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There were a lot of people predicting he wouldn't put up many points, but I think he's done well enough here to squash that narrative.
He has 10 more points than what he scored last year
Adjusted for age its about on par with what he did last year. Last year's age and league adjusted ppg was 1.14, this year is 1.11 (with one game left). To keep on par with that, he would need to put up roughly between 110 to 115 over 68 games next season. If he was to play 56 games (because at the very least he should miss some games for NHL camp and WJC), he would need around 95-100. This isn't a situation like Kyrou or Cliff Pu, where their rapid improvement in ppg actually has improved relative to what you expect will naturally occur as a player gets older in junior.11, actually.
An 18% increase from last year is pretty sizable. He can't even play in the AHL next year because of his age so I'd expect him to score even more next year when his age actually becomes an advantage..
He has 10 more points than what he scored last year
It is marginal given that he is now a year older in a league with an age requirement. He basically kept pace with what is expected. Yes, they lost Alex Nylander, but Tippett, McLeod and Bastian are now a year older, plus they added a very good overrager (Spencer Watson).Are you implying that an increase from 1.07 Pts per game to 1.28 is only a marginal increase? Because it's not, especially given the loss of Alex Nylander.
No matter how you slice it, being 13th in ppg is pretty impressive, along with his skating, defense and 60% face off percentageIt is marginal given that he is now a year older in a league with an age requirement. He basically kept pace with what is expected. Yes, they lost Alex Nylander, but Tippett, McLeod and Bastian are now a year older, plus they added a very good overrager (Spencer Watson).
He's basically stayed the course as a prospect, which is fine. I don't think he's done anything to raise or decrease his stock. OHL also doesn't really have many elite forward prospects in it this year outside of Strome. It is good that he basically stayed the course, while the other CHL centers drafted around him have had disappointing seasons statistically (both PLD and Brown's age-adjusted numbers rapidly decreased). But, I don't think his numbers improved enough that if you doubted his ability to be an offensive center at the NHL level, that you all of a sudden have to re-evaluate. He didn't have a rapid improvement like Sam Steel where you have to start re-evaluating him.No matter how you slice it, being 13th in ppg is pretty impressive, along with his skating, defense and 60% face off percentage
He's basically stayed the course as a prospect, which is fine. I don't think he's done anything to raise or decrease his stock. OHL also doesn't really have many elite forward prospects in it this year outside of Strome. It is good that he basically stayed the course, while the other CHL centers drafted around him have had disappointing seasons statistically (both PLD and Brown's age-adjusted numbers rapidly decreased). But, I don't think his numbers improved enough that if you doubted his ability to be an offensive center at the NHL level, that you all of a sudden have to re-evaluate. He didn't have a rapid improvement like Sam Steel where you have to start re-evaluating him.
He's still behind a decent amount of people from his own draft class, Mascherin, Debrincat (late birthday), Raddysh, Kyrou, and Pu. Nick Suzuki is younger. Only older guys ahead are Dylan Strome, Palmu, Bracco, Moore, Sherwood, and Watson.not to mention most of the guys ahead of him in points per game are older
Not to mention that he's a physical beast compared to most of the players in the OHL. Mcleod is more skilled but it's like when Lazar scored 41 goals in his draft +1 because of his physical advantage.
His offense translating has to do his lack of hockey IQ.
What's weird is that he actually has pretty good vision, which IMO is a big part of hockey IQ. So maybe things will "click" eventually. He certainly has skill and speed to become a top 6 player or he could become a Paajarvi.
A lot of people throw the word "hockey IQ" around when they have an opinion they can't justify. I'm not saying you're wrong, but you need to be a lot more specific about what you mean. Saying he has bad hockey IQ could mean so many different things, you might as well just say you don't like him.
I try to follow prospects who are divisive. I tried to pay attention to McLeod this season and see what some like in him. There's a lot to like from him like his effort, skating, and so on. However, I often hear that he's a great defensive player. Personally, that's a part of his game that has often been a letdown for me. He often gets caught out of position, defensively, making bad reads. Also, I think he does a fairly poor job of managing his speed. It's great that he pushes the pace all the time but pro's will adapt to that pretty quickly. Players like Yakupov just can't blow by everybody in the NHL like they did in junior. He has some assets but he doesn't use them particulary well. May also explain why he hasn't done as well against good teams. It's clear he can exploit weak defenses, with his skating, however. Also. he doesn't do that good a job getting open either. He goes to the net, that's great, but at some point you have to get open, so your teammates can feed you the puck. At to that an unimpressive shot, that's all stuff to work on IMO.
I try to follow prospects who are divisive. I tried to pay attention to McLeod this season and see what some like in him. There's a lot to like from him like his effort, skating, and so on. However, I often hear that he's a great defensive player. Personally, that's a part of his game that has often been a letdown for me. He often gets caught out of position, defensively, making bad reads. Also, I think he does a fairly poor job of managing his speed. It's great that he pushes the pace all the time but pro's will adapt to that pretty quickly. Players like Yakupov just can't blow by everybody in the NHL like they did in junior. He has some assets but he doesn't use them particulary well. May also explain why he hasn't done as well against good teams. It's clear he can exploit weak defenses, with his skating, however. Also. he doesn't do that good a job getting open either. He goes to the net, that's great, but at some point you have to get open, so your teammates can feed you the puck. At to that an unimpressive shot, that's all stuff to work on IMO.
Still haven't seen any stats to back up this claim. Would love to see them, honestly. Seems like it mostly grew from anecdotal evidence and well, I'd like to see actual evidence.
Do you watch games? He constantly makes him self available for passes on the rush and in the zone. I think one of his attributes actually is making him self available for easy passes. That's a pretty curious statement from what I've seen of him.
vs. top-12 teams
McLeod: 26 pts in 28 gp (0.93 ppg)
Pu: 47/39=1.21
Tippett: 33/30=1.1
Kyrou: 64/46=1.39
Suzuki: 53/35=1.51
Cirelli: 28/31=0.93
Thomas: 36/40=0.9
Strome: 43/21=2.05
PPG vs. top-12 teams / PPG overall
McLeod: 0.72
Pu: 0.89
Tippett: 0.87
Kyrou: 0.98
Suzuki: 1.02
Cirelli: 0.72
Thomas: 0.90
Strome: 0.96
You said it, on the rush.