Antonio Stranges (4.75 Star Amateur Rating, NHL Grade — B+) Forward
Every player in the Youtube era knows who he is… and so does every scout. Just google his name and the skills of an incredible showman are on display, but what are the National League scouts really writing about him? Well, here’s an inside look;
(1) Brain – From an offensive stand point Antonio has elite anticipation and IQ. He sees plays developing very early and often times seems to appear out of nowhere to retrieve an errant shot or pass. Antonio is the type of player who you’ll be watching and wonder why he’s going to an area of the ice only to have the puck end up on his stick in a high leverage situation. He is unpredictable on breakouts, transition and during an offensive zone cycle. He has the ability to get lost and make defenders chase him. Defensively, he is a “sniffer” or a “cheater”, but an organization is going to draft Antonio knowing that the offensive magic will help the team win games, and create a buzz around the arena.
(2) Vision & Poise – Antonio has tremendous poise. Sometimes we wonder if he even has a pulse. There is no panic, just confidence that his skills will take over and he will be part of generating a Grade “A” scoring chance. Again, his vision is elite. He sees player’s movements early and he creates.
(3) Feet – Antonio is very smooth. He is quick laterally and has good top end speed. He differentiates himself from other prospects with his ability to gain speed while doing a Crosby like 10 and 2 skating movement. This makes him dynamic and able to survey the entire ice surface at all times. His skating ability is a plus.
(4) Compete & Effort – Antonio likes to score and contribute to offensive success. In the offensive zone or in the transition game he will will win 50-50 battles and looks to make the other team pay. There are times that he can look disinterested in the defensive zone, but it will be his coach’s job to get him to stop and start with his stick on the ice.
(5) Contact or Physicality – He is not a physical player, but at the same time is strong on the puck and will consistently win puck battles against larger players. We do not expect Antonio to start throwing his weight around. We do expect him to win puck battles more often than 50% of the time.
(6) Release – His shot is quick and accurate. Antonio shoots to score and expects to score.
(7) One Timer Ability – He has an expanded shooting area and can fire it on line rushes or after finding the soft areas in the offensive zone. He does not need a flat pass and gets excellent wood on rolling passes that get on him quickly.
(8) Body Language – Only Note Extremes
(9) Special Teams Potential – Antonio is a power play coaches dream and quite possibly their nightmare. His skills are going to work on any power play at any time in any league, while his ability to freelance is going to cause headaches for both the penalty killers and his coaching staff. If we were coaching Antonio we have him work below the goal line where his creativity would allow his power play unit to attack the net from different angles and generate high quality net front chances. Put him on a unit with a few shooters and the chaos that would ensue would be amazing. Antonio is going to play on the power play.
(10) Intangibles – An NHL Team is going to draft Antonio after the 10th pick and before the 35th. If an organization has multiple first round picks, Antonio’s upside will be too much to resist and he will be a first rounder. If not, he will be taken at the top of the Second Round and will have the chance to be a draft day steal.