Daimon Gardner | C

[86Viking]

will go see him in action when he comes to play the warriors. Wish the kid all the best and congrats to being selected by Vancouver!

[DrJockitch]

Obviously pretty much going with size and position to say I like this pick. 
‘Feels like a big swing for the fences. Would be perfect if was right shot. 
‘I think with the new stress on development that we are supposedly seeing they should take all these draftees straight to Vancouver and get them working with the skating coach. Day 1 in franchise you understand you need to work on this more than anything else. 

[Nucker 67]

Always inside-focused, Gardner’s sense prevails across his shifts. He drives middle lanes, exploits his frame advantages to protect against defenders, and has handling, shooting, and passing skills that all blend into a relatively sophisticated offensive package. Off-puck, Gardner is a constant rotator, who jumps in willingly to help win battles or bully net front defenders to create screens. -EliteProspects 2022 NHL Draft Guide

[Petey Castiglione]

Nice to have a big, tough center in the system again even though he's a long term project.  NCAA is a good place for him to develop and follow.  All the best kid.

[R3aL]

Heard his interview models his game after anders Lee. Unexpected but makes sense.

 

Interesting draft lots of projects that we got value at their draft position. 
 

hope at least 1 of them outside lekkerimaki turns into a player or a trade chip 

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

12 hours ago, Stierlitz said:

 

According to his interview with Sat Shah, Dan Riccio, and Jamie Dodd on 650 this afternoon, he is committed to playing for Tri City Storm in the USHL next season.

 

Perhaps he changed his mind coming to the BCHL. 

[Smashian Kassian]

The more I learn about this kid the more I love it.

 

Seems like he has some good tools, but more importantly the scouts were really high on him & judging by that video of him as a kid his family has been working towards this his whole hockey life, no doubt he's dedicated. Said on 650 he's training in WPG 5 days a week.

 

Excited to see his development. 6'4 & some talent, also willing to fight, can't teach that. 

 

 

Edited July 9, 2022 by Smashian Kassian

[R3aL]

16 minutes ago, CRAZY_4_NAZZY said:

According to his interview with Sat Shah, Dan Riccio, and Jamie Dodd on 650 this afternoon, he is committed to playing for Tri City Storm in the USHL next season.

 

Perhaps he changed his mind coming to the BCHL. 

Ya I’ve been confused about where he’s playing it’s kinda gone back and forth. 

[Spoosh]

1 hour ago, Smashian Kassian said:

The more I learn about this kid the more I love it.

 

Seems like he has some good tools, but more importantly the scouts were really high on him & judging by that video of him as a kid his family has been working towards this his whole hockey life, no doubt he's dedicated. Said on 650 he's training in WPG 5 days a week.

 

Excited to see his development. 6'4 & some talent, also willing to fight, can't teach that. 

 

 

Everyone with a generally positive state of mind seems to be excited about our new draft pics and rightfully so. Happy to see that around here and it cannot be taken for granted on CDC.

 

He seems like a quality guy and has a lot of room to improve still.

All of our draft choices this year look to be longer projects to develop but exciting pics still.

[AK_19]

I'm a little confused why he's going to the USHL and not the NCAA? 

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

12 minutes ago, AK_19 said:

I'm a little confused why he's going to the USHL and not the NCAA? 

Some players don't feel they are quite ready to jump straight into the NCAA. Especially those who play in prep school divisions or high school level hockey, the jump is significant and can often lead to players losing confidence or they don't play very significant roles (4th line to healthy scratches). USHL is still a very good development league, around on par with the BCHL, AJHL, OJHL. 

 

My speculation is that Gardner since he spent his season mostly in the Minnesota prep school division and played a few games in the USHL, he wants to acclimatize himself to a higher level of hockey so that he doesn't become a deer in the headlights in college. Since he played in Tri City last season, he likely is familiar with the level of play, coaching staff, and expectations. It makes sense he doesn't want to up root himself again to a new Province, new level of hockey, teammates, and coaching staff. 

 

Tri City Storm has been known to have NHL products roll through their system - Jaden Schwartz, John Marino, Shane Pinto, Nico Sturm, Mason Appleton, Blake Coleman, Trevor Moore, Jeremy Swaymon, and Brandon Duhaime are notable NHL regulars.

 

Sounds like he is playing with Tri City for one year and then will make his transition to Clarkson University. 

 

 

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

1 hour ago, CRAZY_4_NAZZY said:

Some players don't feel they are quite ready to jump straight into the NCAA. Especially those who play in prep school divisions or high school level hockey, the jump is significant and can often lead to players losing confidence or they don't play very significant roles (4th line to healthy scratches). USHL is still a very good development league, around on par with the BCHL, AJHL, OJHL. 

 

My speculation is that Gardner since he spent his season mostly in the Minnesota prep school division and played a few games in the USHL, he wants to acclimatize himself to a higher level of hockey so that he doesn't become a deer in the headlights in college. Since he played in Tri City last season, he likely is familiar with the level of play, coaching staff, and expectations. It makes sense he doesn't want to up root himself again to a new Province, new level of hockey, teammates, and coaching staff. 

 

Tri City Storm has been known to have NHL products roll through their system - Jaden Schwartz, John Marino, Shane Pinto, Nico Sturm, Mason Appleton, Blake Coleman, Trevor Moore, Jeremy Swaymon, and Brandon Duhaime are notable NHL regulars.

 

Sounds like he is playing with Tri City for one year and then will make his transition to Clarkson University. 

 

 

That Tri City team was an absolute juggernaut last year (47-11-4 record in regular season) with a really deep roster. Gardner was only getting 10ish minutes a night and just played in seven games. It’s possible he and his reps/advisors felt he’d have a better opportunity with Chilliwack, and were ready to make a switch, but then Tri City came back to them and made some sort of commitment to give him more icetime and a bigger role next year. Getting drafted also helps.

 

I’m just speculating, of course.

Edited July 9, 2022 by SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME

[Guest]

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

That Tri City team was an absolute juggernaut last year (47-11-4 record in regular season) with a really deep roster. Gardner was only getting 10ish minutes a night and just played in seven games. It’s possible he and his reps/advisors felt he’d have a better opportunity with Chilliwack, and were ready to make a switch, but then Tri City came back to them and made some sort of commitment to give him more icetime and a bigger role next year. Getting drafted also helps.

 

I’m just speculating, of course.

Plus it's not that uncommon to do a year of USHL in D+1 right? 

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

4 minutes ago, VancouverHabitant said:

Plus it's not that uncommon to do a year of USHL in D+1 right? 

Definitely not unusual, since it’s an age 16-21 junior league. Tons of D+1 players in the USHL.

 

For a college commit, it’s about whether or not they (and the school) feel they’re ready for the next step and what they think is the best choice for his development. Gardner hasn’t really had a lot of time playing above the high school level. I’m sure his advisors are helping him chart the best course for his future.

[Captain Canuck #12]

If he has already completed grade 12, then there's a good chance that he's also using the 'gap year' to repeat some high school courses and boost his grades, in order to meet the academic eligibility requirements of the university he'll be attending.

[BobbyClarke]

I think it’s generally common for Freshmen in all D1 schools to get very little playing time across all sports. He’s going to get a lot more playing time this way. I think it’s way better for his development. 

[JamesB]

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

That Tri City team was an absolute juggernaut last year (47-11-4 record in regular season) with a really deep roster. Gardner was only getting 10ish minutes a night and just played in seven games. It’s possible he and his reps/advisors felt he’d have a better opportunity with Chilliwack, and were ready to make a switch, but then Tri City came back to them and made some sort of commitment to give him more icetime and a bigger role next year. Getting drafted also helps.

 

I’m just speculating, of course.

 

3 hours ago, Captain Canuck #12 said:

If he has already completed grade 12, then there's a good chance that he's also using the 'gap year' to repeat some high school courses and boost his grades, in order to meet the academic eligibility requirements of the university he'll be attending.

 

3 hours ago, BobbyClarke said:

I think it’s generally common for Freshmen in all D1 schools to get very little playing time across all sports. He’s going to get a lot more playing time this way. I think it’s way better for his development. 

These comments make a lot of sense to me, but it is a bit disappointing that he won't be in the BCHL.  

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

53 minutes ago, JamesB said:

 

 

These comments make a lot of sense to me, but it is a bit disappointing that he won't be in the BCHL.  

As far as being able to go watch him in person, for us Canucks fans who live near enough to Chilliwack, I’d agree. Otherwise, I’m not sure it’s a big deal. Quite possibly it’s actually the better situation for him. The USHL season is 62 games. The BCHL is 54. The level of competition is higher in the USHL than the BCHL, and many USHL teams (Tri-City being no exception) have excellent coaching staffs, trainers, and facilities. And, as far as keeping tabs on Gardner, there should be a video broadcast available for every Tri-City game next season (through the USHL’s subscription streaming service at HockeyTV.com).

[JamesB]

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

As far as being able to go watch him in person, for us Canucks fans who live near enough to Chilliwack, I’d agree. Otherwise, I’m not sure it’s a big deal. Quite possibly it’s actually the better situation for him. The USHL season is 62 games. The BCHL is 54. The level of competition is higher in the USHL than the BCHL, and many USHL teams (Tri-City being no exception) have excellent coaching staffs, trainers, and facilities. And, as far as keeping tabs on Gardner, there should be a video broadcast available for every Tri-City game next season (through the USHL’s subscription streaming service at HockeyTV.com).

I am sure that you are right that it is not a big deal as far as Gardner's development is concerned. But I was thinking that it would be convenient to be close to the Canuck coaching and development staff, as well as allowing some Canuck fans to watch him play.

 

As for the relative quality of the leagues, as Allvin recently pointed out (I think it was him), it is not always best to play at the highest possible level. Playing in the BCHL Gardner would probably get more minutes and would probably get to play in more situations (more PP time and more PK time) and he might develop his confidence more. 

 

However, as you indicate, it is not a big deal. The most important factor at this point is probably just his own personal commitment to developing his game. 

[Alflives]

12 hours ago, BobbyClarke said:

I think it’s generally common for Freshmen in all D1 schools to get very little playing time across all sports. He’s going to get a lot more playing time this way. I think it’s way better for his development. 

Maybe he needs to upgrade some of his high school classes to fully qualify for college?