C Dylan Strome - Erie Otters, OHL (2015, 3rd, ARZ) II

[Stephen]

I was a little disappointed with his play, but not to the level of some others it seems. He was still one of Canada's better players, I just expected more out of him.

He has the tools to become a # 1 C, but I don't know if he has the drive. I think at the very least he'll be a good # 2, though.

In a redraft I would take him 8th, after:

1. McDavid
2. Eichel
3. Marner
4. Werenski
5. Provorov
6. Hanifin
7. Rantanen

You could make a case for guys like Chabot, Konecny, and Barzal ahead of him, but I would still lean towards Strome. Rantanen would be debatable with me as well, I might choose Strome over him if I though about it a little more.

You could make a pretty open and shut case for Sebastian Aho too.

 

[86Habs]

Well, he was the 1st Strome brother to play for a gold medal. Unfortunately for Canada, Canada with the Strome brothers is 0 for 4.

double downer, there's another Strome brother coming.

And that's all I'll say about that. not a fan, never was a fan. Can't say Strome disappointed me, he performed marginally better than I expected, but still nowhere near what's needed from a 1st. line center/Captain of a team with gold medal aspirations.

Apparently the next brother is the weakest-skating of the Strome brothers, which is saying a lot.

I was disappointed in his play, especially last night. This is a 19-year old, #3OA draft pick with a handful of NHL games and a solid WJHCs already under his belt who has produced at an elite level in the OHL for 2.5 seasons now. You couldn't ask for a better pedigree for your #1 center. He had his moments in the Sweden game, which I thought was easily his best game. But he certainly wasn't on his game last night. He seems like a decent kid, hopefully he can shake this off, finish up strong in Erie, then put in the necessary off- and on-ice work to stick with Arizona next year.

 

[SPF6ty9]

He kind of looks like a really bad version of Jason Spezza. He's just really languid, lacks urgency and not useful.

That's the guy I think of when following Strome too. Spezza had a rough road at World Juniors and making it into the NHL, but had so much skill his ascent to a top center at some point was inevitable. I don't think Strome has that near that skill set, but I'm sure there were people writing off Spezza at this point in time as well.

 

[These Are The Days]

I think Strome is still worthy of his draft status. The problem I saw with him was a young man who didn't grasp the level of competition he was facing. He seemed very nervous and went to his happy place by doubling down on how he plays in junior and missed the extra gear everyone else played at.

He naturally did what made him successful but the problem is that he has to figure out a better way to evolve his game. Shoot faster, skate harder, pass more decisively... in other words speed the game up physically. The catch is I don't think the game slowed down for him mentally all tournament.

Strome has a lot of work to do to become the great player we know he can

 

[Zaddy]

Apparently the next brother is the weakest-skating of the Strome brothers, which is saying a lot.

I was disappointed in his play, especially last night. This is a 19-year old, #3OA draft pick with a handful of NHL games and a solid WJHCs already under his belt who has produced at an elite level in the OHL for 2.5 seasons now. You couldn't ask for a better pedigree for your #1 center. He had his moments in the Sweden game, which I thought was easily his best game. But he certainly wasn't on his game last night. He seems like a decent kid, hopefully he can shake this off, finish up strong in Erie, then put in the necessary off- and on-ice work to stick with Arizona next year.

Supposedly his skating is better than both Ryans and Dylans at the same age though. Matthew has improved it leaps and bounds over the last year according to OHL guys in the know.

Ya he plays a lazy game but is still productive. He will be the type of player in the NHL that goes game-to-game entirely invisible but will end the season with ~60 points. Useful, but not game breaking.

Yup, he'll still get the points but can't see him ever being a game-breaker. A bigger Jordan Eberle, sort of.

 

[1Gold Standard]

]Apparently the next brother is the weakest-skating of the Strome brothers, which is saying a lot.

[/B]I was disappointed in his play, especially last night. This is a 19-year old, #3OA draft pick with a handful of NHL games and a solid WJHCs already under his belt who has produced at an elite level in the OHL for 2.5 seasons now. You couldn't ask for a better pedigree for your #1 center. He had his moments in the Sweden game, which I thought was easily his best game. But he certainly wasn't on his game last night. He seems like a decent kid, hopefully he can shake this off, finish up strong in Erie, then put in the necessary off- and on-ice work to stick with Arizona next year.

I suppose yes, I had hoped, and my fingers were crossed that Strome would be/could be that 1st. line 6'3 200lb dominate center that any championship team needs, but I didn't expect it. therefore can't say I'm disappointed when I really didn't have those expectations to begin with.

Someone in pm asked me well before the tournament started what I thought our chances were. My answer was, I have little faith in any team that has Dylan Strome as the number 1 center. I'm pleased as punch we got to the GMG.

If he was our number 3 center or better yet moved to the wing and strictly a PP guy, that team would win Gold.

 

[TMLeafs18]

in my opinion he had an ok tournament he scored his points like he should but he didn't lead this team at all. The team generally lacked the star power it needed to dominate so it wasn't that surprising that it was carried by its lower lines.

I find in my viewings of Strome over that last couple years I always find the same problems. As soon as games get intense physically and increase in speed I find he totally disappears. When watching him I find he gets taken out of the play because of his poor skating ability. He lacks explosiveness which becomes very evident in high speed games. It looks as if he can't keep pace or he has to slow down the pace of the game in order for him to keep up. He has average top end speed it just takes him a long time to work up to it.

In my opinion Strome is going to be one of those NHL players that has a really hard time adjusting unless he's giving a long time to develop. I can just see the NHL game overwhelming him especially over a full season if he's on a top line.

 

[These Are The Days]

in my opinion he had an ok tournament he scored his points like he should but he didn't lead this team at all. The team generally lacked the star power it needed to dominate so it wasn't that surprising that it was carried by its lower lines.

I find in my viewings of Strome over that last couple years I always find the same problems. As soon as games get intense physically and increase in speed I find he totally disappears. When watching him I find he gets taken out of the play because of his poor skating ability. He lacks explosiveness which becomes very evident in high speed games. It looks as if he can't keep pace or he has to slow down the pace of the game in order for him to keep up. He has average top end speed it just takes him a long time to work up to it.

In my opinion Strome is going to be one of those NHL players that has a really hard time adjusting unless he's giving a long time to develop. I can just see the NHL game overwhelming him especially over a full season if he's on a top line.

That's exactly what I saw. It's like he's trying to slow the game down for himself when he's coasting along. I don't see so much of a lack in IQ as I do a player who is just completely overwhelmed because he's not used to having to exert himself at such a level. Guys like Stephens and Cirelli LIVE in this level of intensity because they are "all box but some tools" kind of players. They aren't blessed with game breaking skill, but they have speed and a knack for scoring dirty. A game like this is second nature to them by now and I don't think it's any surprise in how they played.

What happened with Strome reminds me of what happened to Brett Connolly once he got to the NHL

 

[MichaelFarrell]

There were some players in this tournament that you noticed every time they were on the ice. Barzal, Keller, Nylander, Chabot, etc. Even though Strome got a lot of points, I never really noticed him. He didn't really seem to play with the intensity you would expect.

 

[86Habs]

I suppose yes, I had hoped, and my fingers were crossed that Strome would be/could be that 1st. line 6'3 200lb dominate center that any championship team needs, but I didn't expect it. therefore can't say I'm disappointed when I really didn't have those expectations to begin with.

Someone in pm asked me well before the tournament started what I thought our chances were. My answer was, I have little faith in any team that has Dylan Strome as the number 1 center. I'm pleased as punch we got to the GMG.

If he was our number 3 center or better yet moved to the wing and strictly a PP guy, that team would win Gold.

Well, he kind of was our 3rd line center last night. Both Barzal and Roy received more minutes than Strome, and Strome's line received the least amount of minutes in the 20 minute OT (actually, Strome received more ice time than only McLeod, Raddysh, Jost and Speers). So Ducharme obviously went to his line less last night as the game went on and it became apparent who his top guys were.

 

[57special]

I was a little disappointed with his play, but not to the level of some others it seems. He was still one of Canada's better players, I just expected more out of him.

He has the tools to become a # 1 C, but I don't know if he has the drive. I think at the very least he'll be a good # 2, though.

In a redraft I would take him 8th, after:

1. McDavid
2. Eichel
3. Marner
4. Werenski
5. Provorov
6. Hanifin
7. Rantanen

You could make a case for guys like Chabot, Konecny, and Barzal ahead of him, but I would still lean towards Strome. Rantanen would be debatable with me as well, I might choose Strome over him if I though about it a little more.

Don't see how you don't pick Chabot over him. Would also take Ek and Kaptizov over him.

 

[SB84]

Supposedly his skating is better than both Ryans and Dylans at the same age though. Matthew has improved it leaps and bounds over the last year according to OHL guys in the know.



Yup, he'll still get the points but can't see him ever being a game-breaker. A bigger Jordan Eberle, sort of.

Agree with this. Hopefully he can put in some work but after watching him several times in the OHL and throughout his World Juniors performances this seems like a good comparison. Not in their style of play, but in their work ethic and drive. Both extremely skilled players who you want more from.

 

[voxel]

Agree with this. Hopefully he can put in some work but after watching him several times in the OHL and throughout his World Juniors performances this seems like a good comparison. Not in their style of play, but in their work ethic and drive. Both extremely skilled players who you want more from.

The funny thing is Eberle had drive and ethic in his rookie season (he was pretty feisty on the boards) and over the time the losing probably got to him.

As I've mentioned pre-2015 draft... I think Strome has low hockey IQ. I don't see the elite hockey sense that Draisatil exhibits and Draisaitl looks "lazy" all of the time.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

The funny thing is Eberle had drive and ethic in his rookie season (he was pretty feisty on the boards) and over the time the losing probably got to him.

As I've mentioned pre-2015 draft... I think Strome has low hockey IQ. I don't see the elite hockey sense that Draisatil exhibits and Draisaitl looks "lazy" all of the time.

Drai is more powerful and not afraid to get his nose dirty.


Strome is a good player but he did not impress me in WJC 2017. I was more impressed by him last year. I think he needs to check his ego and bring his lunch pail and be prepared to work like there is no tomorrow

 

[Peasy]

This guy was invisible 5 on 5 all tourney long.

I honestly think I heard his name twice in that USA game.

I also remember seeing his line completely dominated by the Keller line.

 

[Muston Atthews]

Yikes. Couldn't win a draw to save his life and his release is horrid.

 

[Muston Atthews]

People are getting too excited here. He's still absolutely going to be a 1C in the NHL, which is all you can ask from a #3 pick.
That said, he's going to put in some work to shake the effort/intensity knock on him. He's a teenage though, so tonnes of time.

He won't come close to a 1c in the NHL if he doesn't learn to skate better and work on that release. It actually sickened me to watch him try to load up that wrist shot in the shootout. That will never work in the NHL, he'll either get lit up or will get stripped and god knows he's too slow to get back

 

[Neil Hamburger]

Don't see how you don't pick Chabot over him. Would also take Ek and Kaptizov over him.

All of those guys definitely had better WJC's than Strome, for sure.

I just think Strome's overall body of work has been better compared to theirs.

 

[Glass Eyes]

Did Strome's skating get worse?

 

[Neil Hamburger]

It's frustruating as a fan when a guy like Strome, with all the size in the world, is more of a perimeter player than a guy like Marner.

I don't think Strome got slower, but I don't think he got faster either.

 

[bert]

It's frustruating as a fan when a guy like Strome, with all the size in the world, is more of a perimeter player than a guy like Marner.

I don't think Strome got slower, but I don't think he got faster either.

Marners speed (both mind and feet) allow him to get to the dirty areas. Strome struggles with processing whats going on around him at an elite rate, on top of a slow release and being a slow skater. I really thought he had a quick mind prior to this tournament but when the pace picked up and so did the competition it was evident he doesnt have it. The biggest tell for me is as soon as I saw him get pressure on the pp. He panicked and couldnt make a fast play to move the puck. I feel bad for yotes fans on this one.

 

[Christ]

Don't really see Strome as a clutch performer. Did the same thing last year at the World Juniors, was great early on in the round robin against the lesser teams, then could not seem to do much in the games that actually mattered. Is this guy secretly from Sweden?

 

[BDizzle*]

He definitely didn't have a good tournament this year, but it wasn't like his tournament last year was great either. Many people last year pumped up his tournament in order to bring down Marner's tournament, which for the most part was better. The Marner vs. Strome debate was very real.

 

[XX]

I know it's a bit much to ask but can you give the kid an NHL season before you bury him?

 

[Jeffrey]

He was a huge letdown for me. I was surprised how inefficient he was. I had never seen him in person before this tournament but he clearly lacks desire in his play and he is a perimeter player.