LW Kyle Connor - Michigan, NCAA (2015, 17th, WPG)
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Connor is a scoring machine... but his production really drop against good opposition.
I hope for Jets fans he's the real deal, But maybe he's not that good. drop in the draft, not pick for the USA junior team. something hockey people don't like about him for sure!
I hope for Jets fans he's the real deal, But maybe he's not that good. drop in the draft, not pick for the USA junior team. something hockey people don't like about him for sure!
KurtG8
Registered User
- Apr 4, 2015
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Im not sure about production dropping against good opposition. These 2 games against Penn State with a very similar record, and being the last 2 games of the regular season, and Connor scored 2 goals in each game.
Not being picked by the US junior team has been one of the most talked about head scratchers of the Tourney considering the season he's having, unlikely USA Hockey leaves him off any roster he qualifies for again.
CaptainChef
Registered User
I was singing the same tune as Whilee, but reading between the lines on what he has said recently, I now see him joining the Jets next year as well.
Romang67
BitterSwede
Yep. Against Penn State and Minnesota, the other top two teams (both ranked in the top 20 nation wide) in his conference, he has a paltry 19 points and 13 goals in 8 games.
Or are you looking exclusively at teams he played before he started picking up steam and went on the tear that has been going on since December?
Maybe he actually isn't good! Any player could break 30 goals and 60 points playing in the B10, right?
morphinecv
Registered User
- Feb 12, 2015
- 452
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I'd be very surprised to not see Connor signed. He is coming off a dynamite season and his stock could go higher, but the odds are greater that he won't because he's on such a high level right now. Winnipeg has no reason not to bring him in, he is as good or a better fit on the wings even if he fails. I can't see what would prevent it.
covfefe
Zoltan Poszar's Burner
- Feb 5, 2014
- 5,263
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Scott Eansor/Ryan Hitchcock got picked for the team; I'm not sure there is any rational explanation there.
morphinecv
Registered User
- Feb 12, 2015
- 452
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From where we are today, and considering where those picked above him are in their development, how many teams passed on this guy on draft day? Does that even make sense?
Restated, if the draft were held today, where would Connor likely be picked?
I dislike using hindsight as a measurement because we're all geniuses in hindsight. Even Sather probably wouldn't have picked Jessiman twice. But on draft day, the obvious oversights were Boston's. I get that you want your players and you can pick based on your own metrics and it's your franchise, but I could not and can't to this day believe that they passed on him three times. Even if they'd gone wild on their 3rd pick after taking Zboril and Connor, no one would be talking about 'Those Picks'. You just can't pass on him twice on a hunch.
As a matter of personal preference, if I was drafting for position I would have taken him over Crouse, but that's a negligible divide. The only ones you can really shake your head at is Boston, and there's a lot of names you can slot into #14 that would have made those picks a lot more tolerable.
Larkin played against the same opposition as Connor last season as a freshman. Connor has double the goals and 14 more points than Larkin did (in one less game so far).
He was well over a point/game in non-conference games, even though most of those were right at the beginning of the year when he had just started playing against NCAA opposition.
He easily led the USHL in scoring in his draft year. That's not such an easy league to score in.
He out-scored Larkin in the international U-18 tournament, despite being younger.
Barzal dropped in the draft, too. Maybe they both dropped because some "hockey people" made mistakes at the draft (e.g. Sweeney and his scouts)?
GoAwayDanCleary
DRWCC
- Aug 6, 2012
- 10,752
- 5
Take away the PP points:
Even-strength
Eichel - 1.05 pts/game (0.42 goals/game)
Connor - 1.24 pts/game (0.62 goals/game)
Absolutely. With little sparkplugs like Eansor and Hitchcock, their future is in very good hands.
CaptainChef
Registered User
I hope you say that jokingly because they sure don't know squat about picking players for their teams.
morphinecv
Registered User
- Feb 12, 2015
- 452
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I hope you say that jokingly because they sure don't know squat about picking players for their teams.
It's a good thing Canada never makes that mistake
- Mar 10, 2010
- 35,910
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Not to mention Connor started the season on his off wing (right) and he was on the 2nd line but still managed to lead Michigan in scoring. Right after he was snubbed for team USA they moved Connor onto the 1st line and the rest is history.
- Mar 10, 2010
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Demko has had a great season but I wonder how the Richter award might impact the Hobey voting? Do they judge the Hobey and Richter on the full season including the Frozen 4 or is the voting like the NHL where it is the regular season only?
morphinecv
Registered User
- Feb 12, 2015
- 452
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lol imagine the soul crushing shotgun blast to the chest ending to this season not winning the Hobey Baker would be for Kyle Connor. What would he have to do to get recognized by someone in the US?
Well Thatcher Demko is having a season for the record books so.. 2 shutouts away from breaking the NCAA record single season record. So Connor isn't a shoe in for the Hobey Baker
Hellebuyck pretty much put up 2 of the greatest seasons in NCAA goaltending history, and he never won despite none of his competition having close to a Connor level season.
But you also have to account for Connor playing with 2 50 point players. I'm not sure how much he's the driving force on that line but i'm sure some of his production is due to playing if elite line mates. That Michigan team is a offensive powerhouse so I will be interesting to see how a commitee views it
Goalies are also underrated for major awards, that are goalie awards
morphinecv
Registered User
- Feb 12, 2015
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Two fifty point players who never sniffed a point per game until Connor was on their line, so is that causation or correlation?
they were second line players last year, soooo... Personally I think Connor is overratted on this boards. He's a very good player and probably a top 6 guy but when you start comparing him to Eichel I have a problem with that.
Gump Hasek
Spleen Merchant
Kyle Connor has scored more goals than did either of Kariya or Eichel when they won the Hobey Baker Award as freshmen. Connor has a higher points-per-game average than did Eichel last year. He has also vastly outscored Larkin's pace from last year.
How dare anyone compare Connor to Eichel?
Romang67
BitterSwede
Why do you think they were second line players last year? If they were capable of putting up 50 points last season, they would probably have been put on the first line, given that that would have made them challenge for the team lead in scoring.
And the number of people who have said that Connor is as good as Eichel is probably 0. Now, Connor has put up Eichel like numbers this season. There is no getting around that fact. He has a higher P/G, and significantly higher G/G. That doesn't mean that anyone is comparing the two players in terms of potential. But surely you agree that if Eichel won the Hobey Baker last season with roughly the same numbers as Connor, Connor has a pretty good case for winning it this season?
morphinecv
Registered User
- Feb 12, 2015
- 452
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Well, we're on the same page. On the Jets roster, he'll move into a rightful Top 6, and probably eventually would in most systems, but he's not a lockdown franchise player with little to no gaps in his game. He is not presently and will never be as good as Eichel.
As far as the line, it may be chemistry or competition. Obvs the move up in lines, but I would say it's a pretty far stretch to think that he's being carried. The only 1st Rounder, a consensus first rounder and started being a steal around #12 - He's obviously not without talent, and to transition that in NCAA with two guys who are good but not in that same breath is almost the inverse comparison you're making. Comparing Motte and Compher to Connor is like comparing Connor to Eichel. Different levels, different expectations, different projections. It is much more likely that Connor is carrying his own weight than he is being carried, and that completely ignores the notion that he is carrying that line entirely.
As far as the line, it may be chemistry or competition. Obvs the move up in lines, but I would say it's a pretty far stretch to think that he's being carried. The only 1st Rounder, a consensus first rounder and started being a steal around #12 - He's obviously not without talent, and to transition that in NCAA with two guys who are good but not in that same breath is almost the inverse comparison you're making. Comparing Motte and Compher to Connor is like comparing Connor to Eichel. Different levels, different expectations, different projections. It is much more likely that Connor is carrying his own weight than he is being carried, and that completely ignores the notion that he is carrying that line entirely.
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