Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandman
LW Ayrton Martino (USHL) 5'10"170lbs: Diminutive winger is a high-octane offensive threat. High compete level, with a non-stop motor, he never takes a shift off. Skating is elite, with fantastic balance even under duress-makes him very effective on the rush when combined with his creativity. One scout said that it seems like he gets 2-3 breakaways per game. His IQ puts him several steps ahead of the the play, and he possesses a fine shot arsenal-good release, hard and accurate. The Hockey Writers picked him as the fifth-best playmaker in this draft.
He's also been called one of the best penalty-killers in the league. His team, Omaha, has the 2nd best PK rate in the USHL. Kyle Connor had 80pts in 56 games in that same league in his draft year-Martino had 56 pts in 38 games. If you pro-rate his 38 into Connor's 56, Martino gets 82pts (he missed the first 2 months of the season due to transfer issues from the BCHL.) His points per game rate is 3rd in the league.
His issues are that he sometimes overhandles the puck, as his stickhandling is not as fast as his skating-it's said to be not that big a deal, but it can cause turnovers. He pays attention to his defense, but his aggressive nature sees him turning the other direction to offense too soon, leaving his teammates momentarily outmanned. Needs a little polish in this area. He is also a 2002 birthday. Not overly physical, but gets involved in the battle areas, has a good stick to break up plays, and the work ethic to win 50/50 battles. I've seen him mostly in the first part of the second round.
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I am fairly surprised that Ayrton Martino isn't ranked higher than he is. I've seen many reports saying that he's the fastest/best skater in the draft. He's also a playmaker (which tends to translate well), has a high hockey IQ, and had good overall production.
Players with these attributes tend to succeed in the NHL. He's small, but he's not overly physical anyways.
I wouldn't be surprised if he goes way higher than projected. I also wouldn't be surprised if he ends up being a steal.