Quoting: Db1899
I saw someone posted on Twitter that Wheeler said Raty isn’t smart enough to drive a line in his rankings. Some of these scouts are so lazy when evaluating good players on bad teams, when they struggle with bad linemates they automatically assume the player has poor hockey sense. I saw a video from scouching last season which showed Raty was the main driver (using analytics) on his line and that he was very good in transition.
Wheeler on Räty:
If you followed my draft coverage last year, you’ll know that I didn’t give up on Raty — and that I was surprised not that he fell but that he fell as far as he did, knowing what we know about what went wrong for him with Kärpät. When things continued to not work with Kärpät this year after he’d had a dominant summer and fall with his peers on the under-20 Finnish national team, the loan to Jukurit began to make a lot of sense. Not because the relationship was an issue, but just because the fit clearly wasn’t there. Then he looked, immediately, more like himself with Jukurit, rattling off four points, a plus-four rating, and nine shots on goal in his first two games with his new club. It’s clear that confidence plays a big role in Raty’s play. When he has it, he hangs onto the puck more, uses his size and quick hands to attack the middle of the ice, keeps his feet moving to work to get pucks back, and shoots to score with a release that pops off of his blade.
When he doesn’t, he gets rid of the puck too quickly, you can begin to notice the kinks in his skating when he gets himself standing still and has to play catch-up, and it’s obvious that he’s not smart enough to drive a line by himself or make plays when he’s less involved. But on the whole, and with the right development, I still believe in his middle-six upside (and certainly in his value as a 52nd overall pick).