LW Michael Dal Colle (2014, 5th, NYI)

[SLAPSHOT723]

Dal Colle was the consensus #5 pick, how was Ehlers the obvious right move?

Exactly. At the time, MDC at 5th overall made the most sense for who was available and who the Islanders needed.

 

[HockeyGuruPitka]

I will have to admit i was extremely high on MDC heading into the 2014 draft. The leafs were selecting 8th, and i thought it may be a good idea for them to trade up. There was a consensus top 5 with MDC rounding it out. Thought it was going to be an easy pick for the Isles with likely the best offensive player in the draft falling into their laps.

He had an NHL level shot, great vision and often fearlessly drove the net.

It almost seems like his skating has gotten worse since his sophomore OHL season (could be just a growth thing). This is a guy that really needs to work with someone like Barb Underhill to work on the explosiveness in his stride.

I still see all of the offensive tools there, its just that the elusiveness is not there and the ability to really push defence on their heels and hinder their gap control isnt there.

Still see him as an eventual NHLer

 

[Aceboogie]

I liked the MDC pick at the time. But yeah now hes closing in on a major let down. Another bad season and he could be a future bust

 

[Felix Unger]

Dal Colle was the consensus #5 pick, how was Ehlers the obvious right move?

I mean that it is obvious in hindsight (it is).

But it was not hindsight to say that I was disappointed at the time, and my reasoning - at the time - was correct. Ehler's top quality on draft day is is top quality now - his explosiveness. Dal Colle's greatest weakness now was his greatest weakness on draft day - his lack of explosiveness. Dal Colle would have been a great player in the NHL of years past. But unless something magical happens to him developmentally, he's never going to get open enough or get in space enough to use his really excellent shot.

This is one of those rare cases where I saw enough of the players (admittedly on video) to have a strong opinion about them on draft day. NYI should have picked Ehlers.

 

[Finnished]

16 points in 37 games in the AHL. How does he look other than his unimpressive stats?

 

[Islesfan22]

16 points in 37 games in the AHL. How does he look other than his unimpressive stats?

He is a Bust. Same mold as Griffen Reinhart. Poor skater and plays with no emotion or intensity whosoever. Should have traded Dal Colle last summer while he still had value like they did with Reinhart.

 

[TheGroceryStick]

He is a Bust. Same mold as Griffen Reinhart. Poor skater and plays with no emotion or intensity whosoever. Should have traded Dal Colle last summer while he still had value like they did with Reinhart.

I'd take a flyer if I were the Leafs, with familiarity in coaching (Dj Smith), might be worth the investment.
My thoughts on him changed so quick during his pre to post draft....was really high on him, saw ALOT of untapped NHL potential.

 

[seafoam]

His 200 ft. game is coming along nicely. He'll eventually learn to turn his in-zone work into breakouts that lead to scoring chances. Needs another offseason to work on his skating and strength to win puck battles/hold onto the puck in the offensive zone.

 

[Zarzh]

Have to wonder how much of it is on the Islanders. Skating should be fixable fairly easily.

 

[JetsFan815]

He is a Bust. Same mold as Griffen Reinhart. Poor skater and plays with no emotion or intensity whosoever. Should have traded Dal Colle last summer while he still had value like they did with Reinhart.

LOL @ already labelling him a bust. Going nearly .5 PPG is not bad for your rookie 20 year old season in the AHL. Anthony Mantha had similar numbers in the same league at the same age

 

[Finnished]

LOL @ already labelling him a bust. Going nearly .5 PPG is not bad for your rookie 20 year old season in the AHL. Anthony Mantha had similar numbers in the same league at the same age

Yeah but sadly Dal Colle was a 5th pick so the expectations should be a bit higher there.

 

[Riseonfire]

Yeah but sadly Dal Colle was a 5th pick so the expectations should be a bit higher there.

Once the players are drafted the slot in which they were taken means nothing.

Produce.... or do not produce.

 

[mm11]

Looks to be busting in the AHL at this moment. Anyone think he is still NHL material? 5th overall in 2014, Isles appear to be swinging and missing on another top 5 pick. He has sniper hands but nothing much more.
what were everyone's thoughts of this kid playing and coming out of junior?

 

[lawrence]

picks 4 5 6 from the 2014 not doing that well at the moment.

M.D.C 0 NHL games
Virtanen 4 points in 15 games
Bennet 3 points in 17 games.

expected way more out of him. surprised he's struggling this badly.

 

[Zaddy]

Shouldn't be too long before he's traded to the Oilers for a 1st and a 2nd round pick.

 

[Brock Radunske]

picks 4 5 6 from the 2014 not doing that well at the moment.

M.D.C 0 NHL games
Virtanen 4 points in 15 games
Bennet 3 points in 17 games.

expected way more out of him. surprised he's struggling this badly.

Fleury played his first NHL game this year as well. I'm not sure how he's doing but his starts aren't anything to phone home about.

Crazy to think the next two picks after that group is William Nylander and Nik Ehlers.

 

[93LEAFS]

Fleury played his first NHL game this year as well. I'm not sure how he's doing but his starts aren't anything to phone home about.

Crazy to think the next two picks after that group is William Nylander and Nik Ehlers.

Haydyn Fleury went in-between Virtanen and Nylander.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Has an NHL shot, his feet are "woof" even for the AHL...he's just a poor skater and it's not getting better...that was always the knock on him (well, to me, I don't really read a lot of stuff...I just watch the games) and it really hasn't improved meaningfully. I'd bet dollars to donuts he could beat an NHL goalie from 30 feet with his shot on a semi-regular basis, but he's got these duck feet, his small-area footwork is just not NHL-caliber.

 

[1specter]

Fleury played his first NHL game this year as well. I'm not sure how he's doing but his starts aren't anything to phone home about.

Crazy to think the next two picks after that group is William Nylander and Nik Ehlers.

I made a poll comparing the 1-7 picks to 8-14. There's a legitimate argument that the 8-14 group is better.

MDC is very disappointing, when he didn't make the WJC in his final year of eligibility (and he was an early cut too) I was kind of weary of him going forward.

 

[mm11]

Has an NHL shot, his feet are "woof" even for the AHL...he's just a poor skater and it's not getting better...that was always the knock on him (well, to me, I don't really read a lot of stuff...I just watch the games) and it really hasn't improved meaningfully. I'd bet dollars to donuts he could beat an NHL goalie from 30 feet with his shot on a semi-regular basis, but he's got these duck feet, his small-area footwork is just not NHL-caliber.

grrrrrreat news. thanks buddy. One would think a head NHL scout would notice this? especially seeing Ehlers fly around the QMJHL in his rookie year.....head scratching

 

[Mickey the mouse]

Alex Tuck didn't make USA u20 team in his last year eligible either

 

[Michael Farkas]

grrrrrreat news. thanks buddy. One would think a head NHL scout would notice this? especially seeing Ehlers fly around the QMJHL in his rookie year.....head scratching

As someone that does some scouting that has been entertained at a high level, I'm going to gratuitously use the term "we" as a pronoun for the following sentence: We noticed.

Now I'll switch back to armchair GM mode...

They (see, it's not my fault) obviously thought that the goal scoring ability would prevail. And sometimes it does. Sometimes you can get more out of skating later depending on where you're at in the physical development arc. I didn't have MDC rated nearly as high as some, though my notes are on my home computer, so I can't say where exactly...but I don't recall having him in the top 15...even though I am very biased towards players that can put the puck away like he could/can...there were more than a few teams that did not have him ranked up here, but it only takes one...

Similarly, I didn't have Timo Meier ranked in my top 30...or even 50, if I remember right, in his draft year...the guy could barely stand up on the rink (speaking of Nikolaj Ehlers), he was not someone I would have been interested in taking even if I had three first round picks strewn about...but that's another guy where you take a look at the shot and you go "ok, well, let's see if we can fix the feet because the other guys we have in this tier, can't bury it from 35 feet"

You don't always win with those...as I expect we'll see with MDC and Meier...

But in sum, it's not that they didn't notice...they were just willing to overlook it - well, better way to put it is "look past it"...just like scouts looked past the lack of hockey sense of Jared Cowen, Dion Phaneuf and Luca Sbisa (for their size and handedness; slapshot and truculence; ummm...cool name...?)...various examples abound that I won't derail this MDC thread with...but it happens, they probably aren't gonna be right with MDC, but MDC still has the ability to make a fine living for himself for the next 12 years with the skill he does have...

 

[Kevin27NYI]

Still worth keeping him as a project, if he can get better at skating... maybe start by training with JT.

 

[SoundAndFury]

I remember "the Tavares argument" given about MDC over and over (especially since you know, Islanders drafted both) which is basically that it's easy to improve skating and poor skater can become above-average in a few years. It made sense originally but in MDC case, obviously it isn't happening.

So it's not like it wasn't noticed, people just considered it's easy to fix.

 

[tony d]

Was never that big on him. Be interesting to see if he can salvage somewhat of a NHL career together eventually.