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Originally Posted by eco's bones
As far as the 18 year olds--I don't think Miller's been terrific but he's been holding his own. He can take a hit and work along the walls. He's not shown a lot of creativity but he's never played against this kind of competition before.
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I dunno, I have to disagree with this a bit. While yes, he hasn't been "terrific", I've been impressed by how he plays the game and his willingness to hold onto the puck and make some moves. He's actually done a lot of stickhandling in there and shows of some pretty good hands. His move doesn't always work but in general, he's showing me he can be a player who holds onto the puck and makes plays that way.
He hasn't gotten a lot of great shots off and his passing is a bit off, but that's what I chalk up to being a rookie to this tournament. In general, he plays the game like Callahan or Dubinsky...he's a pure "Rangers pick". Love that he initiates contact when going into the corner to battle for a puck.
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McIlrath has a nice stride and the mean streak is great as well but he still gets caught out of position a bit. To me he's potentially another Beukeboom--size, mean streak, fighting, limited offensive upside. Needs to round out his skating a bit.
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I was impressed with McIlrath's agility going backwards, that will be very helpful for him. I also think his gap control and positioning was a lot better in the second game, though yeah at least once he did take himself out of position stepping up at the wrong time or so. But again, I thought he improved over game one.
Like someone else mentioned, he really needs to learn to shoot with his head up though, but I like his poise with the puck in general. Again, I can see the potential the Rangers saw in him when they drafted him, but he still has a ways to go.