Prospect Info: Michael DiPietro (Mikey)

[WonderTwinsUnite]

Very good junior goalie who'll be fun to watch at the next 2 WJCs hopefully but probably too small for the NHL. Don't like this pick much, and feel the positive reaction is more based on drafting a familiar name than actual potential.

I don't know about being too small. DiPietro's 6-0 height isn't ideal, but his wingspan is 77.50 inches, just half an inch less than the 6-4 Oettinger (78.00 inches) and two inches less than the 6-5 Keith Petruzzelli (79.50).

 

[I am toxic]

I don't know about being too small. DiPietro's 6-0 height isn't ideal, but his wingspan is 77.50 inches, just half an inch less than the 6-4 Oettinger (78.00 inches) and two inches less than the 6-5 Keith Petruzzelli (79.50).

Agreed.

Price is not much taller and outperforms bigger goalies.

Torso length can also have an impact, since wide bfly is obsolete imo

 

[NoShowWilly]

could he possibly be a starter for Canada next year in Vancouver?

 

[TruGr1t]

I don't know about being too small. DiPietro's 6-0 height isn't ideal, but his wingspan is 77.50 inches, just half an inch less than the 6-4 Oettinger (78.00 inches) and two inches less than the 6-5 Keith Petruzzelli (79.50).

You should send this info to Sekeres, asap.

 

[F A N]

Agreed.

Price is not much taller and outperforms bigger goalies.

Torso length can also have an impact, since wide bfly is obsolete imo

Carey Price was/is 6'3"

 

[F A N]

Very good junior goalie who'll be fun to watch at the next 2 WJCs hopefully but probably too small for the NHL. Don't like this pick much, and feel the positive reaction is more based on drafting a familiar name than actual potential.

I think the positive reaction is that if he was taller he would likely be considered a potential first round pick. Even without ideal height, one can argue he's the best goalie in the draft.

 

[mossey3535]

Pretty excited for this guy.

Either we are ahead of the curve (which may be bouncing back towards actual puck-stopping ability as opposed to raw size that has acceptable mobility), or we're the doomed early adopters.

Really like his battle and explosiveness.

Need to get him some time with Rollie in Utica. Anyone know if he's going to be at UBC?

 

[mossey3535]

Canucks Army:
The biggest knock against DiPietro is not his size, but rather his ability to effectively utilize his 6-foot-1 frame. He reads plays well and is an excellent puck-tracker, but his skating strategy needs to improve by the time he reaches the professional level. Goaltenders that have a similar frame achieve success by beating passes on their feet. DiPietro, on the other hand, has an initial tendency to slide across. The downside of that is not just the fact that he is down in the butterfly early, reducing his size, but it also means that he loses the ability to move laterally back the other way if there is a returning pass. At 6-foot-1, he�ll need to play more aggressively than other larger goaltenders, and the ability to hold his edges is something he is required to master moving forward.

Problem with this scouting report is that slide-happiness is pretty much a pandemic in younger goalies coming into the league.

Lauding his focus and puck tracking is the most important take-away here. Those are the core skills a goalie absolutely needs. Add that to his quickness and I'm very happy.

Also, saying that he will have to play more aggressively and then saying he will have to hold his edges more is at odds. If he's going to challenge more, then he will have to slide more to beat lateral plays. You can't shuffle to beat lateral plays from a higher position. This is the brilliance of Melanson's "toes in the blue" idea when the play is in the zone. DiPietro can learn to hold his edges in these scenarios when cross-ice is more likely, but retain a challenging depth on rush plays.

 

[PhilMick]

Did anyone see that fact in the Hockey News that he shut out three different teams in their teddy bear toss games?

 

[LickTheEnvelope]

Did anyone see that fact in the Hockey News that he shut out three different teams in their teddy bear toss games?

... that's the most strange goalie stat I've ever heard...

 

[Petrichor]

If he can be a regular starter in Utica, then this would be a huge win. But we're likely not going to see him in Canuck colours until 5 years later, as a call-up or something.

 

[denkiteki]

A bit worried about his size and overall not a huge fan of this pick (since drafting goalies isn't exactly easy). Remember goalies generally take even longer than D to develop and given the time required to develop, often time there are decent goalie prospects out there who were passed up in the draft but developed exceptionally well in the years after.

For example Garteig wasn't drafted but showed some signs he'll be a decent AHL goalie next year (if he gets to play there) and possibly a NHL backup in the future. Martin Jones is a probably a better example of a undrafted goalie who is right now probably a top 10 goalie in the league.

Also note that most NHL starters seem to be 6'2 or taller... not sure if there are any NHL starters left under 6'2... One of the primary reasons Bachman is a NHL/AHL journey is his size or lack of size (being 5'10).

 

[I am toxic]

Carey Price was/is 6'3"

My bad, meant to reference Lundqvist. Even tho Price isnt really 6 3, dipietro's height is also probably overstated.

 

[Trelane]

Was sort of expecting a goalie and one every three years is better than one in two. Can't leave it entirely to FA.

Not sure the wingspan is going to help once he faces pro snipers who like to buzz them by the ears even with tall goalies just as they start to go down. This one will have to compensate by challenging early, meaning he'll be more exposed to back doors. But maybe I'll be surprised.

 

[groov2]

Problem with this scouting report is that slide-happiness is pretty much a pandemic in younger goalies coming into the league.

Lauding his focus and puck tracking is the most important take-away here. Those are the core skills a goalie absolutely needs. Add that to his quickness and I'm very happy.

Also, saying that he will have to play more aggressively and then saying he will have to hold his edges more is at odds. If he's going to challenge more, then he will have to slide more to beat lateral plays. You can't shuffle to beat lateral plays from a higher position. This is the brilliance of Melanson's "toes in the blue" idea when the play is in the zone. DiPietro can learn to hold his edges in these scenarios when cross-ice is more likely, but retain a challenging depth on rush plays.

Nice to have other goaltenders in the forum. It has driven me nuts how obsessed the league has become with tall goalies who play a blocking only style.

DiPietro has a nice technical foundation. He likes to play in a deep crouch, which goes well with how he tracks the puck and his wingspan. This also makes him good down low and with screens. I wouldn't mind seeing him stand up a little taller. Aside from a technical foundation, reflexes/puck tracking and desperation are the most important attributes in a goaltender to me. I do like his competitiveness to stop the puck at all costs.

 

[Brock]

I had Dipietro as the 7th best OHL'er available this year.

http://ohlprospects.blogspot.ca/2017/05/my-final-top-50-ohl-players-for-2017_16.html

He was 9th on my final media/scout poll.

http://ohlprospects.blogspot.ca/2017/06/final-mediascout-poll-for-2017-nhl-draft.html

 

[DL44]

Been highly skeptical of Nedeljkovic's potential due to his height despite how highly touted he's been.
Hart is in the same size tier.. as is Saros the Nashville backup.

Any current 6 foot starters in the league?
Bernier was close.. but not good enough.

 

[mossey3535]

Nice to have other goaltenders in the forum. It has driven me nuts how obsessed the league has become with tall goalies who play a blocking only style.

DiPietro has a nice technical foundation. He likes to play in a deep crouch, which goes well with how he tracks the puck and his wingspan. This also makes him good down low and with screens. I wouldn't mind seeing him stand up a little taller. Aside from a technical foundation, reflexes/puck tracking and desperation are the most important attributes in a goaltender to me. I do like his competitiveness to stop the puck at all costs.

Exactly. His ability to play outside the system is something that I believe is almost impossible to teach. You see some of the bigger goalies seemingly give up on plays when they don't go as "scripted". Crawford a couple seasons back tried to become "more athletic" and he just ended up lunging and diving at everything. Battle level is more of a talent than a skill IMO.

IMO with such an athletic guy like this the issue will always be possibly training him into rigidity, not the other way around.

Melanson helped Theodore stand taller when he came into the league so I'm pretty sure he will do something similar here.

 

[Tobi Wan Kenobi]

Been highly skeptical of Nedeljkovic's potential due to his height despite how highly touted he's been.
Hart is in the same size tier.. as is Saros the Nashville backup.

Any current 6 foot starters in the league?
Bernier was close.. but not good enough.

Quick is 6'1 at most. Probably a little under

 

[groov2]

Exactly. His ability to play outside the system is something that I believe is almost impossible to teach. You see some of the bigger goalies seemingly give up on plays when they don't go as "scripted". Crawford a couple seasons back tried to become "more athletic" and he just ended up lunging and diving at everything. Battle level is more of a talent than a skill IMO.

IMO with such an athletic guy like this the issue will always be possibly training him into rigidity, not the other way around.

Melanson helped Theodore stand taller when he came into the league so I'm pretty sure he will do something similar here.

Bang on. This is what made Joseph, Roy, and Hasek so good, especially in the playoffs. More recently: Murray, Quick, Price, and Crawford.

 

[Street Hawk]

Bleh, don't like drafting goalies. They are a dime a dozen in today's NHL and would rather sign or trade for one when the time comes that you need one.

Price of acquiring a goalie since 2015:

Calgary - Smith cost them Prospect Hickey (3rd rounder), and a conditional 3rd that moves to a 2nd if Cal makes the playoffs, which I think they should.

Edm - Talbot cost them a 2nd and a 3rd rounder

SJ - Jones cost them a 1st rounder

But - Lehner cost them a 1st rounder

Dal - rights to Bishop cost them a 4th rounder

Cal - Elliott cost them a 2nd rounder

Car - Darling cost them a 3rd rounder

Car - Lack cost them a 3rd rounder

Tor - Andersen cost them a 1st and 2nd rounder

Min - Dubnyk cost them a 3rd rounder

Typically costs at least what the Canucks used on Dipietro, so why not take the chance yourself and hope you land something. Anything more proven costs more.

 

[mossey3535]

A bit worried about his size and overall not a huge fan of this pick (since drafting goalies isn't exactly easy). Remember goalies generally take even longer than D to develop and given the time required to develop, often time there are decent goalie prospects out there who were passed up in the draft but developed exceptionally well in the years after.

For example Garteig wasn't drafted but showed some signs he'll be a decent AHL goalie next year (if he gets to play there) and possibly a NHL backup in the future. Martin Jones is a probably a better example of a undrafted goalie who is right now probably a top 10 goalie in the league.

Also note that most NHL starters seem to be 6'2 or taller... not sure if there are any NHL starters left under 6'2... One of the primary reasons Bachman is a NHL/AHL journey is his size or lack of size (being 5'10).

Thing is that there is a huge bias towards (pun intended) towards taller goalies right now, but that is more of a factor of the copycat nature of the league. We get a couple of tall guys who are actually very mobile and excellent skaters and suddenly GM's just want to draft tall guys.

Ironically, if the league would actually open up instead of being stuck in a defensive mindset (that is largely brought on by coaches trying to keep their jobs IMO) then the taller goalie would be at a disadvantage. The collapsing defences and huge amount of shot-blocking favours guys who can block.

IMO we will get some sort of bounceback as we are at the extreme end of the 'size' trend towards more a more rounded set of criteria. Like I said, with this pick we are early adopters going against the trend a little. But there's nothing to say that a smaller goalie can't thrive in the NHL other than the pre-existing bias towards tall guys, many of whom are not actually that good.

 

[mossey3535]

Quick is 6'1 at most. Probably a little under

Off the top of my head, Howard as well. I also don't believe some of the 6'2" guys are actually 6'2".

 

[DustyMartellaughs]

The casual fan won't care how tall DiPietro is as long as he has nice pads and a cool paint job on his mask. The percentage of fans, casual or fanatical, who can accurately assess a goalie is up there with Benning's chances of landing public speaking gigs.

 

[DL44]

Off the top of my head, Howard as well. I also don't believe some of the 6'2" guys are actually 6'2".

The best visual metric I always use are pictures of teammates standing next to each other to get a relative perspective...

Quick appears to be between 6 and 6'1... based on some I've seen of him beside Doughty or toffoli or Lewis. Usually in some post game pic celebrating a win.