HockeyInsideOut poster ‘Chris’ made a great point a few months ago about the slow and steady progress of Jarred Tinordi, comparing him to other defencemen drafted in the same cohort. I’d asked him to save a copy and re-post as needed, but here’s my book report on his post.
Only Cam Fowler, picked 12th overall, has played 320 games and has turned into a strong regular defenceman with the Ducks, and a proto-star.
Erik Gudbranson, the 3rd overall pick by the Panthers, has played 220 games, with the benefit of a weak roster and no playoff races to consider. He’s been getting games, but also had his icetime managed to protect him for a couple seasons at least.
Aside from those two, Jarred is comparable to anyone in the first round. Picked 22nd overall, he’s gotten 39 games.
Dylan McIlrath, picked 10th, has three games under his belt. Brandon Gormley at #13 has 20 for the Coyotes. Derek Forbort, #15, has yet to play a game with the Kings. Mark Pysyk, #22, has played 67 for the woeful, out of contention Sabres, but only four this season.
Early in the second, the Hurricanes did well drafting Justin Faulk, who has 234 games under his belt already, but aside from that, everyone else in the second round is in the same ballpark, slowly being eased into rosters, if at all.
So if we look at things in perspective, Jarred isn’t early, but is arriving on time. Next season, he’ll be eligible for waivers, so he’ll need to contribute then or we’ll have to make a decision, but for now there’s no reason to write him off.
We also need to remember that Jarred wasn’t drafted to be a ‘star’, to pick up lots of points, to be on the top pairing. If he did, great, but the reasonable trajectory for him was that he was a project, as all big defencemen tend to be, and that he’d be a defensively-oriented defenceman on the lower pairings who’d bring a lot of toughness and leadership. That assessment isn’t out of whack with how he’s shaping up in Hamilton.
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