He is way better than Hall or Hughes. He brings a physical leadership element that those players do not possess. He is in the 2nd tier due to that second gear he has of dragging players into the fight with elite compete. His skill level is also off the charts. He can beat you any way. I believe youre massively selling him short.
Well then Bob McKenzie is also massively selling him short. Direct quote from his list.
Yeah, but Hall had way better skating/strength combo. Basically making him a bull in a china shop exploding through the neutral zone. So, just saying he has more hockey sense and a better shot, sort of ignores what made Hall special as a prospect.
But, the question is. Are we comparing him to what Hall became, or what Hall was at his draft date? Hockey-IQ and his shot weren't that major questions at that point. I don't think he would clearly go above Hall in the same draft.
Are Matthews Eichel and Dahlin in Mcdavids class because the only player he labelled was Mcdavid in the quote you provided.... Dahlin might not even be the best player from his draft right now anyway Svechnikov looks pretty darn good and he wasnt as good a prospect as Lafreniere. They are also both wingers. As a leaf fan I find it a little suprising you arent putting any emphasis on a player that can provid a physical element of jam to his elite skill.
Lets see how physical a game he can play against men. Wingers also take way less time to make an impact at the NHL level than defenders. Either way, its about what they were as prospects. Lafreniere isn't going to be playing a heavily physical game at the NHL level. We aren't talking about a Jamie Benn type winger here.
I'd disagree on that. Seguin had pretty clear high-end franchise center upside at the time. Laf's a great prospect, but I don't see outside of hockey-iq where he truly has one skill that really separates him. Matthews has the strength/hands/shot combo, Eichel has ridiculous speed/strength combo, hard to compare with D, but Dahlin has a unique level of puck control and mobility which was unseen in the previous defenceman, both MacKinnon and Hall had ridiculous strength/speed combo's. I'm not saying he's not worthy of going one and he is very complete, which makes him quite safe. But, I question his very high-end upside when compared to some of the more high-profile #1's since 2010. I'd have him behind McDavid, Matthews, Eichel, Dahlin, MacKinnon in that order. Then sorting out where he stands next to Hall is the question. But, I'd say that is the tier he belongs in.
I’m not saying just draft on tools, otherwise I’d have Byfield at 1 and not 3. But all those guys possess high-iq mostly to combine with the exceptional physical gifts. I would say in comparison to Tavares at the same age, Tavares played a more impactful position and I think was much stronger on the puck and converting down low.
