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

[De Montreal]

He's gonna play for Biel-Bienne next season. He desperately wanted to play for San Diego this season but that plan died with him getting traded to Saginaw. He then said he's not gonna return to the OHL for an overager season and that he'd talk with the Ducks about his plan for next season. Then the news dropped that he signed in Switzerland:

Holy ok

 

[LeProspector]

Who really called for this kid last year and the year before? Man were they right.

 

[Hinterland]

Who really called for this kid last year and the year before? Man were they right.

Quite a few people had him ranked higher than he went. Also, I don't think anybody who watched him ever doubted his talent. Without exceptional talent you don't get to crack a Swiss WJC team as a double underager despite failing a physical. Having said that, it's too early for conclusions. Let's see how he does vs men first.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

Quite a few people had him ranked higher than he went. Also, I don't think anybody who watched him ever doubted his talent. Without exceptional talent you don't get to crack a Swiss WJC team as a double underager despite failing a physical. Having said that, it's too early for conclusions. Let's see how he does vs men first.

List of U18 Swiss Players at WJC :

Elite Prospects - WJC-20 Stats All-time season

All-time/historical regular season stats and leaders per season for WJC-20, including top goal scorers, most games played, PPG leaders and more.

www.eliteprospects.com

The majority of players have never played in the NHL so the word exceptional talent is very exaggerated.

 

[LeProspector]

List of U18 Swiss Players at WJC :

Elite Prospects - WJC-20 Stats All-time season

All-time/historical regular season stats and leaders per season for WJC-20, including top goal scorers, most games played, PPG leaders and more.

www.eliteprospects.com

The majority of players have never played in the NHL so the word exceptional talent is very exaggerated.

You really hate this kid, don’t you? All you ever try to do is try to push a narrative and downplay him. You’re like me with small players lol

 

[Hinterland]

List of U18 Swiss Players at WJC :

Elite Prospects - WJC-20 Stats All-time season

All-time/historical regular season stats and leaders per season for WJC-20, including top goal scorers, most games played, PPG leaders and more.

www.eliteprospects.com

The majority of players have never played in the NHL so the word exceptional talent is very exaggerated.

How many of those failed the physical ahead of the tournament?

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

You really hate this kid, don’t you? All you ever try to do is try to push a narrative and downplay him. You’re like me with small players lol

NHL scouts think less of him than I do.

I just kept the idea that playing U18 in U20 Switzerland was something exceptional.

Clearly no.

 

[LeProspector]

NHL scouts think less of him than I do.

I just kept the idea that playing U18 in U20 Switzerland was something exceptional.

Clearly no.

I think after the season he has had, with his size and skillset NHL scouts are higher on him now.

I feel he went undrafted his first eligible year is because he played on a terrible Niagara team.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

I think after the season he has had, with his size and skillset NHL scouts are higher on him now.

I feel he went undrafted his first eligible year is because he played on a terrible Niagara team.

He was failed in 2022 because he was faulty in the defensive game.

Proportionate to his age, there is not an improvement in performance compared to last year and he was selected in the 5th round.

 

[LeProspector]

He was failed in 2022 because he was faulty in the defensive game.

Proportionate to his age, there is not an improvement in performance compared to last year and he was selected in the 5th round.

There has been great improvement, has continued and improved upon his offensive game from when he was in Windsor. He picks his spots better, when to pinch and go for his hits. He isn’t the #1 option in Saginaw and it has allowed him to reel in his game and really show his potential in the defensive zone. I know you’re going to say some generic shit back, because you haven’t seen him play but those who have watched know there is real good potential here for an NHL defender.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

There has been great improvement, has continued and improved upon his offensive game from when he was in Windsor. He picks his spots better, when to pinch and go for his hits. He isn’t the #1 option in Saginaw and it has allowed him to reel in his game and really show his potential in the defensive zone. I know you’re going to say some generic shit back, because you haven’t seen him play but those who have watched know there is real good potential here for an NHL defender.

You construct the narrative that suits you and my experience with you makes me very skeptical.

I'm just repeating what I hear from OHL watchers. Already last year, I warned that the NHL franchises were not keen on him based on the listening I had.

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

List of U18 Swiss Players at WJC :

Elite Prospects - WJC-20 Stats All-time season

All-time/historical regular season stats and leaders per season for WJC-20, including top goal scorers, most games played, PPG leaders and more.

www.eliteprospects.com

The majority of players have never played in the NHL so the word exceptional talent is very exaggerated.

24 of those have happened in the last 15 yrs, 16 of whom either a) were drafted, b) made the NHL, or c) are draft eligible & ranked.

And there's probably a name or two in that group of 8 who have an outside shot at NHL games.

No dog in this fight, just adding some context.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

24 of those have happened in the last 15 yrs, 16 of whom either a) were drafted, b) made the NHL, or c) are draft eligible & ranked.

And there's probably a name or two in that group of 8 who have an outside shot at NHL games.

No dog in this fight, just adding some context.

My comments are always in a specific context : I am responding to someone who said that playing in the Swiss U20 as an U18 was an exceptional performance (this year 3 guys dit it) and my skeptical comments concerned the comparison with Brent Burns.

 

[Hinterland]

My comments are always in a specific context : I am responding to someone who said that playing in the Swiss U20 as an U18 was an exceptional performance (this year 3 guys dit it) and my skeptical comments concerned the comparison with Brent Burns.

You missed the point. He failed the physical and still got to play the tournament.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

You missed the point. He failed the physical and still got to play the tournament.

And what does that change in relation to my point ?

 

[Dead Coyote]

You construct the narrative that suits you and my experience with you makes me very skeptical.

I'm just repeating what I hear from OHL watchers. Already last year, I warned that the NHL franchises were not keen on him based on the listening I had.

OHL watcher here.

Have watched pretty much all of London's games during regular season and watched all playoff games.

He's been an absolute monster in the Saginaw series, finally putting it together both offensively and defensively, his puck possession is very good, he's big and not afraid to be physical, does everything you want out of that type of player, clearing the net, separating people from pucks, and has tons of offensive acumen. Only real area of improvement is skating and it remains to be seen how he'll handle men, and his chance to be good defensively as more than just a crease clearer will heavily depend on whether he can keep up with NHL skaters.

However he always stood out to me even with Niagara as someone who has extremely high potential and all the tools to succeed. A lot like a guy like Brendan Perlini was back in the day.

He has made improvements to his game year over year and become much more deadly with a much higher toolset.

He's now the big #1 guy in Saginaw defensively and is a huge reason they're still in the playoffs against London. He has 9 points in 5 games in this series, is 7th in playoff scoring, 1st among D, 2 multi point games of 3 and 4 in Saginaw's only wins. Only scorer in the two other games played.

He's well on his way to becoming a legitimate #1 two way D in the NHL. That's his upside. It remains to be seen whether he hits that, since his floor is being a crease clearer in the NHL and not much else due to his skating, where he's at best a #7D. But he's 20 years old and he looks damn good right now.

 

[Hinterland]

And what does that change in relation to my point ?

You don't have a point. You only posted a response to my post and you obviously missed the point of my post.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

OHL watcher here.

Have watched pretty much all of London's games during regular season and watched all playoff games.

He's been an absolute monster in the Saginaw series, finally putting it together both offensively and defensively, his puck possession is very good, he's big and not afraid to be physical, does everything you want out of that type of player, clearing the net, separating people from pucks, and has tons of offensive acumen. Only real area of improvement is skating and it remains to be seen how he'll handle men, and his chance to be good defensively as more than just a crease clearer will heavily depend on whether he can keep up with NHL skaters.

However he always stood out to me even with Niagara as someone who has extremely high potential and all the tools to succeed. A lot like a guy like Brendan Perlini was back in the day.

He has made improvements to his game year over year and become much more deadly with a much higher toolset.

He's now the big #1 guy in Saginaw defensively and is a huge reason they're still in the playoffs against London. He has 9 points in 5 games in this series, is 7th in playoff scoring, 1st among D, 2 multi point games of 3 and 4 in Saginaw's only wins. Only scorer in the two other games played.

He's well on his way to becoming a legitimate #1 two way D in the NHL. That's his upside. It remains to be seen whether he hits that, since his floor is being a crease clearer in the NHL and not much else due to his skating, where he's at best a #7D. But he's 20 years old and he looks damn good right now.

It's not me you're contradicting but all NHL franchises.

Honestly, a 20-year-old offensive defenseman with a lot of points but still in the negative doesn't sound good.

NHL franchises primarily look at defensive play if the guy is not an elite offensive defenseman.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

You don't have a point. You only posted a response to my post and you obviously missed the point of my post.

Exceptional talent not drafted that year. Basically it's the same thing. You're talking nonsense about this player.

 

[Hinterland]

Exceptional talent not drafted that year. Basically it's the same thing. You're talking nonsense about this player.

I can't tell if you're just acting stupid or if you're really too stupid to get it.

It's not me you're contradicting but all NHL franchises.

Honestly, a 20-year-old offensive defenseman with a lot of points but still in the negative doesn't sound good.

NHL franchises primarily look at defensive play if the guy is not an elite offensive defenseman.

He is though. At least in the OHL he is. Question now is how he does vs men. My guess is that it's gonna take him a while to adjust but we'll see.

What you don't understand (which isn't surprising since you clearly never watched him and the "friends" you keep on referring to in all threads to justify your bs posts probably exist only in your head as well) is that no scout or NHL team ever doubted his potential. They don't (or didn't) think he's gonna reach his potential. Which is understandable. I still think he went a round or two too late though because of his talent alone. You don't get to draft too many big, tough defensemen with Dionicio's offensive potential.

The concerns with this kid are real though. He's been very inconsistent and his decision making was often times questionable. He also didn't take hockey seriously while still playing in Switzerland. I think I even read or heard that he was actually surprised when he got drafted by Niagara. It was only after failing the physical ahead of the WJC20 and him joining Niagara that he realized his potential and that he has to invest more if he wants to reach it.

I think he was and still is also a bit of an immature, mentally fragile kid. Also didn't help that he played forward for most of his junior career, was only moved to defense late. Therefore, that Niagara franchise may have been a good wakeup call for Dionicio but it wasn't the ideal environment for him to develop. Thankfully, he was eventually saved by Windsor and became a really valuable player for them. Consistency has been gradually improving ever since but it's still a concern. He did lots of stupid stuff, especially while on that Windsor team, was suspended several times over the years I believe. Internationally, we saw much of the same. However, he improved in international games as well, played some good tournaments.

So again, NHL teams doubted his ability to bring his A game every night, every shift, they probably doubted his skating as well (which has improved a lot with him changing his diet and offseason training) but I don't think they ever doubted his upside. Consistency has improved but discipline is still a problem. He's up to almost 130 penalty minutes I believe...which is a lot for a player scoring north of ppg. Not all of those were "good" penalties to take.

 

[190Octane]

It's not me you're contradicting but all NHL franchises.

Honestly, a 20-year-old offensive defenseman with a lot of points but still in the negative doesn't sound good.

NHL franchises primarily look at defensive play if the guy is not an elite offensive defenseman.

All NHL franchises have never been wrong about a player, that’s why guys who have been drafted in their 2nd year of eligibility or never drafted at all have never been impact players in the NHL. Hell, I’d be shocked if there’s ever been a player in the NHL who went undrafted. It would be impossible because all NHL franchises are never wrong.

 

[Dead Coyote]

It's not me you're contradicting but all NHL franchises.

Honestly, a 20-year-old offensive defenseman with a lot of points but still in the negative doesn't sound good.

NHL franchises primarily look at defensive play if the guy is not an elite offensive defenseman.

The Anaheim Ducks who drafted him would seem to disagree with you. As for the other part of your post, that would also seem to be wrong, considering the current draft rankings by scouts.

I'm not sure what you mean by "in the negative", but he is a plus player both in plus minus, which is a shit stat, and in puck possession, which is less so.

You said according to OHL watchers he was not on any radar and NHL teams had no interest in him. Well, I've watched a hell of a lot more OHL than you have, and last year I watched over 300 games of hockey in preparation for the 2023 draft. Can't watch much more than that. So which is it? Which "OHL watchers" were telling you he's bad, despite other OHL watchers like myself, German Spitfire, and Brock all saying basically the same things about him?

And you bring up NHL scouts. Which NHL scouts have you talked to that are low on him? Chris Peters, Gordon Munro and Kyle Pereira all had good things to say about him, noting his potential and value as a late round pick. No, he wasn't going to sniff anywhere near the top 60 because his skating is so bad. But unlike us, who have no or little knowledge about later round draft players being ranked across the league,, NHL teams do put in the effort and follow those prospects in later rounds and have 200-300 players on their list. To say that Dionicio was not any of them, when Anaheim took him in the 5th...well I don't think your opinion on that is based in reality.

 

[Vipers31]

It's not me you're contradicting but all NHL franchises.

Zero franchisees have articulated a thing about him since his draft. Shut up.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

I can't tell if you're just acting stupid or if you're really too stupid to get it.


He is though. At least in the OHL he is. Question now is how he does vs men. My guess is that it's gonna take him a while to adjust but we'll see.

What you don't understand (which isn't surprising since you clearly never watched him and the "friends" you keep on referring to in all threads to justify your bs posts probably exist only in your head as well) is that no scout or NHL team ever doubted his potential. They don't (or didn't) think he's gonna reach his potential. Which is understandable. I still think he went a round or two too late though because of his talent alone. You don't get to draft too many big, tough defensemen with Dionicio's offensive potential.

The concerns with this kid are real though. He's been very inconsistent and his decision making was often times questionable. He also didn't take hockey seriously while still playing in Switzerland. I think I even read or heard that he was actually surprised when he got drafted by Niagara. It was only after failing the physical ahead of the WJC20 and him joining Niagara that he realized his potential and that he has to invest more if he wants to reach it.

I think he was and still is also a bit of an immature, mentally fragile kid. Also didn't help that he played forward for most of his junior career, was only moved to defense late. Therefore, that Niagara franchise may have been a good wakeup call for Dionicio but it wasn't the ideal environment for him to develop. Thankfully, he was eventually saved by Windsor and became a really valuable player for them. Consistency has been gradually improving ever since but it's still a concern. He did lots of stupid stuff, especially while on that Windsor team, was suspended several times over the years I believe. Internationally, we saw much of the same. However, he improved in international games as well, played some good tournaments.

So again, NHL teams doubted his ability to bring his A game every night, every shift, they probably doubted his skating as well (which has improved a lot with him changing his diet and offseason training) but I don't think they ever doubted his upside. Consistency has improved but discipline is still a problem. He's up to almost 130 penalty minutes I believe...which is a lot for a player scoring north of ppg. Not all of those were "good" penalties to take.

Exceptional talent is Quinn Hughes, Cale Makar. Elite offensive defender is Simon Nemec. When you're not even the No. 1 offensive defender at 20 years old behind an 18-year-old and Brzustewicz is more productive and efficient, when you were chosen in the 5th round at 19 years old, you're not an elite offensive defender.

You can invent a world for yourself but in reality, it’s like that.

 

[Dirtyf1ghter]

Zero franchisees have articulated a thing about him since his draft. Shut up.

Yes. Anaheim hasn't signed him yet.

Anyway, I think you understood that I was talking about 2023.

If I had to do science fiction, I have difficulty seeing how he would be selected in the 2nd round this year. Surely, a guy like Pulkkinen would be picked well ahead of him.

A 5th round guy at 19, unsigned at 20. That's Dionicio for NHL system.