Dickinson has superior athleticism..London is a wagon and Dickinson lead them in scoring. He has the skating to improve his D play going forward..
I'll take Dickinson's IQ over Yaks.
Parekh.. is the best offensively of the bunch from the draft last year . Highest IQ of the 3.
I think IQ is a very comprehensive and holistic concept with many facets. Parekh has the best offensive IQ. The way he sets up defenders, pivots, and keeps his head on a swivel is unbelievable. But there are times when he looks lost, frazzled, or mentally disengaged, which is concerning. In the game last night, he was on the penalty kill (I had no idea why he was on the PK), and he decided to force a play in his zone to create an ill-advised breakout. That resulted in a brutal turnover and a goal against. He also lacks the situational awareness to consistently avoid contact. I brought this up last year pre-draft—he’s easy to line up and forcefully hit. Karlsson had an extra "spidey sense" to avoid contact; Parekh has no such superpower. He also plays very selfishly at times, getting involved in these personal vendettas that don’t work in his favor and often going it alone.
He made more turnovers in last night’s game than Yakemchuk did in the entire first-round series, especially the catastrophic variety. So, in some areas, I think he has elite hockey sense; in others, he’s still a work in progress. I think a lot of GMs and hockey people would hesitate to determine whether his good sense or bad sense will reign at the NHL level. I think he’s going to be very interesting to monitor in his development, and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he ends up being a super star or a bust.
With Dickinson, I think once you disentangle him from the most talented team in the OHL (potentially all of the CHL), and when his freakish athleticism doesn’t give him such an advantage over his competition, we’ll get a better read on how good his hockey sense actually is. It didn’t look so hot at the WJC and he had the advantage of being paired with Bonk. Also, it makes a little easier to produce when you have guys on the fourth line capable of getting hattricks in playoff games. But that said, Dickinson has had a tremendous year and if I was touting him as my pick, I would be feeling very good right now, so cheers.
I find it strange Yakemchuk hasn't moved the needle a bit with the perception of his hockey sense. Staios has raved about his hockey sense and Green was praising how fast he absorbed information in pre-season. Yakemchuk totally restructures his style of play in Calgary for a new coach. . Scouching, in one of his mid-season videos, noted the improvements in his decision making. He essentially only pinches or takes risks at the most strategic of times. And yet, he gets no love.