If John F. Kennedy played hockey: right wing, rated 81

John F. Kennedy as a hockey player: scouting report

John F. Kennedy plays right wing, the scoring position, because his two best marks are shooting and passing and they sit level with each other. The family touch football games on the lawn at Hyannis Port are famous, and a winger who grew up in that kind of backyard competition knows how to find a teammate on the move and how to finish when the puck comes back. He is the forward who can either shoot from the right circle or slide the pass across the slot, and defenders cannot cheat on either one.

His athletic background is real. He swam for Harvard and was a lifelong sailor off Cape Cod, both sports that reward balance and timing over brute strength, and that is how his game plays on skates. His skating gets him to open ice, and his defense is solid, so he can be trusted on the penalty kill. In the Navy he commanded the patrol torpedo boat PT 109 during the Second World War and received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, and a forward with that kind of composure stays steady in a tight game.

Physical play is the weakest part of his card. He wins with positioning and quick hands rather than by running opponents through the boards, so he needs a gritty linemate to retrieve pucks in the corners. Center is a close second spot for him, since his passing carries over directly, and left wing is a reasonable third. He also wrote Profiles in Courage, which won the Pulitzer Prize, so he knows how to tell a story about pressure. Draft him as a top six winger and put him on the first power play unit, where his shot and his vision both get room to work.

Plays like A smooth playmaking sniper who sees the whole ice

Put John F. Kennedy in your lineup

8 rolls, a starting six and a bench, 82 games. Can you go 82-0? Free, no account.