Kyle "Skinny Neck" Connor

[Guyute]

During the Jets-Rangers game the other night, Joe Micheletti told a story about Kyle Connor and the 2015 draft. Apparently, one team's scout really wanted to draft Connor but a member of upper management refused to take him because his neck was "too skinny". Micheletti refused to name the team and the person responsible for passing on Connor for such a ridiculous reason.

Does anyone know the team? It had to be the Bruins right? They had three picks in a row (13-15) before the Jets took Connor at 17.

Click to read more...

 

[Primary Assist]

The GM was just planning for the inevitable future of selling ad space on mandatory neck guards and charging by the square inch

 

[Fledgemyhedge]

finally we get the reason they passed on him all these years later

 

[ViD]

I think he also got a crooked nose

 

[Shark Finn]

What an effort to take a jab at the Bruins 2015 Draft.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Joe Michelitti likes hearing himself talk and if you believe that story i'd like to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge

 

[Aggie204]

Jets fan here. Yes he has a skinny neck to go along with his pea head. And we wouldn’t change anything about him.

 

[Breakers]

So Don Sweeney has a thing for strong necks

Maybe he is interested in a trade for the strongest neck in the league

 

[Romang67]

We did some research into that on HFJets during the game. I don't like the Bruins option, since their last and most baffling pick of the 3 was Senyshyn, and his neck is no thicker than Connor's.

Now Lawson Crouse in the other hand. That's a neck you can believe in.

 

[Breakers]

Also Kyle Connor was the 2015 draft

Not 2017

 

[Guyute]

Also Kyle Connor was the 2015 draft

Not 2017

Sorry..my brain is fried from coding and I somehow combined the "2015 draft" and the "17th pick" into the "2017 draft".

 

[JuJu Mobb]

So Don Sweeney has a thing for strong necks

Maybe he is interested in a trade for the strongest neck in the league
View attachment 930628

I think Knies has the strongest neck.

 

[Montreal Shadow]

So Don Sweeney has a thing for strong necks

Maybe he is interested in a trade for the strongest neck in the league
View attachment 930628

He'd be 5'10" with a normal neck.

 

[PullHard]

Was Brian Burke working in an nhl front office at the time? Sounds like something he’d base a draft pick on

 

[57special]

EP40 laughs at Connor's skinny neck.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Pierre Engvall has entered the chat

 

[kerrabria]

During the Jets-Rangers game the other night, Joe Micheletti told a story about Kyle Connor and the 2015 draft. Apparently, one team's scout really wanted to draft Connor but a member of upper management refused to take him because his neck was "too skinny". Micheletti refused to name the team and the person responsible for passing on Connor for such a ridiculous reason.

Does anyone know the team? It had to be the Bruins right? They had three picks in a row (13-15) before the Jets took Connor at 17.

I wouldn't put it past Dale Tallon either (FLA drafted Crouse at 11th OA). There were like 12 guys that draft who were considered to have elite upside.
By 11th OA, only Crouse, Barzal, and Connor were left.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Joe Michelitti likes hearing himself talk and if you believe that story i'd like to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge

Huh?

When has Joe blatantly starting telling fake stories?

 

[BagHead]

This is one of those stories where, since the decision making among many NHL leaders has been so bizarre at times, you aren't quite sure if it's a joke or real.

 

[kerrabria]

This is one of those stories where, since the decision making among many NHL leaders has been so bizarre at times, you aren't quite sure if it's a joke or real.

I completely believe it. People seem to forget how up until the late 2010s, at least one-third of NHL GMs were demonstrably awful at roster building.

 

[tarheelhockey]

This is one of those stories where, since the decision making among many NHL leaders has been so bizarre at times, you aren't quite sure if it's a joke or real.

I can see it. We see a lot of guys who tear it up in juniors but get physically dominated in the NHL. Scouts want to avoid taking those guys, but they have to make predictions about what a 17-year-old will become at age 22, and that’s a really tricky business. So they look at every little detail to try and figure out whether a guy is just undeveloped, or if he’s going to end up being 6’1 177lb for life. Neck width is one thing you could look at to make a projection about the fundamentals of the player’s build.

Obviously it’s dumb to reduce it to “don’t draft, neck too skinny”, but if there was a conversation about his upper body musculature, then neck measurement would have been part of that.

 

[kanucks25]

Pierre Engvall has entered the chat

View attachment 930992

Didn't know The Act Man played for the Isles.

 

[Guyute]

This is one of those stories where, since the decision making among many NHL leaders has been so bizarre at times, you aren't quite sure if it's a joke or real.

Apparently it's 100% legitimate

 

[Romang67]

I can see it. We see a lot of guys who tear it up in juniors but get physically dominated in the NHL. Scouts want to avoid taking those guys, but they have to make predictions about what a 17-year-old will become at age 22, and that’s a really tricky business. So they look at every little detail to try and figure out whether a guy is just undeveloped, or if he’s going to end up being 6’1 177lb for life. Neck width is one thing you could look at to make a projection about the fundamentals of the player’s build.

Obviously it’s dumb to reduce it to “don’t draft, neck too skinny”, but if there was a conversation about his upper body musculature, then neck measurement would have been part of that.

I mean, they weren't even really wrong about the thought process "neck skinny, won't become much bigger as he ages." I doubt Connor has gained more than like 10lbs since he was drafted.

They were just really wrong about whether Connor would be able to transfer all his other skills to the NHL.

 

[BagHead]

I can see it. We see a lot of guys who tear it up in juniors but get physically dominated in the NHL. Scouts want to avoid taking those guys, but they have to make predictions about what a 17-year-old will become at age 22, and that’s a really tricky business. So they look at every little detail to try and figure out whether a guy is just undeveloped, or if he’s going to end up being 6’1 177lb for life. Neck width is one thing you could look at to make a projection about the fundamentals of the player’s build.

Obviously it’s dumb to reduce it to “don’t draft, neck too skinny”, but if there was a conversation about his upper body musculature, then neck measurement would have been part of that.

Sure, I get why it might have happened, I just think it's hilariously erroneous logic. So many great players didn't have the size/look of an elite athlete, and yet were some of the best of all time, while so many of the worst ones looked like and had the size that said they should excel. And for each time that a scout looked at a player and said "his neck is small, he won't grow much" and was right, there was a Doug Risebrough who said "he has size 15 skates, he's going to be huge".

In truth, I think someone trying to predict the future is pursuing a fool's errand. I think they would be better served not by looking at arbitrary size metrics to determine how good a player will become, but instead by looking at how productive a player is and how greatly that player is intrinsically motivated to become even more productive. As a note, productive usually means points, but should not be limited to that. An example might be elite defensive play while playing 25 minutes per night (though that player is probably also picking up a decent number of points just by being on the ice so much).

I am not trying to convince you tarheelhockey, I'm just sharing why I find the logic of choosing a player this way extremely fallacious.