Brett McKenzie | C

[WeneedLumme]

On February 12, 2017 at 8:11 PM, ihaveyuidonttouchme said:

monster penalty kill shift!

 

while points hasnt been coming his way, his defensive game vs Niagara and Oshawa was excellent for the most part

You gotta love a kid who spends a whole shift looking like he is on a power play while actually killing a penalty. Really looking forward to seeing him in camp this year.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[-Vintage Canuck-]

Brett McKenzie with 1 assist today. He now has 60 points (27 goals and 33 assists) in 56 games.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

Brett McKenzie with 1 assist today. He now has 61 points (27 goals and 34 assists) in 57 games.

[stonecoldstevebernier]

One assist, +3, and 14/21 in the faceoff circle for McKenzie today vs Hamilton. His offense has slowed somewhat in the second half of the season but he's still at a respectable 28-36-64 in 61 games.

 

North Bay is two points back of the final OHL East playoff spot with six games to go.

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

Yeah, it's too bad Brett couldn't maintain the kind of pace he showed over the first quarter of the season. Would have been great to see him finish in the 1.2-1.4 points per game range. But he doesn't have much help in North Bay, with there being quite a scoring drop off after him and Steve Harland, so putting up a point per game is still respectable.

 

Speaking of Steve Harland, he's a guy I wouldn't mind seeing us invite to this summer's development camp. He's a bit undersized (5'10") and a classic late bloomer. Got passed over in OHL selection drafts until last season and toiled away in relative obscurity in the NOJHL with the Powassan Voodoos (where he was called the "Magic Man" and "Magic Mitts" for his slick puck skills and piled up around two points per game). He's now a point per game player as a 20 year old in his second OHL season. Definitely a long shot for but maybe still worth a summer camp/tournament invite?

[Gaudette Celly]

So how does one differentiate between a "late bloomer" and a "man taking advantage of playing against kids"?  We thought Dane Fox might have been the former.  He's PPG again this year in the ECHL, btw.

[73 Percent]

1 minute ago, Hutton Wink said:

So how does one differentiate between a "late bloomer" and a "man taking advantage of playing against kids"?  We thought Dane Fox might have been the former.  He's PPG again this year in the ECHL, btw.

So hard to tell man. So hard. Cole cassels killed it in his last year in the OHL. 

 

I wish I had the answer. 

[Sean Monahan]

6 minutes ago, Hutton Wink said:

So how does one differentiate between a "late bloomer" and a "man taking advantage of playing against kids"?  We thought Dane Fox might have been the former.  He's PPG again this year in the ECHL, btw.

To be fair, McKenzie isn't playing with Connor McDavid.

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

1 hour ago, Hutton Wink said:

So how does one differentiate between a "late bloomer" and a "man taking advantage of playing against kids"?  We thought Dane Fox might have been the former.  He's PPG again this year in the ECHL, btw.

You can't really. That's why these guys should be camp and tournament invites and ATO/PTO candidates before ever thinking of signing them (and then likely to an AHL/ECHL deal rather than an NHL ELC).

 

But there are true "late bloomers" and some guys that just get passed over for CHL selection and get limited opportunity even if they make to to major junior. So much bias exists in the system. Much of it is legitimate and the decision makers are very good at what they do and with probably get it right 95% of the time.

 

But a few will always slip through the cracks of the best combination of eye test and stats modelling.

 

Not saying that Harland is that player.

 

But given that he's basically neck-and-neck with McKenzie in scoring on North Bay, I wouldn't mind bringing him in for an invite and measuring his ability against our other prospects.

 

Also, when it comes to undersized "skill" guys, the "men against boys" issue becomes slightly less pronounced IMO.

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

1 hour ago, Hutton Wink said:

So how does one differentiate between a "late bloomer" and a "man taking advantage of playing against kids"?  We thought Dane Fox might have been the former.  He's PPG again this year in the ECHL, btw.

Dane Fox is a pretty interesting case. Had a major knock against him in terms of his skating and that played out pretty much as expected when he initially turned pro.

 

But I've heard that he has dramatically improved his skating now through training and skating-specific technical coaching so maybe his ECHL numbers are the result of this work. He might very well still be a "late bloomer" who just has a very extended timeline. We'll see if he gets another shot at the AHL and can keep pace at that level while showcasing his strengths (that release--which remains a top notch weapon in his toolbox).

 

To his benefit, he's also a pretty scrappy, agitating guy who can get under his opponents' skins. Those are good traits to combine with natural goal scoring ability. So if he can ever skate at an NHL level, he might still earn a decent living as a tweener/depth forward.

[Gaudette Celly]

Did we ever find out the future considerations from Carolina?

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

20 minutes ago, Hutton Wink said:

Did we ever find out the future considerations from Carolina?

Don't think so. At least I never heard anything.

 

Might have been target based. Maybe we would have gotten a draft pick if Fox ended up playing in the NHL?

 

Or the future considerations could have just been part of the agreement where we did an AHL swap of Jones for Hensick (which happened the same day IIRC).

[Warhippy]

1 hour ago, Hutton Wink said:

Did we ever find out the future considerations from Carolina?

The usage of the patented and trademarked Ric Flair Wooooo during each goal celebration

[Hoosierdaddy]

1 hour ago, Warhippy said:

The usage of the patented and trademarked Ric Flair Wooooo during each goal celebration

ohhh this would be good 

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

A little more info on McKenzie's teammate Steve Harland (who I suggested earlier in this thread that we target for an invite).

 

Quoted post is from HFBoards user ihaveyuidonttouchme, who I'm assuming is the same person as our own @ihaveyuidonttouchme (seems a pretty safe assumption ):

 

if we were to sign/invite another overager, they should look long hard at Steve Harland

the battalions are pushing for that final playoffs spot (pretty much in the mode already) and he's really taking it to another level. he has some pretty good hands, super hard worker, developing two way game nicely, good speed, playmaking, scores dirty goals...he can do it all
plays bigger than his size

http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showpost.php?p=129260015&postcount=403

 

Sounds like Stan Butler has worked his magic with this kid and produced another very complete player. 

 

Although from this older scouting video on Harland, it sounds like he's been a pretty solid all around player since his NOJHL days: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vancan2233]

On 2017-03-06 at 11:33 AM, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

Dane Fox is a pretty interesting case. Had a major knock against him in terms of his skating and that played out pretty much as expected when he initially turned pro.

 

But I've heard that he has dramatically improved his skating now through training and skating-specific technical coaching so maybe his ECHL numbers are the result of this work. He might very well still be a "late bloomer" who just has a very extended timeline. We'll see if he gets another shot at the AHL and can keep pace at that level while showcasing his strengths (that release--which remains a top notch weapon in his toolbox).

 

To his benefit, he's also a pretty scrappy, agitating guy who can get under his opponents' skins. Those are good traits to combine with natural goal scoring ability. So if he can ever skate at an NHL level, he might still earn a decent living as a tweener/depth forward.

Love to see this kid have a similar path as Burrows. AHL next year, then NHL 4th liner the next and slowly work his way to a high end support player into his late 30's.

[kenhodgejr]

Being coached in such a defensive system has made him develop quicker as a player. This season was his first season as the Captain and #1 centre and I think he did a great job leading his team. I see him as a future captain of Utica and as a solid 4th line NHL'er 

[stonecoldstevebernier]

McKenzie with the lone goal in a 6-1 loss today, bringing him to 29-37-66 in 63 games this year. North Bay is still two points out of the last playoff spot with just four games to go.

[stonecoldstevebernier]

McKenzie with one goal today in a crucial 4-0 win for North Bay vs Sudbury. I watched most of the second and third periods out of curiosity - McKenzie has been racking up the shot totals this year and he really is the type to shoot from anywhere. He had four shots today and had several more that were blocked or missed, but where he finds most of his success is in the immediate area around the net. He has a knack for finding open space near the crease and that's how he scored his goal today, on a backdoor play on the right side with a gaping net in front of him. He's also good at following his shots to the net and recovering the loose puck for second chance opportunities.

 

It'll definitely be a challenge for him to get that same amount of space in the pro levels playing against smarter and bigger defenders, but he has a good instinct of where to go on the ice. Also plays in all situations - PP, PK, late in the game. Was a big part of a five-minute penalty kill in the third and was on the ice when Sudbury pulled the goalie late.

 

He now has 29-37-66 in 65 games, with two games to go. North Bay is one point back of Sudbury and two back of Niagara, and they'll play Sudbury again tomorrow in a game that could very well decide their season.