Dylan Mcilrath Part III

[NickyFotiu]

The Dylan experts can correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't Dylan gotten better as AHL seasons have gone along previously? Seems like I remember him having good second halves to seasons. I'm hoping that means the more comfortable he gets the better he plays in the NHL as well.

 

[haohmaru]

It gets frustrating because there are people who make ridiculous predictions with certainty. When they're wrong they never mention it again and when they're right they rub it in everyones face forever.

The back and forth is petty but frankly a big portion of this board sets the stage for petty bickering with the way they talk to everyone else.

Agree.

What's particularly frustrating about Mcilrath is that his detractors and subsequent criticism is always based on one of two things: Tarasenko and possibly Fowler and/or lack of understanding that this was a four year+ project pick and this was understood from the get-go.

People see a 1st round pick and right away there are expectations that they guy is going to play two games in Hartford and come up and be a franchise player. Maybe some of that is the Rangers lack of 1st round choices over the past several years, IDK. Most picks on D take YEARS to develop. Very few players make the leap from Juniors/International 18 teams directly to the NHL.

Were there a few doubts along the way? Sure. Did it take a year longer than we thought - probably and the knee was definitely a factor in that.

Everything else aside, I'm glad the guy made the team and I hope he continues to improve and be on our back end for years to come so we can all forget about who you would've taken instead.

LGR.

Some older articles for your consideration:

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/33254-Dont-mess-with-McIlrath.html
http://snyrangersblog.com/prospects/dylan-mcilrath/read-the-belief-in-dylan-mcilrath/
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/511064-ny-rangers-prospects-what-has-dylan-mcilrath-been-up-to
http://www.dobberprospects.com/dylan-mcilrath/

 

[nyr2k2]

The Dylan experts can correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't Dylan gotten better as AHL seasons have gone along previously? Seems like I remember him having good second halves to seasons. I'm hoping that means the more comfortable he gets the better he plays in the NHL as well.

Yes. He has pretty much gotten better as the season progressed each year without exception. The only time there seemed to be a step back in his game was the beginning of last season, though I (and others) attributed that largely to the defensive deficiencies of his partner, Bodie.

 

[Inferno]

I thought Bodie was downright awful defensively in his preseason games here as well. Offensively the kid clearly has talent...hes pretty horrible on his own side of the ice though.

 

[KingWantsCup]

I'm over missing out on Tarasenko and Fowler. It's time to put that in the past and support our newest Ranger. And I say this as a known McIlrath critic.

 

[NickyFotiu]

I'm over missing out on Tarasenko and Fowler. It's time to put that in the past and support our newest Ranger. And I say this as a known McIlrath critic.

Very well said. I respect your point of view in that post.

 

[Beacon]

I thought Bodie was downright awful defensively in his preseason games here as well. Offensively the kid clearly has talent...hes pretty horrible on his own side of the ice though.

Still a big improvement over last Fall. A year ago, he was awful by the AHL standards. Now he's not good by the NHL standards. If he keeps improving his defense until May and then make good muscle gains over the next summer, he could possibly fight for a spot next year.

I'm not at all convinced the Rangers will want Skjei as the #7 in his second pro year at 22 years of age, nor want to play him in the top-6 regularly if they keep McDonagh, Yandle and Staal at LD. Bodie will be a third year vet by then and will be 26 years old. There's no problem with him serving as a #7D and maybe Skjei gets called up when there's a long-term injury, while Bodie practices with the team year-round, steps in for occasional single games when someone get minor injuries or an illness, and gets paid $600k a year.

 

[Beacon]

I'm over missing out on Tarasenko and Fowler. It's time to put that in the past and support our newest Ranger. And I say this as a known McIlrath critic.

The Rangers drafted Michael Stewart at #13 when Keith Tkachuk and Martin Brodeur were on the board and rated as definite first rounders in pre-draft rankings. I think we need to spend 17 threads in a row discussing this.

We also need to spend the next 8 years discussing why the Rangers took Peter Ferraro over Michael Peca.

Every year every team passes on some players who turn out to be better than whoever they drafted. In 2008, the Rangers took Derek Stepan who turned out to be the best player available at that point in the draft. Sounds pretty good, but we can still whine that the Rangers took Chris Doyle over Matt Martin later in the same draft.

 

[KingWantsCup]

The Rangers drafted Michael Stewart at #13 when Keith Tkachuk and Martin Brodeur were on the board and rated as definite first rounders in pre-draft rankings. I think we need to spend 17 threads in a row discussing this.

We also need to spend the next 8 years discussing why the Rangers took Peter Ferraro over Michael Peca.

Every year every team passes on some players who turn out to be better than whoever they drafted. In 2008, the Rangers took Derek Stepan who turned out to be the best player available at that point in the draft. Sounds pretty good, but we can still whine that the Rangers took Chris Doyle over Matt Martin later in the same draft.

For all the uproar over McIlrath over Tarasenko, I think Sanguinetti over Giroux was worse and that's still not that long ago. Again that's just something that's in the past now though. That spilt milk dried up a long time ago.

 

[Beacon]

For all the uproar over McIlrath over Tarasenko, I think Sanguinetti over Giroux was worse and that's still not that long ago. Again that's just something that's in the past now though. That spilt milk dried up a long time ago.

The only reason people still scream about Tarasenko is that they knew about him pre-draft. It's a way of bragging that they have superior knowledge to the Rangers scouts and could potentially spend their lives as hockey management if only given a chance. It's crap, of course, because guessing right one time proves nothing: even a broken clock is right twice as a day. If you have real knowledge, which a lot of people here do, you'll probably be right a decent percentage of the time, but that does not mean that you are qualified to be an NHL GM.

 

[Jaromir Jagr]

For all the uproar over McIlrath over Tarasenko, I think Sanguinetti over Giroux was worse and that's still not that long ago. Again that's just something that's in the past now though. That spilt milk dried up a long time ago.

Thing was, Sanguinetti was the "obvious" pick at that spot, hence the Flyers wanting him over Giroux as well. McIlrath was an off the board pick which is why we hear people continuously ***** and moan.

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

The fanboys are those that "lump" all over anyone who says anything even slightly negative. I've never said anything like "this was a horrible pick" because we could have picked player X. And yes, I agree that there are a lot of posters here who are very knowledgeable, much more knowledgeable than me when it comes to following prospect progression.

I'm thinking (hoping) he is an integral part of the D-corp this season. If he turns out to be what some people think he COULD be.

K just wondering bc the way it was written could have gone either way. I don't see too many people acting like fanboys about this.

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

i knew this would happen here.

the mcilrath fanclub would seek revenge against all the heathens that were vocal against their pet.

so predictable.

happy he made the club.
hes part of the family now
im happy for him

still a bad pick
gordie reached
not dylans fault
and tarasenko sucks

moving on

Does anyone have any idea how many times odc has made these same exact underlined points and said "moving on" as if it was the last time he was going to do it? I've seen it a lot over the last few years. Not criticizing him here I just thought it was funny how many times he tried to say it with finality. Just when you think you're out the debate pulls you back in.

Being a little dishonest about what's been happening here with that opening bolded part

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

The only reason people still scream about Tarasenko is that they knew about him pre-draft. It's a way of bragging that they have superior knowledge to the Rangers scouts and could potentially spend their lives as hockey management if only given a chance. .

Are you saying this is honestly the only reason? Because that's just silly if that's what you're trying to say. There are some folks who certainly seem to be out just to prove they're right. There are also at least one or two guys with delusions of being more important than they really are but it's a real small number of posters like that. As much as I'm usually on the pro McI side of the debate it was a terrible pick in a lot of peoples opinions for damn good reasons. A lot of folks are justified in blasting the fact that it was made and they always will be.

Where they lose me is when they ignore his progress and make claims like that he's a bust and he'll never play, etc

 

[Beacon]

Are you saying this is honestly the only reason? Because that's just silly if that's what you're trying to say. There are some folks who certainly seem to be out just to prove they're right. There are also at least one or two guys with delusions of being more important than they really are but it's a real small number of posters like that. As much as I'm usually on the pro McI side of the debate it was a terrible pick in a lot of peoples opinions for damn good reasons. A lot of folks are justified in blasting the fact that it was made and they always will be.

Where they lose me is when they ignore his progress and make claims like that he's a bust and he'll never play, etc

It's too early to do this, but give it another season or two, then review all the other #10 picks since, say, 1990 and you'll find that he was actually better than a large majority of #10 picks. Alternatively, if you have more time, you can look at picks 8-12 and again you'll find that he was superior to a good majority of draftees.

People say "top-10 pick" like this is some holy grail where you are picking among NHL All Stars and somehow wound up with a non-HOF player. That is false. Most #10 picks flat out fail and become minor leaguers or crappy NHLers. If MCI becomes a solid second pair defenseman with a unique skill-set, he'll be much better than most #10 draftees, and much better than most players available when he got drafted. Everyone pretends like the only choice was Tarasenko or McIlrath. False. Tarasenko was skipped over by many other teams, including St. Louis drafting Schwarz ahead of him.

The pick immediately before Tarasenko was Derek Forbort, a big defenseman that the Rangers could've taken if they moved down and still stuck with a big blueliner, but MCI was already taken. Jack Campbell went after McIlrath and before Tarasenko - and he just recently spent time in the ECHL. Brandon Gormley has not yet cracked the NHL. Joey Hishon and Austin Watson, drafted immediately after Tarasenko, both look like busts.

Most of the players the Rangers could've drafted if they chose not to go with Tarasenko are worse or at most no better than McIlrath. Not a terrible pick. Outside of the two guys St. Louis drafted, only two others drafted in the next 15 picks (=half a round) have more than 50 career points so far. Chances are if the Rangers didn't take MCI, they'd have taken someone worse.

 

[NickyFotiu]

The Rangers drafted Michael Stewart at #13 when Keith Tkachuk and Martin Brodeur were on the board and rated as definite first rounders in pre-draft rankings. I think we need to spend 17 threads in a row discussing this.

We also need to spend the next 8 years discussing why the Rangers took Peter Ferraro over Michael Peca.

Every year every team passes on some players who turn out to be better than whoever they drafted. In 2008, the Rangers took Derek Stepan who turned out to be the best player available at that point in the draft. Sounds pretty good, but we can still whine that the Rangers took Chris Doyle over Matt Martin later in the same draft.

The draft is a crap shoot in some ways. Thats why there have even been #1 overall picks that did not live up to their predraft expectations.

In that same 1990 draft I think we got Doug Weight around #34 and Sergi Zubov around #84. I bet plenty of teams kicked themselves for passing on Doug Weight and Zubov.

 

[Beacon]

The draft is a crap shoot in some ways. Thats why there have even been #1 overall picks that did not live up to their predraft expectations.

In that same 1990 draft I think we got Doug Weight around #34 and Sergi Zubov around #84. I bet plenty of teams kicked themselves for passing on Doug Weight and Zubov.

The 1990 draft gave the Rangers 3 key players: Zubov, Kovalev and Nemchinov. Without them, there's no way the Rangers win the Cup and we still hear 1940 chants. Zubov was the team's leading scorer during the 1993-94 season with 89 points, which I think is the most ever scored by a Rangers defenseman not named Leetch. Kovalev was crucial in the 1994 playoffs and Nemchinov was a key bottom-6 soldier who occasionally stepped into the top-6. Jeff Nielsen was also drafted by Neil Smith that year and spent a few seasons in the NHL, but not with the Rangers.

 

[Mikos87]

I thought Bodie was downright awful defensively in his preseason games here as well. Offensively the kid clearly has talent...hes pretty horrible on his own side of the ice though.

Still a big improvement over last Fall. A year ago, he was awful by the AHL standards. Now he's not good by the NHL standards. If he keeps improving his defense until May and then make good muscle gains over the next summer, he could possibly fight for a spot next year.

I'm not at all convinced the Rangers will want Skjei as the #7 in his second pro year at 22 years of age, nor want to play him in the top-6 regularly if they keep McDonagh, Yandle and Staal at LD. Bodie will be a third year vet by then and will be 26 years old. There's no problem with him serving as a #7D and maybe Skjei gets called up when there's a long-term injury, while Bodie practices with the team year-round, steps in for occasional single games when someone get minor injuries or an illness, and gets paid $600k a year.

Yeah definitely agree, we all know he's good with the puck on his stick, but he was very frail... teenage boy frail, and struggled mightily in the 1st half last year. You just can't have a guy that lithe and weak in the line up and expect teams to not dump, chase and dominate... later in the year he improved, he was paired with Dylan out there who bought him a lot of space, and something clicked... he was able to get pucks out much better than before.

He looked a lot stronger this pre-season, and could improve down in HFD. He went from a long shot, to perhaps getting a look. His game is very solid with the puck on his stick, good skater, puck handler and decision maker.

He's a HGH cycle or two away from having an NHL body.

As a quick aside: Union College is producing some really good skaters, Shane Gothisbehere, Bodie, had some other college UFA that can really skate. Their coach Rick Bennet will be a hot commodity soon, he employs a type of system and training where the game is trending.

They won a national championship with a no name roster and a bunch of other tourneys under Bennet.

 

[eco's bones]

Yeah definitely agree, we all know he's good with the puck on his stick, but he was very frail... teenage boy frail, and struggled mightily in the 1st half last year. You just can't have a guy that lithe and weak in the line up and expect teams to not dump, chase and dominate... later in the year he improved, he was paired with Dylan out there who bought him a lot of space, and something clicked... he was able to get pucks out much better than before.

He looked a lot stronger this pre-season, and could improve down in HFD. He went from a long shot, to perhaps getting a look. His game is very solid with the puck on his stick, good skater, puck handler and decision maker.

He's a HGH cycle or two away from having an NHL body.

As a quick aside: Union College is producing some really good skaters, Shane Gothisbehere, Bodie, had some other college UFA that can really skate. Their coach Rick Bennet will be a hot commodity soon, he employs a type of system and training where the game is trending.

They won a national championship with a no name roster and a bunch of other tourneys under Bennet.

Bennett was drafted by the North Stars but his 15 NHL games were all with the Rangers.

 

[Ola]

I said he wouldn't play. He didn't play.

I said he wouldn't play, the fanboys said I didn't know what I was talking about, because I hadn't seen him play in Hartford. THEY had seen him play. THEY knew something I didn't. I said it didn't matter what THEY or I thought of his play, my OPINION was based on what I thought the coach was going to do. THEY said I didn't know what I was talking about because I hadn't seen him play.

Finally, to shut everyone up, I said I'd bet $1000.00 that he wouldn't play another game all season. No one was willing to take that bet! (wisely)

Maybe they knew I was right after all...

Do you have a link to anyone saying McIlrath "will play" last season?? I don't remember anyone going "Wrath will play bank on it".

 

[Ola]

Great stuff Beacon!

 

[aufheben]

Part IV up: http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?p=107522213#post107522213