Trevor Connelly…
Do the Wings take Trevor Connelly if he’s the most talented player on the board at 15? Why wouldn’t they? I would. I’ll get to why in a second.
No doubt, there’s a good chance the most talented forward on the board at 15OA will be Trevor Connelly. Yep, he has that baggage but you cannot debate his talent. He’s just as talented as Cole Eiserman.
That said, I’d heard a couple months ago that Detroit wouldn’t touch him. The last week or so, now some of those same people say Detroit may actually be targeting him.
Why I’d take him? He’s shown maturity in accepting the responsibility. If they’ve talked to him, and accept where he’s at maturity wise, they should absolutely take him. This isn’t some kid who attacked someone physically. He shared a very stupid, insulting to many people, picture when he was 13-14 years old, that had something shaped like a swastika. Most 13-14 year old kids have no idea the significance of what that means to people. Has anyone talked to young people these days about history? They haven’t a clue.
About 15 years ago, I spent a few years helping to coach high end AAA hockey, because I knew a group of boys from our street, went to one of their golf outings, and their coaches convinced me to get involved if I had some extra time. That turned into me being involved for 5-6 years. In those years, we had the reputation for taking kids nobody else would put up with anymore. They were more than a handful, to keep out of trouble. I still talk to a lot of those kids today. They’ve turned into great men. Some who’ve played at the highest level.
If we had social media when they were 13-14 years old, they never would’ve been given the chance. Sharing a photo you didn’t understand insulted so many people, shouldn’t stop you from living your dream.
If people want to argue, he snaps sometimes on the ice? So did kids like Travis Konecny and many others. It’s called maturing. A lot of the greats, took dumb penalties sometimes too. It happens.
So I’d take Trevor in a heartbeat, if he’s the most talented player on the board.
Tomorrow is gonna be real interesting. Especially if the most talented player on the board is Stian Solberg from Norway. Yep, another Dman, but one who’s pretty close to playing in the NHL already. If you just watched him at Worlds, you seen how good he can be.
The player most connected has been the other Norwegian, Brandsegg-Nygard. Hearing Detroit loves both kids from Norway.
15th overall is just so hard to predict. Kids are also gonna drop. Sometimes for a reason. Two others that are very offensively gifted, are Tarik Parascak and Ryder Ritchie, who may go much higher than some think. Wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if Yzerman took either at 15OA and laughs at anyone thinking he drafted the player too high.
Ritchie is a lot like Danielson in many ways, but he is more of a winger.. It’s hard being young and being the only player on your Jr team who can drive a line. Ritchie proved at the under 18s, how good he is, playing with other good players. Like Danielson, he was just stuck on a team without much help..
Then there’s more developmental players like Hage. Who I like a ton too. This time next year, watch how he’s looked at after playing at Michigan for a year. USHL kids still get a bad rap from the media draft folks.
So it’s hard to say what direction they’re gonna go. Just thought it interesting that Connelly could be the player they’ve been targeting all along, but it was said they wouldn’t touch him because he does have a history.
Make no mistake though. Trevor Connelly is the real deal. Just as talented as many who will go in the Top 6-8.
Personally I just wanna see Yzerman go up on stage and say he selects Cole Eiserman.
You can’t teach natural goal scoring. Cole Eiserman is the most natural goal scorer in this draft. Just can’t see him dropping for being a little immature in how he plays. He’s one of the youngest kids in the draft too. I just can’t see him falling that far. I think SJ trading to 11, makes sure he doesn’t fall.
That’s 5 of the 6 players they should be targeting with the pick. If Eiserman drops, or someone else they have rated high, then that changes things.
Right now, I think there’s a good bet they take Connelly, Brandskegg-Nygard, or Hage if they’re drafting a forward. With an outside chance they do take Ritchie or Parascak that high.
If Solberg or Yakemchuk fall to 15, they may have to make a tough decision and go D again. The upside is to great and Dmen can always be traded away for very talented forwards.
Always take the best player available in Round 1. It would be really hard watching Connelly be a star in the league, knowing you passed on him.
It would be real hard passing on Trevor Connelly.