Pavel Buchnevich
Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Duke is a great defensive player. Rarely makes any mistakes defensively. Very physical and well built. Plays really hard. He's an excellent puck mover because he's an incredible skater, arguably the best skater at the NTDP right now. His straight ahead speed and edges are both top class. He also handles the puck pretty well and can pass it. I wouldn't say his offense is anything too good though. It might be around average. He could end up being a PP2 guy, but that might also be generous.
Hard player to type because his game doesn't fit molds. He's a tweener in many regards. You rarely hear a defenseman called a defensive defenseman at 5'9, but it would be an insult to his defensive quality to call him a puck moving defenseman. Those guys often get a slightly below-average/average/slightly above-average defensive reputation. Duke is much better defensively than that. The best description might be a two way defenseman, but the strengths of his game are absolutely his defense/skating. I don't know if he has the offense to be considered two-way.
Predicting a range is going to be hard. Does he end up 5'10 or 5'11? If so, a late first/early second range isn't unrealistic. If not, you are talking about a 5'9 defenseman who doesn't bring a significant amount of offense? Thats a risky projection, so that may be more of a 3rd/4th round player. Brother of Dylan, who is likely to be a first or second round round pick in 2021.
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/512172/tyler-duke
Hard player to type because his game doesn't fit molds. He's a tweener in many regards. You rarely hear a defenseman called a defensive defenseman at 5'9, but it would be an insult to his defensive quality to call him a puck moving defenseman. Those guys often get a slightly below-average/average/slightly above-average defensive reputation. Duke is much better defensively than that. The best description might be a two way defenseman, but the strengths of his game are absolutely his defense/skating. I don't know if he has the offense to be considered two-way.
Predicting a range is going to be hard. Does he end up 5'10 or 5'11? If so, a late first/early second range isn't unrealistic. If not, you are talking about a 5'9 defenseman who doesn't bring a significant amount of offense? Thats a risky projection, so that may be more of a 3rd/4th round player. Brother of Dylan, who is likely to be a first or second round round pick in 2021.
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/512172/tyler-duke
