Film Room: Why Thomas Harley's style of play hasn't yet translated to the NHL

Thomas Harley's transition to NHL hockey was always going to be harder than for most other top defensive prospects. 

In junior and minor hockey, the Dallas Stars' rookie defenceman played a different game than most: He was a rover. On a typical shift, you could find him leading the rush, retrieving pucks below the goal-line (his own and the opposition's) and setting up plays all over the ice. He was aggressive and confident; a thinker of the game. 

And while his playstyle generated a lot of mistakes, more often than not, he managed to outscore them. 

While that rover style brought Harley a lot of success in the past — he lined up two productive seasons to end his OHL career with the Mississauga Steelheads and a remarkable first AHL season with the Texas Stars — it also made his first season in the NHL an up and down affair.