F Antonio Stranges - London Knights, OHL (2020, 123rd, DAL)

[bigdog16]

Put it this way there are some players that no matter how talented they are you wouldn’t select them for a team you are building....there is a lot more than on ice stuff that goes into selection process. A lot more.

Its a 2 week tournament and USA decided to not invite arguably the best player available? Bad look for USAH, this is as clear of a grudge as there has ever been. What Stranges did wasn't right, but USAH looks like the little brother who insists on poking back

 

[passive voice]

Let’s just put it this way: It won’t be Antonio’s family paying the NTDP contract termination fee. Is that money coming directly from the London Knights? No, but it’s the shame shady practices that you see in College Football or Basketball.

Wait this is very old and sorry if I'm throwing this off-topic but: the NTDP has a contract termination fee??

 

[Anardil]

It's a two way street. Many Canadian kids end up in the NCAA by leveraging the possibility of going the college route if they end up being drafted by a CHL team that they are not interested in playing for.

 

[William H Bonney]

Wait this is very old and sorry if I'm throwing this off-topic but: the NTDP has a contract termination fee??

Yes, and since they're minors, their guardians sign one-year contracts. It's why you more often see NTDP players leave the program after their U17 seasons, i.e. Etem, Max Jones, Kirwan, etc., than bail like Stranges. They choose not to sign another contract and don't need backdoor money from their new teams to pay their contract fees.

 

[NA Hockey]

 

[Snippit]

He's off to a very hot start. 5 goals, 1 assist through 4 games (Game 4 still has a period to go).

A lot of the goals have been beauties too. He's clearly worked on his shot.

 

[Ryan Van Horne]

He didn’t make the cut out of the Michigan satellite camp either and got an at large bid and made all star team so not sure you can say it’s a grudge....looks more like he didnt flat out perform well enough to make the team based the stats. He was just in the top 30 for scoring and didn’t register a point in 3 out 5 games. By that count he didn’t play his way onto the team which is picked by a different group of people vs the NTDP. Coaches are also looking for certain things when picking a team and like it or not there have been past issues with this player and evidently the risk isn’t worth the reward to take him. Team USA knows what they are doing and a lot goes into who/why they select certain players. Hype doesn’t equate to automatically making a team and it’s nice to see when players actually earn spots rather than have it handed to players based on hype/perception. Also a pretty good idea not to screw over USA hockey if you want to play in future tournaments with them.

Got anything to support this other than "rumour." What are the issues? Where did they occur and when? Is anybody speaking to them on the record?

 

[McDNicks17]

Love his skating.

 

[Starry Knight]

Stranges is going to torch the league this year. He's looking faster and is making much better decisions with the puck than last year.

 

[tealhockey]

One of 26 players to get an A ranking from central this year.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

One of 26 players to get an A ranking from central this year.

how many players typically get an A? I could be wrong but 26 seems high... if so- backs up narrative of a strong top of draft.

 

[Ryan Van Horne]

This is a bit higher than usual and reflects the depth of the draft, IMHO.

 

[DontEverTouchMyPuck]

It's been a challenging year for Antonio Stranges in London. But he's coming out of it stronger.
He has been working on his two-way game and raising it to a level that comes close to his amazing offensive abilities.
He's been showing signs lately - throwing body checks, fighting puck battles in corners, getting back into his zone - that reinforce the project.
He might be dropping in some rankings, but once he puts a complete game together, he'll either rocket back up, or be a great comeback story.

 

[DontEverTouchMyPuck]

This kid looks so much better than he did 2-3 months ago. He's getting his swagger back, too.

 

[HOPE]

will likely slip into the second round and be a massive steal despite his stats.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

What a let down season for him, at least points and goal wisely.
19 goals, 21 assists in 61 games, -2

For example, the player below (who is younger what Antonio, same draft class, team mate)
Luke Evangelista: 24 goals, 38 assists in 61 games, +14

 

[PuckProspects]

Really didn't have a good season. Has some noticeable talent and unique skating style but was unable to translate it to points or playing time. Probably going to be picked late 2nd.

 

[danyhabsfan]

Love his skating.

wow that's a beauty.

 

[OldScool]

In hindsight I think it was a huge developmental mistake leaving the NTDP and going to London. Stranges hasn’t been nearly as productive at many experts thought.

 

[Dominance]

In hindsight I think it was a huge developmental mistake leaving the NTDP and going to London. Stranges hasn’t been nearly as productive at many experts thought.

I don’t know how you can look at the London Knights and infer that there could be the slightest issue with their development process.

Stranges just isn’t that good. Elite skating and everything else is inconsistent at best. Looking at the London Knights and stating that another organization could have been better for improving on his weaknesses is pretty foolish to me, in the context of all the players they’ve developed.

 

[William H Bonney]

It's completely reasonable to question whether going to London was the right move for him. The implication isn't that London has issues with their development process and others don't.

Stranges has largely been buried on the 3rd/4th lines for London for 2 years. And maybe that's all he deserved. And maybe he's not as good as folks once thought. And maybe his perceived attitude has hindered him.

But it's fair to question whether he would have been better off playing on a team where everyone was the same age. He wouldn't have been buried in the lineup behind better, older players. He would have been in a top six role playing top PP minutes, at least initially. He would have had a lot more opportunity over the last 2 years.

Stranges may have squandered that opportunity too. But there would have been more opportunity nonetheless. That's the point.

It's fair to question whether his development may have been better off on a different path. It's also reasonable to say we'll never know. It could have gone even worse than it's gone with London. But it's fair to say London as a development path has not gone well for him. And when talking about the history of his decision - to bail on one elite development team for another - it certainly begs the question.

 

[OldScool]

It's completely reasonable to question whether going to London was the right move for him. The implication isn't that London has issues with their development process and others don't.

Stranges has largely been buried on the 3rd/4th lines for London for 2 years. And maybe that's all he deserved. And maybe he's not as good as folks once thought. And maybe his perceived attitude has hindered him.

But it's fair to question whether he would have been better off playing on a team where everyone was the same age. He wouldn't have been buried in the lineup behind better, older players. He would have been in a top six role playing top PP minutes, at least initially. He would have had a lot more opportunity over the last 2 years.

Stranges may have squandered that opportunity too. But there would have been more opportunity nonetheless. That's the point.

It's fair to question whether his development may have been better off on a different path. It's also reasonable to say we'll never know. It could have gone even worse than it's gone with London. But it's fair to say London as a development path has not gone well for him. And when talking about the history of his decision - to bail on one elite development team for another - it certainly begs the question.

exactly my point and we’ll put. 2 years ago stranges was thought of as if not the top one of the top American players and projected 1st round pick. He has been stuck behind better players in London and really hasn’t moved the needle. At the NTDP he would have been put into a much better position to play and develop. Now he is a late 2nd/3rd or even 4th round pick in some mocks.

He made the NTDP and then left for London. Fast forward a year and he can’t even adavance to the USA camp selections out of Michigan. Gets added on with an at large bid and doesn’t make the Hlinka team and everyone I talked to said he didn’t deserve to make it. Seems like that’s regression if you ask me.

 

[wings5]

He was the 5th highest scoring forward on the Knights this year, was he really on the 3rd/4th line?

 

[NorthernBridge7]

Truthfully I haven't watched more than 7-8 of his games over the past 2 years, but he seems very disengaged from the play & is always just coasting around on the ice. Doesn't seem to do much at all when he's playing away from the puck & then when he gets the puck he's always trying to make individual "fancy" plays with his skating & stick handling that often result in turn overs. Has lots of skill, but there's something off with either his attitude or IQ. Just doesn't look like a team player to me. I don't see an NHL player.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

Disappointing season IMO outside of that hot streak. McMichael, Thomas, Foudy, Evangelista all proved you can stand out on London without being gifted primo situations. Stranges had every chance to be a top-line player but in the end it went to Evangelista, and deservedly so.

Still insanely skilled.