I just dont get why he flys so far under the radar... he puts up similar #'s to Clarke, on a team that was worse.... and people praised Clarke for that.
Guess cause he isnt canadian, and i think russia not being in any tournaments prob hurts his viewing a bit, even tho he plays in the CHL.
I'll play devil's advocate on Clarke v Minty. It's possible that Clarke is rated highly because he's more of a refined offensive defenseman rather than being mistaken for a 4th forward. Maybe the scout writer views it in a Theodore vs Montour perspective. Also, Clarke was very productive in a Slovakian league when the OHL shutdown.
What makes Clarke more projectable than Minty is tha Clarke has a longer track record to follow by playing on NA ice. Minty missed all of 2020-21 due to the OHL being shutdown and has only this past year of proof of his offense, which came out of nowhere.
The combo of not having enough of a track record and playing like Monty are reasons why THW and Pronman aren't so high on him.
There is an elephant in the room about Clarke, though, and it's his awkward skating style. That won't be a problem for Minty and I think there's more potential in Minty that just needs a longer burn for everyone else to accept that Minty should be in the conversation with Clarke.
thehockeywriters.com
