I agree his speed isnt at par but he seems like someone who could end up being a steal at where he was taken considering the numbers he put up last season and this season. I don't really know what the knock on him was though for him falling to a third round pick, he has decent size listed at 6'0" and 195 lbs. by the OHL website. I remember seeing him as a high pick in the second round but I'm not sure about it so if anyone can let me know why he fell to where he did and where he was supposed to be picked before the draft that would be great.
I believe it was because he was very poor in his first year that the scouts thought his linemates were the reason he was putting up so many points in the first year and I think he is playing on a pretty bad team right now and certainly proved them wrong. So he pretty much fell because scouts thought his linemates were carrying him, turns out it wasn't true.
He was projected in the 2nd round and just barely fell so kudos to Leafs scouting who thought he was better. I think the Leafs made a solid pick. He is versatile as he can play any forward position, has a decent shot, can play gritty, good vision and passing skills and isn't afraid to get into the dirty areas and he's improved his defense. Skating needs work but from what I saw in training camp, it was decent, nothing slow but not overly quick either. I think is also a captain (?).
He may need to work on being more consistent, he started off unbelievably hot early in the year then cooled off and is heating up again (recently had a 4 goal game performance). Though he also plays on a bad team so that could be related to his consistency issues.
Could be a good 2nd liner IMO.