D Lukas Dragicevic - Tri-City Americans, WHL (2023, 57th, SEA)
- Thread starter GermanSpitfire
- Start date
Sweetpotato
Registered User
Not the same player or size etc but from the descriptions and clips seems like a Burns, Byfuglien or Dumba type. Not sure I see the Bouchard comp because Drags skating seems better at the same age where as Bouchard was more of cerebral passer than a skate it out of his zone type.
Juxtaposer
Outro: Divina Comedia
His skating in that clip is just so bizarre. He never fully extends his legs to build power but he gets where he’s going in a hurry.
GermanSpitfire
EU Video Scout for McKeen’s | Rest Easy #13
Not like them in my opinion - at least physically. Both those guys were rather physical at the same age. You can’t say that for Dragicevic
landy92mack29
Registered User
He reminds me more of an Alex Edler. Choppy strides, but gets where he needs to go. Play style is very similar too.
Blue Chip Prospect
Registered User
Most likely next week ! I wanted to do something different this week but Dragi is coming soon.
I think his recognition of passing lanes, pressure, and the location of the opposing players is what is underrated about Dragiceveic. He has a sense of the "flow" of the game that is hard to grasp. It's also what people continually comment on, about how hard explaining this player is. I agree with that, but once I started to really understand why he was doing what he was doing, it clicked. He is so patient with the puck. He doesn't force passes generally, he activates when he needs to, but mostly waits for lanes to develop for breakouts.
The best example is that skyhook pass from the U18 games yesterday if anyone saw it. He gets the puck in his zone, recognizes that he has two open passing options, teammates in front of him. The problem is there was this huge wall of defenders sitting in the neutral zone. He knows that if he breaks that puck out to his two options, they are likely to get nowhere, get battled in the neutral zone, and the puck is likely coming right back to him. So, he adjusts instantly, lobs a gorgeous pass over every defender, and away goes his teammate on a break.
He's just so smart with how he creates offense and passes the puck in transition. It's really projectable.
There are so many concerns with his game with his skating and his defense, but from a projectable offensive mind from a defender, he's one of the best in the draft IMO.
I made these clips a few months ago but they're more examples:
Dragicevic is at the top of the screen in white in the right defense position. Watch how he gets this puck, and has two passing options immediately available. There's a player skating back into the zone, halfway between the lines, and another player just visible at the top of the screen. Dragicevic however recognizes the flow of play, with two Prince George players in the area who would immediately be able to challenge the puck carrier if he passed to them. So, he holds. He waits, and he draws in the attacker enough to launch a cross ice pass perfectly on the tape of an uncovered man. Excellent understanding of the flow of players, and reversing the play to break out.
He recognizes the play is breaking down, so he intercepts the stretch pass after leaving the offensive zone. Now his body is facing the benches, as is essentially 7 other players on the ice. Everyone has overloaded that side. So instead of trying to deke around two players, or backing up into the zone, or trying to land a pass through traffic, he immediately reverses. He spins, anticipating the weakside option. Then in perfect form, he hits him on the tape in a split second. Excellent play recognition, reversal of play, turning nothing into something, and capped off with simply superb passing skill
The best example is that skyhook pass from the U18 games yesterday if anyone saw it. He gets the puck in his zone, recognizes that he has two open passing options, teammates in front of him. The problem is there was this huge wall of defenders sitting in the neutral zone. He knows that if he breaks that puck out to his two options, they are likely to get nowhere, get battled in the neutral zone, and the puck is likely coming right back to him. So, he adjusts instantly, lobs a gorgeous pass over every defender, and away goes his teammate on a break.
He's just so smart with how he creates offense and passes the puck in transition. It's really projectable.
There are so many concerns with his game with his skating and his defense, but from a projectable offensive mind from a defender, he's one of the best in the draft IMO.
I made these clips a few months ago but they're more examples:
Dragicevic is at the top of the screen in white in the right defense position. Watch how he gets this puck, and has two passing options immediately available. There's a player skating back into the zone, halfway between the lines, and another player just visible at the top of the screen. Dragicevic however recognizes the flow of play, with two Prince George players in the area who would immediately be able to challenge the puck carrier if he passed to them. So, he holds. He waits, and he draws in the attacker enough to launch a cross ice pass perfectly on the tape of an uncovered man. Excellent understanding of the flow of players, and reversing the play to break out.
He recognizes the play is breaking down, so he intercepts the stretch pass after leaving the offensive zone. Now his body is facing the benches, as is essentially 7 other players on the ice. Everyone has overloaded that side. So instead of trying to deke around two players, or backing up into the zone, or trying to land a pass through traffic, he immediately reverses. He spins, anticipating the weakside option. Then in perfect form, he hits him on the tape in a split second. Excellent play recognition, reversal of play, turning nothing into something, and capped off with simply superb passing skill
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MMC
Global Moderator
Dominance
99-66-4-9-87/97
In Nelson and Dragicevic, Seattle’s picked up two offense-drivers to anchor their top two pairings for a decade in back-to-back drafts. Incredible value extraction.
landy92mack29
Registered User
Dominance
99-66-4-9-87/97
I’m not sure if it was overscouting or what. This guy is clearly one of the best d-men available in this draft, who slid down the rankings all through 2023 even while his play remained as strong as ever.
landy92mack29
Registered User
Weber, Josi, Subban,etc...there's always franchise dmen found in the 2nd
The Kraken have been awesome at drafting. Huge upside with all their picks. All could bust but appreciate the big swings. Their scouting group seems to really key in on talented CHLers who fall for one reason or another and so far, those guys have almost universally increased their stock in post-draft years.
Rehkopf, Dragicevic, Firkus, Goyette, Nelson, Evans, Winterton, Melanson all in the second round or later.
Loaded prospect pool now with these four high 2023 picks. Super impressed with their scouting group and the foundation they are laying.
Rehkopf, Dragicevic, Firkus, Goyette, Nelson, Evans, Winterton, Melanson all in the second round or later.
Loaded prospect pool now with these four high 2023 picks. Super impressed with their scouting group and the foundation they are laying.
Fistfullofbeer
Moderator
Yeah. I noticed the same too. But I am hoping/wondering if his focus is on the defensive side? The +/- on that team is pretty bad and Dragicevic is in the top-6 with a +1. Best being +4 and worse being -9.
What's up with him, 23 points in 29 games, is it because he's playing better defense or does it have to do with his play or the team being worse?
Intangir
Registered User
Last year Dragicevic played like a high-risk rover for much of his games, basically position-less hockey and joining rushes constantly to try and generate scoring chances. His forwards always had to cover for him.
This very fact is no doubt one of the main reasons why Dragicevic fell to the late-second round during the draft despite his very impressive offensive tools.
Which brings us to this year, where he's reined himself in quite a bit more, has cut down on the "junior-only" type of offensive plays, and has actually performed better overall despite the weaker statline.
Basically, Dragicevic is trying to evolve from a very high-risk and huge defensive wildcard type of player into a steadier defenseman; an evolution that he is succeeding in, but one that affects his scoring a bit.
But the eye test for him still looks good, so no worries there.
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RainyCityHockey
Registered User
I think this season was always going to see a step back offensively from Dragicevic. The Americans as a team lost a lot of offensive weapons from the year before. They scored 50 fewer goals this year than in 2022-23. In fact, they were the third-lowest scoring team in the league. You look at his numbers and aside from assists they're pretty identical to 2022-23. 14 goals vs 15. 4 power play goals in each year.
The big change was assists. 36 this year vs 60 in 2022-23. Power play assists? 18 this year vs 28 in 2022-23. The Americans power play was 27.3%, including 32.6% at home (#1 in the WHL). This year? 19.0% (21st in the WHL) and 22.5% at home. He's a talented player, but he can't do it all himself. The team struggled to score goals and his numbers suffered because of it.
Didn't see as much end-to-end or doing laps around the offensive zone from Dragicevic this year as we saw last year. Maybe that was part of the plan? Wanting him to round out his game a little bit and take fewer risks? It was a frustrating year for the Americans, especially from mid-November on when they won 10 games until the end of the season.
I believe the offensive potential is still there for Dragicevic. I'm sure getting this contract is a big weight off his shoulders and hopefully helps him have a strong finish to his WHL career in 2024-25.
The big change was assists. 36 this year vs 60 in 2022-23. Power play assists? 18 this year vs 28 in 2022-23. The Americans power play was 27.3%, including 32.6% at home (#1 in the WHL). This year? 19.0% (21st in the WHL) and 22.5% at home. He's a talented player, but he can't do it all himself. The team struggled to score goals and his numbers suffered because of it.
Didn't see as much end-to-end or doing laps around the offensive zone from Dragicevic this year as we saw last year. Maybe that was part of the plan? Wanting him to round out his game a little bit and take fewer risks? It was a frustrating year for the Americans, especially from mid-November on when they won 10 games until the end of the season.
I believe the offensive potential is still there for Dragicevic. I'm sure getting this contract is a big weight off his shoulders and hopefully helps him have a strong finish to his WHL career in 2024-25.
landy92mack29
Registered User
He had a solid year considering how weak the Ams were and was better 2-way guy. I expect him to probably be traded next year(likely Medicine Hat, maybe Brandon) as don't expect Tri-City to be ready to compete next year but should start to trend up again
Bubbles
Die Hard for Bedard 2023
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