Big Deaner
Registered User
Flames Draft Watcher said:And plenty of them struggle to contain guys like Forsberg, Bertuzzi, Tkachuk, Iginla, etc. It's a common problem for d-men with average size. And that's why they need excellent skating, skills and hockey sense to compensate for their lack of leverage/strength.
Some smaller d-men have tremendous core strength and upper body strength which can actually make them stronger in one-on-one confrontations. Andrew Ference is an example. At 5'10 he's a small d-man but he's stronger and more stable on his skates than many a d-men that has a couple inches on him. At this point Green certainly doesn't have that kind of strength to height ratio and I don't believe he'll add it which I why I see him struggling to physically contain NHL sized powerforwards. This will limit his minutes at the NHL level and thus his upside IMO.
Comparing Green's size with the size of four Calgary Flames d-men:
Mike Green: 6'1 200 lbs. as a 19 year old
Steve Montador: 6'0" 200 lbs.
Toni Lydman: 6'1" 200 lbs.
Andrew Ferrence: 5'10" 196 lbs
Jordan Leopold: 6'1" 205 lbs
Rhett Warrener: 6'2'' 217 lbs.
Again Green is a 19 year old, he will get bigger and stronger than he already is. By the time he reaches the NHL (3-5 YEARS) he'll probably be 210 lbs. and might reach 6'2. That means he will be bigger than all of the d-men listed but Warrener, who IMO is one of the toughest d-men in the league. I wouldn't worry about Green's size.