Quote:
Originally Posted by mrdonkey
Ignoring the bad faith argument that one has to be a pro scout to criticize a pick, what I don't like when I watch and read about the guy is that he doesn't use his size effectively. His puck protection along the boards is fine, but for a guy with his build he seems very meek and afraid of contact. We've seen these kinds of big, lanky gentle giants pass through the organization before (Jankowski/Colborne), and it was as true in their pro careers as it was when they were drafted. Those are just examples off the top of my head that I'm familiar with watching. That kind of thing generally doesn't change with age, it's just a personality thing that doesn't translate well to NHL success.
His skating is also very awkward and stilted, and doesn't really seem to have good vision for what other players are doing. Those things can be taught, but even if he improves on those he still doesn't seem like a guy with the mental tools and competitive drive to be more than a 3rd line tweener. I saw one analysis compare his upside to Lupul, and that's about as accurate as any I've seen.
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I didn't mean the post to come off as a shot at you. I actually thought you saw him live a few times.