F Mac Swanson - Fargo Force, USHL (2024 Draft)

[BondraTime]

You have no clue where he's ranked. Speak for yourself. You have him ranked 6th/7th.

Central Scouting does not invite a consensus list. They invite their favorites. In doing so, they put their foot on the scale and discriminate against players like this who need an avenue like the NHL Draft Combine to prove their height.

And where's your proof NHL teams can invite any player they want? You are telling me NHL teams only have interest in seeing 100 or so players at the combine? Very hard to believe thats remotely true.

My guy, are you arguing without knowing how the combine list is made?

They invite ~100 players every year, a list created by both NHL CS and NHL teams

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

My guy, are you arguing without knowing how the combine list is made?

Where's your proof? You made the claim. Now provide proof to back it up.

 

[BondraTime]

Where's your proof? You made the claim. Now provide proof to back it up.

They go through the invite list every year prior to the combine, NHL treams have input on guys they want to invite, if there is someone way backl they want to check out, they'll be added. That's why Jack Sparkes was there in 2022 with only 80 guys invited, ahead of guys ranked in the 30's and 40's in NA despite being ranked 127th

It was just a few days ago I was trying to explain to you how the list is put together between Dan Marr and his scouts and NHL, and that Swanson is not likely to be invited

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

They go through the invite list every year prior to the combine, NHL treams have input on guys they want to invite, if there is someone way backl they want to check out, they'll be added. That's why Jack Sparkes was there in 2022 with only 80 guys invited, ahead of guys ranked in the 30's and 40's in NA despite being ranked 127th

It was just a few days ago I was trying to explain to you how the list is put together between Dan Marr and his scouts and NHL, and that Swanson is not likely to be invited

So again, just your own commentary. How do you know? Can you provide some proof?

You seem gleeful that NHL Central Scouting is discriminating against a smaller player who is quite clearly better than many players they like better. I guess the “I told you so” when your opinion lines up with the eventual outcome does that for some people.

This is completely unjust and they should be ashamed of themselves. They are bums.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

Wasn't invited to the combine.

This was the worry. Central Scouting are trying to put their foot on the scale. They are not remotely fair in their consultant work they do for the NHL. How you could not invite literally the best player in a league that will have 20-30 non-NTDP players? That's f***ing malpractice.

Central scouting are bums. Some of the worst lists out there year after year. If you are going to try to be the NHL's partner, you need to be fair to the players when you put on an event like this, regardless of what you personally think. The combine is not a draft. Central scouting is one company with a list. You must invite the consensus players to allow NHL teams to make decisions. Central scouting has become a bunch of activists.

Now the biggest question about his game he's not going to get a chance to answer. Real shame. He'll have to persevere some more.

Same with Justin Poirier. But thank God we get to see Jared Woolley there.

(nothing against Woolley but one guy put up 50 goals, the other 5 points).

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Same with Justin Poirier. But thank God we get to see Jared Woolley there.

(nothing against Woolley but one guy put up 50 goals, the other 5 points).

Being one of London’s worst players has its benefits.

 

[ryan callahan]

Same with Justin Poirier. But thank God we get to see Jared Woolley there.

(nothing against Woolley but one guy put up 50 goals, the other 5 points).

Surprised the Boulton brothers didn't get an invite with the London Knights connections

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Hardly see the NHL Combine as the be all/end all for a prospect.

In fact, for a college-bound player like Swanson it may be beneficial to him to avoid the distraction of the combine - staying on schedule with his off-season regimen or doing things like graduation.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Hardly see the NHL Combine as the be all/end all for a prospect.

In fact, for a college-bound player like Swanson it may be beneficial to him to avoid the distraction of the combine - staying on schedule with his off-season regimen or doing things like graduation.

The NHL combine is the only official measurement that's put out there. I guess teams can go measure a player during an interview, but for a player who has "size" as by far the biggest weakness in their game, it is a very important proving ground.

 

[josra33]

Where's your proof? You made the claim. Now provide proof to back it up.

Your post history is a pretty good basis

 

[Michael Farkas]

Where do people genuinely project him to land?

Not close to a draft pick for me or anyone that I've talked to about him over the course of the year.

5'7", not explosive (this is where it ends for most, rightfully so), not a high work rate, low-end adaptive handling at best, not a particularly interesting shot (it's good, maybe even that undersells it a tad...but it's not elite)...

I'm a smaller player apologist, but do you know how good you have to be and in what areas you need to be elite in to be a legit NHL prospect at this size? This player could be 6-foot flat and I'd only be kinda interested...

He'll produce in college, but you don't draft a guy because he won junior accolades. You draft guys that project to be NHLers, and they may happen to have won junior accolades along the way.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Not close to a draft pick for me or anyone that I've talked to about him over the course of the year.

5'7", not explosive (this is where it ends for most, rightfully so), not a high work rate, low-end adaptive handling at best, not a particularly interesting shot (it's good, maybe even that undersells it a tad...but it's not elite)...

I'm a smaller player apologist, but do you know how good you have to be and in what areas you need to be elite in to be a legit NHL prospect at this size? This player could be 6-foot flat and I'd only be kinda interested...

He'll produce in college, but you don't draft a guy because he won junior accolades. You draft guys that project to be NHLers, and they may happen to have won junior accolades along the way.

So you’d rather take some guy who it’s questionable has any NHL trait but pass up a guy with obvious elite NHL traits like passing and hockey sense? The 6’3 guy you’d rather take in the late rounds, let alone earlier, would be going first or second round if they were legitimately good at the things that are supposedly appealing about them.

You obviously aren’t a small player apologist if you have Swanson as a not draftable player after he we the best player in the USHL. That has to count for something. The idea that it doesn’t matter that a player is presently good (in this case he’s elite) at all levels of competition they’ve been going against is ridiculous. You only have to be marginally wrong for this type of opinion to come back to bite you. You are betting that he won’t keep being good (let alone elite) as he moves up to higher levels. Meanwhile, you’d be projecting players who aren’t presently good become good. A lot of confidence for anyone to have in their own skills of evaluation.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Easy, easy...I didn't say all that. Where did I say that I'd want a bunch of questionable NHLers over Swanson? Where did that come from?

Why are or aren't I "obviously" anything based on Swanson alone? How did we get there?

There's a whole thread where you basically slam and slander and make accusations about anyone that doesn't love this player ("the NHL is discriminating" and all that noise) and then accuse them of bias...

I mean, look at the response...it's hardly about Swanson at all. It's about a player or players that don't exist and about me and my evaluation process, which I can't imagine you have too great of a hold on haha

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Easy, easy...I didn't say all that. Where did I say that I'd want a bunch of questionable NHLers over Swanson? Where did that come from?

Why are or aren't I "obviously" anything based on Swanson alone? How did we get there?

There's a whole thread where you basically slam and slander and make accusations about anyone that doesn't love this player ("the NHL is discriminating" and all that noise) and then accuse them of bias...

I mean, look at the response...it's hardly about Swanson at all. It's about a player or players that don't exist and about me and my evaluation process, which I can't imagine you have too great of a hold on haha

I think it's implied in your post. Obviously players who aren't a first round caliber (or early/mid second round) players are questionable NHL'ers, both with their expected outcome and their individual traits (occasionally players have all the traits, but have other problems). If we are talking about mid/late round picks (the players you presumably would have ahead of him), which let's ballpark as like 3rd or 4th round players on your list (because lists for scouts aren't usually seven rounds), you are obviously talking about players who have traits that don't project as clearly NHL level.

I responded to the content of your post, and you choose to attack me, not the substance of my response. A little childish, no? If you want to go down that road, it must be pretty miserable to be assigned to the USA region, and contort your "expertise" to not even having a draftable grade on the junior player of the year for USA Hockey, and one of the clear most important players from that region for this draft. But maybe I should've expected it, given the general smug attitude, and that you had the audacity to say that literally one of the 3-4 best performing players in the whole 2024 draft (first year eligibles) doesn't deserve to be drafted.

This'll be worth looking back on down the road.

 

[BondraTime]

Without a doubt he won’t be on many teams draft lists.

He’s still likely going to be a guy taken in the 5th-7th, guy had a fantastic season and thinks the game extremely well, some team will hope for the best, but that size and skating combination is essentially non-existent in the NHL.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

His skating is much better than some think. He’s one of these players that slows the game down, so it can look like he’s not that fast, but when he needs to win a race his speed is there. He’s also slippery. Not an elite skater, but for his size I think he skates at a similar level to smaller NHL players.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Lightning should draft him if he falls to where they finally pick