Jesse
Registered User
Reading some of his scouting reports gives me "McGroarty at center" vibes with him. Definitely not a bad pick, but more of a complementary piece when they need more of a driver with this pick. Very smart player that can be the defensive presence for a line, but not a guy that's really going to be driving offense on your line. Seems like the kind of guy you'd want centering a winger like Kaprizov or Panarin.
Desnoyers is a guy I'd love to pick if I already had a Celebrini/Bedard in my system. The Penguins just need to aim higher because of the lack of top end talent in their system. I think that's similar to why I really like O'Brien as well, he has the highest boom potential outside of the top-4 picks in this draft IMO.
I'd be interested to see what he does with a greater compliment of player surrounding him. Essentially what you said about the Bedard/Celebrini type is the way I feel too. He shot a lot this year, and not all of them from very good circumstances. He tried to do it all. Sometimes it worked, but he lacked the individual offensive dynamics of someone like Jake O'Brien. You can see it's in there, but it hasn't fully come together yet. That being said, when he gets into a prime chance and rips them, forget it. He can fire them as well as anyone.