Did a lot of WHL stuff this year and seen him play many times. First 5-6 times, wasn’t even to watch him play, but it was tough watching Kamloops and him not grabbing attention.
He’s your typical Yzerman draft pick at forward. He’ll play in the dirty areas and creates space in traffic. Great vision too. There’s a lot of Robbie Fabbri in him. More how Fabbri plays today. Not as wide open as he played in juniors, but that entire, go get the puck and use your vision, and feel for the game, to make things happen.
One note, he’s stronger than he was in camp with Detroit last year. I’d say he’s put on a good 12-15 pounds of natural strength/muscle this year. So his lanky body/frame on draft day, is no longer a concern. He’s able to get bigger and stronger.
Lastly, he was a young draft pick last summer. He’s still only 18. So they took a bet on his physical frame being able to mature, against some of the feeling out there, and he’s doing just that.
Funny how things change in a year. Especially for a younger draft pick. Several of this year’s Top draft prospects aren’t much younger than Finnie. If he were 3 months younger, and in this draft, instead of last year’s, he’d easily be a 2nd round pick, and nobody would be surprised if he landed in the later half of round one. His vision is really good, and his feet are quick enough to process what he wants to do. That’s a Top 50 pick every year.
Perfect example of what a crapshoot drafting 17-18 year old kids really is, and how things can change in just a year, with opportunities. He had a stretch of games last season playing with Minton, that showed how talented he could be. Guarantee that’s what caught Detroit’s eye as a 17 year old.. Playing for the perfect coach too.
Not sure he isn’t traded to one of the big WHL teams for next year, but we’ll see come October. Big value pick for Detroit.
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