PhoPhan said:
Wheeler has more talent than Rupp. If his playmaking abilities and/or finishing abilities don't translate to the NHL, he will still be nothing less than a Chris Gratton due to his size and skating ability.
How do you know all that? Have you seen him play? What's his upside and what does he excel at?
Chris Gratton was a huge kid. Not the meanest but still used his size in Junior and scored 2 points a game in the CHL before he was even drafted. The kid was a star junior player and fairly close to NHL-ready.
I'm trying to get a better read on the Wheeler kid, I am very curious about him but so far nothing I hear is really convincing. Gretzky was really vague when describing him. It's not Gretz's job to sell a player to fans like me but I wish there was a report of some kind talking about this kid's abilities.
I don't even remember a quote saying this guy has 1st line NHL potential. He's wasting his time post-draft in a weak league. He's several levels removed from the NHL and can't score a point a game. He seems to have good size and skating and that's about all I gather. He's not described as a special "flying" speedy player with size. He doesn't seem to have intangibles like fighting or leadership. He doesn't appear gritty, statistically it is bland.
I read that his team is supposedly very talented and despite that they lose many games. He seems wildly inconsistent, scoring in bunches and then not putting up a point for several games.
The only thing that seems to make this kid special from what I read is that he was an accomplished player in two different sports (hockey and football) and that's really not something I find impressive enough to warrant a 5th overall selection, even in a fairly ordinary draft.
I'd like to get more comments that would sell the player. But I don't know him and nobody will talk about Wheeler because few people have seen the kid. Looking forward to read what you know.
My second question regarding this thread is his so-called "long term project tag". Why is it used in Wheeler's case? What makes him such a project worthy of 5th overall status? To me this is something you use in certain cases, like when a player has started playing hockey very late, or a 6 foot 8 bean pole, or a guy who is so fast on the ice he tends to lose the puck but shows flashes of brilliance. Something, anything to warrant that project tag.
Wheeler just sounds like your typical 2nd round selection so far.