F Michael Hage - University of Michigan, NCAA(2024, 21st, MTL)

Hollel

Registered User
Jun 15, 2019
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Reading the prospect section of this site, one would think that centers are unicorns, yet there are over 100 players in the NHL playing center
I would be curious for you to do this exercise with the amount of Wingers and Defenseman there are in the league, and then tell me how many C's are also playing out of necessity.

And I should mention this is a rhetorical exercise and yes legit top 6 C's are unicorns in the NHL lol
 

danisonfire

2313 Saint Catherine
Jul 2, 2009
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Great story. Both parents are from Montreal, and he grew up a Habs fan.

Also, Hughes confirmed they moved up specifically for him.
It makes sense. He would have probably been gone by our original pick at 26.

Ranked #20 by CONSOLIDATED RANKING
Ranked #24 by ELITEPROSPECTS.COM
Ranked #24 by TSN/BOB McKENZIE
Ranked #21 by TSN/CRAIG BUTTON
Ranked #29 by THN/FERRARI
Ranked #17 by THN/KENNEDY
Ranked #12 by MCKEEN'S HOCKEY
Ranked #17 by FLOHOCKEY/CHRIS PETERS
Ranked #29 by FCHOCKEY
Ranked #20 by DAILY FACEOFF
Ranked #10 by NHL CENTRAL SCOUTING (NA Skaters)
Ranked #43 by HPR/MALLOY
Ranked #23 by DRAFT PROSPECTS HOCKEY
Ranked #20 by SPORTSNET/COSENTINO
Ranked #20 by SPORTSNET/BUKALA
Ranked #13 by RECRUIT SCOUTING
Ranked #16 by DOBBERPROSPECTS
Ranked #18 by SMAHT SCOUTING
 

Michael Farkas

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Jun 28, 2006
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Another sort of niche video from me, I had concerns about his zone entries for most of the year. A lot of them failed to really generate much and I was worried that we might have another Liam Foudy type situation here where a player gains the zone and then [scene missing] and then the puck is going the other way somehow...and while there are still elements of that that need refinement, my late season sample on Hage is much improved.

 

Wats

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Mar 8, 2006
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Another sort of niche video from me, I had concerns about his zone entries for most of the year. A lot of them failed to really generate much and I was worried that we might have another Liam Foudy type situation here where a player gains the zone and then [scene missing] and then the puck is going the other way somehow...and while there are still elements of that that need refinement, my late season sample on Hage is much improved.


Which prospect over the years you've watched would you consider the best at gaining zone and generating something, for comparison.
 

Michael Farkas

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Which prospect over the years you've watched would you consider the best at gaining zone and generating something, for comparison.
Do you want this answer to be a fair fight? Because guys like Crosby and McDavid are going to be the top of the charts, of course. But I don't want to cop out of it if that's not your intent haha
 
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Wats

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Mar 8, 2006
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Do you want this answer to be a fair fight? Because guys like Crosby and McDavid are going to be the top of the charts, of course. But I don't want to cop out of it if that's not your intent haha
Haha yeah I guess more reasonable comparison. When you say he needs to work on it, was curious how say Kadri compared or someone else you've scouted.
 

Michael Farkas

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Haha yeah I guess more reasonable comparison. When you say he needs to work on it, was curious how say Kadri compared or someone else you've scouted.
I don't have that level of recall for Kadri to be honest. But Trevor Connelly is a good comparable. Connelly has some more jam and pace to him. But he attempts a shot at a higher rate, but his middle- and upper-layer playmaking was worse from what I saw. And by worse, I mean, "less". The playmaking element that Connelly added to his game late in the year was a net-swing lo-hi concept. Something that Hage hardly ever does (which isn't a bad thing, it's just an observation). I'd argue that the playmaking improvements that Hage made during his draft year are a bit more scalable than Connelly's additions.

I had them pretty close together on my final list, it'll be interesting to see who can add more layers to their game faster. My guess: Connelly is more technically skilled and sticks to his game more. Hage is a little lesser technically, but has a little bit better mental game and thus, the ability to add to his game more easily.

Connelly generated a lot more from his zone entries early in the season compared to Hage. It was Hage that rose up my board late in the year, whereas Connelly more or less stayed in the same spot (pretty high, to be fair).
 
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