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

OHLFan90

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Dec 24, 2013
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Our writer Darius has been watching Thomas Harley for a while now and has decided to write a little something up.

With the graduation in Mississauga, Harley is a name to watch. He's like the PP QB and a top pairing on the club this season.


He's got great size. Very good offensive upside and is someone who could rise in the rankings.

Sunday Night Thoughts: Thomas Harley
 

Dominance

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Thomas Harley at eliteprospects.com

This young man definitely deserves a thread.

My interest in him was first piqued last season by this article by THW, who do a good job of describing his game:

https://thehockeywriters.com/nhl-prospect-thomas-harley/

This year, though, Harley’s offensive game has shot through the roof. Still a flawless positional defender in his own end and on the transition (the best way of describing him is “ice cold” IMO), Harley has also increasingly become a physical force. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was 6’4” or taller and close to 200 pounds with a lot of room to fill out. His shot has also benefited by his growth and is a good weapon. His biggest growth has been his confidence with the puck in the offensive end, though, and it’s showing on the stat sheet, where he has 3 goals and 6 assists in 9 games. He’s Mississauga’s best defender already - a team that is performing far beyond my expectations for this year.

I haven’t seen a bunch of him, but I think he’d already be worthy of being ranked within the first round. I’m a huge fan of Bowen Byram, but I find myself searching to justify any gap between the two. And if he can keep up his offensive pace over the course of the year, GMs will be falling over themselves running to select the big, collected, mobile defenseman come June.
 

Lays

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Jan 22, 2017
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Thomas Harley at eliteprospects.com

This young man definitely deserves a thread.

My interest in him was first piqued last season by this article by THW, who do a good job of describing his game:

https://thehockeywriters.com/nhl-prospect-thomas-harley/

This year, though, Harley’s offensive game has shot through the roof. Still a flawless positional defender in his own end and on the transition (the best way of describing him is “ice cold” IMO), Harley has also increasingly become a physical force. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was 6’4” or taller and close to 200 pounds with a lot of room to fill out. His shot has also benefited by his growth and is a good weapon. His biggest growth has been his confidence with the puck in the offensive end, though, and it’s showing on the stat sheet, where he has 3 goals and 6 assists in 9 games. He’s Mississauga’s best defender already - a team that is performing far beyond my expectations for this year.

I haven’t seen a bunch of him, but I think he’d already be worthy of being ranked within the first round. I’m a huge fan of Bowen Byram, but I find myself searching to justify any gap between the two. And if he can keep up his offensive pace over the course of the year, GMs will be falling over themselves running to select the big, collected, mobile defenseman come June.
Finally some talk about this guy. I don't have him 1st just yet (I want to see him sustain his play) but I have him in the 30's.
 
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tony d

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Sounds like he could be a good player. Will be interesting to see how the rest of his yr. goes. Could be a gem for a Cup winner or a good 2nd round pick for one of the worst teams in the league.
 

Mdamico

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Dec 29, 2006
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10 points in 12 games so far.

Button has him in the mid-1st round.

One of the youngest players in the draft (born August 2001)
 

HockeyGuruPitka

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i went and saw the Steelheads play the petes this weekend. Came away very impressed with Harley. Good hands, good break out pass, played well in the offensive zone, closed gap well and played physical. Hes a guy im keeping my eye on.

I actually thought he was Hague to start the game, but realised quickly that Hague wasnt in the OHL anymore.
 
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SAM STEVENS

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Oct 21, 2018
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I like this guy too him and Billy Constantinou on Niagara seem to be on the same pace for points for this years OHL draft class of D with 1 point separating them. Mind you Harley plays a ton more and gets every PP were as Constantinou plays less and gets very little PP. I am interested to see later on in the season how Harley will do points production wise if McLoed and Tippet get traded.
 

weems

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Jul 3, 2008
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Watched him for the first time last night and was very impressed.

Big kid who can really skate, has great edgework, good passer and is extremely offensive minded.

Looked like someone prone to some mistakes due to his aggressiveness and trying to make things happen but his overall skillset is very exciting.

I would definitely have no problem with some team taking him mid first round.
 

Dominance

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He’s easily a top-15 prospect for the draft in my eyes. I love Bowen Byram but Harley is right there. I’ve noticed him moving up rankings this past month, and I’d bet that by the end of the year, every respectable mock draft outlet will have him inside the first round.
 

Riggins

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This guy's name is starting to rise up draft boards. Anyone else have some insight? A big mobile D prone to mistakes from taking lots of chances?
 

Lays

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This guy's name is starting to rise up draft boards. Anyone else have some insight? A big mobile D prone to mistakes from taking lots of chances?
My notes on Harley though I haven’t watched him in like 2 weeks
A 2 way defenseman with an excellent frame and room to fill out. Doesn’t excel at any particular area and I question his IQ at times though it’s not terrible. Good stick checker. Can skate around opposition (very good skater and has speed) and has good puck control. Seems to lack effort getting to the puck from what I’ve seen but his gap control and awareness make up for it (his defensive IQ is really good but I question him a bit when he has the puck on his stick.) can make a nice pass as well but lacks a good shot. He has fantastic tools though, he’ll be a bit of a project

My comparison-A bit like Brady Skjei. My reasoning for that comparison: Skjei has a terrible hockey IQ, Harley’s is better but the way they randomly go for a stroll with the puck and it usually amounting to nothing is very similar. If either defenseman focused hard on defense they could be excellent 2 way dmen but both seem to care more about offense than defense. Both have good size and are fantastic skaters as well (Skjei’s better here but Harley’s certainly a great skater as well.) What Harley lacks that Skjei has though is physicality. More commitment to defense and less focus on offense could turn either defenseman into 2/3 dmen
 
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Dominance

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He's up to 51 points in 57 games now. Keep in mind, Missy traded some big names at the deadline but his production has not been affected at all. Pretty encouraging.
Reminiscent of Bouchard last year, in how he took control of his team’s offence after management decided to aim toward a mini-retool.

He’s a bit rough around the edges, but I stand by my previous statement that I think he is a top-15 talent for the draft, and am happy to see more and more ranking outlets moving into agreement.

I’m flabbergasted that his thread only has 8 replies, for a big, strong-skating defenseman playing in Mississauga.
 
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SI90

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I saw him play and he reminds me so much of Devon Toews. Wouldn’t mind if he was the isles draft pick.
 

zcaptain

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Makes me wonder why there is so little ink on this guy...…...pushing to be a top 10?

One of the youngest guys in the draft and putting up points like this......Hmmmm?

How is Harley doing? Anyone watching this guy?
 

Dominance

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Makes me wonder why there is so little ink on this guy...…...pushing to be a top 10?

One of the youngest guys in the draft and putting up points like this......Hmmmm?

How is Harley doing? Anyone watching this guy?
Yeah, one of my favourites for this draft. Kid just oozes potential, but every aspect of his game needs some degree of fine-tuning. I think he should go top-15, though, I’d say he’s quite comparable to Wilde today while being a year younger.

He won’t go top-10, though. That group forming up there, of Hughes-Kakko-Byram-Dach-Cozens-Turcotte-Podkolzin-Soderstrom-Dorofeyev/Krebs/Seider/Boldy/Zegras/Lavoie is just too solid IMO.
 

zcaptain

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Yeah, one of my favourites for this draft. Kid just oozes potential, but every aspect of his game needs some degree of fine-tuning. I think he should go top-15, though, I’d say he’s quite comparable to Wilde today while being a year younger.

He won’t go top-10, though. That group forming up there, of Hughes-Kakko-Byram-Dach-Cozens-Turcotte-Podkolzin-Soderstrom-Dorofeyev/Krebs/Seider/Boldy/Zegras/Lavoie is just too solid IMO.

Thanks for answering...

Yes, I think it is going to be a very strong draft...….especially top 11ish

It will be interesting to see what the final polling will look like....

I love this time of year...……...
 
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IceManCat

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Was very surprised that McKenzie had him at #14 in his most recent ranking... I think having him over Cam York is ridiculous.


Why what makes York better?

FWIW Harley was voted second smartest player and best offensive defenseman in the East. He is 6'3 and skates as well if not better than York I have seen him listed at 185 lbs. With that kind of size and ability I can see why he would be ranked ahead of the smaller York.
 

DJB

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Hes a top 15 talent and i could see him picked top 10.

Big right hand shot D man that skates well?

Those guys dont last long draft day.
 

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