Not thrilled with the pick but don't hate it. I don't know much about the player though and honestly never heard of him before tonight, hope he proves me and all of us wrong. In my short viewings of iso-shifts, scouting and highlights of him, he's a much better than skater than Dylan McIlrath. That's a garbage, lazy comp.
Not an elite skater but a good skater where he can gap up and step-up and not fear getting beat. I didn't see him get beat wide off the rush once in any of the videos. He looked great at steering puck carriers to the boards and separating them from the puck. And I saw him break up a ton of cycles down low too.
Didn't see much offense or high-end plays with the puck, but I think that's a given with him, there's not much there in that regard. Just the smart high percentage plays like quick-ups to his wingers and such.
One name I'll throw out there when I was watching him is Brandon Carlo. Strong, mobile RHD who's very solid defensively. Think there's a decent chance he can be that kind of player and if so that's good value where he was drafted.
