C Dylan Strome (2015, 3rd, ARI; traded to CHI) III

[Semantics]

The same things that have been said about Strome for the past year and a half were the exact same things people said about Leon Draisaitl as a prospect. Give Dylan some time.

Draisaitl is way thicker than Strome. He's got big bones and a wide frame, on which to pack lots of muscle. German engineering efficiency at his finest. He is built like a man who grew up hunting in the woods and wrestling bears.

Strome is a scrawny kid, does not have a thick build, or much muscle yet. He's built like a teenager who grew up in Toronto playing video games.

I think Strome will be a good player, but Thornton and Draisaitl are horrible comparisons, as both are way thicker than Strome will ever be.

 

[Cassano]

Draisaitl is way thicker than Strome. He's got big bones and a wide frame, on which to pack lots of muscle. German engineering efficiency at his finest. He is built like a man who grew up hunting in the woods and wrestling bears.

Strome is a scrawny kid, does not have a thick build, or much muscle yet. He's built like a teenager who grew up in Toronto playing video games.

I think Strome will be a good player, but Thornton and Draisaitl are horrible comparisons, as both are way thicker than Strome will ever be.

Thiccccc.

 

[Celly4Celebrini]

Ncaa
ohl

ushl
whl

qmjhl
jr a

jrb

NCAA
OHL

WHL

QMJHL

USHL
Jr.A

the USHL is in no way shape or form able to compete with any CHL league. the top talent always threaten to go there to get to the team they want in the CHL

 

[Zaddy]

Draisaitl was considered a bust by many of the less knowledgeable posters here too for the same reason. Strome will be just fine.

Dylan Strome is going to score a lot of points in the NHL for a very long time and the people dumping on him right now are going to look really, really stupid.

This sort of bigger, slower, strong-on-the-puck playmaking center always takes longer to develop and peaks later than small speedy shifty guys the same age. You'd think people would have learned this by now from the premature angst about guys like this from Joe Thornton all the way through to Leon Draisaitl.

(mod)

The same things that have been said about Strome for the past year and a half were the exact same things people said about Leon Draisaitl as a prospect. Give Dylan some time.

What's funny is that two years ago everyone was calling Draisaitl a bust and Strome was seen as the much superior prospect. People thought Drai wasn't even close to Strome at that point. Like there were more than a few threads and posts comparing these two and it was Strome AINEC because his production was so much better than what Drai did in Kelowna + Drai was 2 years older so automatically he was worse.

You had beauty posts like these:

Strome is much younger and has already blown Drai's numbers out of the water. Strome AINEC

Strome's draft year > Drai's draft year. The guy is ranked #3/#4 in one of the most deepest draft in quite some time. Drai would be barely top 5 in this year's draft. I'd trust the scouts more than HFers.

Not surprising to see those comments were from Leafs fans, this was prior to the draft when most assumed Strome would be their pick. Lol.

Either way, amusing to see how the tides have turned now and Strome is the one being questioned.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=112701

Semi-unrelated but this poll is pretty funny too. Bennett>Marner>Strome>Draisaitl

Ahh, HFBoards...

 

[Semantics]

You had beauty posts like these:

Strome is much younger and has already blown Drai's numbers out of the water. Strome AINEC

Strome's draft year > Drai's draft year. The guy is ranked #3/#4 in one of the most deepest draft in quite some time. Drai would be barely top 5 in this year's draft. I'd trust the scouts more than HFers.

Not surprising to see those comments were from Leafs fans, this was prior to the draft when most assumed Strome would be their pick. Lol.

Either way, amusing to see how the tides have turned now and Strome is the one being questioned.

Ahh, HFBoards...

I'm not sure what the point of your post is, other a poor attempt to flame another fan base?

Those posts remain true to this day. Strome did blow Draisaitl's numbers out of the water in his draft year.

That's why context is so important. By draft day the majority of the Leafs board was on the Marner train if I remember the polls correctly, as they correctly recognized that speed and hockey IQ is more important in the NHL these days than size and shot.

 

[Zaddy]

I'm not sure what the point of your post is, other a poor attempt to flame another fan base?

Nah, that wasn't the point of my post. I just searched for Strome vs Draisaitl threads and found out that (some of) the ridiculous posts from two years ago were actually from Leafs fans. I didn't remember that being the case. I found it amusing to see that in retrospect.

Those posts remain true to this day. Strome did blow Draisaitl's numbers out of the water in his draft year.

That's why context is so important. By draft day the majority of the Leafs board was on the Marner train if I remember the polls correctly, as they correctly recognized that speed and hockey IQ is more important in the NHL these days than size and shot.

If numbers were everything it took to evaluate players there wouldn't be any scouts. I had watched a lot of both Strome and Draisaitl at that point and to me it was pretty obvious that Draisaitl would be a very good NHLer and wasn't a worse prospect than Strome just because he had just had a rough time as a rookie in the NHL and didn't match Strome's numbers in juniors, but the experts on HF told me otherwise.

So basically the point of my post was just how funny I found it that the tides now has turned and Strome is the one being questioned while Draisaitl is hailed as the great player that he is, which is pretty much what I was preaching two years ago, but back then it wasn't a very popular opinion.

Now people seem to be going overboard in the other direction and it sucks that it has to be that way. So much hyperbole and recency bias in any prospect discussion it seems. I'm not a fan of Strome but I'm sure he'll be a fine NHL player.

 

[Channelcat]

I'm not high on any of the Stromes. I just don't see these guys being first line players.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

NCAA
OHL

WHL

QMJHL

USHL
Jr.A

the USHL is in no way shape or form able to compete with any CHL league. the top talent always threaten to go there to get to the team they want in the CHL

You don't think the USHL could compete with the Q?

 

[93LEAFS]

You don't think the USHL could compete with the Q?

I'd think they'd have problems due to the fact most of the top players leave earlier for college. The only U20 who didn't play in the QMJHL this year who was a big time player was Beauvillier. Comparably, the USHL (non-USNTDP) lost guys like Boeser, Pitlick, Lacynski, Smirnov, Wade Allison, etc.

Comparably the OHL didn't have McDavid, Marner, Chychrun, Tkachuk, Zacha, Crouse, Nylander and Konecny. WHL didn't have Provorov.

I'd say the age disparity of top talents would give USHL teams trouble. Pretty much any top scorer from 2015/16 who was under 19 moved on to the NCAA the next year with the exception of Colin Adams. If the USHL kept its talent, it might be a different story.

 

[rt]

This thread is a nightmare. Can we lock this and open a new one about the prospect?

 

[Matias Maccete]

This thread is a nightmare. Can we lock this and open a new one about the prospect?

This post becomes clutch if the next post is announcing the lock. Wait I just blew that, damn. Sorry rt no clutch for you.

 

[lanky]

A goal, an assist, some big faceoff wins and a late post. He played a pretty good game today against the best.

 

[RoadWarrior]

I'm not high on any of the Stromes. I just don't see these guys being first line players.

Dylan is the most talented but all of them have lead feet and the NHL is moving towards a faster game.

 

[RoadWarrior]

This thread is a nightmare. Can we lock this and open a new one about the prospect?

The thread is a nightmare because Dylan can't win the big game without a power play.

 

[daethfromabove1979]

Anyone notice late in the Final game that Strome was skating down the left wing and dumped the puck into the right corner which Windsor was easily able to retrieve and get it back out, and then he did the exact same play again when they got it back down the ice and Windsor got it right back out again. He could have at least ringed it around the boards so they could have a chance to get the puck. It was just so dumb, I couldn't believe he did that TWICE in the last minute of the game.

 

[Heldig]

Dylan is the most talented but all of them have lead feet and the NHL is moving towards a faster game.

He will do fine. Not every player is going to be a fast skater. The old adage that you can pass the puck faster than you can skate it down the ice and Strome is a magician at passing the puck.

 

[93LEAFS]

He will do fine. Not every player is going to be a fast skater. The old adage that you can pass the puck faster than you can skate it down the ice and Strome is a magician at passing the puck.

To play Strome's game at the next level you need to either be a good skater or extremely strong on the puck (see Draisaitl/Tavares). So, if he doesn't significantly improve his skating he needs to get noticeably stronger. He simply won't be able to buy the time needed to make plays that his IQ allows him to without significantly improved edge work or strength. The issue with this is, to bulk up to add the required strength he needs to be careful to not further impact his skating in a negative manner.

 

[rt]

the thread is a nightmare because dylan can't win the big game without a power play.

mvp?

 

[Aceboogie]

Skating can be improved, but it will take serious, serious effort. Draisaitl/Tavares needed to dedicate entire offseasons to improving skating, so it can be done. I do question whether some highly ranked prospects, who have been hyped since a young age, have the will to dedicate the required time to doing it tho. Skating lessons are way less sexy and fun then working on other skills with the puck, or even spending time in the gym. I think people can agree that only about 40% of the players with skating issues actually improve enough to be good players in the NHL, the rest only improve a touch or not at all. So improving skating is not a given

From the Oilers, some good examples include Reinhart, Simpson and Musil. All 3 are sons of former NHLers and 2 were hyped from a pretty young age. Yet none really improved their skating to a good level or much at all. I think the issue is is that spending significant time improving skating as a 18-21 year old is not the most fun offseason, no matter how dedicated a guy is

Now I am not saying this will happen to Strome, but I do think its a possibility

 

[Newfoundland]

Hes mad cause bad

 

[Maukkis]

From what I have seen of him (not much), it is evident that he has the skillset of a high end NHLer, but holy god, does his movement on the ice look awkward. I think sluggish is a good word to describe it. That is not a good sign.

 

[Jakey53]

Anyone notice late in the Final game that Strome was skating down the left wing and dumped the puck into the right corner which Windsor was easily able to retrieve and get it back out, and then he did the exact same play again when they got it back down the ice and Windsor got it right back out again. He could have at least ringed it around the boards so they could have a chance to get the puck. It was just so dumb, I couldn't believe he did that TWICE in the last minute of the game.

That is a set play that the Otters use and the winger is suppose to beat the D to the puck. That is why he did it TWICE.

 

[Jakey53]

To play Strome's game at the next level you need to either be a good skater or extremely strong on the puck (see Draisaitl/Tavares). So, if he doesn't significantly improve his skating he needs to get noticeably stronger. He simply won't be able to buy the time needed to make plays that his IQ allows him to without significantly improved edge work or strength. The issue with this is, to bulk up to add the required strength he needs to be careful to not further impact his skating in a negative manner.

Strome will never be fast, but he does have to improve his edge work and his strength will increase in a couple of years. You know, it's not all about flash and dash.

 

[93LEAFS]

Strome will never be fast, but he does have to improve his edge work and his strength will increase in a couple of years. You know, it's not all about flash and dash.

It isn't, it's about buying time at the NHL level to utilize his vision. To do that he needs to either get significantly stronger on the puck or improve his skating significantly. You can get by as a weak skater if you are very strong on your skates, but Strome isn't that player yet. The question is, can he do this.

 

[Uncle Gary]

Leafs dodged a bullet.