Edited Nov. 20, 2020 at 5:13 a.m.
Quoting: dzmets
Lol. Rust is a career .55 points per game player that is 45 per 82. Nathan Legare was picked 74th o/a middle of the third round and regressed after his draft year. Rikoola could not beat out Jack Johnson for an everyday spot in the Pens D core. Sam Reinhart is not by any means a top 10 player in the league but he is definitely better than this return
Legare was the 34 ranked player in his draft class. Was a late 1st , early 2nd round projection. The Pens were taking him or Poulin in the 1st round. He fell to the 3rd round. They traded up to get him, surprised he was still there!!
Legare is 20 years old, the captain of his team in the Q, had 71 points in 61 games last year. And 87 points in 72 games the year before. The Two years he has been with the Pens!! Regressed?? Huge drop off!! Lol!! Good analysis!!
Riikola was a highly touted FA Defensive signing from Europe at 25 years old. Was the “A” captain of his team in the KHL. He has played well in limited games. Like most Defensemen coming over from Europe and adjusting to the smaller rink and more physical game. His metrics and analytics are great. And numbers per 60 are as well. Same as per 82 games. Although, limited games, it’s not limited minutes or sheltered ice time. He has played 16 minutes a game. Slid into either the 2nd or 3rd D pairing on the LHD or RHD spot equally as well.
Every fan and analysts were screaming last year for him to replace J.Shultz on the RHD or JJ on the LHD on the 3rd D pairing last year. It’s just hard when the other 2 make a ton of money and u want to trade them and keep their trade value and your leverage high. Riikola was rewarded this offseason with his 1.1M contract. He’s a top five, 7th Defensemen in the league. Would be a top 6 defenseman right now on many NHL teams. His Number and Analytics prove it. Plays both RHD and LHD just as well!
We’ll see how well A.Zub and Lehtonen do this year. If they have the same numbers In Toronto and for the Sens as Riikola does, they will be happy with their 1st season. Again, sorry, but your take isn’t right!!