The Leafs talked about overagers being under rated by others. You can't follow draft lists, they aren't infallible. By taking an older player the Leafs had a better glimpse into what they had with him.If you want to win at the draft you have to think outside the box, the leafs did and it is already paying dividends.
I was thinking: if we had drafted Brooks or Walker last year, we'd be gushing about their growth and I think we'll see something similar with Mattinen next year as well.
This growth, at least in players' points productions, is something teams hope to see from the 17-18 year olds they draft. I would say that NHL clubs even have a hand in giving their drafted players more favourable playing time just to see this come true. What we have with these overagers are players who have continued to get better without outside help such as favourable TOI and player development coaching from the NHL level.
At the very least, drafting guys who are 19, 20 years old have had more physical growth and mental maturity. One thing not mentioned is that these are the same guys who were passed over in their draft year but still continued to progress. Being able to fight through adversity is a good trait to have...
Hopefully he'll be the real deal, after watching Marner against the Big American team were he was pretty much stymied in his efforts to generate any offense or fight through traffic. Looks like the Hurricanes might have gotten the best prospect in the big Defenceman that already has a year under his belt. Many are predicting a Hall of Fame career for the Big American, at least Francis sees it that way.
The entire Canadian team didn't look good. Guess none of them are going to be NHL ready.