Prospect Info: [2018 - 97th] Allan McShane (OHL - Oshawa Generals)

I don't see how he can makes it in todays NHL with his skating. He is a below average in term of skating in the OHL nevermind the AHL or the NHL. He would have to improve significantly to have any impact as a pro.

 

Completely agree. He’s so talented in every facet of his game but he looks slow even for CHL standards.

 

Boom or bust pick. I love his mitts though.

 

after having just 2 pts in 8 games, he's got 10 pts in the last 8 games going into today. Watched some of the game yesterday, clearly he's skilled, just hope he can work on getting quicker, stronger and learns to move his feet more.

 

Honest question, but how often do you see slow footed junior players become viable skaters at the NHL level, regardless of talent level?

 

DD, Hudon, off the top of my head. I've stated I'm not a fan of McShane but he does have another year in the OHL after this one to work on things. Hills looks like he's improved his skating from last year to this year, maybe McShane can, I wouldn't bet on it since I don't care for players that don't move their feet but you never know what will happen.

 

Desharnais, Hudon are good exemple. Chipchura also, after his tendon injury he was slow as molasse. Still

 

I mean, speed still very much is an issue for Hudon, and it never was DD's forte either.

I get that you can mitigate some issues as you develop your game, but it never really is to the extent people seem to expect on draft day.

I can think of Tavares that worked on his skating to the point where it's no longer a weakness, but even then, even if he spent his entire summers doing nothing but skating drills, he'll never be McDavid or Barzal. There's some things that can't be taught.

 

they still made strides on their skating. McCarron certainly looks quicker then last year after having hired a skating coach this past summer. Hillis did the same and his skating looks better imo.

I'm far from an expert on skating though, but I don't see why it can't be improved.

 

Gallagher is also faster now than he was.

 

You should be ashamed of that pun.

 

I think that Jamie Benn was drafted in the 4th round due to his poor skating.

 

I don't know why we are not forcing these kids into a 365-days a year skating coaching program, even if we have to pay 10 skating coaches.

 

Absolutely. This was clear last year. His lack of speed at 18 is why he was only a 5th round pick.

 

Pavelski, Jamie Benn....
Mostly why they were ignored.

 

Add Mark Stone to that list. Still isn't all that good of a skater, just supremely smart.

He put up 100+ pts in the WHL in his draft+1 year though so McShane is pretty far from that.

 

Stone was passed on because he had a concussion in his draft year and missed a lot of time and seemed off in general. I remember that because I was really high on him. He surpassed expectations by a lot though.

As for McShane, thankfully he's been picking it up. Seems like the only one of our high scoring CHLers drafted in 2018 that is not completely slumping this year. Really disappointing since it all looked so promising on draft day and a lot of quality players available at the time are doing well this year.

 

I don't get it all either. With guys like Leblanc, Galchenyuk, Hudon, etc.. that's the first thing they should have done. Hire a personal skating coach the day they were drafted and tell them you are going to work with this skating coach all summer in addition to your other training. I can at least see with years past not doing it but now seeing how the "new" NHL is so much about skating, if you are going to pick a kid like Kotka, Hillis, McShane when you know they have skating issues and skating being so important in today's game then that should be a major focus from day 1.

I'm not saying they all need to be at Mete's level, but it shouldn't take McCarron and Hillis hiring their own skating coaches, we are one of the biggest organizations in all of sports, we should be using every resource to help our draft picks and players turn into better players however possible.

 

The off season is the only time to work on things like beefing up, and skating.

Sure the guys need a break, and that is no problem , everybody gets a nice break. But these guys get paid. Big. So the team requires them to work with skating coaches the team hires, they do it.

Players need every edge they can get, especially the ones on the borderline. I think its ridiculous that after being in our system for years, Big Mac announces this past summer he hired a skating coach. Oh, good idea there. Many will blame the player, but these are OUR draft picks and they represent OUR future, so instead of relying on the player to figure it out, make it as easy as possible.

 

Another TT gem, who will never see a day in the NHL. If you can't skate worth a shit by your draft year, you aren't going to suddenly fix it and make the jump to the NHL. Not in today's NHL. 5 years ago, maybe.

 

yeah i never understand how hands off we are with certain prospects who have glaring issues that if rectified could turn into real gems.

 

Been saying this forever. They should have hockey institutes like Soccer clubs do that prospects go to for training programs, special lessons, dieticians, coaching etc.

Find their strength’s and weakness’s and work on making them better players.

Really surprised they haven’t thought of this already. If I was a GM or President/Owner, it’s the first thing I’d put in place.

 

I was wondering the same thing, and I think the CBA prevents that sort of thing. There's a certain maximum amount of mandated training sessions so it would have to be an informal arrangement.

 

2G and 2 A tonight for McShane. He now has 8 goals and 8 assists for 16 points on his current 8 game point streak

 

Nice night tonight for McShane. What a hit by whomever before the second goal and the goal was also pretty slick.