D Lukas Dragicevic - Tri-City Americans, WHL (2023, 57th, SEA)

[lanky]

Top 10 pick?
He's consistently rated outside the top 20, which is madness.

 

[landy92mack29]

Should've had a goal yesterday also but was disallowed on a cheap GI call. Skating and puck skills look good there, IQ to jump up into the play. Previous shift had a big block on the pk to save a likely goal

 

[CoSi]

Wouldn't be surprised at all to see him go top 10 a la Korchinski.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

TC lost 1-2... but Drago extends his point streak with primary apple.
LOL you just can't get Dragisevic out of the score sheet

His point streak has lasted almost 30 games now...
- matched Bedard's 27 game mark for the longest streak of this season

 

[Lavar Ball]

Such a good breakout passer

 

[ponder]

Top 10 pick?
He's consistently rated outside the top 20, which is madness.

I agree - I’d be quite surprised if he doesn’t go top 20, and I think he has a shot at top 10, though more likely teens (top 10 is very competitive this year).

Also agreed with the Evan Bouchard comps in this thread, both in terms of style and overall ability. Good size, great offensive instincts and pucks skills, good edges but average top speed, moderately but not overly physical. Defensive play is a work in progress, not bad, but you can tell he used to be a forward. He’s not a safe pick, needs to make pretty big strides on skating and defensive play to be an impact NHLer, but carries significant upside. Similarly strong prospect to Bouchard IMO, who went 10th overall, albeit in a weaker draft.

 

[Lavar Ball]

Two more goals (and a helper) for him tonight.


He's up to 13 goals and 42 assists in 42 games.

 

[Bubbles]

Just putting up silly numbers, and still largely ignored by most scouting lists. I don't understand.

 

[Kcoyote3]

Just putting up silly numbers, and still largely ignored by most scouting lists. I don't understand.

His defensive play is very questionable. He has an issue with angling attackers, he can be passive in the zone and get caught puck watching during cycles. He relies too much on takeaways rather than positional defense, and it can look really bad sometimes.

His offense is great. I love how simple and effective he is at the breakout. He has excellent passing ability and makes very smart decisions passing. He's a threat on the powerplay and at evens in the offensive zone, and his shot is improving a lot since I first watched him last year. I think there is going to be some hesitance because his defense is just not great.

 

[wetcoast]

His defensive play is very questionable. He has an issue with angling attackers, he can be passive in the zone and get caught puck watching during cycles. He relies too much on takeaways rather than positional defense, and it can look really bad sometimes.

His offense is great. I love how simple and effective he is at the breakout. He has excellent passing ability and makes very smart decisions passing. He's a threat on the powerplay and at evens in the offensive zone, and his shot is improving a lot since I first watched him last year. I think there is going to be some hesitance because his defense is just not great.

Great post and my first thought was that the team drafting him will just say defense can be taught but how often does that end up working out?

 

[Artorius Horus T]

After scoring 6 points in 10 games. (0.60 ppg)
Red hot in his last 3; 4 goals, 3 assists, 2.33 ppg.

 

[Kcoyote3]

Bedard-on-one: Lukas Dragicevic and Tanner Molendyk - Part 1

Self promotion! If you guys wanted to read. Just a breakdown of his defense and why it's so passive.

 

[Buresflyingelbow]

Saw him live today and he reminds me with his frame and style of Rasmus Andersson of the flames. Both stocky guys with a nose for offence. His biggest asset was his ability to pass the puck tape to tape and he didn’t wow me with his skating.

 

[Dread Clawz]

He wouldn't be the first very talented offensive D who fell in the draft due to poor defensive play.

 

[Frk It]

Bedard-on-one: Lukas Dragicevic and Tanner Molendyk - Part 1

Self promotion! If you guys wanted to read. Just a breakdown of his defense and why it's so passive.

Would enjoy seeing this type of stuff with other WHL players if you plan on doing so, or already have.

 

[RandomTask26]

Bedard-on-one: Lukas Dragicevic and Tanner Molendyk - Part 1

Self promotion! If you guys wanted to read. Just a breakdown of his defense and why it's so passive.

Really cool concept for an article! Looking forward to the next part

 

[Kcoyote3]

Would enjoy seeing this type of stuff with other WHL players if you plan on doing so, or already have.

Going to work through most of the top draft eligible WHLers. Molendyk should be out this week. Thanks for reading!

 

[Kcoyote3]

Would enjoy seeing this type of stuff with other WHL players if you plan on doing so, or already have.

Bedard-on-one: Lukas Dragicevic and Tanner Molendyk - Part 2

The Preamble: This is the second in the 'Bedard-on-one' series, if you haven't checked out the first one yet on Lukas Dragicevic, none of the following will probably make any sense to you, so get check that out here first. Here are the things to keep in mind when viewing this article though: I'm...

www.half-wallhockey.com

Molendyk's. Going to post it in his prospect page as well.

 

[Bubbles]

2A tonight. His skating issues are overblown. He just doesn't know when to use it properly. He likes to slow down the play when he has the puck.

 

[Buresflyingelbow]

2A tonight. His skating issues are overblown. He just doesn't know when to use it properly. He likes to slow down the play when he has the puck.

I’ve said it, he’s Rasmus Anderson without the snarl. Play style looks exactly with the build etc.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I have him at 17 right now, my 3rd defender after Reinbacher and Gulyayev.

I think I'd bet on Lukas figuring out the defensive side of things more than I'd bet on ASP growing his offensive game more.

 

[Lavar Ball]

 

[WeThreeKings]

Little bit of Chabot there (I know skating is miles apart)

 

[RutherPlan]

Scouting lists may ignore him but you can bet teams aren't ignoring him. He will be a top 10 pick, RHD that is leading his team in scoring as a 17 year old. I can see him being draft as early as 6th.

 

[Captain97]

Scouting lists may ignore him but you can bet teams aren't ignoring him. He will be a top 10 pick, RHD that is leading his team in scoring as a 17 year old. I can see him being draft as early as 6th.

I'd have him in the 10-15 range. I think Reinbacher will go ahead of him and Maybe Gulyayev (around the same time as Dragicevic)