Very unique prospect, in respect to how he’s developed.
Every year there’s 100 skaters who go undrafted even though they’re extremely talented physically. Players you watch and say, “if that kid’s mind ever catches up to his feet and hands, he’d be a hell of a player.
That’s who Rychlovsky was.
The problem is, that almost never transpires. It’s super rare. 99.9% of players drafted are good hockey players. They need to work on their physical development, quickness, learning to find space, etc.
From what I’ve been told by a couple of people who’ve watched him quite a bit over the last 3-4 years is, he’s pretty much always had the feet and hands. Just frankly, didn’t know how to play hockey very well.. So from what I understand as well, the coaches in his program, have been trying to develop him in that regard, from the ground up, and turned him lose this year, in a Top 6 role, when they felt he was ready to process the game at a high level.
The results don’t lie.
So he’ll be an interesting player to watch. The physical tools are already there. They’re developed. It’s all going to be about his ability to adapt to the NA game, and the speed of the game mentally. Will he now be able to “think the game” with other NHL players. If he can, he’ll play in the league pretty quickly. If he can’t, he’ll be back in Europe pretty quickly as well.
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