Most Philadelphia fans may have thought of it as a wasted pick or a bit of a stretch (pun intended) when the Flyers chose to select the 5’8 winger Connor McClennon from Western Hockey League’s Winnipeg Ice in the 6th round of this year’s draft. Who knows, they may be right, but I ask you- how many of you before the draft ever heard of the Flyers’ 5th round pick Elliot Desnoyers? Whose play in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) this season now has some fans foaming at the mouth for their chance to see him in an orange and black jersey A.S.A.P.
Yes, it’s true- not many players under 6’ tall ever make it to the ranks of the NHL, but that doesn’t mean that it does not happen! On the contrary, some players that you may have heard of before who have a rather small stature have been rather successful in the league over the years. Such names would include the longtime Calgary Flames winger and Stanley Cup champion 5’6 Theo Fleury. Another would be 5’8 NHL Hall-of-Famer Marcel Dionne- who is 4th all-time in goals and 5th all-time in points scored. Or how about the 5’8 Lightning star Martin St. Louis who is both a Stanley Cup winner and a Hart Trophy winner. Add to the list the famous Redwing Ted Lindsay who won 4 cups in his career while standing at just 5’8. If this list wasn’t impressive enough for you, add to it longtime Montreal Canadians star Henri Richard who, while at the height of just 5’7, managed to hoist the Stanley Cup 11 times during his career!
So now that I have your attention let us take a look at why the current Flyers’ General Manager Chuck Fletcher chose to take a chance on this vertically challenged prospect late in the draft. If you were lucky enough to watch a Winnipeg Ice game this past season, you would have noticed Connor very quickly. Not only because he looks like a peewee hockey player (an 11-12-year age division in USA Hockey) playing against guys like the 6’7 defenseman Jackson Van de Leest (from the Calgary Hitmen), but rather for his jaw-dropping offensive abilities. McClennon, who is a “shoot first and ask questions later” type player, was able to net 21 goals and 28 assists for 49 points last season while playing for the Ice. That’s a 1.16 point-per-game average. McClennon possesses an amazingly quick and powerful wrist shot which he uses to pick whatever corner he wants to with it. Connor is able to get into a position to score by way of his impressive stick handling and puck protection skills which he routinely uses to elude all of the colossal defenseman he goes up against on a nightly basis in the WHL. While others consider McClennon’s height to be a disadvantage, Connor tends to use it to his advantage by way of deviously sliding in behind the oppositions gigantic guardians of the blue line in order to receive a long outlet pass from a teammate, so that he can be long gone on a breakaway before the blundering opposing d-man can even pivot to give chase.
Given all this, it is easy to see why Winnipeg took McClennon with the 2nd overall pick back in the ’17 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft. Which he was only bested by the now Montreal Canadians 1st round pick (from this year’s draft) defenseman Kaiden Guhle when he went #1 overall in the Bantam draft to the Price Albert Raiders.
So only time will tell if Connor will turn out good enough to be the next diminutive player to join the NHL ranks. In the meantime though, let’s just hope that one day (sooner rather than later) this pick proves to a good one that will have Connor’s name being mentioned in the same conversations with the likes of other current NHL undersized star players such as the 5’7 Alex Debrincat of the Chicago Blackhawks, 5’8 Cam Atkinson of the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5’8 Mats Zuccarello of the Minnesota Wild, 5’9 Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins, 5’9 Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames, and 5’9 Jonathan Marchessault of the Vegas Golden Knights.
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