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

[DaveyBumbles]

Strome is a clear bust. All his prior accomplishments mean nothing now after this last WJC. In all seriousness, yes I was extremely disappointed in Stromes play in this years WJC, but Strome also made a lot of nice plays that went unrecognized. I'm am not going to write off Strome based on 1 short tournament. This WJC proved everything we thought about stroke was correct when we drafted him. Strome is a project who needs to get stronger and work on leg strength more then anything. I don't think he is a bad skater like eveyone else thinks, he just lacks the burst and tenacity in his acceleration.

I can't tell if you are being ironic or serious.

To declare him a bust at 19 is assinine tho.

 

[rt]

He's Robert Lang. If anyone around here is old enough to remember hockey players from ten, fifteen years ago.

 

[Wondercarrot]

He's like Spezza with half the talent and a 1/3 slower.

 

[Alberta Yote]

He isn't as good as Marner since that seems to be the big point most want to make, but he is going to make a lot of HF posters look like the hockey forum level talent evaluators that they are.

 

[rt]

If things go well he's Jason Spezza. If they go okay he's Robert Lang. If they go poorly he's Tim Connolly.

 

[ponder]

If things go well he's Jason Spezza. If they go okay he's Robert Lang. If they go poorly he's Tim Connolly.

There's zero chance he's Spezza IMO. I like the Lang comparison a lot more, but Lang was quite a good player, I think that's closer to his upside than "things going okay."

 

[IAmBobo]

Canadian version of Yakupov

 

[Neil Hamburger]

If things go well he's Jason Spezza. If they go okay he's Robert Lang. If they go poorly he's Tim Connolly.

Strome's much more of a shoot-first player than those guys.

 

[Heldig]

There's zero chance he's Spezza IMO. I like the Lang comparison a lot more, but Lang was quite a good player, I think that's closer to his upside than "things going okay."

His upside is higher than Robert Lang. More like Kopitar. I think it will take 2 more seasons before he establishes himself as an nhl regular though.

 

[Kurisu]

His upside is higher than Robert Lang. More like Kopitar. I think it will take 2 more seasons before he establishes himself as an nhl regular though.

You're underestimating how good Lang was.

 

[Heldig]

Lang was a good player for sure. Might be the most apt comparison too.

 

[Era of Sanity]

Strome did not stand out at all. All I have seen is a good shot and waiting for others to set him up to use it. There were atleast 6 or 7 Canadian forwards that stood out more from the games I saw, a guy who was taken 3rd overall in his draft +2 year should be dominating.

 

[ponder]

His upside is higher than Robert Lang. More like Kopitar. I think it will take 2 more seasons before he establishes himself as an nhl regular though.

Zero chance he's as good as Kopitar either. Kopitar has often been an elite NHLer, one of the better centres in the league. I think Strome will be a solid NHLer, but if you think he has a shot to be elite, you're setting yourself up for disappointment IMO.

Re: Kopitar specifically, Strome will never be remotely close to him in terms of defensive play, puck battles and puck possession. Kopitar is elite in these areas, Strome is "meh." I also do not see the same level of offensive talent at all. Kopitar in his draft+2 season put up 61 points in 72 games in the NHL, Strome put up 1 point in 7 games before being sent down, and looked totally out of his element. The talent level isn't close to the same.

Same with Strome vs Spezza, Spezza was light years ahead at the same age. Kopitar and Spezza have both been among the best centres in the league at various points in their careers, a more reasonable upside for Strome IMO is a solid 2C.

 

[Wendelstache]

The next Jason Bosignore.

 

[Diddy]

Same with Strome vs Spezza, Spezza was light years ahead at the same age.

That's not relevant to anything. Progression isn't linear. Thornton put up 7 points his first NHL year. Look at Duncan Keith at 19. Rielly was better than him, probably won't be better than him at 30. Strome still has 1C potential. He's only 19 and has talent.

 

[Alberta Yote]

That's not relevant to anything. Progression isn't linear. Thornton put up 7 points his first NHL year. Look at Duncan Keith at 19. Rielly was better than him, probably won't be better than him at 30. Strome still has 1C potential. He's only 19 and has talent.

Yes.

There is a lot of not thinking in this thread. People who are paid to know hockey players think he is good. The rest of you don't.

 

[hbk]

Were people under opinion that Strome was a finished product when he was drafted or is the appropriate expectation that he would have filled out physically and improved his skating within the first 15 months of being drafted?

 

[BuffaloGooner]

If things go well he's Jason Spezza. If they go okay he's Robert Lang. If they go poorly he's Tim Connolly.

Connolly was a fantastic player before his brain got scrambled against Ottawa in 2006. He was never the same player after that. If Strome turned into pre injury Connolly then Yotes fans would be very happy

 

[hi]

Chayka would have drafted Marner

 

[Neil Hamburger]

Strome didn't have the greatest tournament, but some of this stuff is ridiculous.

Before the tournament, he was probably over-rated - after the tournament, he's really under-rated.

 

[jetsfan91]

Robert Lang was a 60-80 point player in the DPA. If the coyotes can get 60-80 out of Strome every year I think they would be pretty happy.

 

[wings5]

Who else thinks he spends some time in the AHL next season?

 

[93LEAFS]

Who else thinks he spends some time in the AHL next season?

Depends on how much his skating improves. One of the issues this year was Tippett not trusting having two rookie centers and was unwilling to move either Strome or Dvorak to the wing. Now that Dvorak will have a year of NHL experience, plus the likely loss of Hanzel it could open up a spot for him. Granted, Keller sees himself as a center and wants a gig, and there is a chance Patrick or Hischier will be competing for a spot.

Maybe he can make a Draisaitl like jump between his 19-year-old and 20-year-old season. Drai got 6 games in Bakersfield last year after a strong camp then was called up due to injury and hasn't looked back.

If he wants to be an NHLer he really needs to improve 3 things. Most important is his skating, particularly explosiveness. He needs to be stronger on the puck, he's a tall guy but can easily be separated from the puck (Compare that to guys like Matthews, Draisaitl and Eichel), and he needs to quicken the release on his shot. Those are all fixable, but lets see if he can do it. Some of his issues remind me a bit of the issues Sam Reinhart has face. Particularly the strength on the puck and skating issue. Reinhart is smarter, while Strome has the frame if he fills out to better compensate for the lack of speed.

 

[LordNeverLose]

Connolly was a fantastic player before his brain got scrambled against Ottawa in 2006. He was never the same player after that. If Strome turned into pre injury Connolly then Yotes fans would be very happy

In 169 games after the injury in Buffalo he had 152 points. Pretty much the best hockey of his career.

 

[Stephen]

I was thinking a bit of Petr Nedved stylistically when people brought up Robert Lang. Rangy kind of awkward mechanics, though Nedved was a better skater.