It is positively shocking to me that scouts didn't see anything special about Meszaros. I'm no scout, but even after only his first four or five games in Vancouver last season it was painfully obvious that he was an excellent defenseman. I have absolutely NO clue how he ever got a label as soft or not physical enough, that's just plain weird. He must have gone through a major transformation over the summer after being drafted; it just astounds me that he didn't go higher.
I believe it when I'm told that scouts didn't see anything special (what else can I believe?), but it really knocks my socks off. It's not like I saw him three years after being drafted when he'd grown a whole bunch as a player, I'm talking about a few months after his draft. Heavy shot with a great release, an obvious command of the game when he's on the ice, physically imposing, aggressive, strong, mobile, fantastic first pass... really the only complaint I had was his occasional positional errors in his own zone and running out of position to hit. I thought he was one of the best 3 or 4 defensemen in the WHL last year, and there were plenty of great dmen. I was shocked he went so low after first seeing him in Vancouver, and I'm still shocked. Even the best talent evaluators mess it up sometimes, it's just so strange that all of them messed up on the same guy.