[Gino Hard] 17-year-old Alexander Karmanov is already bigger than Zdeno Chara–and he isn't even draft eligible until 2026 🤯. Alex is committed to Penn State and will attend OHL Bulldogs camp this fall 💪

[u/Duffleman0609]

[u/aschwan41]

His knees are going to be pure titanium or soup and sawdust by the time he's draft eligible..

[u/Tachou54321 → u/aschwan41]

Why? Ice skating is pretty easy on the knees. Basketball is harder on the knees and there’s plenty of 7 footers in the NBA

[u/Adrian_Bock → u/Tachou54321]

Cause the 6 foot guys gotta make contact somewhere and it ain't gonna be on his shoulder 

[u/ShhImTheRealDeadpool → u/Adrian_Bock]

I think its the other way around... he's going to bend down to shoulder-shoulder people and that is going to kill his knees.

[u/_GregTheGreat_ → u/Adrian_Bock]

Yeah, and the contact won’t be his knees either. He has a foot on the other players, not a metre.

Skating is much easier on your knees for big guys compared to running and jumping. Chara and Myers are both well known for their durability and longevity.

[u/Adrian_Bock → u/_GregTheGreat_]

Chara and Myers are extreme outliers compared to anyone else their size and this kid is already 3-4 inches taller than both. Hockey is not a tall man's game. 

[u/_GregTheGreat_ → u/Adrian_Bock]

Hockey isn’t a tall man’s game because it’s rare for big guys to have the agility to keep up with pros. That’s an extremely likely issue for this kid.

But are there any giant defenseman with knee problems in the NHL? Hedman, Oleksiak, Stanley are three other 6’7 veterans who are typically pretty durable.

[u/Sphiffi → u/Adrian_Bock]

Who are some very tall players that struggled with joint and soft tissue injuries in the NHL? Do you have some examples?

[u/bluAstrid → u/Sphiffi]

Very tall players that struggle with joint and soft tissue injuries can’t stay in the NHL.

That’s the whole point.

[u/oh5canada5eh → u/bluAstrid]

So who are some examples. . .

[u/anhydrousslim → u/oh5canada5eh]

Sam Morin 6’6” knee issues

[u/ScaryRatio8540 → u/oh5canada5eh]

You say that like we didn’t sign one of those last summsr

[u/greg19735 → u/oh5canada5eh]

i mean, it's kinda like proving a negative.

Players of his size usually aren't athletic like this dude is. The reason why there aren't examples of 7 ft players with bad knees in the NHL is because 7 foot players don't make the NHL.

Now, this kid does seem to be build different to most 7 foot people. That weight, hopefully, is mostly muscle which'll help

[u/Mcpops1618 → u/greg19735]

What’s the stat 1 in 4 7’ men are in the nba. There has never been an NHLer this tall, but reality is when you’re that size your likelihood of long term durability is low regardless of sport. He will be the canary in the coal mine for dudes this size if he makes it

[u/Canucker22 → u/greg19735]

I would guess the bigger factor is that in most cases athletic people who are 7' tall are going to be filtered into sports where height is a big advantage, like Basketball or Volleyball. Height isn't really a definitive advantage in hockey: the weight and strength of bigger players is probably the bigger advantage. Most of the best nhl players in history and today have been around 6' tall or less.

[u/SoupFromNowOn → u/greg19735]

1. how many 7 feet tall people do you think there are

2. do you think someone who is 7 feet tall is going to play the sport where you will need expensive custom made equipment every single year or the sport where you just need a pair of shoes

[u/ImSoBasic → u/bluAstrid]

Very tall players that struggle with joint and soft tissue injuries can’t stay in the NHL.

In which case it should be easy to point to examples of tall players who had to leave the game early because of joint and soft-tissue injuries.

[u/Omega_Moo → u/Adrian_Bock]

Van needs to draft him then sign Myers as a development Coach when he retires to keep the chaos giraffe timeline going.

[u/Steel1000 → u/Adrian_Bock]

Dudes gonna hip check into peoples melons. Will be hilarious.

Just wish he wasn’t going to Penn state. Vomit

[u/sonofnutcrackr → u/Tachou54321]

NBA players typically aren’t slamming each other into walls at 30 km/h every game

[u/Spencaaarr → u/sonofnutcrackr]

The constant start stop running with change in directions and the jumping fucks their knees.

[u/Upset_Appearance9988 → u/sonofnutcrackr]

NBA players are constantly jumping and then landing on hardwood floors. Knees are one of more common things to give out on basketball players.

[u/Tachou54321 → u/sonofnutcrackr]

Uh yeah, and that has nothing to do with knees. Do you hit with your knees?

[u/BodaciousBadongadonk → u/Tachou54321]

paging dr james kneeal

[u/Party-Watercress-627 → u/sonofnutcrackr]

That's not really on the knees necessarily

[u/Ripulikikka → u/aschwan41]

It would be cool to see an unstoppable giant on NHL ice. I fear that he will be too clumsy or too broken to see NHL ice.

[u/PlumbutterOnToast → u/aschwan41]

Get used to hearing out 6-8 weeks

[u/GoStockYourself]

7 feet tall? How does he not make accidental head contact every time he lays his shoulder into someone?

[u/_GregTheGreat_ → u/GoStockYourself]

I watched a few clips from him and he barely needs to hit at all. He can control so much space with his stick, considering how long his reach is.

[u/69millionyeartrip → u/_GregTheGreat_]

After the Pacioretty hit thats kinda how Chara played too. Never really lit people up just used his reach and strength to force guys off the puck.

[u/Autismus-Waffe → u/69millionyeartrip]

By far Chara’s most impressive defensive skill was his ability to interfere without taking penalties. Never seen anyone else pull it off the way he did.

[u/gilbertbenjamington → u/GoStockYourself]

My little cousin who was a foot and a half taller than everyone in his hockey league and weighed twice as much pretty much faced this every game. Kids half his size bumped into him, fell and my cousin got the penalty everytime

[u/bot_fucker69 → u/gilbertbenjamington]

That’s not really a “little” cousin is it

[u/Johnny__Lawrence → u/bot_fucker69]

OP is a giant.

[u/gilbertbenjamington → u/bot_fucker69]

I just use little instead of younger but yeah he definitely ain't small lmao. I'm in my 20s 6'3 200 pounds and this kid could take me down, in Skates he's nearly my height. He just reached the age where they allow contact and he's been just a blast to watch, he's not an enforcer type going around picking fights but if someone on the other teams messing with him or giving him a poke, he makes them regret it real quick

[u/Shiny_Mew76 → u/GoStockYourself]

literally Matt Rempe

[u/HeroProtagonist4 → u/Shiny_Mew76]

We'll see if, unlike rempe, he's smart enough to realize you don't need to jump into every hit

[u/RollingCarrot615 → u/Shiny_Mew76]

Except Rempe tries to play like he is 68 inches. Coincidentally 68 is also his hockey iq.

[u/NoticedGenie66 → u/GoStockYourself]

He did an interview and said he's had refs call him for head contact on plays where guys run into him lol. That height is part of why his PIM totals have been high.

[u/turdburgalr → u/GoStockYourself]

I remember a game against the Habs where Chara cross checked Gallagher in the throat and claimed it was an accident due to him being so much shorter and that he was just trying to push him at his chest level. Really miss that big ogre.

[u/Fragrant_Art_3659 → u/GoStockYourself]

Chara found a way to be one of the cleanest players on the ice in his time

[u/healious → u/Fragrant_Art_3659]

I doubt patches would agree

[u/Fragrant_Art_3659 → u/healious]

He/they didn’t know the stanchion was there

[u/aschwan41 → u/Fragrant_Art_3659]

I mean, Chara got the benefit of the doubt on every borderline hit he made because "he tall"

[u/ImSoBasic → u/aschwan41]

I think he got the benefit of the doubt because in the few times he did fight he clearly took it easy on his opponent. People then extrapolated downwards and thought of the mayhem he could have created in other situations if he really wanted to.

[u/stickboy1406]

That’s next years draft…

[u/DragonfruitInside312 → u/stickboy1406]

You know....that was a mean thing to say

[u/cheesybstrd]

I’ve seen this kid at the rink for the knights. Saying he is tall would be selling him short.

[u/EngelSterben → u/cheesybstrd]

Good ol' Revo

[u/rmarkmatthews]

Fuck I already miss Burnsie.

[u/Proletarian187]

He's gonna elbow the shit out of Rempe.

[u/xxphantomxx77]

He skates like a dog wearing socks though

[u/whiskeyondarocks]

Looks like he could be Chris Pronger's son

[u/Brys_Beddict]

Grier trying everything in his power to spend a 2nd round pick on him rn.

[u/Olipod2002]

Ok but size isn’t everything

[u/Snarglefrazzle → u/Olipod2002]

Yup. Chara wasn't great because he was big, he was great because he developed a high hockey IQ and he paired that with his size to be a great defensive presence.

[u/folkdeath95 → u/Olipod2002]

Tell that to Logan Stanley

[u/Olipod2002 → u/folkdeath95]

Exactly

[u/TerryFGM → u/Olipod2002]

luckily hes also decent at hockey :)

[u/Happy_Possibility29 → u/TerryFGM]

I would guess he's a tremendous athlete to move that frame at anything close to a pro hockey pace.

With that being said, it's hard to say what will happen with him. Can he move fast enough for the NHL? Will his knees give up? Will people low bridge him so much that he can't get leverage?

Conversely, will he absolutely shut down passing lanes with a stupid reach? A PK specialist maybe? Impossible to strip the puck off because it's 6 feet away at all times?

Even if he's average in college I would totally draft him late because he's so high vol.

It's like the Chara / JG13 trade. Weird bodies that figure it out and become incredible.

[u/TerryFGM → u/Happy_Possibility29]

Theres a good video about with Jesse Pollock but i cant find it for the life of me right now

edit: I lied, it was Corwin McCallum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77CRmEjcrxw

[u/Verrakai → u/TerryFGM]

His stick is bonkers

[u/Sex_E_Searcher → u/Olipod2002]

"Judge me by my size, do you?" - Yoda St Louis

[u/batmans_a_scientist → u/Olipod2002]

It’s not everything but it’s a hell of a lot harder to skate around a big defenseman than a small defenseman. They can cover a lot more of the ice with their arm and stick lengths. Take Chara’s reach, add another 5-6 inches to it, and good luck trying to get around that guy with speed.

[u/abuayanna → u/batmans_a_scientist]

You can skate right through sticks and arms though, even underneath easily, imagine Caufield just cutting right under the guys stick lol. He’ll be getting penalties if he’s slow

[u/AegirAfJotnar → u/abuayanna]

Easily, that's why Chara was a terrible defenseman and ineffective right

[u/nupharlutea → u/AegirAfJotnar]

There’s a reason they brought up Caufield. It’s an offensive strategy that mostly only works for the followers of the Johnny Gaudreau method—the super small guys with skating ability.

(In reverse, it’s the Jared Spurgeon defense method—tiny guy who is always sticking himself in places nobody else can get to in order to block offense without causing penalties.)

[u/abuayanna → u/AegirAfJotnar]

TIL this kid is anywhere close to Chara.

[u/AegirAfJotnar → u/abuayanna]

You moved those goalposts fast, huh

[u/abuayanna → u/AegirAfJotnar]

Follow along, it takes some concentration. Read the thread from the start. And then, show me all the many examples of 7 foot hockey players who are fast enough to play pro. Thanks

[u/batmans_a_scientist → u/abuayanna]

This isn’t about him playing pro. The post is about him playing junior hockey and committing to Penn State. TIL college hockey is the NHL.

[u/nupharlutea → u/abuayanna]

Agreed re the Caufield types; that was the biggest part of Johnny Gaudreau’s game (no pun intended.) To block him, you had to catch him…

[u/TheFerricGenum → u/Olipod2002]

It’s how he uses it

[u/todaystartsnow]

What are they feedings these guys?

[u/healious → u/todaystartsnow]

Cuban horse meat and dick pills

[u/EngelSterben]

He plays for the Knights near me in Wilkes-Barre, kid is pretty solid.

[u/Whitecastle56]

Man 15 years ago, this kid would be a top 10 pick easy.

[u/AutisticAladdin → u/Whitecastle56]

VALABIKKKK

[u/Mike9797]

I know it’s Burns next to him but for a split second I thought it was Post Malone lol

[u/Duffleman0609]

source

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[u/BreakfastFederal1211]

Imagine trying to skate and you see this kid coming behind you

[u/StandYourGroundhog]

Penn State is loading up

[u/Interesting_Pen_167]

The vids of this kid I was actually pretty impressed. He gets up and down the ice pretty good for his size and his handles aren't half bad. His stick length is such a huge weapon out there and he uses his size well I think but more banging and crashing than bone crushing hits. I have only seen highlight packages mind you

[u/SharksFan4Lifee]

Kid is getting drafted high, book it.

If you don't believe me, look up Haoxi Wang. If that guy is a 2nd rounder having done nothing in the OHL in part of 1 season (except show skating ability), this kid is almost a lock for the first round in his draft year, unless he has injury issues.

[u/vancouver000]

is he actually good or is he just big

[u/beerbellychelly]

From the clips I’ve seen on YouTube he looks like he’s moving through molasses.

[u/BlitzburghBrian]

It's a fun sight but I assume he has the lateral agility of a train

[u/thprk]

Zdeno Chara had a 67 inches (5' 7" or one Dakota Johnson long) stick which required an exemption from NHL rules because it was 4 inches longer than the maximum allowed. Wonder how long of a stick (and which flex) does this player need.

[u/disergi0]

Just height and nothing else.

[u/Civil_Swimmer_9044 → u/disergi0]

277 lbs is nothing?