NHL Prospect Dating Game: Colton Gillies

This is one in a series of profiles of the International Scouting Service's 2007 Top 15 NHL Draft Prospects, and relies heavily on the 2007 NHL Entry Draft Media Guide. Check back often leading up to the June 22 Entry Draft for more profiles and draft coverage and analysis.

Name: Colton Gillies
Team/League: Saskatoon/WHL
Vitals: 6'4", 189 pounds, center, shoots left
Born: February 12, 1989 in White Rock, British Columbia

The unimportant stuff: Gillies has great size, but needs to fill out some... he skates extremely well for his size and isn't afraid of contact... his defense is there, but his offense is below average right now... Central Scouting ranks him the 30th North American skater, ISS has him at 12th overall -- that's a huge disparity.

The important stuff: "Gills" is the nephew of former Islander great and Hall of Famer Clark Gillies (pictured)... patterns his game after Jarome Iginla, would invite Halle Berry to dinner and would vote for Barack Obama if given the chance (that last point may or may not be true)... his favorite TV show is "House" (there's a string of words that has never appeared together in that order before)... the most memorable game he ever watched happened less than six months ago. The most memorable game I ever watched happened before Gillies was born.

Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match: There may be more difference of opinion on Gillies than on any other player expected to go in the first or second round. Because of that, he'll probably end up with a team that can afford to roll the dice a bit, either because they don't have glaring needs or because they have multiple high picks. The Flyers and Blues each have two firsts this year (including the 23rd and 24th picks, respectively), and the Devils -- likely to lose the best center in the organization this summer -- could wait on Gillies' offense to come around as the restock the shelves. The winner? A big, bruising power forward with upside sounds like a good fit for the rebuilding Flyers. Welcome to the City of Brotherly Love, Colton.