Canucks Army draft prospect profile #6 – Michael Dal Colle

Please direct your attention to the following Jim Benning quote:

Well isn’t that just remarkably convenient? The Canucks have the sixth pick, and the general manager is out there saying that there are six quality players in the draft! Almost a little too convenient for my tastes.

MICHAEL DAL COLLE – Oshawa (OHL)
Position: Centre
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 172 lbs
Birthdate: June 20 1996

First things first: happy birthday, Mr. Dal Colle. You are now old enough to vote, although that doesn’t seem to mean much to most people in Ontario, apparently.

I can forgive Mr. Benning for mentioning that this is a six-player draft class. While the five of us Canucks Army scouts had a different player lined up for sixth overall, it isn’t too gauche to suggest that the first six players to go will be, in some order or another, Sam Bennett, Michael Dal Colle, Leon Draisaitl, Aaron Ekblad, Willie Nylander, and Sam Reinhart. Even though Ron Delorme, Brian Burke and the Edmonton Oilers all have picks in the top six, I think the general managers at the table will stick to the familiar script, and the “worst” of the “best” finds his way into Benning’s hands next week.

And, well, we should be quite happy if it’s Dal Colle. The former Vaughan King righted Philadelphia first rounder Scott Laughton’s junior career last year after the two were put on the same line, and Laughton for a while was in the conversation for the OHL MVP award. Dal Colle, however, drove the Generals offence, leading the Eastern Conference’s best team.

Dal Colle is the sort of player who has something for everybody, regardless of what you look for in a player. Compared to players like Kasperi Kapanen and Robby Fabbri, Dal Colle has filled out quite early, hitting 6’2″ before his 18th birthday. Despite the size and not being particularly shy about using it when he’s going full throttle, Dal Colle doesn’t take a lot of penalties, usually finding the stat sheet by the way of goals and assists. Scouts rave about his shot, and Pronman notes Dal Colle’s defensive game may not be developed because the opposition doesn’t see much of the puck when he’s on the ice.

So what’s the downside? Via Nations colleague Justin Fisher:

He’s the sort of player who can get it done on either the perimeter or in tight and one of the few players in the draft class whom you can say was the best player on a good team. Like Fabbri, he’s a player who will probably lead Team Canada at the World Juniors if he sticks around in the OHL for another season, but I don’t think he’ll spend much more time seasoning in the junior ranks, particularly if he’s taken somewhat high by a team like Calgary, Edmonton or Vancouver that just want to get forwards into the show as fast as possible and damn the entry-level contract slide rule.

Here’s seven minutes of Dal Colle cutting through the OHL East. If you thought the OHL West defence was bad, uh, don’t watch this:

As for Michael’s favourite band… I dunno. It sounds like a wimpy version of Sam Roberts: