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Aidan McDonough | #25 | LW


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6 hours ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

“The kid you didn’t want to have the puck.” :lol:

 

Hopefully one day soon, we’ll be hearing that from opposition broadcast teams in the NHL.

One more off season of power skating and I think he'll be ready to blow up in AHL next year. 

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13 hours ago, Elias Pettersson said:

How did this guy fall to the 7th round?

Late bloomer, late growth spurt (shot up from 5’8” to 6’2” over just a few years in prep school), no USDP exposure, wasn’t really on the radar for some scouts, and those who did watch him said (quite accurately) that his skating was pretty rough and needed a lot of work. 
 

The skating is still the limiting factor on his ceiling, but it’s vastly improved this year.

 

And with that size, and the way he shoots the puck, he doesn’t really need good skating, but just “good enough” skating to make it as a pro. 

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52 minutes ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

Late bloomer, late growth spurt (shot up from 5’8” to 6’2” over just a few years in prep school), no USDP exposure, wasn’t really on the radar for some scouts, and those who did watch him said (quite accurately) that his skating was pretty rough and needed a lot of work. 
 

The skating is still the limiting factor on his ceiling, but it’s vastly improved this year.

 

And with that size, and the way he shoots the puck, he doesn’t really need good skating, but just “good enough” skating to make it as a pro. 

I think he gets a contract at the end of this season so we can put him with a better skating coach.

 

Raw skill is there, just needs to increase his first steps.

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1 hour ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

Late bloomer, late growth spurt (shot up from 5’8” to 6’2” over just a few years in prep school), no USDP exposure, wasn’t really on the radar for some scouts, and those who did watch him said (quite accurately) that his skating was pretty rough and needed a lot of work. 
 

The skating is still the limiting factor on his ceiling, but it’s vastly improved this year.

 

And with that size, and the way he shoots the puck, he doesn’t really need good skating, but just “good enough” skating to make it as a pro. 

I watched his last couple of games, and he actually skates a lot better than I expected.  He’s a big guy too (late growth) so I’d expect he’s a Jaimie Benn level of skater when fully mature.  Maybe he can be mean too?  I didn’t see any meanness in his game, but he didn’t shy from contact.  In fact he was often first to 50/50 pucks where collisions were for sure going to happen. He’s going to be a player.  

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18 minutes ago, VegasCanuck said:

I think he gets a contract at the end of this season so we can put him with a better skating coach.

 

Raw skill is there, just needs to increase his first steps.

Definitely. I have liked his skating a lot more this season, but he needs to keep improving and building on his gains. First steps seem to be much more efficient and he looks both stronger and lighter on his skates. He’s also much more smooth, both in direct lines, and moving laterally. Not saying he’s a great skater, but it’s noticeable better. When he gets a jump, he seems able to maintain separation, in situations where in the past he’d have definitely gotten caught as defenders closed space on him. This is also showing up in his off puck movement and just getting up and down the ice quicker during game flow. Also seem to be seeing a lot more chances from him on the rush, which is a nice bonus. Of course, there’s a big step up from the NCAA to the pros, so he needs to continue to put in the work, when it comes to his skating.

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11 minutes ago, Alflives said:

I watched his last couple of games, and he actually skates a lot better than I expected.  He’s a big guy too (late growth) so I’d expect he’s a Jaimie Benn level of skater when fully mature.  Maybe he can be mean too?  I didn’t see any meanness in his game, but he didn’t shy from contact.  In fact he was often first to 50/50 pucks where collisions were for sure going to happen. He’s going to be a player.  

Yeah, I wouldn’t say he’s mean, but he’s confident in his size, and definitely has no fear or shying away. He does agitate and look to frustrate opponents and can bully the play with his size, at least against NCAA competition. I think he plays better when he’s physical and he really seems to enjoy the contact. He’s not punishing opponents, but he does throw his weight around, and definitely uses his size and strength to protect the puck, and to bully his way into space. He’s also pretty nimble in tight areas, and sneaky in how he finds seams and slips into open space to get shots off. Really good instincts in the offensive zone.

Edited by SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME
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