2020 Draft: Stranges utilizing non-traditional skating lessons to excel

Every Thursday, NHL.com will look ahead to the 2020 NHL Draft with an in-depth profile on one of its top prospects.

Antonio Stranges stands out among 2020 NHL Draft prospects for his skating, but not in the traditional sense.

"Obviously it's not really skating forwards or backwards, you're kind of going sideways," said the 18-year-old forward (5-foot-10, 168 pounds) with London of the Ontario Hockey League. "It's tricky, people don't really know what to expect. Not a lot of people do it. I like to stick out a bit and it separates me.

"My skating coach is a figure skater, so she's got all sorts of crazy edge work. I just kind of took that one a little overboard I guess."

Stranges' skating style has been described as "10-to-2" because of the open position of his feet. But the footwork, taught to him by skating coach Kim Muir, is called a mohawk, best described as transition drill footwork that allows a player to switch quickly from an inside edge to a backward inside edge.

"You see a lot of hockey players do it more now, going forward to backward and back to forward again," Muir said. "That's the footwork you see Antonio doing most of the time. He'll go up the ice and it looks like he's doing his footwork, the mohawks, and it looks like he's going faster going sideways than going straight up the ice in a forward stride."

Stranges began working with Muir at age 5, and she said he took to her teaching in a way most of her students did not. He understands his stride can look unorthodox but said he's never tried a different way.

"I kind of gain speed from doing it," Stranges said. "I could probably skate faster doing that than I can (skating) forward at this point. It works, so I just keep doing it.

"Usually a [defenseman is] waiting for you to skate forward at them and try and slip it under their stick or something. But I kind of just use it to go around. I'll carry it around the net, go around the zone doing it. It kind of messes with everyone else's head, they don't know where I'm going to pass or if I'm going to turn around. It just kind of fools everyone."

Including some of the top opposition he's faced in the OHL.

"The fact that it is different is one of the things that makes it harder," said Erie defenseman Jamie Drysdale, No. 3 on Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters. "He can stay in that position, that stride, going straight. He can go lateral with it too. ... He can cut to the middle quick, make a move and he's by you, or he can stay against the boards somehow doing that same stride and burn you outside."

London associate general manager Rob Simpson said there never has been a thought to change Stranges' approach.

"You have to be open to every player is different, has different skill sets," he said. "The fact that Antonio has a lot of success using that move, it makes it easy to say we don't need to take that out of his game. You might want to tweak it, know where to utilize it and where you can have a different skating, more of a straightway traditional style to allow different plays or different moves come into your game.

"Antonio definitely has a lot of separation speed with it, and power, and it allows him to be open to the play, to be able to see what's coming from behind or late, forwards or defensemen coming. It's very rare and it is a unique talent he has."

However it looks, it helped Stranges score 40 points (19 goals, 21 assists) in 61 games, and he's No. 56 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters.

"He's a really good offensive prospect," Central Scouting's Joey Tenute said. "He's a very good skater, really agile, can turn on a dime. … He's got high-end puck sills, good creativity, not afraid to try things. He's got good vision. He's got playmaking ability. He can make good passes on his forehand, backhand, sauce passes, direct passes. He attacks when he has the puck. He's thinking offense but he's not a selfish player. He moves the puck when he needs to, but he also knows that when he's in an area to shoot, he's a shooter.

"He's got a heavy shot, quick release. He's got some elite offensive ability."

He's also trying to improve defensively and said video sessions with coach Dale Hunter involve using Toronto Maple Leafs forward and former London star Mitch Marner as an example. Marner is second on the Maple Leafs with 67 points (16 goals, 51 assists) in 59 games and leads Toronto forwards in shorthanded ice time per game at 2:12.

Simpson said there has been definite improvement.

"I think from where he started as a 15-, 16-year-old coming in to where he is now has improved dramatically," Simpson said. "It shows his ability to learn and want to learn to be able to be a complete player. If you're going to be put in all key situations and play big minutes for a team you have to be able to do those things. … That's something Antonio has worked hard on and he's going to continue to work hard on it because it is such a key when you get to the next level."

Listen: Video: Stranges runs drills in preparation for Draft