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Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Bruins prospect profile #23: Marc Cantin

Marc Cantin
6-1, 195
March 27, 1990
Shoots: Left
Signed as a free agent; March 2011
Signing status: Signed through 2014

Talent Analysis

Physical:
Decent size but plays bigger than his 6-1 frame. Thick build with a lot of natural strength. Good skater with decent acceleration and straight-line speed. Fluid in his pivots and turns with smooth footwork. Makes good passes in transition. Above average point shot with some power, but needs to work on keeping it lower to the ice and getting it on net. Superb physical presence; a big hitter who relishes contact and can make the open-ice contact effectively. Tough, snarly competitor who hits to intimidate. Superb with the hip check- slides over smoothly and effortlessly drills the oncoming forward. Makes opponents pay a price for setting up in front of his net. Works guys over along the walls and down low. Drops the gloves and is a solid middleweight fighter who can more than hold his own. Suffered a broken jaw in an off-ice altercation a year ago, but recovered well and posted a career season as an overager before being signed by Boston.

Intangibles: Keen defensive awareness and smarts. Understands the position and keeps it simple- does not play outside of his capabilities. Good, solid work ethic. Former captain at Belleville who can be a leader when focused on his team objectives. Won a Memorial Cup with Windsor and helped take Mississauga to the 2011 Memorial Cup championship game before falling to Saint John. Aggressive playing style is sure to lead to some dustups, but handles himself well and will earn the respect of teammates because he's always willing to back it up or go to bat for his guys.

Boston Bruins 2011 Development Camp assessment

Cantin made his presence known throughout the camp sessions by throwing big hits and playing his style, refusing to dial it back. He attempted one huge hip check on Justin Florek and just missed, but would have cleaned out the forward had he connected. He didn't wow anyone, but at the end of the day, he looked sharp and solid like he did a year ago. He made few mistakes if any, and when a defenseman is doing his job best, you don't notice him all that much. That adage holds true for Cantin.

Marc Cantin in action

Click here to see YouTube fight video between Cantin and Mark Cundari posted by JimKorn20


Projection

Cantin brings little in the way of offensive upside, but is one of those solid, safe defenders that you win with. The Mark Stuart comparison is used with him a lot, and Sean O'Donnell is another similar style of player, though Cantin is a better skater than the former Bruin. If Cantin makes it to the NHL it will be as a 5/6/7, but a valuable one because he plays a rugged defensive game and handles any situation well because of his smarts. Cantin is one of those "old time hockey" guys, but there is value and utility with him. It will take some time of riding buses in the minors for him to make it to the big show, but his time could come sooner rather than later because of his maturity and experience. No player in Boston's system has seen more action in both regular season and playoffs over the last four seasons than Cantin has. There is no substitute for seeing a lot of games at a high level like the OHL, so Cantin should be a little more polished going into the Providence than the average AHL rookie.

Quotable

"Cantin I thought played well and he’s one of those guys that’s may be a little bit older than the rest of the crew but as the days progressed, I thought he was strong out there today."- Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli; July 11, 2011

"Marc Cantin reminds me a lot of Mark Stuart. You know real, real competitive kid, has leadership qualities and loves to play hockey."- Bruins Assistant GM Don Sweeney; July 11, 2011

"Marc Cantin has won everywhere he’s been. He’s got kind of the build that Mark Stuart had. I haven’t been inside the locker room with him but all indications are that he has the intangibles of the player that we lost in Mark [Stuart]. So we’ll see what continues. I mean, he’s got some areas that we’re going to continue to work. But we’re really excited to have him. He was a player that went through the draft. We acquired him through free agency. He was an unsigned, undrafted player. Coaches speak highly of what he brings to the table and he’s just a kid that kind of, you know, puts the boots on and goes to work. "- Sweeney; July 7, 2011

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