Jay O'Brien

[Favin]

Becomes NHLer or not

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[jetsforever]

Who?

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

He has some talent and I believe he’ll get a pro contract, so I’m inclined to think at some point he sees a few games.

 

[CatchyTune]

Deadass thought you meant Jay from Jay and Dan lmao

 

[Big Empty]

Maybe he gets some games, who knows

I don’t see much upside

 

[Clint Eastwood]

1st rounder from 2018. 21 years old.

Jakub Zboril from Boston was drafted in 2015 and just made his nhl debut (he played 1 game in 2019 in garbage time playing barely any time, I don't count that) and has been stellar for Boston. Unless he's really underwhelming, I wouldn't write him off yet.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

1st rounder from 2018. 21 years old.

Jakub Zboril from Boston was drafted in 2015 and just made his nhl debut (he played 1 game in 2019 in garbage time playing barely any time, I don't count that) and has been stellar for Boston. Unless he's really underwhelming, I wouldn't write him off yet.

Is he not really underwhelming? He's the age of a college senior or junior (depending on where in the country you are from), and he has 6 points in 8 games. Small sample size, yes, but to not 1PPG at his age for a first round pick is near catastrophic.

Comparing him to Zboril would be unfair. Zboril might've been a little over-drafted by half a round to a full round. O'Brien as of now looks like he was over-drafted by 3-4 rounds, if not more.

 

[CapnZin]

Jay O’Brien was the 19th overall pick from the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2018 draft. Originally, he was thought to be a mid/early round pick (late 2nd to early 3rd). This was due to quality of competition in the USHS-Prep league. O’Brien played for the ‘famous’ Thayer Academy that housed the likes of Jeremy Roenick, Tony Amonte, Ryan Whitney, Brooks Orpik, Charlie Coyle, and other NHLers as well. In 60 total games, O’Brien put together an astounding total of points- 145 points in 60 games. That puts his total in the top 10 for the academy history while playing 40+ games less than some of the aforementioned names.

His time there really brought his stock up. I’m not going to say the Flyers strategy is BPA, however, Ron Hextall adored his draft interview and his style of play: Edgy, Fast, Chirps, and his highly skilled.

His first step and skating were well above average for the draft and he could have been considered one of the best, if not the best, straight line skaters or just skaters in general from that draft. He has decent size and a body to grow into, however, he wasn’t that strong on the puck when the level of completion increased. That is okay because he is great at skating in tight spaces. His vision is good, but lacks creativity. Same with his offensive positioning. He’ll find open space, but can do more to give teammates space as well.

His best asset is either his skating or his passing. His ability to thread the puck through defenders is really good. O’Briens shot is subpar in my opinion. Very good on an amateur level, but his level of accuracy won’t make up for the lack of power behind it. My guess is he has a hard time generating torque through the hips when he isn’t stationary.

His defense game wasn’t great. Coverage skills lacked anticipation at the amateur level which worried scouts, but his compete level is high enough to make up from some of those short falls.

Overall, the Flyers knew he would be a project. His defensive game needs loads of work before he is a NHLer. His offensive should translate well. If not, the Flyers have a speedy B6 role player that chirps and can lay some hits. He’s a skinnier kid that knows how to use his gravity.

Currently, he’s playing really well for the University of Boston having 6 points in 8 games and was well over a point per game in the BCHL only trailing the play of Kent Johnson.

I like his upside if he pulls through. I would say M6 3C at max. His floor is what is concerning because if he misses on his development then he isn’t a NHL player. Based on what we saw during his draft year I’d say this is a fine pick.