Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike F
This whole discussion started based on the comment that "you can teach defense a lot easier than you can teach offense", implying that a guy with great offensive talent can often turn into a solid defender if he simply decides to try.
I brought up Phaneuf to counter that point - here's a guy who never was able to learn to read a play or figure out defensive positioning.
You countered with, "Well, if you believe Warrener, Dion just never cared to try to play defensively".
My point was that if Dion, who never cared to try to play defensively, was nonetheless a better defensive player at the same age, you'd have to conclude that either he had more natural defensive talent (he was better despite less effort, which is scary given how poorly his natural defensive talent translated to the NHL) OR Dion didn't have more talent defensively but simply worked harder at that aspect (which is scary because his effort at that aspect wasn't up to an NHL level).
Either way, it's worrisome, which explains why a guy with high first round offensive gifts fell to the end of the second round, being passed over by many teams twice, and with the Flames themselves being willing to risk losing out on him to choose another defenseman.
I'm a huge Flames fan. I hope he turns out to be the next Shea Weber-like steal. But some people have developed hard-ons for this kid which have them willing to brush away some serious warts that gave a lot of pro scouts and GMs reason to pause.
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Very few posters are suggesting Kylington is a sure thing. However to write him off because he has defensive shortcomings that show up when he plays above his "weight class" against men is ridiculous. Yes, Phaneuf was a higher rated prospect at his age and didn't look as suspect defensively but he was playing against kids. Also, as already pointed out, even in his own draft year Shea Webber was not as highly rated either. I know who I would prefer now and it's not Dion. This is not to say that Kylington is going to become Shea Webber, but neither is he condemned to be worse than Phaneuf either.