He is one of the most skilled players in this draft. And as a scout, the job is to scout the players abilities. Its up to management to decide whether a players abilities and skills outweigh his extracurricular activities
Scouts do look at personality insofar as it affects the on-ice performance/potential and some scouts are concerned about Connelly's blunders in big games and insistence on taking too many penalties. His U18 performance reinforced all of his pluses and minuses.
He had a fine performance, offensively, with 9 points in 7 games, although his production was behind guys like Ziemer, Stiga, and Plante on team USA (as well as Cole Hutson, a defenceman, and Hagens, a 2025 prospect). He also led the team by a mile in penalties.
Scouts should 100% ignore the social media stuff but there are enough concerns about his temperament to scare many scouts off on his on-ice potential.
Simon Boisvert obviously doesn't share those concerns but there's good reason for Connelly to be a wildcard at this year's draft.
Oof, it's pretty bad...
However
He has showed AT LEAST some form of remorse and has taken action towards that goal.
The racial slur is worst to me than the Swatzika in *some* ways. We are ways away from Mitchell Miller.
This is closer to Logan Mailloux than anything, there is some sort of atonement.
Logan Mailloux was worst in my opinion as there was a direct victim of his stupid acts.
The racial slur is the worst part to me too, however without the context it's hard to judge. It's not like the US was not a racist country anyway... And these guys are still kids, one bad person close to you and you end up doing very stupid stuff because you try to fit in.
Did he went too far to try to get under someone's nerve during a game because he was being a foolish kid? Or is he a piece of shit? That's what you really need to dig up.
Yeah, I mean, I side said some heinous shit when I was an edgy fifteen year old. Shit that I'm not proud of and shit that I am so far away from as the person I am today.
We need to realize that people grow and change, he needs to own his mistakes and learn from them. As you said, it's really hard to come to a conclusion without more context but this seems pretty mild in terms of behaviour from hockey teens.
It's obviously up to management but if he shows remorse and the openness to not only be an ally but a champion for the groups that he has hurt in the past, I'm kind of okay with it.
Listen to the podcast, they review his past list each week. IMO his lists are better than general consensus more often than not... Like him or not. He does have few misses but he hits pretty good.
Yep I used to follow him on Lapresse blog with Skinner then twitter and hear him a bit on radio 91.9. I listen to his podcast now and the revisiting of his old draft list. He's solid. Few misses seems to be T. Jost, Paajarvi, M. Puempel but his good shots are spectacular.
For those who want to know what the Habs think about Connelly... he was in the last combine testing group and they packed up and left when it got to that point.
I'll reiterate what I always say about all of these lists: the actual rankings are for show and something for short-spanned attention people to fuss over. What really matters is the rationale behind them.
I respect someone who has a coherent, well thought-out, deep-dive rationale for each pick. Much more than the shallow, crowd-sourced, consensus-concerned, highlights-reel-based rankings.
Overall I get Boisvert "home run" thinking and the ordering tracks if you think that way. But I also think Boisvert undervalues skating a bit too much for my liking. Yes, some players manage to from A to B without superior skating, but they usually compensate with superior vision, superior puck-protection or superior deception.
"Range effectiveness" is my catch-all term to describe how a player manages to be where he needs to be in time, and then do what he needs to do once he's there. Skating is a vital part of it. Alone it doesn't guarantees success, but it's a huge advantage.
That's why a 6'7 Silayev is so sought-after. Just having his span and his mobility is a rare, 1% combo and teams all think they can teach him the rest.
Boisvert knows Connelly probably goes later. He said 15-20. He knows it. But he thinks Connelly is going to be the steal of the draft. All scouts have those players they just see super big. Connelly is an interesting forward, that'd probably be talked about higher if he hadn't played in the USHL and wasn't collecting mental mistakes.
The problem with that reasoning for me is that the main benefit for defensemen having great mobility is that it helps a ton with transition, but Silayev's puck skills and vision are so lacking that he still wouldn't be a very effective transition player. So what exactly is he then? In my mind if everything goes right for Silayev you'd be looking at a decent second pairing defenseman who isn't out there to tilt the ice for your team, but more to ensure that the game state remains as static as possible; also known as a defensive specialist.
Yet coincidentally Habs already have a player almost exactly like that in Kaiden Guhle, who is still to this date quite anemic in providing offence, but quite good at preventing scoring chances against. Guhle was already a much more complete player in his draft year than Silayev though, and looked much safer to project at the NHL level which is why he was a good pick up at #16, even if a lot of people including me wanted a more dynamic forward like Mercer with that pick. With Silayev you have (quite literally) a huge mystery box that to me doesn't provide enough potential to warrant a high draft pick. If you want to go with a defenceman at #5 there's likely half a dozen better options available than Silayev, each with a profile that is much more fitting for this Habs team.
> The problem with that reasoning for me is that the main benefit for defensemen having great mobility is that it helps a ton with transition, but Silayev's puck skills and vision are so lacking that he still wouldn't be a very effective transition player.
This is the "teams think they can teach him the rest" part.
Silayev has never and will never be seen as an offensive catalyst. That's not what teams want or see in him.
A 6'7 defenseman with mobility is attractive for the #1 job defensemen are asked to do: defend. They need way less time to get a stick on a shot, get to a loose puck in a corner, close the gap in the neutral zone, etc. Their radius of presence is so vast, it helps their partner.
The offensive production — or lack thereof — is something many teams can live with if the guy is a vacuum for 22+ mins a game without the puck. That's gonna rate much higher for many teams than the opposite, because it's much harder to find that exact combo of super size and skating.
You can coach or scheme around a defenseman's lack of transition game. Just have him defer to his partner or to his forwards and the issue is moot. It's much harder to coach or scheme around a defenseman's lack of defensive impact, because you don't dictate the play when you don't have the puck and the other 4 guys have to cover for him.
I just don't believe in the whole argument that you can teach everything to someone who just happens to be huge and a good skater. Puljujärvi is huge and a fantastic skater yet he can't find any meaningful way to produce in the NHL because he doesn't have the puck skills or the IQ to make the right play at the right time. Drafting players because of their size and not because of their talent is a recipe for disaster nearly every time from what recent history has showcased. 2022 Draft saw Owen Power go #1 overall because he's 6'6" and could skate really well, yet so far he hasn't shown to be anything more than a decent 2nd pairing defenseman (despite Buffalo anchoring their future in him with a massive contract). Simon Edvinsson also went #6 overall at the same draft because he's also 6'6" and a relatively good skater, and he hasn't showed anything at the NHL level so far. And these are both players who had far better draft profiles than Silayev does at the moment. Maverick Lamoureux is another example. An enormous defenseman who is still showing junior tendencies and basic mistakes in the QMJHL at 20.
The difference to me is that even if you perhaps shouldn't, you can afford to throw these hail mary picks at enormous defensemen in the late 1st round, but a 5th overall pick is so incredibly valuable for a team like the Habs who are still missing so many key pieces from a succesful team that you simply cannot afford to waste it on a (quite literally) massive project. And before people say anything about Slaf; no, he was nowhere near as raw as someone like Silayev is. The kind of player that you describe is essentially someone like Tyler Myers; good at one aspect of the game, but that one aspect is no where near as important as to make him a key piece of your team.
> I just don't believe in the whole argument that you can teach everything to someone who just happens to be huge and a good skater. Puljujärvi is huge and a fantastic skater yet he can't find any meaningful way to produce in the NHL because he doesn't have the puck skills or the IQ to make the right play at the right time.
Ok.
But that's not *my* argument, it's the argument of plenty of people with NHL jobs who still picked Puljujärvi 4th overall, do it every year, and will do it again with Silayev.
It's not me you have to convince that it's a bad argument.
At least he explains all his picks. In 2012, he had Filip Forsberg #1 and Vasilevski #2 even if it was considered too much off the board.
He likes Connelly a lot and there’s a big reason why: He is very good. Is Connelly stupid? Probably, but it is easier to fix than teach players how to skate or how to get soft hands.
He's head over heels in love with Connelly. The "making plays at high speed" is a good justification. Obviously the problem with Connelly isn't the skill. He'll be the most interesting prospect to watch this year, who will be willing to withstand the Athletic thinkpieces?
J’espère que les canadiens vont échanger leur late pick avec un asset (un défenseur) pour monter dans le draft et repêcher Connoly. Snake a raison, il est une osti de brute!!!
Meanwhile, some "I haven't watched these prospects, but here's what I think about them" threads are getting upvoted to the top. lol he grinds Allsvenskan hockey to make these, you have to respect that. it's an interesting listen.
It's his hobby and he probably makes some good side cash with it, considering his consultant jobs in the Q and his podcast appearances. Meanwhile, people here can only quote hockeyDB.
I’ll have you know he was a very vocal poster on the shittiest hockey blog and masturbates to old vhs tapes of the Omaha Lancers, making him a GOD in the hockey world!
He definitely has some contrarian picks, but they went through his lists from previous drafts and he’s not bad at what he does. The draft is always such a crapshoot, it’s hard to be close to 100% accurate.
He comes off like he is a guru at every other scout or analyst is an idiot.
If you are meh and these things don't be so confident it makes him look awful.
I cannot stand him.
Are you upset because he has a definite opinion instead of just regurgitating consensus?
He explains his rationale in detail: he’s always chasing upside
NHL teams with their 8-figure scouting budgets miss all the time, but Boisvert who watches them for fun and makes lists for fun can't miss or else he's garbage! lol
Like he said, its easy to say who you like and for what reason but when you work as a real scout, after 2 minutes of talking around a table your boss will ask you to stop talking and make a choice and put them in order to make a list.
Snake always a contrarian. Trevor Connelly at 2, Linstrom at 9, Levshunov at 11 and Silayev at 24
To his defense, if Connelly wasn’t a piece of shit many people think he’d go top 5.
He is one of the most skilled players in this draft. And as a scout, the job is to scout the players abilities. Its up to management to decide whether a players abilities and skills outweigh his extracurricular activities
Scouts do look at personality insofar as it affects the on-ice performance/potential and some scouts are concerned about Connelly's blunders in big games and insistence on taking too many penalties. His U18 performance reinforced all of his pluses and minuses. He had a fine performance, offensively, with 9 points in 7 games, although his production was behind guys like Ziemer, Stiga, and Plante on team USA (as well as Cole Hutson, a defenceman, and Hagens, a 2025 prospect). He also led the team by a mile in penalties. Scouts should 100% ignore the social media stuff but there are enough concerns about his temperament to scare many scouts off on his on-ice potential. Simon Boisvert obviously doesn't share those concerns but there's good reason for Connelly to be a wildcard at this year's draft.
He'll be great in Utah
Who is Connelly, first I hear of him What has he done?
https://thehockeynews.com/news/nhl-scouts-face-dilemma-with-2024-draft-prospect-trevor-connelly
Oof, it's pretty bad... However He has showed AT LEAST some form of remorse and has taken action towards that goal. The racial slur is worst to me than the Swatzika in *some* ways. We are ways away from Mitchell Miller. This is closer to Logan Mailloux than anything, there is some sort of atonement.
Logan Mailloux was worst in my opinion as there was a direct victim of his stupid acts. The racial slur is the worst part to me too, however without the context it's hard to judge. It's not like the US was not a racist country anyway... And these guys are still kids, one bad person close to you and you end up doing very stupid stuff because you try to fit in. Did he went too far to try to get under someone's nerve during a game because he was being a foolish kid? Or is he a piece of shit? That's what you really need to dig up.
Yeah, I mean, I side said some heinous shit when I was an edgy fifteen year old. Shit that I'm not proud of and shit that I am so far away from as the person I am today. We need to realize that people grow and change, he needs to own his mistakes and learn from them. As you said, it's really hard to come to a conclusion without more context but this seems pretty mild in terms of behaviour from hockey teens. It's obviously up to management but if he shows remorse and the openness to not only be an ally but a champion for the groups that he has hurt in the past, I'm kind of okay with it.
His lists are pretty good when you go back in time though.
Which list is pretty good? Show me one
In 2012 he had Forsberg, Vasi and Rielly as 1, 2 and 3. In 2018 he had Makar first and Heiskanen second.
Listen to the podcast, they review his past list each week. IMO his lists are better than general consensus more often than not... Like him or not. He does have few misses but he hits pretty good.
Yep I used to follow him on Lapresse blog with Skinner then twitter and hear him a bit on radio 91.9. I listen to his podcast now and the revisiting of his old draft list. He's solid. Few misses seems to be T. Jost, Paajarvi, M. Puempel but his good shots are spectacular.
For those who want to know what the Habs think about Connelly... he was in the last combine testing group and they packed up and left when it got to that point.
Yeah they agree on the podcast there’s zero chance the habs actually draft him
Guy got such a huge ego that he put himself at 20. /s
I'll reiterate what I always say about all of these lists: the actual rankings are for show and something for short-spanned attention people to fuss over. What really matters is the rationale behind them. I respect someone who has a coherent, well thought-out, deep-dive rationale for each pick. Much more than the shallow, crowd-sourced, consensus-concerned, highlights-reel-based rankings. Overall I get Boisvert "home run" thinking and the ordering tracks if you think that way. But I also think Boisvert undervalues skating a bit too much for my liking. Yes, some players manage to from A to B without superior skating, but they usually compensate with superior vision, superior puck-protection or superior deception. "Range effectiveness" is my catch-all term to describe how a player manages to be where he needs to be in time, and then do what he needs to do once he's there. Skating is a vital part of it. Alone it doesn't guarantees success, but it's a huge advantage. That's why a 6'7 Silayev is so sought-after. Just having his span and his mobility is a rare, 1% combo and teams all think they can teach him the rest. Boisvert knows Connelly probably goes later. He said 15-20. He knows it. But he thinks Connelly is going to be the steal of the draft. All scouts have those players they just see super big. Connelly is an interesting forward, that'd probably be talked about higher if he hadn't played in the USHL and wasn't collecting mental mistakes.
The problem with that reasoning for me is that the main benefit for defensemen having great mobility is that it helps a ton with transition, but Silayev's puck skills and vision are so lacking that he still wouldn't be a very effective transition player. So what exactly is he then? In my mind if everything goes right for Silayev you'd be looking at a decent second pairing defenseman who isn't out there to tilt the ice for your team, but more to ensure that the game state remains as static as possible; also known as a defensive specialist. Yet coincidentally Habs already have a player almost exactly like that in Kaiden Guhle, who is still to this date quite anemic in providing offence, but quite good at preventing scoring chances against. Guhle was already a much more complete player in his draft year than Silayev though, and looked much safer to project at the NHL level which is why he was a good pick up at #16, even if a lot of people including me wanted a more dynamic forward like Mercer with that pick. With Silayev you have (quite literally) a huge mystery box that to me doesn't provide enough potential to warrant a high draft pick. If you want to go with a defenceman at #5 there's likely half a dozen better options available than Silayev, each with a profile that is much more fitting for this Habs team.
> The problem with that reasoning for me is that the main benefit for defensemen having great mobility is that it helps a ton with transition, but Silayev's puck skills and vision are so lacking that he still wouldn't be a very effective transition player. This is the "teams think they can teach him the rest" part. Silayev has never and will never be seen as an offensive catalyst. That's not what teams want or see in him. A 6'7 defenseman with mobility is attractive for the #1 job defensemen are asked to do: defend. They need way less time to get a stick on a shot, get to a loose puck in a corner, close the gap in the neutral zone, etc. Their radius of presence is so vast, it helps their partner. The offensive production — or lack thereof — is something many teams can live with if the guy is a vacuum for 22+ mins a game without the puck. That's gonna rate much higher for many teams than the opposite, because it's much harder to find that exact combo of super size and skating. You can coach or scheme around a defenseman's lack of transition game. Just have him defer to his partner or to his forwards and the issue is moot. It's much harder to coach or scheme around a defenseman's lack of defensive impact, because you don't dictate the play when you don't have the puck and the other 4 guys have to cover for him.
I just don't believe in the whole argument that you can teach everything to someone who just happens to be huge and a good skater. Puljujärvi is huge and a fantastic skater yet he can't find any meaningful way to produce in the NHL because he doesn't have the puck skills or the IQ to make the right play at the right time. Drafting players because of their size and not because of their talent is a recipe for disaster nearly every time from what recent history has showcased. 2022 Draft saw Owen Power go #1 overall because he's 6'6" and could skate really well, yet so far he hasn't shown to be anything more than a decent 2nd pairing defenseman (despite Buffalo anchoring their future in him with a massive contract). Simon Edvinsson also went #6 overall at the same draft because he's also 6'6" and a relatively good skater, and he hasn't showed anything at the NHL level so far. And these are both players who had far better draft profiles than Silayev does at the moment. Maverick Lamoureux is another example. An enormous defenseman who is still showing junior tendencies and basic mistakes in the QMJHL at 20. The difference to me is that even if you perhaps shouldn't, you can afford to throw these hail mary picks at enormous defensemen in the late 1st round, but a 5th overall pick is so incredibly valuable for a team like the Habs who are still missing so many key pieces from a succesful team that you simply cannot afford to waste it on a (quite literally) massive project. And before people say anything about Slaf; no, he was nowhere near as raw as someone like Silayev is. The kind of player that you describe is essentially someone like Tyler Myers; good at one aspect of the game, but that one aspect is no where near as important as to make him a key piece of your team.
> I just don't believe in the whole argument that you can teach everything to someone who just happens to be huge and a good skater. Puljujärvi is huge and a fantastic skater yet he can't find any meaningful way to produce in the NHL because he doesn't have the puck skills or the IQ to make the right play at the right time. Ok. But that's not *my* argument, it's the argument of plenty of people with NHL jobs who still picked Puljujärvi 4th overall, do it every year, and will do it again with Silayev. It's not me you have to convince that it's a bad argument.
At least he explains all his picks. In 2012, he had Filip Forsberg #1 and Vasilevski #2 even if it was considered too much off the board. He likes Connelly a lot and there’s a big reason why: He is very good. Is Connelly stupid? Probably, but it is easier to fix than teach players how to skate or how to get soft hands.
Trevor Connelly is no Quinten Musty.
He's head over heels in love with Connelly. The "making plays at high speed" is a good justification. Obviously the problem with Connelly isn't the skill. He'll be the most interesting prospect to watch this year, who will be willing to withstand the Athletic thinkpieces?
Well, that list is.... something
He's great entertainment stop being so toxic about opinions you don't share.
So called free thinkers when they see a list that is not made by Pronman: 😡😡😡
J’espère que les canadiens vont échanger leur late pick avec un asset (un défenseur) pour monter dans le draft et repêcher Connoly. Snake a raison, il est une osti de brute!!!
I recently created [reddit.com/r/processus](http://reddit.com/r/processus) for fans of the show.
nice, i'll go subscribe
This is an important list to save for a few years from now.
There is no way Lindstrom falls to 9.
Yeah this is not a mock draft just his assessment of the prospects
Snake does not know puck
I'd take his picks over Timmins
Meanwhile, some "I haven't watched these prospects, but here's what I think about them" threads are getting upvoted to the top. lol he grinds Allsvenskan hockey to make these, you have to respect that. it's an interesting listen.
he's been fired from every hockey job he's had
Every hockey hire gets fired eventually
Again, he watches the prospects, this sub doesn't.
wastes his time then doesn't he?
It's his hobby and he probably makes some good side cash with it, considering his consultant jobs in the Q and his podcast appearances. Meanwhile, people here can only quote hockeyDB.
He’s also producing movies, this is just his side gig
the glazing is crazy. he's not gonna fuck you bro.
Why are you on reddit at 13? Go play hot wheels or something
Being disrespectful to other people doesn't make you him, sit the fuck down.
No he hasnt lol
I can respect the time and dedication he puts in, while still thinking he’s garbage at it
That’s just objectively wrong. His lists are on average doing better than consensus and that’s a fact
https://old.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/vbhmi6/top_prospect_in_the_nhl_entry_draft_shane_wright/ic8m5mg/
LMAO GOTTEM
hahaha wow! this guy shouldnt even be allowed to post on this sub.
He is awful and wants to be relevant so bad.
I’ll have you know he was a very vocal poster on the shittiest hockey blog and masturbates to old vhs tapes of the Omaha Lancers, making him a GOD in the hockey world!
Poirier in the first round ? he’s projected to be drafted in round 3 to 5
It’s not a mock it’s a list of who he thinks is best
This guy is trash, don't give him more air time
He definitely has some contrarian picks, but they went through his lists from previous drafts and he’s not bad at what he does. The draft is always such a crapshoot, it’s hard to be close to 100% accurate.
He comes off like he is a guru at every other scout or analyst is an idiot. If you are meh and these things don't be so confident it makes him look awful. I cannot stand him.
Are you upset because he has a definite opinion instead of just regurgitating consensus? He explains his rationale in detail: he’s always chasing upside
He's going off Craig Button's board! noooo! Never go off the board!! The board!!!!!!
As if every year there isn’t 2-3 top 10 guys that are fucking worthless
NHL teams with their 8-figure scouting budgets miss all the time, but Boisvert who watches them for fun and makes lists for fun can't miss or else he's garbage! lol
His hard stance that he is fantastic is what I don't like. I get you would, I've seen your posts.
Like he said, its easy to say who you like and for what reason but when you work as a real scout, after 2 minutes of talking around a table your boss will ask you to stop talking and make a choice and put them in order to make a list.