Dylan Strome: NHL Draft War Room Prospect Profile

by

by Eldon MacDonald (edited by @ChrisRalphTHW) 

Dylan Strome – Ranked #5 – March 2015 Rankings

Dylan Strome
Dylan Strome of the Erie Otters [photo: OHL Images]
  • Hashtag: #MrBestIsYetToCome
  • Team: #19, Erie Otters, OHL
  • Position: Centre
  • Shoots: Left
  • Height: 6’3
  • Weight: 187 lb.
  • Born: Mississauga, ON, 7-Mar-97
  • Twitter: @stromer19

Stats


 

Other Rankings

  • 4 – FC – Top 30, Feb-15
  • 4 – THN – Ryan Kennedy – Top 30, Jan-15
  • 4 – TSN – Bob McKenzie’s Poll of NHL Scouts – Top 60 – Mid, Jan-15
  • 4 – TSN – Craig Button – Top 100, Feb-15
  • 5 – THW – Christopher Ralph, Top 30, Mid, Feb-15
  • 5 – NHL Combined – Top 305, Mid, Jan-15
  • 5 – SN – Damien Cox, Feb-15 – Top 30
  • 6 – HP – Top 100, Mid, Jan-15
  • 6 – ISS – Top 30, Feb-15
  • 6 – McKeens – Top 30, Jan-15

 

From THW’s Draft War Room

Eldon MacDonald, THW:  A few words on Dylan Strome:

Mr. Best is Yet to Come : The reason that  I am sure that Dylan Strome will be a success in the NHL is his willingness to constantly improve, his willingness to do what it takes to get better, whatever the area of his game.

Five Reasons Dylan Strome Will Be Chosen in the Top 5 of the 2015 NHL Draft

  • Size – One of the pieces that are hardest to find for an NHL team is that skilled, big-man centre. Dylan Strome, at 6’3, 187, is that skilled, big-man centre.
  • Competitiveness – Driven to be successful, a want to win mentality – honed at home with his NHL brother, Ryan (NY Islanders – 2011, 4th overall).
  • Willingness to Get Better – This is what I wrote about Dylan’s brother, Ryan way back in 2011, “The thing I most like about Ryan Strome is that this year’s enormous success just didn’t happen because of luck and good fortune. It happened because Ryan had the intelligence to know what he had to do make it happen, he had the common sense to do something about it and he had the work ethic to carry it out. That combination is a winner in my books and makes good things happen.” You could just substitute Dylan for Ryan and that would update you to 2015. And yes, Dylan Strome is a winner in my books too.
  • Good Down Low – Has the patience to wait for an opening to exist, has the lateral ability to penetrate an opening, has the vision to know when an opening will come, has the puck possession skills to work in traffic.
  • Face-off King – You know that you are pretty good at something if you can do it better than Connor McDavid, Dylan’s teammate and projected number one pick in 2015. And yes, Dylan takes most of the face-offs when he and McDavid are on the ice together which is mainly on the power play.

Offense

  • Vision – First rate along the patience to let the play develop.
  • Passing – Pass first mentality with the vision and skills to make it happen.
  • Shooting – Lethal wrist shot.
  • Stickhandling – Very good, especially in heavy traffic.
  • Puck Protection – Will not let go of his puck, a real dog with a bone mentality. A real strength.

Defense: Could improve his play without the puck; however, this is more a commitment to improve his skating than a commitment to more concentration on defense.

Awards and Achievements

  • 2012-13: Greater Toronto Hockey League – Player of the year
  • 2014: World U-17 Hockey Challenge – All Star
  • 2014: Ivan Hlinka Hockey Tournament – Gold medal with Team Canada
  • Sep-14: Pacific 4 Forward of the Month
  • 2015: BMO MHL/CHL Top Prospects Game – Player of the Game for Team Cherry
  • 2014-15: OHL Scoring Champ; tied for CHL Scoring lead with Connor Garland

Improvements to make: Dylan has been working very hard to improve his acceleration and top-end speed with Toronto Maple Leafs Skating Coach Dawn Braid. His lateral movement, however, is good which works well down low a la Alex Galchenyuk.

NHL Projection: Dylan Strome possesses the size, vision, passing, shot, puck protection, face-off and down-low skills that NHL teams look for in a number one or two centreman. He currently has that big-man, pass first mentality not unlike Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks. However, his shot is so good that I think he will evolve into having more of a shooter mentality like John Tavares or Ryan Kesler.

Draft placement: The rankings have Dylan tightly bunched in the 4 to 6 range. With the size and OHL success he has shown to date and the proven NHL success of his brother, it is likely he will be chosen sooner rather than later – don’t expect any slippage.

Quotable

  • Quote 1: TSN.ca – Bob McKenzie, “Strome is the big centre every NHL team looks for. His vision, playmaking ability and productivity (30 goals and 85 points in 45 games) are elite. But some scouts caution there’s no dynamic quality to his game (no “wow factor,” as one scout put it) and that he doesn’t possess the extra gear or pace that separates McDavid and Eichel from the rest of the field. Still, Strome is the top available pivot next to the Big Two.”
  • Quote 2: NHL.com – Mike G. Morreale, NHL.com staff writer, “A strong skater with the agility and reach NHL scouts crave. He’s been compared to former NHL player Keith Primeau for his ability to protect the puck from checking pressure while effectively circling it out from down low.”
  • Quote 3: The Toronto Star – Dawn Braid, Toronto Maple Leafs Skating Coach, “It’s nice to see him coming along,” said Braid, who believes Strome has developed better body control, posture and skating on his edges. “We always knew he was a talented player and sometimes they were questioning his skating. And I think over the next few years, if Dylan sticks with it, when that strength side of it comes in, when he matures physically, I think the games will be huge.”
  • Quote 4: USA Today – Craig Button, TSN Director of Scouting, “What I call (Dylan) is an industrious center. Those kind of centers go early. Dylan Strome might be like (Columbus Blue Jackets center) Ryan Johansen.”
  • Quote 5: OHL Prospects Blogspot – Dan Stewart, Director of Scouting for Future Considerations, “Strome has been progressively more impressive in each of my views this season and is someone who really does not yet know how dominant he can be in this league. His game will only become more impressive as he learns to fully utilize his great size, reach and adds more strength to his frame. This kid will breakout eventually and will be almost impossible to contain once he does.”

Interviews

  • Interview 2: com (Phone interview) – 11-Nov-2014
  • Interview 3: Yahoo! Sports Canada – Neate Sager – 01-Feb-2015
Dylan Strome
Dylan Strome of the Erie Otters [photo: OHL Images]

Profiles

Videos

  • Video 1: Highlights – Rogers TV
  • Video 2: Shift by Shift – HockeyPwns
  • Video 3: On Possibility of being a Maple Leaf (with Connor McDavid) – ca
  • Video 4: 2 goals versus Ottawa (1-Nov-14) – Hockey Prospect Videos
  • Video 5: Zipline adventure – Sportsnet.ca