D Rodwin Dionicio - Niagara IceDogs, OHL (2023, 129th, ANA)

[Dirtyf1ghter]

Vatanen, Manson, Theodore, Montour, and Pettersson are all considered steals drafted under head scout and current asst GM Madden.

Drysdale in confirmed in the NHL as he'll never see the AHL ever again. By your own succinct defensive of a steal, Drysdale is a steal. Although, I wouldn't consider a Drysdale, who was considered a top-5/6 pick in the draft a steal. Top-15 steals would be Lindholm (projected to be in the mid-teens) and Fowler (dropped to 12th) would fit your "confirmed in NHL" definition.

Thrun was drafted by the Ducks in the 4th round, but wanted to become a FA. Ducks traded him to SJ for a 3rd round pick. Sucks that Ducks weren't able to keep Thrun, but they improve their asset value to a 3rd round pick.

Can't truly evaluate rookie LaCombe, who was forced into top-pairing duties due to injuries and other players in front of him not being better to help the team win games. Also, he's been a staple on the PK unit. Last year the Ducks ranked 31st in the league and this year they're 15th overall. Maybe stat watching isn't qualitative analysis.

Ducks 2023-24	36 Games
Top pair w/ Fowler	Games	Wins	Losses	OTL	Pts
Drysdale	4​	1​	3​	0​	2​
Luneau	6​	0​	6​	0​	0​
Vaaks	4​	1​	3​	0​	2​
LaCombe	22​	11​	11​	0​	22​
Total	36​	13​	23​	0​	26​

Oddest thing is that LaCombe, playing mostly on his off-side as a top pairing D, actually helps the Ducks win games. Of course, depending on a rookie as a top pairing D is a tall task. Is LaCombe a flop? Only if you're a stat watcher.

Zellweger is 2nd in scoring for the Gulls (Ducks' AHL affiliate), one point behind the leader. Although he's a scoring machine, he needs to work on his offensive decision making (being risk averse) and work on his defense. He may need another year in San Diego to work on that defense.

Hinds has been solid defensively while recently playing on his off-side. Hinds adding offense is just a bonus to his defensive game and ability to send the puck out of the dzone. There's always a niche in the NHL for shutdown d-men.

It's odd to make a stink about prospects who were recently drafted, including those not drafted in the top-10 b/c the future away you are from the top-10, the less chances a player will make the NHL. 2nd rounders Zellweger and Luneau came away with hardward to point to their high potentials: Luneau won QMJHL defenseman of the year (DotY); Zellweger won WHL DotY twice as well as the CHL DotY. Hinds is a mid-third round pick and not that it means a whole lot, but he did win the QMJHL's best defensive d-man player of the year award. It shitty to shit on a 3rd round pick in his first year in the pros.

Anaheim's farm team is often ranked in the top-5 farm. Anaheim needs talent depth to be ranked that high, which includes their defensemen.

• Duck Farm Team Ranking
  • The Hockey Writers, Sept 2023: 3rd
  • The Athletic, U-23 Aug 2023: 1st
  • Daily Faceoff, Sept 2023: 3rd
  • Elite Prospects: 2nd
  • Clutch Points, Aug 2023: 4th

It isn't as if the Ducks are being ranked high out of charity here, and that's excluding Thrun. They're ranked that high b/c they have prospects who have a track record that gives them higher potential. Outside of Drysdale and Helleson, a huge influx of defensemen are debuting their first full season in the pros (NHL or AHL): Mintyukov, LaCombe, Luneau, Zellweger, and Hinds.

This Anaheim team is so effective that it has been in the cellar for a long time. Fans need to stop making up lives. Anaheim never made me feel like a management genius.

Everything you say is not at all impressive.

 

[LeProspector]

This Anaheim team is so effective that it has been in the cellar for a long time. Fans need to stop making up lives. Anaheim never made me feel like a management genius.

Everything you say is not at all impressive.

You’re just mad the Ducks have a better defensive prospect pool than the Canadiens. it happens a lot around here.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

You’re just mad the Ducks have a better defensive prospect pool than the Canadiens. it happens a lot around here.

Trial of intent.

I think Montreal has a better group but it doesn't matter. I rather envy the big guns from Buffalo or New Jersey and I would have preferred to have Michkov than Reinbacher.

 

[RedHawkDown]

This kid was absolutely insane in this QF game.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Yep, this kid has the potential to be very good in the NHL one day, unlikely he reaches it but the potential is there, it’s clear as day.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

Yep, this kid has the potential to be very good in the NHL one day, unlikely he reaches it but the potential is there, it’s clear as day.

Kind of words that work for all prospects

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Kind of words that work for all prospects

If you can’t see his potential, that reflects on you and your ability to evaluate talent.

 

[Speyer]

Kind of words that work for all prospects

Its an accurate description in Dionicios case unlike in most other instances though. He has high end skill absolutely comparable to blue chip prospects in some areas of the game and big deficits in others. If he can become an at least competent skater and improve his decision making further then I believe that he can be an NHL player and not a vanilla 3d pairing depth guy at that. But thats still a very big if as of today.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

The next defensive steal... What are the precedents ?

Thrun is gone, Lacombe is a flop, Drysdale still hasn't established himself as a solid and reliable defender, Zellweger will have to prove himself next year and he could hit a wall, Luneau seems to be good but his situation isn't is not yet established, Warren is down offensively, Hinds is still very far from the mark, Moore is messed up, the others are not surprising.

For a steal to be confirmed, the player must be confirmed in NHL. I've seen a lot of offensive defenders not succeed (Ty Smith, Bode Wilde).

The only young assertive defender is Mintyukov and he is a 10th choice born in 2003.

I couldn’t agree more with this analysis. And I am a Ducks fan!

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

If you can’t see his potential, that reflects on you and your ability to evaluate talent.

To begin with, I had a much better assessment of his level for the 2023 draft than you.

Afterwards, I have analyzed the NHL system for years.

You will have 20 defensemen from the 2004 generation in the NHL (100 games and +). Some will only stay 4-5 years.

Nemec and Korchinski have already taken their place. Afterwards you will have to make your place in competition with Mateychuk, Bichsel, Pickering, Rinzel, Lamoureux, Warren, Luneau, Chesley, Casey, Hutson, Salomonsson, Odelius, Reinbacher, Nelson, Brzustewicz, Buchinger and others.

Only 2-3 will be very good. Sorry for not being original in seeing players selected much higher reaching this level.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

To begin with, I had a much better assessment of his level for the 2023 draft than you.

Afterwards, I have analyzed the NHL system for years.

You will have 20 defensemen from the 2004 generation in the NHL. Nemec and Korchinski have already taken their place. Afterwards you will have to make your place in competition with Mateychuk, Bichsel, Pickering, Rinzel, Lamoureux, Warren, Luneau, Chesley, Casey, Hutson, Salomonsson, Odelius, Reinbacher, Nelson, Brzustewicz, Buchinger and others

Only 2-3 will be very good. Sorry for not being original in seeing players selected much higher reaching this level.

I don’t care where players end up on draft day. I don’t care much for mock drafts. If that’s why you want to do, all the power to you.

I care where players end up 5-8 years from now, when they’re either in the NHL, or not.

Too early to proclaim victory’s on players 6 months after the draft anyway.

Good luck going forward man.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

I don’t care where players end up on draft day. I don’t care much for mock drafts. If that’s why you want to do, all the power to you.

I care where players end up 5-8 years from now, when they’re either in the NHL, or not.

Too early to proclaim victory’s on players 6 months after the draft anyway.

Good luck going forward man.

Already last year when you saw him as a player like Brent Burns, I told you that I saw him more as a 4th round player as overager (119th in my 2023 Ranking ; 82th in my 2022 Ranking).

This means that what you saw, no franchise saw for 2 years draft in a row.

Afterwards you can hope for a spectacular evolution in favor of your point of view but the chances are very low. I saw plenty of players more promising than him at 20 years old doing nothing.

Reach the NHL and play a few games probably yes...become a really good NHL player... probably no.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Already last year when you saw him as a player like Brent Burns, I told you that I saw him more as a 4th round player as overager (119th in my 2023 Ranking ; 82th in my 2022 Ranking).

This means that what you saw, no franchise saw for 2 years draft in a row.

Afterwards you can hope for a spectacular evolution in favor of your point of view but the chances are very low. I saw plenty of players more promising than him at 20 years old doing nothing.

Reach the NHL and play a few games probably yes...become a really good NHL player... probably no.

I had him at 93.

 

[De Montreal]

He wants to impact the game the same way PK Subban did. Most often it will be positively but like Subban, he fumble from time to time. Overall, the positives overweights the negatives IMO but it's not every coach who are ready to live with that.

 

[Kcoyote3]

 

[TLEH]

Still not really sure why a guy of his resume went in the 5th.

 

[Kcoyote3]

Still not really sure why a guy of his resume went in the 5th.

Ehhh he can’t really skate at a pro level is the biggest issue. At least not yet. I agree with you I think he should have been two rounds up

 

[TLEH]

Ehhh he can’t really skate at a pro level is the biggest issue. At least not yet. I agree with you I think he should have been two rounds up

He has warts but most guys do in the third and fourth rounds.

 

[LeProspector]

To begin with, I had a much better assessment of his level for the 2023 draft than you.

Afterwards, I have analyzed the NHL system for years.

You will have 20 defensemen from the 2004 generation in the NHL (100 games and +). Some will only stay 4-5 years.

Nemec and Korchinski have already taken their place. Afterwards you will have to make your place in competition with Mateychuk, Bichsel, Pickering, Rinzel, Lamoureux, Warren, Luneau, Chesley, Casey, Hutson, Salomonsson, Odelius, Reinbacher, Nelson, Brzustewicz, Buchinger and others.

Only 2-3 will be very good. Sorry for not being original in seeing players selected much higher reaching this level.

You’re a fan of Pulkkinen right?

 

[Speyer]

Well he really has some elite hands/puck protection. Really fun to watch as a Swiss fan after mostly vanilla prospects coming up in our system in the last few years, both on D and on F.

 

[tomd]

Reminder that this thread is about Rodwin Dionicio...

 

[LeProspector]

crazy to think he went in the 5th round. Big defenders like him that can score are rare.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

He is big, he scores in junior circuits at 20 where the best are no longer there but he is lacking in defense and in the NHL, offensive defenders, there is on average only one per team so only 32 places over 15 years of generation. Franchises calculate like that. Reason why he was put aside in 2022, 5th round in 2023 and if he was eligible this year, probably evaluated in the same classification.

 

[LeProspector]

He is big, he scores in junior circuits at 20 where the best are no longer there but he is lacking in defense and in the NHL, offensive defenders, there is on average only one per team so only 32 places over 15 years of generation. Franchises calculate like that. Reason why he was put aside in 2022, 5th round in 2023 and if he was eligible this year, probably evaluated in the same classification.

It’s his D+2 year in the OHL, how In the hell are you trying to push a narrative that degrades his offensive production?
Dionicio is actuallycapable in the defensive zone, he is good at using his size and strength alone the walls and in front of the net to close outS he just takes too many dumb risks that cause odd man rushes - IQ may be lacking but he is very physical, uses his long stick well and loves to help create offence, and is great at doing so. Aren’t you the same guy that likes Jesse Pulkkinen? A player that holds MANY similarities to Dionicio? How can you like one, and dislike the other? Some internal biases and your pride are getting in the way?

if this were a Habs prospect, you’d be singing his praises.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

It’s his D+2 year in the OHL, how In the hell are you trying to push a narrative that degrades his offensive production?
Dionicio is actuallycapable in the defensive zone, he is good at using his size and strength alone the walls and in front of the net to close outS he just takes too many dumb risks that cause odd man rushes - IQ may be lacking but he is very physical, uses his long stick well and loves to help create offence, and is great at doing so. Aren’t you the same guy that likes Jesse Pulkkinen? A player that holds MANY similarities to Dionicio? How can you like one, and dislike the other? Some internal biases and your pride are getting in the way?

if this were a Habs prospect, you’d be singing his praises.

His equivalent is Lane Hutson, plays in the NCAA and is THE best in his entire league in his field at a low age.

The fact that Montreal already has a player of this profile means that I do not want to have another and neither does the management. It is rather defensive backs who are to be favored.

Logan Mailloux has an offensive profile, he doesn't excite me that much.

I'm past the age of being a child and the experience to understand that you don't build an NHL defense by only looking at points in junior leagues.

I thought with Simashev and Dragicevic the scout criteria seemed more obvious.