After our profile on the very small Adam Benák earlier this week, we’ll now shift to another small and divisive forward in this draft class: USNTDP right winger L.J. Mooney.
Listed at 5-foot-7, Mooney’s an electric skater with plus puck skills all over the ice. He’s got a ton of fans in the public scouting world, and while there’s a big chance that he doesn’t make it to the NHL – an NHL version of Mooney is probably a really fun top-six winger. He’s the classic small forward that is either going to be elite or bust, and that’s not a bad player to take a chance on from the second round onwards.
Mooney has spent his development path thus far as perhaps the most dynamic forward in the USNTDP this cycle, with the most skill among the Will Horcoff, William Moore, Cole McKinney, Jack Murtagh group. He’s the final one of the group to enter our BSH Draft Board, though, and one can reasonably surmise that Mooney’s size was the big reason why. Mooney also was sidelined with an injury that caused him to miss a significant chunk of the season, so scouts have soured a bit on Mooney as time has passed. Still, there’s a lot to like about what Mooney brings to the table on a shift by shift basis, so let’s dive into the reasons to believe that Mooney might be the exception to the rule.
Pre-draft rankings
No. 64 by The Athletic (Scott Wheeler)
No. 73 by Elite Prospects
No. 77 by FloHockey (Chris Peters)
No. 63 by Daily Faceoff
Bio
DOB: March 8, 2007
Birthplace: West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, USA
Position: RW
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 157 lbs
Shoots: Right
Statistics
What’s there to like?
Long story short, L.J. Mooney has skill for days. There’s so much to like in what Mooney brings to the transition game and to the offensive zone, but we’ll first dive into the particulars of Mooney’s strengths moving through the neutral zone.
For his size, Mooney’s a barnburner on his skates, with really high-level separation speeds and an ability to pull away from defenders in the neutral zone. It doesn’t take too long for Mooney to kick it into high gear with his skating, and he’s really quick at changing direction. In the play below, Mooney picks up a loose puck in the neutral zone, gains steps on defenders, and rushes in alone for the goal. For a small guy to succeed in the NHL, they almost have to be a plus skater, and Mooney has shown to have those skating chops so far.
Where Mooney really makes his money is once his team gets set up in the zone, though. His biggest positive attribute is his playmaking ability, and he’s often able to find teammates for high-danger chances in a variety of ways. He’s usually positioned as the main distributor on the power play, is often feeding pucks to his teammates from below the goal line, and executes cross-ice passes with regularity. It’s truly a pleasure to watch him dish the puck out, as he seemingly sees passing lanes before they even develop.
Mooney is very much a high-compete, never say die type of player, and that makes for a really fun watch in the offensive zone. It’s always go time with Mooney, and that can be seen in the shift below. Mooney (No. 18) follows his teammate William Moore into the offensive zone, works his way through traffic towards the slot, before finding a teammate cross-ice after realizing there was nowhere to go. Then, Mooney finds himself slightly out of the play, before finding a soft area in front of the net for a teammate to find him for the tap-in. It’s this kind of mentality, where Mooney is always trying the next best thing in the offensive zone, that is going to help him reach the next level.
What’s not to like?
Well, one thing about Mooney is the positional change he’s gone through in the last year. Early on in this draft cycle, Mooney was shifted away from center to the wing in hopes of mitigating some play-driving, defensive concerns. Unfortunately due to his size, he’s probably never going to be a big play-driver at the NHL level if he makes it, and the move to wing was partly done in hopes to shield him from some responsibilities. That’s a concern, because if Mooney’s high-end skills don’t translate to scoring, there’s probably not going to be much impact in other areas of the game to compensate for it. For reasons like this one, Mooney is such a “top-six or bust” player in this draft, a very-typical archetype for the second and third rounds.
Other than that, Mooney’s shot isn’t really high end, with not a ton of power or ability to beat goalies clean. This is only a slight concern for us, as Mooney’s calling card in the NHL is never going to be his shot anyways. He’ll probably be able to improve it to league-average in the scenario where Mooney hits on his potential, but he will still score most of his points via his playmaking.
How would he fit in the Flyers’ system?
He would be so much fun, really. Mooney is probably not a center in the NHL, as he will likely be bullied down the middle against professionals. However, Mooney’s playmaking skills in the Tocchet system of North-South, dump-and-chase hockey could be really fun. He’s a quick, surprisingly feisty player that can pull the puck off the boards and create a high-danger chance in an instant. If the size doesn’t prove to be an inhibiting factor versus Mooney’s high-end puck skills, there’s a chance he’d be a perfect fit for the system.
Could the Flyers actually get him?
The Flyers could certainly grab Mooney in the 30s or 40s, and maybe even with their third round pick. He’s very much one of “small forwards with a ton of skill” that are destined to take a plummet into the middle rounds, even when their talent suggests they should go higher. The Flyers might be more willing to take on a smaller forward project with one of their many top-50 picks, so it’ll be interesting to see if a forward of the Mooney-Benák type is in the cards on draft day.
What scouts are saying
“I’m still so upset at the injury L.J. Mooney was handed earlier this year. Just when I thought he was finding his legs and confidence, he explodes and misses a length of time with a knee injury. I saw the first couple games he played on the mend and he just did not look the same whatsoever and my hopes of him being a favorite in the class were somewhat dashed. Since January 1, Mooney has landed 18 points in 16 games and my last few games have been a huge step up from early in the season. Mooney is incredibly exciting, hard-working and dynamic and the last handful of performances I’ve seen have been a ton of fun. Surprising to many, he’s one of the most physically involved players in the whole draft class, being relentless with applying pressure all over the ice and doing whatever he can to outperform the questions he faces about his size. He’s still very much a complimentary offensive player, but one heck of an exciting option at that. His quickness, agility, skill level, and playmaking creativity is simply wonderful, and he has the work rate to do his best to overcome his size limitations. He’s another player who I think people will overcorrect on and let fall in the draft, and while he’s a longshot to be an NHL player, if he hits, he’s going to be awesome. His style of play requires near perfect execution and constant effort, but I just can’t not believe in the guy.”
“Mooney is – in a word – dynamic. He attacks at a breakneck speed, combining quick-twitch handling with even quicker feet. If the defence doesn’t back off, he powers right through it, occasionally in highlight-reel fashion. More playmaker than shooter, he looks for teammates across the slot, at the net front, and occasionally deceives the defence to secure the lane.”
Coming into the poll is Simon (Haoxi) Wang, a 6-foot-5 defenseman who can really skate for a guy of his stature, but has big questions about his overall offensive upside.
“Starting the year in the OJHL, Wang had scouts salivating as a 6-5 D-man with standout skating ability.
To be fair, the expectations placed on Wang were ridiculously lofty. However, I also think it’s fair to say that his arrival in the OHL was disappointing. Wang picked up only 2 assists in 32 regular season games and was mostly glued to the bench throughout the Generals’ playoff run. More than that, Wang’s pressure-tolerance, breakout passing, and ability to make plays in the OZ were big points of struggle. He has a physical, athletic and technical profile that puts him a step ahead of many, but Wang will likely have a long development curve as he learns to think the game at a higher level.”
