Don't be fooled by his stats or size. He is a very offensive player, very shifty, and plays like Jason Spezza (PLAYS like, not as good). He is definitely a good pick to have.
Not overly physical, very inconsistent, and motivation is a question. Without a doubt, has quite a bit of skill though.
In my opinion, boom or bust. He's fallen to #3 on the 67's depth chart for centre due to the outstanding play of Sean Monahan.
Talked with someone who follows the 67s. Thought Graovac would have been taken if he wasn't injured this season (spent time out with a fractured forearm). Is a two-way player with a big body and focuses more on faceoffs and being sound defensively than offense.
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Blog: First Round Bust: A Cast of Thousands celebrating a rather dodgy track record of Minnesota Wild Drafting.
"Will beats skill when skill doesn't have enough will."
-Doug Woog
Talked with someone who follows the 67s. Thought Graovac would have been taken if he wasn't injured this season (spent time out with a fractured forearm). Is a two-way player with a big body and focuses more on faceoffs and being sound defensively than offense.
Thanks for passing that on. Sounds like he has 3rd line upside at the most. Could end up being a quality 4th liner. Really like all of Fletcher's picks/decisions during the draft. This one is an unknown, but being that it's 191st overall, that's ok.
Didn't know anything about Haula last year either. With the late rounders, it's almost best to forget their names for a couple years and see what develops.
Thanks for passing that on. Sounds like he has 3rd line upside at the most. Could end up being a quality 4th liner. Really like all of Fletcher's picks/decisions during the draft. This one is an unknown, but being that it's 191st overall, that's ok.
With late round picks, you have to take gambles. And I like the gamble on Graovic. He's got size, speed and some offensive upside. He's also in a good situation with the 67's, playing for the 2nd line center position so that'll be good for his development.
All you can do with late round picks is draft a player with the tools, in the right setting, and just hope.
He looks like a rag doll against that kid. Seems pretty soft. Even if you watch his little body check before the fight, he basically bumped into him rather than deliver an actual hit. Eero Elo comparison is right...
He looks like a rag doll against that kid. Seems pretty soft. Even if you watch his little body check before the fight, he basically bumped into him rather than deliver an actual hit. Eero Elo comparison is right...
To be fair, that video was from last season and alot of things can happen in 3 months, let alone an entire season.
But also, that is what makes Graovac a 7th round pick rather than a 3rd rounder.
Not at all. He's extremely streaky and before this year his best stats were 10 goals and 27 points. I HIGHLY doubt all of a sudden he's going to become a 1.5 PPG or 0.75 GPG player, regardless of his fast start.
He's an elder stateman in the OHL. It's completely reasonable that he puts up big numbers, and yet still be offensively limited at the pro level. Brodziak put up big numbers his last year in junior.
i'd be pretty thrilled if he turned out like Brodz. Though i'm not sure I'd have the patience to see him start improving later than average in his career. We'd probably be saying "too bad, we liked you but see ya." like the Oilers fans did.
