McQueen reminds too much of Kirby Dach. I would stay away. I am sick of injuries
There is some of that. And even than, taking only their respective pre-draft profiles in consideration, I actually like Dach's draft-year showing more than I currently do McQueen.
McQueen has a better blend of size/reach/skating than Dach at the same age, and more room to grow into physically, but I don't like McQueen's off-puck play nearly as much as I did Kirby Dach's during his draft year.
And aside from a better shot/release on McQueen's part and slightly better grasp of holes in D-zone coverage to plunk himself in, I don't think his offensive skillset compares favorably to draft-year Dach as well, quite the contrary in fact.
Dach handled the puck better in his draft year, was way better battling along the boards or screening a goalie than McQueen currently is, more aggressive physically, passed the puck much better, and just read the play at a higher level overall I feel.
More pressing though, is that I find that in my showings McQueen failed to show consistently good anticipation of the play defensively even at the WHL level, and that to me is a major red flag in projecting him as a center at the NHL level.
Then there's also the fact that I saw McQueen get caught puck-watching and lose his man in more than one occasion when coverage needed to switch-around with a D partner. And that he similarly wasn't good at read/blocking passing lanes defensively in those games that I saw, another critical skill for a center-hopeful to have if he wants to ever be effective in that position at the NHL level.
All of that makes me seriously question whether or not McQueen will stick at center at the NHL level. Unless he improves massively in those areas (which to be fair he certainly could, and make me look foolish while doing it), I actually think he will be a winger in the pros rather than a center.
That's where I currently stand with McQueen. I had him higher in my top-10 to start the year, then watched him a bit more closely and just feel that some other players have elevated their draft positions a lot more than he has his.
I had McQueen at #6 to start the year, after Hagens, Martone, Misa, Schaefer. and Ryabkin.
Now I think I would have him #8 with Spence, Desnoyers, and Smith taking over (and Ryabkin similarly falling).
I'd say that out of this year's top-10 or so prospects, there are only 4 pure centers out of that bunch; Hagens, Misa, Desnoyers, and Frondell. The rest are wingers (Martone, Spence, McQueen, Eklund, Ryabkin) and 2 defensemen (Schaefer and Smith).
Those are the options for teams looking for centers high in the draft.
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