I have to give this thread a bump. In my opinion he is the 3rd best d-man in this draft. I see almost as much offense as others and much better D. Surprised he isn’t getting more attention. Am I wrong? Will he be there when my Canucks pick around 15-16?
Well, if you are in fact wrong, then you're not alone with your assessment. I'd be surprised to see him slide past top ten. I've watched all MJ's playoff games and on top of that 20+ of their regular season games. As I mentioned in another thread, based on the viewings I'm confident enough to say that he's easily one of the most consistent and mature players I've seen of this draft class. Plays really well both ways. Very impressed how quickly he processes the game in almost all kinds of situations.
I will watch the next chapters of his career closely, regardless of the team that ends up drafting him. I think he's going to be at least a very good 3rd pair defenseman in the NHL, but of course a more interesting question is how great could he possibly become? Is he quick and big enough to be a top4 D on a winning team? I have a few more questions for those who may have better read on his overall game and potential:
How far is he from making the team in the NHL? What areas of his game needs to improved between now and the day of his NHL debut?
Ceiling and floor? NHL comps other than Duncan Keith?
What do you guys think of his defensive tools and awareness?
Most of the time I've been impressed of his play without the puck in DZ. There's willingness to battle, doesn't give much space for opposing players, he's solid positionally and is active with defensive stick. In last night's series-closing game he failed to block passing lanes on 2vs1 situations in front of the net, both of those "mistakes" lead to goals for Winnipeg. It wasn't the first time I've seen him struggle at those type of plays.
What about the offense? Is there something that needs to be better?
Imo he doesn't have elite puck skills and vision when he has puck on the point or on the halfwalls with not a lot of room to make plays. Isn't the most deceptive passer or shooter either. The primary assist on the Tien goal in the post above requires versatile stickhandling skills, to make that type of blade-twisting pass at the speed he's skating is definitely not the easiest task. But it isn't the hardest task if you have any room to execute it, and in this case he had. The second assist he recorded in that game came from a deflection play on the PP. Identifies uncovered Warriors stick blade in front and the timing of the pass is right on cue. But again, he had ton of space and great view at the net on the play.
Am I seeing things correctly? Hopefully this detail oriented yet very scrappy post will attract more people to come here to share their thoughts on him.