Filip Mesar was a risky first-round selection
Filip Mesar is an interesting person and hockey player. He’s very loyal, his teammates love him, and he sets high standards for himself. When I interviewed him pre-draft, he didn’t love the season he had heading into it. That was a 16-point effort on his Slovak team. The fact that he was honest with himself is a good trait to have.
On the plus side, his slashing skating style is good for shaking defenders and being able to get in on the net. He has some acceleration that helps with that as well. When he’s near the net his fast hands take over. Mesar follows up his shots as well and that’s how he scored his one goal for Laval this season.
His two seasons in Kitchener were good but left you wanting more. He did have 16 points in 10 playoff games last season so I felt good about his offensive development. His passing ability is top-notch. That’s his best asset and then his goal-scoring is next.
According to InStat, he was only getting 12% defensive zone starts but he is a rookie. Mesar is currently out with a lower-body injury. When you watch him, he plays around the edges on defense but he’s always looking to break on offense. That’s good and bad. There will be a point in his AHL career when he’s going to have to do better with the small details of the game.
Mesar turns 21 in January so I think he’s fine as far as his development path. The right wing looks like a third-liner who may be able to be a second-liner if he turned it on. That would be his zenith but so far, I’m not seeing that.
I’ll update you on him further into his season when he’s healthy. His five points in five games were a great start to his season.