RW John McFarland (2010, 33rd overall, Florida)

LaLaLaprise

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Feb 28, 2002
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Ive heard he is pretty sick...but i think in order to be an exceptional player youd have to go #1...just my opinion.

He wouldnt be a lock to go 1st overall but id have to guess 90% chance he would be taken 1st overall ahead of the 91's.
 
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FTowwn

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Jan 25, 2006
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i think they would only make the exceptional pick if he is for sure going to be the #! overall draft choice... but who is this kid? havent heard any hype of him whatsoever
 

SpItFiReZ

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Jan 4, 2004
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Im a Spits fan and they have a shot at the 1st overall pick. I like the poster above have never heard of this kid.
 

John E. Ringo

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Im a Spits fan and they have a shot at the 1st overall pick. I like the poster above have never heard of this kid.

His big brother was your captain.

Very good potential, but did his damage playing bantam against his own age group this year (and with a stacked team to boot). Tavares, when granted exceptional status two years ago, played minor midget against the same players he ended up being drafted with. He did play up a few games and was productive.
 
Prior to the whole discussion about possibly being granted exceptional player status, how much had you guys heard about Tavares either though?

I have to agree that unless he's going to go 1st (which he could), he probably won't be allowed into the draft. O'Sullivan was rejected under the old system and he ended up going 1st a year later, and I think they're even more selective now.
 

philosophical___

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Jan 28, 2007
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if that's paul mcfarland's little brother, i was john mcfarland's assistant in kindergarten when he was 5 years old. i can't find a picture of him now, but he used to be blond.
 

benji

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Dec 8, 2002
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Too much.
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I read an article in THN where someone is management claimed that most of the OHL GM's wouldn't take him first overall this year. Take it for what it's worth, but what's so wrong with developping among your own age group in, just like basically everyone else except Tavares has done?
 

BruinsBtn

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Dec 24, 2006
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Prior to the whole discussion about possibly being granted exceptional player status, how much had you guys heard about Tavares either though?
QUOTE]

I for one, heard plenty about Tavares before he was granted exceptional player status. I even went to watch him play. His team must have been one of the most stacked in youth hockey history. They destroyed every team. He was the first line centre with Justin Vaive and some other awesome player on the wing. Sam Gagne was on the second line and honestly he didn´t even stand out that much -- though he was tournament MVP. Tavares, i think, was two years younger than anyone else. He wasn´t flashy, but he kept scoring goals.

If I can find the roster of that team, I´ll post it.
 

Juan

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John McFarland is a very good bantam player. However, he is not close to being exceptional in the way that the Hockey Canada guidelines require: a player akin to Crosby, Lindros, Lemieux, Gretzky and Spezza (those are the names used in the guidelines).

When Tavares was granted exceptional status, it was after a season in which he was the top scorer on the best team one age group older. He also had excellent stats in a handful of Jr. A games.

McFarland has played with his own age group for arguably the best bantam team in Ontario in the past 5-10 years. They are something like 70-0-2 on the season, and they likely could have been undefeated without McFarland (they easily beat Honeybaked early in the season without McFarland and Chase Balisy in the lineup). He has played a handful of games one age group up, many of which I have seen. In some of those games (recent Rebels game) he was outstanding, in others (recent Marlies game) he was invisible and clearly struggling with the size and strength of the other players.

In fact, I'm not convinced that McFarland will be a great OHL player, let alone worthy of exceptional draft status. I'm really not sure that his game will translate at the next level. He dominates his own age group right now because he is one of the bigger, stronger kids (about 6'0", 175 lbs), he has above-average speed and he has a tremendously quick shot. However, 90% of the time he tries (and is able) to beat the defenseman on the outside - that won't work in the OHL nearly as often. He is able to beat goalies in his own age group with shots that are routine for goalies in the OHL. Finally, he is quite the bully and stickwork artist, which allows him to intimidate opponents in his own age group. Obviously, that tactic will be much less effective in the OHL, especially given that it doesn't look like he is going to grow that much taller.

Bottom line - there are at least 5 1991's I would draft ahead of McFarland without even thinking about it, so I'm not sure why it's necessary or warranted, from the OHL's perspective, to grant him exceptional status. The original purpose of this process was not to simply let the best player in an age group be drafted a year early.
 

Big Phil

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Nov 2, 2003
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I'll be honest until I read the article about McFarland in THN I had never heard of him. Hey it great he's getting some exposure and I wouldnt be able to tell you if he's like Tavares but that would be high praise if he was. Tavares is creeping close to Crosby-like numbers at the same age.

Keep in mind although McFarland is getting the press I want to remind you of other times the media has over-hyped prospects.

In 1998 Thatcher Bell was thought of to be a hot prospect for the 2000 draft.
During the '98-99 season Lou Dickenson was thought to be a "top 5 pick easily" in the 2000 draft on the 2000 Draft center on HF's website (sorry guys)
Dont get me going about others like Angelo Esposito, Jared Staal (best of the Staal boys, apparently) and Patrick Stefan. In the '98-99 season THN was wrote that a scout predicted that Stefan would be a 100+ point scorer.

You see its so easy to put a tag on a kid so early. The media loves to overhype them. But remember for every Crosby or Ovechkin, there are about 5-10 cant mis guys that never pan out as expected. Either way good luck McFarland
 

Superfly Jimmy Snuka

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Prior to the whole discussion about possibly being granted exceptional player status, how much had you guys heard about Tavares either though?

I had heard about Tavares oddly enough through my dentist whos son played on the Milton JR A team which Tavares played some games with as a 13 year old
 

Boomhower

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He should have to be a top 3 pick IMO.

Tavares was very well known before going up for exceptional status, he and Gagner put up really inflated point totals playing on the same team in Toronto.
 

cbj21

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This is all news to me. What im wondering about is the fact both kane and Gagner is born 89 and rookies of OHL and will be in this years draft while Tavares born 90 is in his second OHL year already will be in next years draft? Does that mean tavares skipped 2 years?
 

Boomhower

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This is all news to me. What im wondering about is the fact both kane and Gagner is born 89 and rookies of OHL and will be in this years draft while Tavares born 90 is in his second OHL year already will be in next years draft? Does that mean tavares skipped 2 years?

First, Kane is an '88

Second, it means Kane didn't report to London for two years and it took Gagner 1 year to report to London. Otherwise, Kane would be in his third year and Gagner his second.
 
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Superfly Jimmy Snuka

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This is all news to me. What im wondering about is the fact both kane and Gagner is born 89 and rookies of OHL and will be in this years draft while Tavares born 90 is in his second OHL year already will be in next years draft? Does that mean tavares skipped 2 years?

tavares is not draft eligible until 2009
 

cbj21

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So that means Tavares will play 4 seasons in OHL before he is availabe for the drafts while both kane and gagner is in theire first year and drafties. Confusing
 

Redwingsfan

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Jul 15, 2006
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So that means Tavares will play 4 seasons in OHL before he is availabe for the drafts while both kane and gagner is in theire first year and drafties. Confusing

not really. tavares started playing in the ohl one year to early plus he is a late born 90 so he is not eligible until the 09 draft. the first year he played he was really not supposed to play, but was granted exeptional status allowing him to play anyways. then there is year 2 and 3 wich he would have been allowed to play no matter what. then comes year 4 because he is born later then september 15th so he cant be drafted in 08 and has to wait to 09 wich means he has completed 4 full seasons in the OHL on he's draft day.

Pat kane is a late born 88 wich means he had to wait 3 years to be drafted to the NHL after being drafted to the OHL. he could have played in the OHL the two first years after being drafted, but decided not to i guess.

sam gagner is born in 89 but was not given exeptional status for the OHL draft wich ment he couldnt play in the OHL before he was really supposed to, but he decided to play in the USHL for one year after being drafted and so this is he's first season in the OHL and he's draft year.

its not really that complicated.

skjønner du det nå??;)
 

Big Phil

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Is John McFarland the clear cut #1?

For the OHL draft in '08 is McFarland clearly #1? There was an article about him a year ago about playing early in the OHL (re: Tavares) but he was turned down. He was thought to have special status. Can he light it up in the OHL? And how will he do in the NHL once the 2010 draft comes?
 

JFA87-66-99

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I would like to know this also? I heard he wasn't doing as well this season, but he is still ranked #1 for the draft.
 

Canuck71*

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Some of his teammates on his Minor Midget team have more points than he does. He is a great player but when he asked the OHL to grant him an acception of playing a year early they must a laughed a bit. He is good but definetly not Tavares good, hes a cocky player as well.
 

scoutman1

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Feb 19, 2005
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here are the top scorers on the Jr. Canadians listed in GP, Goals, assists and points...in MacFarlands defense he has played 8 less games than the top scorer.

Tyler Toffoli - 6'.0 180lbs 67 55 93 148

John Macfarland - 6'1 190lbs 59 80 55 135

Chasen Balisy - 6'0 185lbs 69 30 77 107

Cody Mcnaughton - 5.10 175lbs 65 49 55 104
 

McMatthews

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Sep 12, 2007
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Some of his teammates on his Minor Midget team have more points than he does. He is a great player but when he asked the OHL to grant him an acception of playing a year early they must a laughed a bit. He is good but definetly not Tavares good, hes a cocky player as well.

hockey wise or is he a jerk?
 

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