F Trevor Connelly - Tri-City Storm, USHL (2024, 19th, VGK)

[BoneHutson]

Rooting for this Orange County local kid, he looks super talented and sort of looks like a faster Troy Terry.

When I heard about the red flag I thought he might drop, but the situation is completely different from Miller's or Mailloux's. Miller used violence and acted on his racism, and his apologies seemed forced. Mailloux did something that everyone with daughters would never forgive. Cancelling Connelly would be like canceling literally anyone who said something stupid on a video or posted on a photo, which would be nearly everyone. It sounded like a teenager joking around, maybe being sarcastic or trying to get a reaction or attention.

My only concern with drafting him is sign-ability. He's going to need time to get stronger (dude is a twig at 160 lbs) and he might decide to go to school all 4 years after another year in the USHL. He also said in an interview that he likes those original teams like Boston and Rangers... although he did say he liked the Ducks and Zegras was his favorite player... but still, I would think that he would drop more for this reason.

Bro, Mailloux didnt r**** anyone, jesus… If what Connelly did can be seen as a teenager mistake, I dont see why the Mailloux situation cant be seen as one.

 

[cheesymc]

Bro, Mailloux didnt r**** anyone, jesus… If what Connelly did can be seen as a teenager mistake, I dont see why the Mailloux situation cant be seen as one.

You obviously don't understand the definition of consent.

Let's use this example... imagine if you were drunk and your buddy posted a picture of you running around naked outside during winter with your tiny shriveled up micro****... Thats out there forever "bro." Your buddy thinks its f***ing hilarious, but how do you feel when its brought up forever?

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Connelly's youthful indiscretion seems to be pretty under the radar. I would be surprised if it affects his draft position. I think he's slated to go 15-20 and that is where he goes.

 

[austin63867]

The biggest negative in his game for me is his lack of finishing (weird to say on the same day as a 4 goal performance, but it's been true in many games). For the amount he creates, he can be a bit frustrating in the sense that too many of those chance don’t result in goals. Too many ‘almost’ plays. Misses the net or the goalie saves it.

I did note how his finishing seemed a bit off, but I do wonder if because of how often he creates chances that it just looks like his finishing is an issue. Pretty common for him to just take the puck and self-create so naturally he'll miss a good amount of chances. I felt his playmaking vision really stood out this tournament, which I thought was an issue of him not spotting open teammates, but he looked much more mature as a playmaker. (And this is someone who screamed "pass the puck" at him from my screen one time)

I don't think finishing is a problem more so that he has so many chances that it makes him look weaker as a scorer than he is.

 

[BoneHutson]

You obviously don't understand the definition of consent.

Let's use this example... imagine if you were drunk and your buddy posted a picture of you running around naked outside during winter with your tiny shriveled up micro****... Thats out there forever "bro." Your buddy thinks its f***ing hilarious, but how do you feel when its brought up forever?

Ok then, imagine you’re a kid (stupidly influenced by your idols, as most are) growing in the next 5-7 years. In these years, as a hockey fan, a young hockey player established himself as a star in the league (playing for your favorite team at that); Trevor Connelly! Youve got his jersey, a few cards of his and even a signed puck!

At one point though, some info starts popping up on your X feed… Like that infamous picture of him making fun of probably the worst part of human history…

But with your undevelopped brain (and probable lack of knowledge on the holocaust), to see your idol making little of such event might make you think that this whole nazi thing might not be as bad as youve heard… Heck, Connelly certainly doesnt seem to care, right?

Now do this with thousand of kids.

Back to Mailloux, the girl gave him her consent to take the picture (absolutely stupid thing to do especially with a young, stupid athlete playing for a new team). Now, im pretty sure that Mailloux absolutely didnt want the identity of this girl to leak outside of the few members of his team with whom he shared it with, which means that some asshole in his team decided to share it to people outside their team. Now, thats a big f***ing asshole if you ask me and this guy should eat the dust as much as Mailloux.

As for the girl involved, as humiliating as it must have been, she simply was stupid to let him take this picture.

 

[BoneHutson]

Ok then, imagine you’re a kid (stupidly influenced by your idols, as most are) growing in the next 5-7 years. In these years, as a hockey fan, a young hockey player established himself as a star in the league (playing for your favorite team at that); Trevor Connelly! Youve got his jersey, a few cards of his and even a signed puck!

At one point though, some info starts popping up on your X feed… Like that infamous picture of him making fun of probably the worst part of human history…

But with your undevelopped brain (and probable lack of knowledge on the holocaust), to see your idol making little of such event might make you think that this whole nazi thing might not be as bad as youve heard… Heck, Connelly certainly doesnt seem to care, right?

Now do this with thousand of kids.

Back to Mailloux, the girl gave him her consent to take the picture (absolutely stupid thing to do especially with a young, stupid athlete playing for a new team). Now, im pretty sure that Mailloux absolutely didnt want the identity of this girl to leak outside of the few members of his team with whom he shared it with, which means that some asshole in his team decided to share it to people outside their team. Now, thats a big f***ing asshole if you ask me and this guy should eat the dust as much as Mailloux.

As for the girl involved, as humiliating as it must have been, she simply was stupid to let him take this picture.

As for Mitchell, this guys is simply a sociopath borderline psycopath racist piece of shit and truly should never be allowed to play in the NHL imo

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I would look better on a team that ignores this stuff. All those players didn’t deserve the backlash that went their way.

 

[rt]

Connelly's youthful indiscretion seems to be pretty under the radar. I would be surprised if it affects his draft position. I think he's slated to go 15-20 and that is where he goes.

I think the only teams that would steer clear are those recently stung by backlash that don’t want to be labeled as “here we go gain” and have to relive those past controversies. So I’d expect Montreal, Arizona, Boston and Chicago to maybe steer clear. But not really most teams.

 

[WeThreeKings]

I would look better on a team that ignores this stuff. All those players didn’t deserve the backlash that went their way.

Mitch Miller deserved more than he got.

The Montreal Canadiens (namely Bergevin) failed both Mailloux and the girl. Thankfully Kent Hughes came in and made the best out of the situation and gave Mailloux the supports needed to understand what he did wrong and not just PR the shit out of it.

 

[95snipes]

6 point weekend for Connelly. Up 35 points in 25 games. 4th in USHL scoring. I'd bet he leads the USHL in scoring at season's end.

I made the drive out to Kearney to watch him play. Some observations:

-His explosiveness wasn't quite as impressive live as it is on video. Still very good and he can fly at top speed. He was skating circles around the U17s.
-He's one of those guys that can skate forever and not get tired. I didn't clock it, but he'd have a minute+ shift, come back to the bench and not look tired at all. He'd be standing up, ready to go.
-He's always calling for the puck or 'beaver tapping'. Wants the puck on his stick.
-He was also constantly mixing it up with the U17s on shifts pre puck drop. Meaning chirping/talking. I'm not sure how many of those guys he knows. Seems like buds with Will Moore. Phillips, Tretheway, and McKinney not so much.
-Dangerous off the high cycle game where he has space to create. Looking pass first and made some high level, creative plays. Passed on opportunities to shoot.
-Powerplay runs through Connelly. He made some nice feeds that weren't converted.
-Mentioned in a previous post he's not a perimeter player. What I meant by that is he's not afraid to take the puck to net, even through traffic. Almost to a fault. There was one break I would have liked to see him drive the net. He could have beat his guy to the net for a chance, but instead posted up high waiting for a drop pass.
-The first game got real chippy. He took a big hit from Tretheway and was visibility frustrated after that.
-Shot is still a weakness in his profile. A quicker release would go a long way for Connelly. If his shot can improve the way it did for Jack Hughes or McDavid, he'd be a much bigger threat.
-D zone play was ok. He's either stretching or dropping back behind the play attempting to build speed for a drop pass. He won't be able to play like that as he advances levels.

Good showing overall. Tri City won the Saturday game 10-9 which was entertaining to watch.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

6 point weekend for Connelly. Up 35 points in 25 games. 4th in USHL scoring. I'd bet he leads the USHL in scoring at season's end.

I made the drive out to Kearney to watch him play. Some observations:

-His explosiveness wasn't quite as impressive live as it is on video. Still very good and he can fly at top speed. He was skating circles around the U17s.
-He's one of those guys that can skate forever and not get tired. I didn't clock it, but he'd have a minute+ shift, come back to the bench and not look tired at all. He'd be standing up, ready to go.
-He's always calling for the puck or 'beaver tapping'. Wants the puck on his stick.
-He was also constantly mixing it up with the U17s on shifts pre puck drop. Meaning chirping/talking. I'm not sure how many of those guys he knows. Seems like buds with Will Moore. Phillips, Tretheway, and McKinney not so much.
-Dangerous off the high cycle game where he has space to create. Looking pass first and made some high level, creative plays. Passed on opportunities to shoot.
-Powerplay runs through Connelly. He made some nice feeds that weren't converted.
-Mentioned in a previous post he's not a perimeter player. What I meant by that is he's not afraid to take the puck to net, even through traffic. Almost to a fault. There was one break I would have liked to see him drive the net. He could have beat his guy to the net for a chance, but instead posted up high waiting for a drop pass.
-The first game got real chippy. He took a big hit from Tretheway and was visibility frustrated after that.
-Shot is still a weakness in his profile. A quicker release would go a long way for Connelly. If his shot can improve the way it did for Jack Hughes or McDavid, he'd be a much bigger threat.
-D zone play was ok. He's either stretching or dropping back behind the play attempting to build speed for a drop pass. He won't be able to play like that as he advances levels.

Good showing overall. Tri City won the Saturday game 10-9 which was entertaining to watch.

Nice write-up. I like the Jack Hughes comparison a lot.

 

[Castle8130]

6 point weekend for Connelly. Up 35 points in 25 games. 4th in USHL scoring. I'd bet he leads the USHL in scoring at season's end.

I made the drive out to Kearney to watch him play. Some observations:

-His explosiveness wasn't quite as impressive live as it is on video. Still very good and he can fly at top speed. He was skating circles around the U17s.
-He's one of those guys that can skate forever and not get tired. I didn't clock it, but he'd have a minute+ shift, come back to the bench and not look tired at all. He'd be standing up, ready to go.
-He's always calling for the puck or 'beaver tapping'. Wants the puck on his stick.
-He was also constantly mixing it up with the U17s on shifts pre puck drop. Meaning chirping/talking. I'm not sure how many of those guys he knows. Seems like buds with Will Moore. Phillips, Tretheway, and McKinney not so much.
-Dangerous off the high cycle game where he has space to create. Looking pass first and made some high level, creative plays. Passed on opportunities to shoot.
-Powerplay runs through Connelly. He made some nice feeds that weren't converted.
-Mentioned in a previous post he's not a perimeter player. What I meant by that is he's not afraid to take the puck to net, even through traffic. Almost to a fault. There was one break I would have liked to see him drive the net. He could have beat his guy to the net for a chance, but instead posted up high waiting for a drop pass.
-The first game got real chippy. He took a big hit from Tretheway and was visibility frustrated after that.
-Shot is still a weakness in his profile. A quicker release would go a long way for Connelly. If his shot can improve the way it did for Jack Hughes or McDavid, he'd be a much bigger threat.
-D zone play was ok. He's either stretching or dropping back behind the play attempting to build speed for a drop pass. He won't be able to play like that as he advances levels.

Good showing overall. Tri City won the Saturday game 10-9 which was entertaining to watch.

I never viewed him as an "explosive" first step player. He gets all of his speed from his insanely impressive crossovers where his hip flexors give him tons of momentum. I've questioned his hockey IQ when he is in limited space, but his ability to occasionally make really high hockey IQ plays almost supersedes that aspect. Sometimes he doesn't make the simple play enough, but the skill he has been showing recently is overwhelmingly impressive that it's making me overlook the simple plays you need to make in hockey.

In the "Drop the MItts" interview on youtube, he mentions that he see's Kent Johnson as the player with the most similarities to his game (a little of jack hughes as well).

 

[95snipes]

I never viewed him as an "explosive" first step player. He gets all of his speed from his insanely impressive crossovers where his hip flexors give him tons of momentum. I've questioned his hockey IQ when he is in limited space, but his ability to occasionally make really high hockey IQ plays almost supersedes that aspect. Sometimes he doesn't make the simple play enough, but the skill he has been showing recently is overwhelmingly impressive that it's making me overlook the simple plays you need to make in hockey.

In the "Drop the MItts" interview on youtube, he mentions that he see's Kent Johnson as the player with the most similarities to his game (a little of jack hughes as well).

I wasn't a big Kent Johnson guy when he was at Michigan. He seemed more interested in making Sports Center top 10 than just playing hockey. I'm not sure who I'd use as a comp for Connelly. I think you can debate if the game Connelly plays will work as the speed/skill gap closes and if he will be able to adjust accordingly, but everything he does has a purpose to it. I think the speed/hands/skill translates and Connelly will be very good. I don't take issue with his hockey sense. His on ice awareness is good. He knows where his teammates are. He reads the play and anticipates. His vision is excellent, he finds seams and teammates back door. He could (and will need to) simplify his game as you said, but I don't think hockey sense is an issue. I also think Providence will be a great place for him to develop. He still gets to be 'the guy', where he wouldn't be that at say BU or BC but Leaman will help him with the details of the game.

 

[SK94]

Could he be added to the U18s for Worlds? Brindley and Terrance has been in past two years so seems like a good move.

 

[William H Bonney]

Could he be added to the U18s for Worlds? Brindley and Terrance has been in past two years so seems like a good move.

If he's available either because Tri City is out of it or they are willing to release him then he should 100% be on the team.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

He would definitely help, but what ends up being an impediment of almost every good American USHL or CHL player being added to the U18 Worlds team is that their team has to be eliminated very early on. Usually requires not making the playoffs, and often being out of it with a few weeks to go.

His team is in a spot right now where it could go either way.

 

[Michael Farkas]

He could go if they're eliminated in the first round in all likelihood. Bobby Brink did in 2019 after Sioux City lost two zip (including that epic overtime game) to Sioux Falls...assuming Connelly is still on Tri-City at that time, of course...

 

[Nabrules]

Honest question, how far off is he as a prospect for Eiserman

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Honest question, how far off is he as a prospect for Eiserman

Enough that I wouldn't think twice.

Connelly could have more variety, but it's also possible he doesn't have the sense and true scoring skills to be a top 6 point producer, and ends up a flashy/good skating bottom sixer, where he probably isn't ideally suited anyway.

Eiserman is going to be a top 6 scoring winger. I have little doubt, but it'll probably be a fairly one-dimensional one.

I still would give Eiserman the potential edge also, even if Connelly can do more things. I think the thing Eiserman does well will trump Connelly's variety of things.

 

[Dux917]

 

[RedHawkDown]

Wonder if he slides as a result

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Wonder if he slides as a result

5-10 spots is possible. It won’t be more than that. Players don’t slide that much for injuries if they’ve shown a big enough body of work already.

 

[macbowes]

Crappy news, but he won't slide out of the top 16, he has too much skill. I don't think this will really affect his draft position at all.

 

[William H Bonney]

Back in the lineup and has a goal and 8 shots already

 

[Blues16W]

It's almost like there's more to it and he's trying to get ahead of things by doing good deeds and publishing beautiful PR stories. Oh wait, that's exactly what's happening.

But that's exactly what he should be doing. Nobody's ever claimed players who f***ed up in their youth shouldn't be allowed to play again. They just need to put in the work to better themselves and prove they deserve a second chance. Nothing wrong with that, quite the opposite.

Still, there will be teams that won't touch him with a ten-foot pole. Looking forward to seeing how things develop in the next months and into draft day.

Which is ridiculous, from my understanding of the situation, him and his buddy who is Jewish took picture of swatistka as a JOKE, on a private app Snapchat..... Why would teams avoid him for a freaking joke, lord the entire world has lost their minds.

This is where we’ll have to agree to disagree. I don’t want him groveling, if it’s inauthentic. If he was sorry for what he did and truly meant all this stuff that’s happened afterwards, I guess he’s free to do all that, but this comes off inauthentic, as did some of the aftermath of the Miller saga.

If I was someone offended by what happened, I would hope he doesn’t do it again. That’s all. I don’t see the need to makes him jump through hoops that make his life much more difficult. I think it results in a punishment, not an education of what he did wrong. Teenagers shouldn’t need to jump through all these hoops when they make a mistake. If they violate the law and are old enough to be charged, by all means I’m not arguing with that, but inappropriate behavior shouldn’t result in needing to beg for a second chance. They should be granted it without much thought.

I agree to a certain extent but not sure how anyone could really be offended bc snapchat is private and it was a joke between friends, snapchat photos disappear after looking at them anyways, so not sure how this even got out.