You have to take some of the measurements available before the draft and at the draft with a grain of salt. Sites like elite prospects and I believe the official OHL guide that the OHL website puts out, had Grayson Ladd at about 5'10. MM in an interview said he was about 6'2 and that's what he was at camp. Being focused on size when most of us haven't seen the players can sometimes lead to inaccurate conclusions and alarmism. We're also talking about drafting players at an age where a lot of kids are just about to hit growth spurts. Someone posted about Yantsis being at Guelph camp and he was listed at 5"10. A year and a half later and he's 6'2, now 6'3.
At 16, Langdon and Sebrango are right around 6'0, and our top pick still with us from the draft prior to that is 6'3" Vukojevic. Keeping an eye on size is something to consider, but I don't really think size is quite as dire of an issue as others. I feel like we're on the right track, hoping it keeps going.
I think some things look worse seeing one of the tallest players in the leage in 6'6" Ratcliffe against 5"6" (maybe) Gareffa makes the size issue look at least a bit worse than it is. The league is not filled with Ratcliffe's, he may be one of the best skaters at his size that this league has seen in a decade.
I'd like to draft for balance. Take a bigger player when his skill and skating are equal to the smaller players obviously, but I'd rather a small player with skill and skating ability than a slow big guy with average skill. Focusing on size as a top priority may just lead us back to near the end of the Spott era when we were fed up drafting size, grit players with lower end offensive upside and hoping to switch to drafting speed and skill even if small.
