There is a great commercial for Old El Paso tacos, in which a child asks ¿por que no los dos? That roughly translates to why not both?
The Philadelphia Flyers are always trying to fit prospects into what they need or where they have a hole, but now is the time they need to start grabbing guys who can flat-out play. They also need to increase their overall pace if they're going to succeed in the Rick Tocchet system. So if you're looking for a skill to maximize in the draft, it's skating.
The knock on Michkov? Skating. Nesbitt? Skating. Bobby Brink? Skating. Jett Luchenko? Hold on, we're getting word that he can, in fact, skate; it's just the rest of playing hockey that worries us. But you get the idea. Nobody is going to say that Casey Mutryn isn't a good skater.
The captain of the USNTDP Junior team, Mutryn, is a 6'3" 200-pound 17-year-old with an unbelievable motor. He plays all over the ice and with great pace. His frenetic energy leads to turnovers, transition chances, big hits, and general chaos. Now, you don't always want a center to be causing so much mayhem, but at this stage, it suggests that Mutryn has a more mature game than his peers in some respects, and that when he's an older, stronger player, his game will translate very well to the NHL.
He does need to work on some discipline. In 62 games with the US U18 NTDP Team this season, he ended up with 89 penalty minutes. The physicality and nastiness are nice to see, but timing, retaliation, and the finer points of being a clean physical player will come. It will certainly be a lesson we'll see in real time next year when Mutryn is starring for Boston College.
Most critics want to see more from his offense, and part of that is on Mutryn to improve, but it also has to be noted that this year's crop on the team wasn't the most offensively gifted. They had a balanced attack in which Mutryn was a big part of. Next year at BC, we'll see how high he plays in the lineup and what he can produce on some of their special teams units.
We'll also be curious to see how he does playing against older and stronger players. He's always played the game with a very high level of confidence, and it will be important to his development that he keeps it.
Overall, Mutryn is the type of center that every NHL team needs. The Flyers aren't picking in a position where they need an NHL-ready player, and Mutryn isn't, but that's alright. What they'll need down the road is someone to replace a player like Sean Couturier, or someone to step into the role somewhere within the first three lines.
Drafting a player like Mutryn gives them a prospect with a steady bottom-six floor, but a top-six ceiling that could be pretty high. It also gives them depth, meaning they could move a player like Jett Luchenko to the wing, or move him outright in a trade package. Mutryn is a player to keep in mind as the draft inches closer.
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