Prospect Info: Round 4, Pick 106: Matthew Strome, LW, Hamilton (OHL)

[Tripod]

I'm not sure why people are down on this pick. It's a fourth rounder and from everything I have read he's got top-end hockey sense and a ton of skill. Skating does come up everywhere with him, but hopefully that can be corrected. Love the pick.

It's the name.

None of the Stromes have come in and been impressive compared to others in their draft year....and they were top 10 picks. So when one is a 4th rounder, it becomes even less exciting.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

I think most of it is joking. I made jokes admittedly based off him & his brothers.

However I don't think it's some massive steal because basically every team including the Flyers thought his skating is bad enough to not be worthy of a second-third round which was his projection beforehand. In the fourth round though it's worth the selection as there are some things to like but he does have a far way to go with his skating. But with a fourth rounder odds aren't great to begin with regardless of the face attached to it. So if his skating doesn't improve enough he'll basically be doing what the majority of fourth rounders do. So it's certainly worth the gamble.

 

[Striiker]

Imagine if we end up with the best Strome

 

[JojoTheWhale]

However I don't think it's some massive steal because basically every team including the Flyers thought his skating is bad enough to not be worthy of a second-third round which was his projection beforehand. In the fourth round though it's worth the selection as there are some things to like but he does have a far way to go with his skating. But with a fourth rounder odds aren't great to begin with regardless of the face attached to it. So if his skating doesn't improve enough he'll basically be doing what the majority of fourth rounders do. So it's certainly worth the gamble.

Yep, all of this can be true.

I know there were likely a couple of hits in the organization who "needed work on their skating" in recent years, but Strome is utterly broken on a level Lindblom and Vorobyov were not. Hopefully he's one of the exceptions to solve that problem. Underhill certainly has a track record. The important part here is that the risk is almost nil and there is some reasonable upside, my personal feelings aside.

 

[Delete99991]

Looking into the player, it's almost as if his name may have actually worked against him.

On paper it seems like a terrific 4th round pick.

 

[The Madrigal]

I think most of it is joking. I made jokes admittedly based off him & his brothers.

However I don't think it's some massive steal because basically every team including the Flyers thought his skating is bad enough to not be worthy of a second-third round which was his projection beforehand. In the fourth round though it's worth the selection as there are some things to like but he does have a far way to go with his skating. But with a fourth rounder odds aren't great to begin with regardless of the face attached to it. So if his skating doesn't improve enough he'll basically be doing what the majority of fourth rounders do. So it's certainly worth the gamble.

Jamie Benn went 129th overall in 2007 for similar reasons. Just sayin....

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Jamie Benn went 129th overall in 2007 for similar reasons. Just sayin....

Jamie Benn was also playing in the BCHL & wasn't really a dedicated hockey player coming up. He was trying to balance playing hockey & baseball at a higher level.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/stars-benn-almost-pursued-baseball-hockey/

In any event yes he did but he's still outlier & there's far more guys who didn't make the improvements like Benn did. So it's far from some given. I hope Strome is an outlier though.

 

[Magua]

Agree with a lot of what was said. If the Flyers selected Strome at 44, I would've chucked my laptop through the window, gone outside, and hurled it back through a different window. 3rd round I would have been unhappy too. 4th round? Once I got over my initial negative feelings towards a kid who has been the butt of a lot of jokes, the value is good.

I don't think anyone can say he's not a very bright player with and without the puck, with a good shot, and a willingness to use his size, and he gets it done at that level. Most of us are fans of smart players here. He's a good hockey player, plain and simple......only with the skating ability of a geriatric with a bad hip going on the ice for the first time in 20 years.

Can look at it this way: in recent drafts the Flyers had a habit of taking players like Twarynski and Dove-McFalls in that vicinity. While I'm still unsure what exactly his potential is, and it might just be bottom 6 too, Strome is far better than them as a player, more in line with someone like Bunnaman. I imagine they thought he wouldn't be there at pick 106. I know I didn't think he'd fall that far.....maybe to the early-mid 3rd at latest. A guy like Sushko was a reach/gamble pick on someone they obviously felt strongly about. It's arguable that every other pick in the draft, outside of Patrick, you could tell they were in love with a guy, whether through a have-to-have trade-up or a reach against consensus or an unconventional pick. Strome fell to value, and after looking at their list, they probably said, "OK." But there was still a handful of players taken not long after that I'd prefer to Strome, including Cates, but we snagged him too. And this talk of a guy like Mark Stone......Morgan Geekie, not Strome, was my pick for potentially the next Stone, and that goes beyond similar skating style. Just in general, guys with bad skating get lumped with each other too much. They're all different as to why they're bad skaters, and they're often completely different otherwise.

 

[CodyTheHuman]

Agree with a lot of what was said. If the Flyers selected Strome at 44, I would've chucked my laptop through the window, gone outside, and hurled it back through a different window. 3rd round I would have been unhappy too. 4th round? Once I got over my initial negative feelings towards a kid who has been the butt of a lot of jokes, the value is good.

I just want to make sure I have the logistics of this correct in my head. Are you going to throw your laptop through a window, grabbed it, then thrown it through another window into your house? Or are you taking your laptop, throwing it through a window, grabbing it and walking back inside just to throw it outside again?

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

I just want to make sure I have the logistics of this correct in my head. Are you going to throw your laptop through a window, grabbed it, then thrown it through another window into your house? Or are you taking your laptop, throwing it through a window, grabbing it and walking back inside just to throw it outside again?

I feel confident in saying that he would have thrown it from the inside, through a window to the outside, then thrown it from the outside, through a window to the inside, so he could more quickly get back to evaluating videotape, since the laptop in this scenario would be back in the general vicinity of reliable electricity. Also, I am something of an expert on raging overreactions.

 

[Chuck Downie]

I like this pick more everyday. I didn't want to touch him either with a first or second but wouldn't have been too upset if he went at 80. Skating is one of those things that you can't go from terrible skating to being a plus skater.

 

[David St Hubbins]

It's a fine pick, exactly the type people here have been screaming for - high upside, big casino. If he makes it he will be a huge bargain, if not, he's a typical 4th round pick.

 

[deadhead]

In the 4th rd, the expectations are in line with potential value.
Even if he improves his skating, it will be from "bad" to "mediocre."
Which means he's going to be a young "old" Jagr!

That is, a scoring forward that you otherwise hide, both by using him primarily as a PP specialist, and limiting his ES minutes, and when on the ES, pairing him with fast linemates (like Frost) and fast defensemen (of which we have plenty). Then when he has his 30 goal season, find some sucker of a GM to give you a good package in return.

Sorta like how St Louis gave us two firsts to play Schenn at center.

 

[MiamiScreamingEagles]

Courier-Post blurb

http://www.courierpostonline.com/st...right-decision-made-german-rubtsov/810213001/

Matthew Strome, left wing, Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL)

Age: 18
Height/weight: 6-foot-4, 210 pounds
Draft: 2017 fourth round (106th overall)
This season: 10 games, 4 goals, 2 assists
The skinny: The biggest deficiency in Strome’s game is well publicized: it’s his skating. He’ll be more of a project than Ratcliffe because of that, but has the frame of a power forward that teams dream of. Over the next couple years he’ll have to put the pieces together.
Button’s take: “I think the one thing that doesn’t run in the family is high-end skating ability. Matthew’s a smart, smart player.
“Patrick Maroon was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers. Patrick Maroon is not swift afoot, but he plays fast with his mind. He reads the play, understands where he needs to be. That allows him to be effective. What ultimately hurts those types of players, even if they get to the NHL, is when the drop-off happens because they’re not natural skaters. I’ve seen Matthew play this year. He’s going to be a work in progress.”

 

[Canadian Game]

Beautiful goal by Matt Strome last night.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

God f***ing damn what hands.

 

[deadhead]

Put him with two fast wingers and just have him hang around the net.

 

[Canadian Game]

Another nice goal from Matt Strome on Saturday night.

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

The kid has some pretty damn good hands. I really, really hope he finds his real skating stride.

 

[Lindberg]

Having to re-learn how to skate has to be extremely tough. I'd imagine it is significantly harder to improve than your shot or stick handling abilities.

 

[kudymen]

How can you make a defending player look this bad while moving this slow? Haha

 

[Striiker]

You ever see those videos where people try to walk into really strong winds during hurricanes?

That's what his skating looks like.

 

[The Rage Kage]

Looks like its being played in slow motion.

 

[whitstifier]

Twinkle toes looking like 50 years old going in 70 Jagr. Nice hands, though

 

[Rebels57]

Beautiful goal and every comment is still ripping his skating. Sheesh.