LW Quentin Musty - Sudbury Wolves, OHL (2023, 26th, SJS)

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

OT winner today.

68 points in 38 games. He'll be an interesting player in training camp next year. I definitely want him in a different league.

Was hoping the Habs would get him, but of course they didn't.

Did he miss many games, if any after getting hit by Sobolev ?

 

[Juxtaposer]

I don’t think there’s any way the Sharks can send him back to the OHL next season. Not only is he already too good for the league, but sending him back would stagnate his progression and he’d be so bored he’d be likely to get lazy and complacent. Bad, lazy habits form when players get bored with their level of competition.

 

[WeThe North]

Or stay till Christmas in the NHL then World Juniors and then get traded to a contender team with solid coaching.

 

[ThorNton Apologist]

I don’t think there’s any way the Sharks can send him back to the OHL next season. Not only is he already too good for the league, but sending him back would stagnate his progression and he’d be so bored he’d be likely to get lazy and complacent. Bad, lazy habits form when players get bored with their level of competition.

Watching him in preseason, he looked ready. I agree about the OHL though. He is dominating that league for D+1

 

[Juxtaposer]

Watching him in preseason, he looked ready. I agree about the OHL though. He is dominating that league for D+1

I think the Leo Carlsson treatment would be the way to go with Musty next year. Give him 50ish NHL games while practicing full-time with NHLers and NHL trainers, but not overloading him. Release him for the WJC.

It’s easy for forget, but Musty is nearly a full year younger than someone like Fantilli.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

If Musty took the easier route by going to the NTDP, he's probably a top 15 or even top 10 pick. He went the harder route going to a team in the O who wasn't especially stacked and he's continued to improve.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I don’t know if this will be a popular thing to say, but I don’t think he’s a lock for the World Juniors next year.

He’ll probably make it, but the CHL factor works against him. There’s also a lot of competition. Returning players usually get priority.

I think if the Sharks idea is to give him 9 hockey games spread out over 2 and a half months and then hope he gets picked they are taking a risk. There will be players lighting it up compared to a guy who would have some NHL games, but that very well could be 8 minutes per game and like 1 NHL point.

 

[majormajor]

I had Musty in my top ten, I think he has elite upside, but I'll dissent from the idea that he should be in the NHL next year.

I want him to dominate the OHL even more. Get 140 pts kid! Then maybe even an AHL year after that.

You know what creates bad habits? Playing for brutally bad NHL teams where smart plays turn into nothing. It doesn't reward good behavior. Let's let him polish every bit of his scoring skill, while development coaches should stay in his ear about his habits.

 

[Juxtaposer]

I had Musty in my top ten, I think he has elite upside, but I'll dissent from the idea that he should be in the NHL next year.

I want him to dominate the OHL even more. Get 140 pts kid! Then maybe even an AHL year after that.

You know what creates bad habits? Playing for brutally bad NHL teams where smart plays turn into nothing. It doesn't reward good behavior. Let's let him polish every bit of his scoring skill, while development coaches should stay in his ear about his habits.

The cream rises to the top. William Eklund is a shining example of this—he’s had brutally tough deployment on a brutally bad team, but he’s been incredible despite it even if his scoring totals don’t jump off the page. If Musty is as good as I think he is, he will take an NHL opportunity by the reigns. The Sharks do have some capable centermen (Hertl, Couture, Sturm, Granlund) who can support him. Probably not all of those guys will be on the team next year but it’s not like Musty would be sent to the wolves by himself. Staple him to Hertl and Eklund in the games he plays so he can learn good habits and actually spend time in the offensive zone, but personally I think Musty will benefit from struggling for the first time in a while.

 

[CaptainShark]

Probably not all of those guys will be on the team next year but it’s not like Musty would be sent to the wolves by himself.

Him joying the Sharks would be the exact opposite of sending him to the Wolves

 

[majormajor]

The cream rises to the top. William Eklund is a shining example of this—he’s had brutally tough deployment on a brutally bad team, but he’s been incredible despite it even if his scoring totals don’t jump off the page. If Musty is as good as I think he is, he will take an NHL opportunity by the reigns. The Sharks do have some capable centermen (Hertl, Couture, Sturm, Granlund) who can support him. Probably not all of those guys will be on the team next year but it’s not like Musty would be sent to the wolves by himself. Staple him to Hertl and Eklund in the games he plays so he can learn good habits and actually spend time in the offensive zone, but personally I think Musty will benefit from struggling for the first time in a while.

Lol I would like to send him to the Wolves.

Every Sharks player including Eklund and Hertl is in the bottom fifth of the league in terms of how much time they spend in the offensive zone.

(I'm inferring this from how those players rank in leaguewide possession stats).

 

[CaptainShark]

While I agree that Eklund‘s development has been fine, there has been times when the situation and his lack of scoring have been visibly weighing on him.

He fought through that and might have to do it again, but I get that as an unproven player it’s his hard to deal with it and just tell yourself it’s the surroundings and not the quality of my play.

 

[LemonSauceD]

I literally never understood why guys like Barlow, But, Wood, and Yager were ahead of him in the draft rankings. Especially Barlow. I’ve never been impressed with Barlow as much as I was with Musty. Musty even had the better season on a worse team.

 

[majormajor]

I literally never understood why guys like Barlow, But, Wood, and Yager were ahead of him in the draft rankings. Especially Barlow. I’ve never been impressed with Barlow as much as I have with Musty. Musty even had the better season on a worse team.

You know what you're going to get from Barlow every night though. I much prefer Musty but I get it.

 

[LemonSauceD]

You know what you're going to get from Barlow every night though. I much prefer Musty but I get it.

Barlow reminds me of like a Vatrano type of player. I just don’t see the high end skill that you can easily tell with Musty.

 

[Juxtaposer]

Lol I would like to send him to the Wolves.

Every Sharks player including Eklund and Hertl is in the bottom fifth of the league in terms of how much time they spend in the offensive zone.

(I'm inferring this from how those players rank in leaguewide possession stats).

While I agree that Eklund‘s development has been fine, there has been times when the situation and his lack of scoring have been visibly weighing on him.

He fought through that and might have to do it again, but I get that as an unproven player it’s his hard to deal with it and just tell yourself it’s the surroundings and not the quality of my play.

I just think that overcoming adversity is important to developing a well-rounded, competitive player. Eklund will be better long-term for having fought through this season, IMHO.

 

[CaptainShark]

@Juxta, i don’t doubt it but I don’t know if every player has what it takes to deal with that kind of adversity.

Some might go through it and grow and others might just get their confidence shot and at best be setback in their development and take longer to reach their potential.

 

[Juxtaposer]

@Juxta, i don’t doubt it but I don’t know if every player has what it takes to deal with that kind of adversity.

Some might go through it and grow and others might just get their confidence shot and at best be setback in their development and take longer to reach their potential.

How does Musty benefit from going back to the OHL? He destroyed the league last year, he’s destroying the league this year, and he’ll destroy the league next year. What is he going to do next year in the OHL that he can’t do this year? If he’s not rounding his game out in the OHL this year, he’s not going to do it in the OHL next year.

 

[SoundAndFury]

The cream rises to the top.

If that was an absolute truth there wouldn't be so many perennial rebuilds around the league. People are different and just because some overcome it or are just that good regardless, fact remains it's much easier to succumb to the enviroment than resist it for a prolonged period of time.

I don't think there is one right answer what should be done in this particular Musty/Sharks situaition but it is a significant risk.

 

[hohosaregood]

I think the coaching structure in San Jose has been conducive to bringing along a young prospect. The coaches have been pretty balanced in how they've been letting the kids play through their mistakes, sitting them games when it's appropriate, while also preaching professional principles. Which is kinda evidenced by how guys like Emberson, Thrun, Eklund, and Zetterlund have all grown as players this year. I could see Musty developing with the Sharks.

 

[CaptainShark]

How does Musty benefit from going back to the OHL? He destroyed the league last year, he’s destroying the league this year, and he’ll destroy the league next year. What is he going to do next year in the OHL that he can’t do this year? If he’s not rounding his game out in the OHL this year, he’s not going to do it in the OHL next year.

I absolutely get your point and I agree that sending him back to the OHL is far less then ideal, I was just pointing out that there is a risk involved in bringing players into an NHL environment like ours right now.

The people that make that decision have a lot more insight into Mustys character than we have, I trust them to make the right decision.

Is their a 3rd option? If he was okay with it, could he be loaned to a European club? Could that make sense in that he could compete with „grown-ups“ but wouldn’t have to do it at the highest level?

 

[Gecklund]

If that was an absolute truth there wouldn't be so many perennial rebuilds around the league. People are different and just because some overcome it or are just that good regardless, fact remains it's much easier to succumb to the enviroment than resist it for a prolonged period of time.

I don't think there is one right answer what should be done in this particular Musty/Sharks situaition but it is a significant risk.

I’m not quite sure if this is the right way to think about it but if they can’t overcome losing, will they ever really be successful in the NHL? Yes Musty is great but I don’t think he’s some generational talent that things could be easy in the NHL (relatively) like a McDavid, MacKinnon, etc. I guess are we saying that being a lottery team is the line?

 

[SoundAndFury]

I guess are we saying that being a lottery team is the line?

I think most common alternative path is to "bottle in" your prospects so that they take their first steps in the NHL when the team is already relatively competitive. Sort of what the Leafs did by injecting Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Hyman, Zaitsev, Connor Brown and signing Andersen to play goal for them all at the same time. Like what Detroit's current plan also was supposed to be.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Barlow reminds me of like a Vatrano type of player. I just don’t see the high end skill that you can easily tell with Musty.

Barlow played PK, grinds, and was a 17 year old captain in the O. That matters to teams. Not to mention an elite shot.

Musty has kind of an odd skating stride IMHO and had games last year where he didn't look the most engaged.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Barlow played PK, grinds, and was a 17 year old captain in the O. That matters to teams. Not to mention an elite shot.

Musty has kind of an odd skating stride IMHO and had games last year where he didn't look the most engaged.

Agree. Barlow isn’t similar to Vatrano. Same type of shot. Other than that, very different.

Musty went late first for the reasons you state. He also didn’t use his line-mates the best sometimes. He’d put his head down and try to beat everyone instead of realizing there were other players on his team on the ice. That was frustrating to watch.