Largely Hypothetical Penguins Prospect Profile: Keven Veilleux

By Artistry

Welcome to the second installment of our sporadic feature leading up to Penguins training camp, where we analyze prospects based on factors including but not limited to seeing them play maybe one time, tops, their pedigree, their looks, and how they make us feel inside. In case you missed the first profile, Finesse gave Simon Despres high marks based on a combination of pure speculation and the fact that he has a great name.

Today's subject: 2007 2nd round draft pick Keven Veilleux. We clearly recall the team drafting the big center out of St. Georges, Quebec and thinking, "He's tall." We stand by that initial assessment. At 6'5" and 215 pounds, he is still tall, but we would also point out that Sidney Crosby's thighs alone weigh like 215 pounds.  Put some meat on those bones, kid.  If he fills out, the Pens could have something interesting here.  He has an awful haircut, which, as you know, is a terrific sign for a hockey player.

Perfection.

We understand Veilleux has unusual puck skills for someone super-tall and that he was a wizard during summer shoot-out sessions. To confirm this, we turned to his Wikipedia page, but unfortunately, we don't speak French Wikipedia. Lucky for us then that @Allie874 tweeted a highlight video of young Veilleux, so see for yourself.



Looks like he does have nice hands. He is also clearly not afraid to use them to pummel smaller players, and, while we can't in good conscience advocate these huge men punching each other in the head anymore, it's encouraging to see Veilleux has an edge to his game and knows how to plant himself in front of the net.

His name? "Keven" is ridiculous. You had "Vincent" sitting right their, Mr. and Mrs. Veilleux, and you tried to get cute. Big mistake, but not fatal. We have hopes for "Keven." Hopes that he could be the power forward Eric Tangradi should be, but probably isn't. Not high hopes, mind you, not Simon Despres hopes, but "Keven" could sneak up on you like one of his blink-and-you-missed-it wristers under the crossbar.