Quote:
Originally Posted by Buzzard
How is it Mews dropped so far, wasn't he projected as a late first?
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There's surprises every year, but I don't recall Mews being rated lower than about the middle of the second round (I had him late first). One issue is that size has come back in fashion the last few drafts, with more players under six-feet tall being left on the board. With defensemen, players six-feet and under seem to be more scrutinized, with blueliners like Anthony Cristoforo and Frankie Marrelli going unselected, and Aron Kiviharju having to wait until the 4th-round to hear his name called (don't get me wrong, all three have flaws). There were others that were rated highly that were taken much later than expected, such as Tarin Smith (taken in the 3rd), Luca Marrelli (taken in the 3rd), and Colton Roberts (taken in the 5th). Marrelli currently has 40 pts in 30 games, Smith has 31 pts in 29 games, and Roberts has 16 in 26. In 2023, our own Hunter Brzustewicz had to wait until the 3rd round to be chosen, and we all know what happened in his D+1 year.
Mews was listed as being 6'0" at the time of the draft (he's often listed as 6'1" now), and as I observed in my pre-draft write-up, he was more often than not content to "stay in the pocket", preferring to run the offense from the point without roaming a lot- I'm not sure why, but that was considered a big detriment by some (he had almost a ppg). Being that he converted to defense from forward just a few years prior, there was the occasional brain fart with the puck, and there were times when his pace came into question- but I never saw anything that would have made me hesitant to select him late first/early second.