Dallas Stars Draft Profile: Portland Winterhawks Forward Cody Glass
By Tom Dorsa
Up until the NHL Draft on June 23rd, the team at Blackout Dallas will be rolling out previews of the potential Dallas Stars selections. Today, we look at Cody Glass.
Name: Cody Glass
Position: Center
Shoots: Right-handed
Birthdate: April 1st, 1999
Hometown: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Size: 6-foot-2, 180 lbs
Team: Portland Winterhawks (Western Hockey League)
Stats: 32 goals, 64 assists, 96 points in 68 games.
NHL Ceiling: First-line center
When drafting some first-round talents, you’re not seeing what you might get in the future right away. The Dallas Stars, regardless of who they select, will have to project their future level of contribution to the team prior to really coming to a conclusion.
With Cody Glass, a 6’2″, lanky forward from the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks, this is the evaluation you need to run. As Glass, who turned 18 in April, grows into his already large height, he could wind up being 6’5″ or so.
“Once he fills out, he’s gonna have some good size to him and be able to protect the puck really well,” said Portland Winterhawks head coach Mike Johnston, who spoke to Blackout Dallas in May about Glass.
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“He’s got more a lean body frame to him. He’s gonna be taller but not as heavy,” Johnston continued. Nevertheless, making the correct call as far as NHLers go is based more on their speed and skill, something Glass has an abundance of.
Cody Glass is a two-way center with a ceiling for playmaking that can be compared to fellow former Winterhawk and Nashville Predators star center, Ryan Johansen, according to Johnston. “We had Ryan Johansen here [with Portland] six years ago, and he’s very similar to Ryan in a lot of ways.
“Not a shoot first but more of a playmaking type guy,” Johnston stated. His statistics with Portland indicate his immense playmaking abilities, as Johnston notes: Glass finished with 32 goals and 64 assists as the Winterhawks’ number one center.
“His best strength is his vision on the ice. Great instincts, great poise with the puck,” Johnston, the predecessor of current Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan, stated. “He can do a lot of different things, he’s a very versatile player.”
MORE DRAFT COVERAGE: With Dallas Holding The Third Overall Selection, What Must They Consider?
Glass is yet another player in the Draft that can be hard to estimate in terms of future NHL success, but his exceptional hockey senses and IQ will allow him to adjust quickly. Whether it’s skating hard into the corner to draw defenders and thread passes to his teammates, or patiently waiting to flick a shot through traffic with his heavily underused wrist shot, Glass can develop plays based solely on his intelligence.
“The number one thing people look for is your hockey IQ, how you think and how you play the game that way,” Johnston, who returned to Portland this season after six prior seasons with the WHL club, said of the smarts Glass utilizes.
“I was in Vancouver [with the Canucks] when we drafted the Sedins, and Henrik wasn’t that great of a skater, but he played the game fast because he thought two steps ahead of the play. Cody Glass, his vision is his ability to read the ice and make plays the same way.
“He’s a good 200-foot center. He’s as smart defensively as he is offensively,” Johnston noted. On paper, Glass seems to be perhaps the most complete, refined player in the NHL Draft, but even as highly regarded as he is, he will need an additional season of development in Portland, Oregon before possibly heading to the Dallas Stars system.
Portland Winterhawks media relations via Winnipeg Free Press
“He will need to get better at patiently waiting along the boards and keeping the puck to himself to find a lane, but that will come with his size,” coach Johnston continued with. “He’s greatest strength is in the middle of the ice because he carries his speed better that way, and it allows him to distribute the puck better.
“But with that being said, Cody is gonna be 6’4″ or 6’5″ in the end, so he will need to bulk up and improve the physical side of his game.”
Johnston also believes that Glass, despite one of his strengths being his speed, must improve his overall skating fundamentals. “What he needs is just a little three-step quickness to just get out of the blocks quicker in all situations. Part of that will come as he gets more leg strength, the other part is just training yourself.
“When I came back to Portland this year [from the Pittsburgh Penguins], everyone talked about Cody Glass and that he was missing a step, going a little bit slower; his skating wasn’t great. But, I remember five or six years ago, John Tavares‘ skating was the exact same,” Johnston eluded to.
“His skating is fine, but that little three-step quickness to pull away in the corners and out of the zone will come to him.”
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One thing I took away from the regular season stats from Glass, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, was that his ability to drive offense was evident in his assists and points ranks. Glass was 7th in WHL points (96), and also 7th in assists (64).
However, this is indicative of his hesitancy to shoot. While Glass is a profilic pass-first center, his wrist shot is regarded as one of the best in the WHL, although it is underemployed. The Dallas Stars have long lacked a shoot-first forward. “One of the things we’ve talked about is just letting it rip,” Johnston said. “Glass is a deceptive playmaker that draws defenders to him and slows the game down, but part of succeeding in the NHL is knowing when to shoot.”
Nevertheless, right-shooting center has had everything thrown his way in his tenure with Portland, but has handled it all with maturity and intelligence. He can be used in a number of different ways and never fail.
“He took a really big step in the playoffs against Prince George. We were one of the youngest teams in the league, we’re going against one of the top teams all year on the road, and he knew he was going to have their top checking line on him but he handled it well. He had a good playoff run.”
The potential for Cody Glass on the Dallas Stars or elsewhere is a first or second line center with top-line talent, and falling into a stellar special teams asset. “His game is gonna be a top-two line center for sure. Cody plays 200 feet, so you can put him in any situation.
“This year, I asked him to kill penalties because I thought it would round out his game a little bit more, and because we needed to improve in that area, and he did a great job there.”
Next: Dallas Stars Draft Profile: Miro Heiskanen
The Dallas Stars would be in a good situation to have Glass as a second-line center behind Tyler Seguin in the future. He could perhaps shortly fill the role of the 2C amid the coming absence of Jason Spezza, although it remains to be seen what Glass can bring to the table.