Some of the things I took away were :
- At times, attempts to generate offense from the perimeter 5v5 to avoid contact, especially off the rush.
- When he does cut to middle of the ice the rush, it will be risky to do the same at the next level, especially with his head down at times, he's going to get absolutely rocked at some point.
- There are times he has trouble in tight and battles against the boards. I'm not sure he will do well with less time and space in tight at the next level, especially given his size. His defense is good, but not top 5 good, in my opinion.
- Don't get me wrong, he can run a PP. However, walking the line and evading from attackers at the NHL level is a different beast and I don't see his skating abilities separating himself enough at the next level to enable the way he tends to unfold his offense. He could surely get a lot of points on the PP at the next level.
- There is far less time and space at the next level and between his offensive tendencies/skating abilities/undersized, I'm not sure it will be able to do the same thing he is doing in college at the next level. I see a lot of Derrick Pouliot in his game. It's hard to see him as a legit, #1 D man leading a rush when it's hard to iron out some of the clunky, off balanced strides, forward crossovers, and forward to back pivots. That really inhibits him from generating a lot of power. That is also an indicator to his center of gravity, then combine with his slighter frame, and now imagine how it would combat against say, Tom Wilson/Matt Rempe/Etc coming full speed on the forecheck trying to take his head off.
I'm not saying he's a bust, he surely has top 4 upside, but I see more of a #4-6 Dman who can run a PP when not injured. I wouldn't bite with a top pick, but time will tell and that's the fun of it, right!
Wimbledon Gentlemen's Cristian Garin vs Juncheng ShangWagers: 4Staked: $1,575.00Event closes
