Player Discussion Dylan McIlrath Part V: #FreeHim

[*Bob Richards*]

Keep him with Yandle.

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[Inferno]

I just wanted to say that theres 1 thing i absolutely love about the yandle mcilrath pairing....


mcilrath separates the player from the puck...gets the puck to yandle...and then yandle gets the puck out and into the offense...

thats literally exactly what you want...your defensive defenseman to play defense...to get the puck to your offensive defenseman...and let your offensive defenseman turn the puck up the ice.

PERFECT.

 

[Guyute]

I thought Mcilrath was really steady tonight. AV should give him more minutes. I'm not sure why he is so hesitant to do so. Just let him play and grow into a top-6 role. At least give him a chance to gain some confidence.

 

[Chaels Arms]

I don't understand what so many people on here were talking about when they were ripping his skating and foot speed. His skating looks fine. If you were to read some of the posts on here you'd think he was like a John Scott level statue on the ice.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Boyle should not be playing instead of McIlrath when Klein is back from his injury.

 

[darko]

Keep playing him and keep him with Yandle please.

 

[Inferno]

I don't understand what so many people on here were talking about when they were ripping his skating and foot speed. His skating looks fine. If you were to read some of the posts on here you'd think he was like a John Scott level statue on the ice.

hes huge so he looks slow...all huge players look slow...hes actually a VERY good skater for his size...what his problem is is balance...hes got awful balance...at least he used to...id call it average at best right now...so its good that hes improved so much.

 

[bmoak]

Boyle should not be playing instead of McIlrath when Klein is back from his injury.

But he will. And so will Girardi.

 

[darko]

Boyle should not be playing instead of McIlrath when Klein is back from his injury.

Agree.

 

[Raspewtin]

I don't understand what so many people on here were talking about when they were ripping his skating and foot speed. His skating looks fine. If you were to read some of the posts on here you'd think he was like a John Scott level statue on the ice.

Because they were uninformed and never watched him in the first place.

 

[BlueshirtBlitz]

Yandle-McIlrath can be a monster pairing.

 

[ZiGOODejad]

Yandle-McIlrath can be a monster pairing.

Love that pairing

 

[Kel Varnsen]

I'm not old enough to pretend I saw a lot of it and obviously this pairing is just in its infancy (as is McIlrath's NHL career itself) so I'd be curious what someone that is old enough would think, but Yandle-McIlrath same sort of concept as Leetch-Beukeboom or am I way off base?

 

[SI90]

Isles fan coming in peace. I was very impressed with McIlrath tonight. This is the first time this year I really got to see him. Has he been as solid in his other games as he was tonight?

I was impressed with his position and his willingness to send the puck towards the net. He's also clearly a very physical player. Good stuff from this kid tonight.

 

[Raspewtin]

bold prediction

McIlrath will be better than Fowler by the end of next season.

Because Cam Fowler low-key sucks.

 

[Raspewtin]

I just wanted to say that theres 1 thing i absolutely love about the yandle mcilrath pairing....


mcilrath separates the player from the puck...gets the puck to yandle...and then yandle gets the puck out and into the offense...

thats literally exactly what you want...your defensive defenseman to play defense...to get the puck to your offensive defenseman...and let your offensive defenseman turn the puck up the ice.

PERFECT.

I wouldn't mind Yandle sneaking a one time pass to McIlrath every now and then either

For real though they have such complimentary skillsets. They were almost 70% CF% together today!

 

[Machinehead]

Me watching McIlrath tonight

He's going to be a beauty. A big, mean, old-school defender who can play the corsi game and actually pass is almost non-existent today. If he can be that player we're going to have something nobody has.

 

[TheDirtyH]

Isles fan coming in peace. I was very impressed with McIlrath tonight. This is the first time this year I really got to see him. Has he been as solid in his other games as he was tonight?

I was impressed with his position and his willingness to send the puck towards the net. He's also clearly a very physical player. Good stuff from this kid tonight.

That was definitely his best performance, but it wasn't a surprise and not something many of us doubt can continue. He's played well consistently, but he hasn't seen much ice time, and has made some mistakes. Mostly he hasn't really gotten the ice time to impress that much, but he's improved every game he gets in.

 

[YoSoyLalo]

he may end up being a good pick yet

love this kid

 

[haohmaru]

He's going to be a beauty. A big, mean, old-school defender who can play the corsi game and actually pass is almost non-existent today. If he can be that player we're going to have something nobody has.

And this is exactly what the Rangers were thinking/hoping when they drafted and developed him. He was a long term project from the beginning and it looks like they got it right.

 

[Ail]

Still think it's poor drafting to take a project like this at 10th OA, but at least it is finally starting to pay off. Especially at a time where the defense has looked poor otherwise. Supreme timing.

Hopefully this continues the remainder of the season.

 

[Mac n Gs]

His passing and offensive-zone play are so underrated as well, and these will only improve as he gets more playing time. It's amazing at how good he is at sealing players off to retrieve the puck, and it works perfectly with Yandle as his partner. They were so good together tonight

 

[Beacon]

I'm not old enough to pretend I saw a lot of it and obviously this pairing is just in its infancy (as is McIlrath's NHL career itself) so I'd be curious what someone that is old enough would think, but Yandle-McIlrath same sort of concept as Leetch-Beukeboom or am I way off base?

Leetch was a Hall of Famer who once did scored over 100 points, so he's better than Yandle. Beukeboom is similar to Mcilrath, but Dylan has more upside because he skates, shoots and fights better. If Dylan's brain catches up to Beukeboom's, he'll be a better player.

Mcilrath was coached by Beukeboom for 2.5 seasons in Hartford where he's the assistant coach responsible for defense. Right now at the NHL level, Ulf Samuelsson does that job and Ulfie was also a very tough defensive defenseman, though a different type than Beukeboom (more cheap stuff than fighting).

Learning for years under Beukeboom and Ulfie is excellent training for Dylan. He may not even realize how perfect this scenario is for him. Here are guys who both became first pair big defensemen who know what he needs to do from personal experience.

 

[BarbaraAlphanse]

McD-Klein
Yandle-Mci
Skjei-Girardi
Boyle

...?

 

[Beacon]

McD-Klein
Yandle-Mci
Skjei-Girardi
Boyle

...?

Skjei is not ready this year, and what happened to Staal?