Matt Pelech underrated?

*OvechKiN*

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Nov 29, 2005
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Matt Pelech (1st round choice of the CGY Flames in '06) seems to not get any credit whatsoever on these boards. I was suspicious also like everyone else, but it seems like he has gone a long way since being drafted. WAtching him play today vs. Peterbrough was a treat as it seemed like he was the Knights #1 defender and his size definitely stood out. Big physical guy with a nasty edge and seemed to make the right plays all the time. Only knock is obviously his skating, but even that wasnt that bad.
Im not going to say he is a steal, but definitely worth the 26th overall pick.
Good Job Matt!!!
 

Lars

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Aug 22, 2005
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First Off He Was Drafted in 2005 ;)

I seriously haven't heard much about about this guy, but to say he is a steal might be a little extreme.. maybe start off with a "solid pick". Anyone Have some good Info On Pelech?
 

*OvechKiN*

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Nov 29, 2005
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44_bertuzzi_44 said:
First Off He Was Drafted in 2005 ;)

I seriously haven't heard much about about this guy, but to say he is a steal might be a little extreme.. maybe start off with a "solid pick". Anyone Have some good Info On Pelech?

My bad with the draft year, and i said he wasnt a steal, but a good pick at 26th.
My bad for being unclear
 

*OvechKiN*

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Basically in the season he was drafter, he suffered 2 completely separate freak accidents that broke his jaw which hindered his process.
Also, I believe sometime this season he blocked a shot with his face?? (please confirm)
Other than that, its all i know.
 

JiriHrdina

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Jul 8, 2005
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In addition to those injuries, Pelech was also one of the youngest players in the 2005 draft.

What he is not: A bluechip prospect with offensive upside that gets every excited.
What he is: A very raw, very big guy that if developed properly could be a very solid player.

I've not seen a ton of him personally. My first observations were at a development camp where he didn't look great. However, seeing him in a few junior games this year he has impressed me at times. Obviously the first thing you notice is his size, but he impresses in other ways too.

Loooong way to go for him to be considered any sort of steal, it'll actually probably never happen. But considering how widely criticized the pick was, and still is...if he ends up justifying his draft position that should be good enough.

Still - we won't know for a few years with this kid. Its a shame that some Flames fans are already writing him off.
 

insider

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Nov 14, 2003
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*OvechKiN* said:
Basically in the season he was drafter, he suffered 2 completely separate freak accidents that broke his jaw which hindered his process.
Also, I believe sometime this season he blocked a shot with his face?? (please confirm)
Other than that, its all i know.

I saw that on TV on sportsnet... Matt Lashoff shot.

There's another solid pick IMO. I like Pelech a lot, he's a good Defensive dman.
 

Juan

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Let me answer the question this way.

I would bet there isn't a single OHL GM who would trade away Phil Oreskovic (Brampton) to get Matt Pelech. They are the same age, similar players with similar size. Oreskovic was voted the best defensive defenseman in the Eastern Conference in the OHL coaches' poll.

Oreskovic was a third round pick of the Leafs, and I don't read anywhere that he was a huge steal for them.
 

Hedberg

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Jan 9, 2005
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Juan said:
I would bet there isn't a single OHL GM who would trade away Phil Oreskovic (Brampton) to get Matt Pelech. They are the same age, similar players with similar size. Oreskovic was voted the best defensive defenseman in the Eastern Conference in the OHL coaches' poll.
There are differences between good NHL and good CHL players.
 

Juan

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Hedberg said:
There are differences between good NHL and good CHL players.

Like I said, Pelech and Oreskovic are the same age, similar players with similar size. They project out to be almost identical types of NHL defenseman, with the exception that Oreskovic will fight a lot more, and he's good at it.

There is no basis to suggest that these two players are on different development curves or that one or the other has a game that won't translate from the OHL to the NHL.

So to answer the original question, if Pelech is considered underrated as a late first rounder, then my logical brain suggests to me that Oreskovic as a third rounder was the steal of the draft. In my opinion, neither premise is true.
 

JiriHrdina

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Jul 8, 2005
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Juan said:
Like I said, Pelech and Oreskovic are the same age, similar players with similar size. They project out to be almost identical types of NHL defenseman, with the exception that Oreskovic will fight a lot more, and he's good at it.

There is no basis to suggest that these two players are on different development curves or that one or the other has a game that won't translate from the OHL to the NHL.

So to answer the original question, if Pelech is considered underrated as a late first rounder, then my logical brain suggests to me that Oreskovic as a third rounder was the steal of the draft. In my opinion, neither premise is true.

IF indeed Pelech is underrated as a 1st rounder the only reason is because the pick was so widely panned. Few people are suggesting he was any sort of steal in the first round.

Sutter had targeted 3 dmen in the draft - Pelech, Baldwin and one more he didn't get. Presumbly then he would not trade Pelech for Oreskovic.

It is also important to note that Pelech is about 9 months younger that Oreskovic and has missed significant time each of the last 2 seasons with injury. So Oreskovic has had signifcantly more games to develop in. One of thoughts behind Pelech is that he's behind many of his peer group right now because he hasn't played enough the last couple of years.
 

Kritty

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*OvechKiN* said:
Matt Pelech (1st round choice of the CGY Flames in '06) seems to not get any credit whatsoever on these boards. I was suspicious also like everyone else, but it seems like he has gone a long way since being drafted. WAtching him play today vs. Peterbrough was a treat as it seemed like he was the Knights #1 defender and his size definitely stood out. Big physical guy with a nasty edge and seemed to make the right plays all the time. Only knock is obviously his skating, but even that wasnt that bad.
Im not going to say he is a steal, but definitely worth the 26th overall pick.
Good Job Matt!!!

Actually his skating is pretty strong. I would consider it a weakness at all. When he was drafted that was one thing the Calgary scouts pointed to was his skating ability for a guy his size. I thought at the time it was a shrewd move by Sutter. If he pans out as his talent suggest, he'll be a nice player, Rhett Warrener type.

As for the Oreskovic debate, I think Pelech has a higher ceiling than Oreskovic. With Oreskovic, I think what you see is what you get. I'm not sure I see him becoming all that much better than he is now. He is an underrated player, I'll say that, but I think Pelech has more room to improve his game. They may be on similar paths right now, but I see that changing personally.
 

CofRed

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Jul 28, 2005
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Kritty said:
Actually his skating is pretty strong.

I disagree. I saw him play a few times this year when I was in London over Christmas break. Although he isn't a terrible skater, his footspeed and especially his lateral movement is awkward. The new NHL has been exposing a lot of D-men this year who can't move laterally or pivot quick enough. I think Pelech falls into this category at this point. He certainly has potential, but will need to improve his skating drastically.
 

JiriHrdina

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Jul 8, 2005
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CofRed said:
I disagree. I saw him play a few times this year when I was in London over Christmas break. Although he isn't a terrible skater, his footspeed and especially his lateral movement is awkward. The new NHL has been exposing a lot of D-men this year who can't move laterally or pivot quick enough. I think Pelech falls into this category at this point. He certainly has potential, but will need to improve his skating drastically.

Perhaps it would be fair to say that his skating persay isn't a problem but his mobility is? That is, he can go from point A to point B just fine, but its the quick movements/footwork required as a dman that he needs to work on?

Awkward is certainly a work I would use to describe him based on what I've seen - looks like a kid that has no clue how make that big 'ol body he's been blessed with do all the things he wants it to.
 

hockeyfan125

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Jul 10, 2004
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CofRed said:
I disagree. I saw him play a few times this year when I was in London over Christmas break. Although he isn't a terrible skater, his footspeed and especially his lateral movement is awkward. The new NHL has been exposing a lot of D-men this year who can't move laterally or pivot quick enough. I think Pelech falls into this category at this point. He certainly has potential, but will need to improve his skating drastically.
That is like Bryan Allen. Straight away speed he is one of the best on the Canucks, but his mobility is sub-par, albiet improving.
 

Dig Out Your Soul

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Aug 8, 2005
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sec17 said:
Pelech is bloody useless. He's size without skill and he'll never play in the new NHL, unless there's a sudden rush for defensemen who can't skate or pass or score and who take bad penalties and can't clear the zone.

Quoted for emphasis.

Pelech has been really, really bad at times during the playoffs.
 

CofRed

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Jul 28, 2005
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JiriHrdina said:
Perhaps it would be fair to say that his skating persay isn't a problem but his mobility is? That is, he can go from point A to point B just fine, but its the quick movements/footwork required as a dman that he needs to work on?

Awkward is certainly a work I would use to describe him based on what I've seen - looks like a kid that has no clue how make that big 'ol body he's been blessed with do all the things he wants it to.


That's exactly it. Skating isn't all about speed, especially for a D-man. He lacks quick feet, i.e. the ability to move laterally to get body position on the forwards...
 

CofRed

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jtuzzi said:
That is like Bryan Allen. Straight away speed he is one of the best on the Canucks, but his mobility is sub-par, albiet improving.


If Pelech turns out to be a Bryan Allen, Flames should be very happy.
 

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