LW Kyle Connor (2015, 17th, WPG) II
- Thread starter Woodhouse
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The Hobey Baker is a weird award with plenty of strange winners. Time for Connor to move on to the NHL and begin his pro career.
hamzarocks
Registered User
Haven't seen a lot of either player(vesey or connor) but connor did put up beast stats. Though people are saying Vesey is much better defensively, and played with less talent on his team. Both are great prospects, Vesey should be the better player next year if they are both in the nhl but Connor has a higher ceiling.
hamzarocks
Registered User
Yup that's a big reason and the fact that Vesey has developed really well and is a great prospect. Just so no one thinks I'm a homer I think Vesey will have a better season than Marner as well. I don't think he has higher ceiling than either of them but 3 years development is a lot to overcome. Whoever signs him will be getting a great player.
On one hand, only 3 freshmen have lead the NCAA in points since 92-93: Paul Kariya, Jack Eichel, and Kyle Connor. 2 of them won the Hobey Baker that year.
On the other hand, the Hobey Baker is not the Art Ross. It's given to the player who best "exhibits strength of character both on and off the ice". It's more than just a scoring race, and Jimmy Vesey is a Harvard grad who turned down going pro last season with the Preds to finish his degree and NCAA career with Harvard.
I would've given it to Connor but it's more than fair for Vesey to win.
On the other hand, the Hobey Baker is not the Art Ross. It's given to the player who best "exhibits strength of character both on and off the ice". It's more than just a scoring race, and Jimmy Vesey is a Harvard grad who turned down going pro last season with the Preds to finish his degree and NCAA career with Harvard.
I would've given it to Connor but it's more than fair for Vesey to win.
Woodhouse
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Skinnyjimmy08
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Woodhouse
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Skinnyjimmy08
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Hellebuyck last year, Connor potentially this year now... Jets future looking good.
Funny how he goes from not making the USA WJ team a few months ago to potentially making the USA world championship team with NHLers.... hmmmm that doesn't seem right haha
SanDogBrewin
Righteous bucks!
Him being left off the WJC has to be one of the stranger decisions in recent WJC history. Granted, he didn't explode til after that slight, but taking Debrincat over him was strange, and that is before we get into the grinders.
AmericanDream
Thank you Elon!
I honestly still crack up when I think about this, just beyond unthinkable this kid was not picked.
I will never ever forget this snub not only for the fact that team USA struggled at the end, but for the fact that this kid was head and shoulders more talented then 75% of that team and DIDN'T even get invited to the December Camp!
We can all ***** he didn't make the final team, but let's please not forget HE DIDN'T EVEN GET INVITED TO CAMP!!
Now the biggest joke is team USA (same jobbers who picked the WJC squad) are trying to get him to play at the World Championships. I have never seen anything so asinine as a player deemed not good enough or fit for a junior tournament months later is getting asked to play for a team full of Pro players in a tournament filled with pro players. You couldn't make this **** up if you tried.
VasilyHoglander
Registered User
Canucks fan here cant wait to watch him play next year! Gratz jets fans, you guys deserves this!
I honestly still crack up when I think about this, just beyond unthinkable this kid was not picked.
I will never ever forget this snub not only for the fact that team USA struggled at the end, but for the fact that this kid was head and shoulders more talented then 75% of that team and DIDN'T even get invited to the December Camp!
We can all ***** he didn't make the final team, but let's please not forget HE DIDN'T EVEN GET INVITED TO CAMP!!
Now the biggest joke is team USA (same jobbers who picked the WJC squad) are trying to get him to play at the World Championships. I have never seen anything so asinine as a player deemed not good enough or fit for a junior tournament months later is getting asked to play for a team full of Pro players in a tournament filled with pro players. You couldn't make this **** up if you tried.
It seems he's improved at an unbelievable pace over the past few months. Either that or the WJHC selectors were completely out to lunch. I think I'll go with the second theory.
lomiller1
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4 Technically 3.5 because of Connor's late birthday but it's 4 years developmentally. Vesey was 2011 draft eligible and entered university as a 19 year old. (And turned 20 his first year in school)
How is it 4 when Connor played 3 years in the USHL, which is set around birth year. Playing in a league set around birth year requirements is why I would say he's ahead of Boeser for example who could only play 2 years of USHL before entering the draft. Even if born a month apart, I'd say playing in a top league earlier is bigger for development than the actual age gap. I'd say its closer to 3 than 4, cosidering they are born 3.5 years apart and both entered college at roughly the same point, 1 was a Sr., the other a frosh. I'd say birth year matters more than draft year in most cases (and particularly in this one). Also, Vesey was probably done classes for the year when he turned 20, he played the full season at 19.
lomiller1
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NHL year: 4 years difference
Vesey was draft eligible in 2011, Connor was draft eligible in 2015.
University School Year: 4 years difference
Vesey started school as a 19 year old and turned 20 during the year. This is a year older than most students freshman years. Connor started school as an 18 year old, which is the normal age for university freshmen.
USHL isn't relevant any more that how many years a player spends in the CHL matters. You can't go to university until you finish high school, and Connor graduated high school at the expected age. Without some accelerated high school graduation he could not have entered university any sooner than he did. Not so with Vesey, who was a year older.
I'd say CHL years matter a lot, which is why I believe birth year means more than draft year. For example Nolan Patrick and Kailer Yamamoto have a big leg up on their 99 born competition like Maxime Comtois. Having access to a higher league is a big advantage for late birthdays over early birthdays in the same draft class. Its a 3 year developmental gap. You don't think having access to the USHL for Connor at an earlier age helped his development?
lomiller1
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Previously you were just moving the goalposts around on where you place the cut-off for age group which is wrong. You need to pick a grouping and stick with it all the way though, but now you've gone completely off the rails. Mark Scheiflele didn’t enter the CHL until he was 17. Connor McDavid entered at 15. Should we be saying Scheifele was 2 years younger at his NHL draft because of this? It doesn’t really make a lot of sense.
When comparing 2 players performance in given league, age group has been shown to make a difference. When they were born within their age group, makes a difference as well, but a smaller one. Either by university year or NHL draft year Connor is in the group 4 years older than Vesey. He's in an older part of his group than Vesey but their age grouping are 4 years apart.
