C Michael McLeod (2016, 12th, NJD) Part II

[Devilsfan118]

Kid's still only 21, he's got time to develop. Sounds crazy because you have 18 year olds regularly breaking into the league now, but I'm not ready to give up on McLeod. Not yet.

As someone else said though, if the Devils bring Hughes into the equation it makes things complicated. That locks up the #1 and #2 spots for the foreseeable future, and the organization is not ready to give up on Zacha so he'll probably slot in at 3C (or maybe 2LW/RW?). So I don't really know where McLeod slots in.

This conversation is probably all moot anyway - he needs another year in the AHL imo. So we'll see where we're at next offseason.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

but to say anyone had Peterson first overall just isn’t true

It absolutely is true. There was a vocal minority that thought he was the best player in the draft.

 

[Oneiro]

Conveniently left out Ty Smith in the rant about first round drafting because it doesn't fit the (wrong) argument. Not to mention that the previous decade of picks before McLeod was another regime.

But why let facts interfere when it comes to biased diatribes?

 

[BurntToast]

It may be hard for synics to believe but Pettersson doing well doesn’t magically make Hischer bad. They are both solid youthes and they both exists. Hischer is a still on a great development arch. Maybe it’s not the best for everyone to compare players in different situations. It will be interesting to see how Pettersson responds next season after falling off a cliff in the second half. He was on pace for 40-50 goals.

 

[KovalchukFistPump]

Hischier was having a decent progression year with 42 pts in 54 games - 15 of those without Taylor Hall. Then the trade deadline happened and most of the team started getting injured. Finished the year with 0G 5A in his last 15 games on an absolutely dreadful lineup, plus he was injured. So yes, he's not McDavid and maybe isn't a superstar. That's fine if the Devils can get him to sign for 7M instead of the 11.5 that Matthews got. Plus the team was better off losing anyway.

In terms of McLeod, there is still plenty of time and next year he should get lots of time to be the top player on the AHL team. If he has another middling year, then yes it might be time to label him as a bust. I could actually see him getting traded in a package for a D this summer.

 

[kidkosher]

Rounds 2 and on is what determines the quality of your scouting staff. NJ has been cleaning up outside the first round. I believe 1st round is too small a sample size and still in early stages.

The next few years are gonna be big for the 2nd and onwards on the squad

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Conveniently left out Ty Smith in the rant about first round drafting because it doesn't fit the (wrong) argument. Not to mention that the previous decade of picks before McLeod was another regime.

But why let facts interfere when it comes to biased diatribes?

If you know you can’t shill well enough for your team to defend something that is clear, claim bias.

 

[Knarf9o5o1o4o9]

The good thing about players who skate fast is that if their other skills dont translate to the NHL, then they can become decent bottom 6 checkers, that arent complete plugs. Kind of like Scott Laughton

 

[My3Sons]

Ahhh....HFBoards where one person’s completely subjective opinion becomes ironclad fact applicable to everyone else.

 

[GeNeXt]

Given the 2017 first overall pick, how many teams are taking Pettersson at 1OA? Maybe instances where an individual anonymous scout pegs a player over the consensus, but I'd imagine that 31/31 NHL clubs were going either Nico/Nolan with the first overall pick.

 

[Oneiro]

If you know you can’t shill well enough for your team to defend something that is clear, claim bias.

Still didn't address the fact that we drafted the WHL Western D-man of the Year. In the first round. At #17. A kid who has destroyed the WHL all year long. Or that Larsson and Zacha were drafted by David Conte's staff, not Paul Castron.

But I guess our first round drafting sucks because your "evidence" is clear. Only bias would explain why you omitted those two facts conveniently.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Still didn't address the fact that we drafted the WHL Western D-man of the Year. In the first round. At #17. A kid who has destroyed the WHL all year long. Or that Larsson and Zacha were drafted by David Conte's staff, not Paul Castron.

I did address that.

I'm stating that the Devils probably didn't get their first round pick right ten times in a row. Thats poor drafting in the first round. The Smith pick might be the end to that, but McLeod is definitely part of that 10. It wasn't a good pick.

 

[Lays]

Given the 2017 first overall pick, how many teams are taking Pettersson at 1OA? Maybe instances where an individual anonymous scout pegs a player over the consensus, but I'd imagine that 31/31 NHL clubs were going either Nico/Nolan with the first overall pick.

It’s reported that the Rangers had Pettersson at 1st overall and we were desperately trying to trade up for him. I was praying he fell to us as I had him 1st as well. Same way we had Keller at 4th in 2016 and were trying to trade up for him as well

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Not ready to write him off yet in the least bit, but at the time I was really hoping they'd take a defenseman in Chychrun or McAvoy.

 

[MMC]

What's the deal with this kid? Seemed like he had a great D+1 season and I remember there being a lot of talk about him, though ever since there seems to be no talk of McLeod, he's played only 33 NHL games so far and has no goals.

 

[Wintersun]

To me it's a lack of hockey sense that won't allow him to be an offensive contributor, but with his skating and motor he may find himself in a bottom 6 role just fine I think.

 

[DJB]

To me it's a lack of hockey sense that won't allow him to be an offensive contributor, but with his skating and motor he may find himself in a bottom 6 role just fine I think.

He seemed destined to be a bottom 6 guy from the beginning. His lack of hockey sense was really evident from day one in the CHL.

I like McLeod. But it's also not his fault that he was drafted so highly as he was and hence those that say he hasn't come close to living up to expectations.

He should be a quality bottom 6 guy who can provide some speed and play on the pk.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Best case 3rd line center, probably an energy 4th liner/PKer if he cuts it in the NHL. He has no finish and is just limited generally offensively.

 

[AfroThunder396]

His shot sucks, his skating/speed advantage he had in junior has translated to being just good at the NHL level. No finish, lack of creativity, doesn't really use his size. Probably a 4th liner, maybe a 3rd liner.

It's pretty clear NJ was unhappy with how the top-10 shook out, the top-10 was well defined and when no one dropped they clearly had no idea what to do. Traded back one spot to give themselves more time. IMO the only reason he was picked was a stylistic one, this was Shero's first draft with his own people in charge and he really wanted to establish his vision. He wanted a skating team of fast two-way players.

At the time I wanted Chychrun and it's interesting to think how much better shape NJ would be, as defensive LHD is their biggest area of need right now. Hindsight shows a lot of other players that would have been better picks as well.

 

[Nocashstyle]

I just like to pretend Bratt was the Devils first round pick that year.

I can see McLeod establishing himself as a fourth line forward that can buzz around with his speed but that’s about it.

 

[KovalSNIPE]

I equated this before, but he's the type of player you have in NHL20 where he's got decent stats around the board but zero offensive awareness. Good defensive game, good skating, underrated physical ability, but every offensive category is lacking. From what I saw in his NHL games, and I could attribute this to being young, is that he just never got himself in a position to produce. It's not like he tried and the other team stopped him. He just simply never processed the idea of moving to a spot where he could score.

Tools but no toolbox. Makes okay plays but there's always a better one that he doesn't even process as an option.

If wee tried to pass, it was the safe pass or it got easily blocked. For example, if he was on the half boards and a teammate was cutting to the net backdoor, he wouldn't even process that. He'd try to make the safe play and probably tap it up to the defenseman or wrap it around the boards.

The biggest question of McLeod in his draft year was if his mind will ever catch up to the speed, and the jury is still out there on that. His mind doesn't process the game at the speed his body can move. Does he work hard? Big yes. That is why I do see him as an NHL player, but it'll be in a 3rd/4th line role/PK/faceoff guy.

 

[HuGort]

This year's Foudy?

 

[NJ Fan 12]

What's the deal with this kid? Seemed like he had a great D+1 season and I remember there being a lot of talk about him, though ever since there seems to be no talk of McLeod, he's played only 33 NHL games so far and has no goals.

Fairly standard development track for a bigger, two-way, mid-first round pick. Showed progress in his second pro season and was not out of place in a lower line role when he was with New Jersey.

About where he’s expected to be.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

3OA ranking by McKeen's in April 2016 Draft Rankings.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/prospects-blog/mckeens-2016-top-30-nhl-draft-rankings-apr-2016/

Those 3,4,5 picks

 

[Nocashstyle]

3OA ranking by McKeen's in April 2016 Draft Rankings.

https://www.mckeenshockey.com/prospects-blog/mckeens-2016-top-30-nhl-draft-rankings-apr-2016/

Those 3,4,5 picks

Woof