Steven Lorentz

History

2011-12: Steven Lorentz played for the Waterloo Wolves minor midget AAA team in his hometown in Ontario. In 44 games he scored 14 goals with 20 assists and 14 penalty minutes. Lorentz was selected by Peterborough in the 12th round (226th overall) in the 2012 OHL Priority Draft. 

2012-13: Lorentz skated in three junior A games with the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Waterloo Siskins and was the overall leading scorer for the Waterloo Wolves major midget AAA team. He had no points with 2 penalty minutes skating for the Siskins. Third amongst Wolves’ scorers in the regular season with 34 points (17 goals, 17 assists) — along with 24 penalty minutes in 31 games — Lorentz led Waterloo with 8 goals and 15 assists, receiving 10 penalty minutes, in 16 playoff games. The Wolves reached the Alliance finals, falling to London. 

2013-14: Lorentz played in 64 regular season games and 11 playoff contests for the Peterborough Petes in his first OHL season. He scored 7 goals with 11 assists and was -6 with 18 penalty minutes in the regular season. The Petes reached the playoffs for the first time in four seasons, finishing second in the East Division and advancing to the second round. Lorentz scored 2 goals and was -1 with no penalties in 11 playoff games. 

2014-15: Lorentz was the sixth-leading scorer for Peterborough in his second season as the Petes reached the OHL playoffs despite finishing last in the East Division. He scored 16 goals with 21 assists and was -1 with 15 penalty minutes in 59 regular season games. Lorentz had 1 assist and was +1 with 2 penalty minutes in five playoff games in Peterborough’s first-round series with eventual Memorial Cup champion Oshawa. Not among the 210 North American skaters in the Central Scouting final rankings in his second year of draft eligibility, Lorentz was selected by Carolina in the seventh round (186th overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft.

Talent Analysis

At 6-foot-3, 191 pounds, Lorentz fits as part of GM Ron Francis’ plan to make the Hurricanes bigger from top to bottom. Passed over in the 2014 draft, Lorentz more than doubled his point total from his original draft season and became a top-six player for Peterborough. He has NHL size and needs to continue to improve as a point producer.

Future

Lorentz will play his third season in Peterborough in 2015-16. Lorentz has been a bit of a late bloomer, so the hope is that he will continue to develop as both a scorer and physical force and exceed expectations and grow into a bottom-six grinder.