There's a reason everyone always looks good with Stepan
Seriously. Stepan's such a special player, imo. I have yet to see him not make his line-mates look great. Once he does that at the NHL level it'll be great.
Just curious if you have watched Thomas play? I have not so it would be interesting to hear your take on Thomas.
All is see is great stats for a 3rd year junior player with great You tube videos. Seriously, Gordie Clark is a great scout and he would not have drafted Thomas in the 2nd round if he did not believe Thomas can make it in the NHL. Thomas looks to be on a path headed right into the NHL and real soon.
I am a long time Oshawa Generals STH so I've had the opportunity to see the players like Tavares, Clutterbuck, Eager, Del Zotto, Neuverth, and now Thomas over the years and a lot of games as they pass thru and also pre-Junior given the area of the country I live in. Christian is often compared to his father due to his size but his features are more like his mother than his father. People also forget that he is playing on a purely offensive team with other talented players and where 2 way play isn't a highly touted value (another 3 min. of this year's team should go in the 1st/2nd round) and in a league with a lot of scoring and penalties. His current owner is also associated with the Rangers (Graves) which usually helps as well. You can't always predict the future but the players that end up being top calibre NHL players (top 4 D, top 6 Forwards) usually stand out in ways other than pure numbers after you've seen them enough and there have been tons of OHL'ers with huge numbers that don't pan out in the NHL and it usually isn't a surprise when you get to see them on a weekly basis.
If you're just looking for an offensive threat on the powerplay, then Christian can probably help you out there but I'm thinking you need a bit more than that out of a player.
As I said, I hope I am wrong and maybe I just haven't caught up to the way the 'new' NHL is working due to my age and that Christian works out to have a long career as he is a good kid from a good family.
I am a long time Oshawa Generals STH so I've had the opportunity to see the players like Tavares, Clutterbuck, Eager, Del Zotto, Neuverth, and now Thomas over the years and a lot of games as they pass thru and also pre-Junior given the area of the country I live in. Christian is often compared to his father due to his size but his features are more like his mother than his father. People also forget that he is playing on a purely offensive team with other talented players and where 2 way play isn't a highly touted value (another 3 min. of this year's team should go in the 1st/2nd round) and in a league with a lot of scoring and penalties. His current owner is also associated with the Rangers (Graves) which usually helps as well. You can't always predict the future but the players that end up being top calibre NHL players (top 4 D, top 6 Forwards) usually stand out in ways other than pure numbers after you've seen them enough and there have been tons of OHL'ers with huge numbers that don't pan out in the NHL and it usually isn't a surprise when you get to see them on a weekly basis.
If you're just looking for an offensive threat on the powerplay, then Christian can probably help you out there but I'm thinking you need a bit more than that out of a player.
As I said, I hope I am wrong and maybe I just haven't caught up to the way the 'new' NHL is working due to my age and that Christian works out to have a long career as he is a good kid from a good family.
Good to hear your thoughts coming from someone who has watched Thomas play.
Yikes.. I hope he does not have his mother's features.. Actually, I am not sure what that quote means anyway. Sounds a little femme to me.. LOL
However, there is no denying that Thomas can just produce points. He seems to be those types of players who will produce at any level. Gordie Clark knows what he is doing.
Good to hear your thoughts coming from someone who has watched Thomas play.
Yikes.. I hope he does not have his mother's features.. Actually, I am not sure what that quote means anyway. Sounds a little femme to me.. LOL
However, there is no denying that Thomas can just produce points. He seems to be those types of players who will produce at any level. Gordie Clark knows what he is doing.
ha ha - no disrespect to Christian intended. What I meant was that he was slight in bone structure compared to Stumpy dad.
They're similar, though this was Thomas' third junior season. Hall and Seguin were elite players from the moment they first stepped onto the ice in the OHL. Over a point per game as rookies.
The for Thomas are certainly impressive, but he's not in the same stratosphere as Hall. And probably not Seguin, either.
Those 3 were more physically mature. Thomas started this season about 15-20 pounds lighter than Skinner did. Thats substantial for only a 2-inch difference. Thomas would have been a lot closer to Skinner's strength level from a year ago.
So hyped for this kid.. Hes only 18 years old, that's room to add 1, 2 or 3 inches to him. If that's the case and gains alot of muscle hes going to be deadly. I would give this kid a year in the A to play with men with some NHL experience.
When a player that can skate well and has a cannon of a shot, you already know hes something special in the making.
So hyped for this kid.. Hes only 18 years old, that's room to add 1, 2 or 3 inches to him. If that's the case and gains alot of muscle hes going to be deadly. I would give this kid a year in the A to play with men with some NHL experience.
When a player that can skate well and has a cannon of a shot, you already know hes something special in the making.
How many 18 year olds do you know who grew 2 or 3 inches? lol
How many 18 year olds do you know who grew 2 or 3 inches? lol
It happens, though if he could be a legit 5'10 and 180 lbs then that'd probably be good enough and probably more realistic.
Also curious as the assertion that he played on a high scoring team since at least in his draft year all I heard was that he was the only legitimately talented player.
All that said, talking about selling high on an 18 year old that just score 50+ goals and almost 100 points is a bit silly. I think he most definitely has work to do on his overall game but a lot of that stuff players can learn.
It happens, though if he could be a legit 5'10 and 180 lbs then that'd probably be good enough and probably more realistic.
Also curious as the assertion that he played on a high scoring team since at least in his draft year all I heard was that he was the only legitimately talented player.
All that said, talking about selling high on an 18 year old that just score 50+ goals and almost 100 points is a bit silly. I think he most definitely has work to do on his overall game but a lot of that stuff players can learn.
He was the main offensive threat, but people saying he was the only scoring weapon for Oshawa were incorrect. Jensen, Jenner and Lessio are all being drafted in June, and potentially could all go ahead of Thomas. Andreoff is also a good OHL forward, and DeHaan and DeHart are good offensive defensemen.
It certainly wasn't a Grachev situation where he made up a big 3 with Duchene and Hodgson, but it's not like Thomas was carrying the team on his back.
Keeping him in the OHL next season would be quite enjoyable though. Oshawa is going to score a TON of goals.
I was mainly thinking of his draft year, when Jenson and Lessio weren't around. Stats for the team that year weren't too hot, with Thomas being the only guy over a point per game.
Last year it looks like they had much more balanced scoring, which is nice.
At any rate, again I think we should not get too hyped up about Thomas, he definitely has a lot of work to do, but declaring him a bust already like one guy did seems a bit ridiculous, regardless of how many games he's watched.
An 18 year old who drastically improved his scoring over last years totals and who was second overall in the CHL in goal scoring, as well as almost putting up two points per game in the playoffs and he's probably a bust and won't transition to the NHL? Thomas may have a lot of holes and work to do in order to make the NHL, but you don't give up on an 18 year old who puts up those kind of points, you try to get him into your system as soon as it's feasible and you work with him on correcting the things that might hold him back.
Speaking purely out of selfishness, I hope he doesn't make the Rangers next year.
You may remember me as the guy who came here and asked what it you guys would want to acquire Christian. He's small, but I love what this kid brings to the table, night in, night out.
In the end the asking price would be too high, and I ended up giving everyone a bit of a scouting report on Thomas instead, as probably one of the few people in Oshawa who managed to attend every home game this year.
It'd be a real treat to have him wearing the Gens jersey again next year. Given his size, strength at this point, and the areas of his game that do need work, I think that'd be the proper development path anyway.
Beats guessing if he's gonna grow or not haha> And the fans have a right to know! We'll be paying his salary dammit! In fact i demand the Rangers site starts listing the growth potential of draft picks. Is McI going to maybe grow one more inch? I wanna know what his diet and health plans are too how much weight is he gonna gain? Oh and strength charts! Rabble rabble
Thomas should get a look at camp and unless he impresses people to an unbelievable extent i think he should go back to juniors
I agree with this, he'll most likely head back to juniors. But I also would love to see him play well enough to earn a 9 game 'tryout' to start the year.
