is still something of an unknown quantity given that he has only played, albeit excellently, at the high school level. Blessed with good hockey sense and deft on the puck, Lapoint will need to add significant upper body strength onto his lanky frame at the college level. The Panthers obviously think that Lapoint should be capable of taking the next step down the path towards a future in the NHL.