D Thomas Harley - Mississauga Steelheads, OHL (2019, 18th, DAL)

Michoulicious

Registered User
Dec 9, 2014
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If Heinola falls to 31, that Stanley Cup winning team will have other reasons too celebrate!

On topic, there seems to be a great debate about who to pick first between Heinola, Harley, Broberg, Soderstrom and York... And answers vary quite a bit, although Heinola at 31, especially given how he played in the Liiga after coming back from injury, is a bit ridiculous.
 
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Dominance

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Outrageous that there’s less than a page of discussion on this kid.

I see him as a slightly less refined, much better skating Bouchard. And when I say “much better”, I mean that Harley is one of the best skaters in the whole draft class, full stop. That skating allows him to use his great size and steadily increasing strength far more frequently and effectively than Bouchard ever could.

He’s the second best defenseman in the draft in my eyes and I predict he will go top-15 at the least. His defensive game has progressed leaps and bounds this year in Mississauga, and I’ve been very impressed with his play at the U18s. I had some questions about how he would fit in when he wasn’t his team’s go-to top guy and the catalyst for its offense, and I’ve loved how he’s evolved. He’s still not afraid to jump into the rush as he so very well can, but he also trusts his forwards more and is making great neutral zone passes and passive plays in the offensive end.
 
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blinkman360

Loyal Players Only
Dec 30, 2005
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Just want to help get this to 2 pages.

I agree with the previous Isles poster. If he’s somehow available in the later first I’d snatch him up real quick.
 

57special

Posting the right way since 2012.
Sep 5, 2012
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Great skater, and he looks very composed. Can also see him getting much stronger in time. He looks like a stick out there right now.
 
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Pavel Buchnevich

Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Dec 8, 2013
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The comparison the commentators keep throwing out is a good one.

Chabot.

I'm still trying to decide which defensemen I hope at least one of which will drop to the 16-20 range that will be the Winnipeg first round pick. Harley, York and Soderstrom are among the candidates right now. I think all have top pairing upside. It would be nice if we could add 1-2 more defensemen to that range, but I don't currently think I see anyone else in that range. Maybe Ryan Johnson if I'm considering a reach to add to that range. I'm not a huge fan of Seider or Heinola's upside, and I don't think Broberg is all too likely to reach his upside.
 
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Dominance

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Sep 30, 2017
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I'm still trying to decide which defensemen I hope at least one of which will drop to the 16-20 range that will be the Winnipeg first round pick. Harley, York and Soderstrom are among the candidates right now. I think all have top pairing upside. It would be nice if we could add 1-2 more defensemen to that range, but I don't currently think I see anyone else in that range. Maybe Ryan Johnson if I'm considering a reach to add to that range. I'm not a huge fan of Seider or Heinola's upside, and I don't think Broberg is all too likely to reach his upside.
I’m with you on this. I think that trio is quite a strong group of defensemen with solid floors and considerable offensive upside, that’s just being pushed down by a preponderance of high-quality centres. I have seen little of Seider and Johnson. Heinola had a serious hype job going, as always happens with one or two likely late-first picks, but has been plainly awful at the U18s. Broberg has some great physical tools but has weirdly inconsistent hands and passing ability and the strength of his play varies immensely from one shift to another, it’s quite odd. He’s a guy that I could easily see some team making a massive reach on in the latter half of the top-10, and looking very smart or very foolish within two years. I’d lean towards the latter.
 
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SI90

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Jul 25, 2011
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StrongIsland
Just want to help get this to 2 pages.

I agree with the previous Isles poster. If he’s somehow available in the later first I’d snatch him up real quick.

I’v been on him for a couple of months now. He likely won’t be available when we pick. Would be the perfect future partner for Dobson or Pulock. He reminds me of Toews.
 

HOPE

Goal Caufield!
Jun 30, 2011
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his edgework are unbelievable, he actually gain speed doing sidestep crossovers at the blue line to reposition to either create a shooting lane or a passing lane, it's impressive!
 

DramaticGloveSave

Voice of Reason
Apr 17, 2017
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Harley, Heinola, York, and Broberg are tough to rank for me. Harley might have the most upside, but he also has the lowest floor since he's an adventure in his own zone. Pretty sure one of these guys will be a Hab on draft day.
 

Pavel Buchnevich

Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Dec 8, 2013
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How so? He's excellent defensively, skates like the wind, knows how to shoot, and has great size.

I don’t think he’s excellent defensively. He’s above average defensively for a draft prospect, but his defense is nowhere near NHL level yet.

The rest of the things you named are skills that we often see players over-drafted based on. There are big players who can skate and register high MPH on their shot in every league.

I think if he doesn’t change his approach or improve his puck skills and hockey IQ, he’ll be a bottom pairing defensemen, at best.
 
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DramaticGloveSave

Voice of Reason
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I don’t think he’s excellent defensively. He’s above average defensively for a draft prospect, but his defense is nowhere near NHL level yet.

The rest of the things you named are skills that we often see players over-drafted based on. There are big players who can skate and register high MPH on their shot in every league.

I think if he doesn’t change his approach or improve his puck skills and hockey IQ, he’ll be a bottom pairing defensemen, at best.
I think his floor is a complimentary top 4 guy. His upside is Jeff Petry. Very safe prospect IMO. York and Harley are the gambles.
 

Sergei Shirokov

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Jul 27, 2012
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I think his floor is a complimentary top 4 guy. His upside is Jeff Petry. Very safe prospect IMO. York and Harley are the gambles.

I don't think York is a gamble, he's pretty safe. Plays a well rounded game, kinda like Ty Smith last year.

But Harley I'd agree with. Could be the next Chabot, or he could be a borderline NHLer. Biggest boom/bust type in the group of D's after Byram.
 

DramaticGloveSave

Voice of Reason
Apr 17, 2017
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I don't think York is a gamble, he's pretty safe. Plays a well rounded game, kinda like Ty Smith last year.

But Harley I'd agree with. Could be the next Chabot, or he could be a borderline NHLer. Biggest boom/bust type in the group of D's after Byram.
Byram is a blue chip stud. York I just want to see play in a different setting with different teammates. No doubt he can skate and dish the puck though. I do like his game alot.
 
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atrud66

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Aug 5, 2014
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Chabot is a perfect comparable.


I love Harley. Amazingly fluid skater that had exceptional mobility in all directions, good speed and acceleration as well. Great passer and good in his own zone.

Except not good in his own zone
 

atrud66

Tank Tabarnack
Aug 5, 2014
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A falsity. He was lacking in that category at the start of the year, but has made a huge step with the Steelheads and I imagine he will only continue to improve. He moves well, times his physical play intelligently, and has better than decent gap control and stick work now.

I won't pretend that I've seen him before the u18 but I've been underwhelmed so far. Yes, he's a great skater and makes good plays in the offensive zone but defensively he runs around in his own zone and gets beat on the rush. Just today against Belarus, there was one 1 on 1 against him and he got beat and took a penalty. For someone so fast and so tall, it's weird how he gets beat defensively. I think he needs to add size, learn how to dominate people physically, and also improve his defensive instincts.
 

Vachon23

Registered User
Oct 14, 2015
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I won't pretend that I've seen him before the u18 but I've been underwhelmed so far. Yes, he's a great skater and makes good plays in the offensive zone but defensively he runs around in his own zone and gets beat on the rush. Just today against Belarus, there was one 1 on 1 against him and he got beat and took a penalty. For someone so fast and so tall, it's weird how he gets beat defensively. I think he needs to add size, learn how to dominate people physically, and also improve his defensive instincts.

That’s all details that you can work with him. He has the natural instinct that you can’t teach and that’s why he is my target
 

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