Quoting: Jimbo1119
If that's the way you see it then hey- we're all entitled to our opinions...I just don't see that as a fair take...we have been spoiled with guys like McDavid and Mathews in recent years...but to expect a guy to light the world on fire right out of the gate is just not realistic- there's just so many issues- cultural (for Europeans), maturity, strength, etc. I've seen enough to guess that Kakko will never be McDavid or Mathews- but that doesn't suppress Kakko's value- rather it puts the value of those guys to the moon. And I bet Connor McD and Austin Mathews would LOVE to have a player on their line who brings to the table what Kakko does.
Well, i don’t think they would, because he doesn’t really bring much of anything besides some decent defensive play.
Let’s take a look at some top ten picks from the past decade or so that didn’t light the world on fire when joining the league:
Well do 2006-16 for the sake of not judging too fast.
06: James Sheppard - started slow, and i don’t even remember who he is.
07: 3rd overall Kyle Turris - he had that one good year, but he started slow, and he kinda sucks.
7th overall Sam gagner has just always been mediocre.
2009: Kadri kind of started slow, but they bounced him up and down between the NHL and the minors his first couple years. Kind of a weird case.
Jared Cowan started real slow. And he sucked. Same with Paajarvi.
2010: want to make an argument for seguin? I guess i would sort of give it to you. They played him in a very minimal role his rookie year, and then he popped out for a 29 goal, 67 point campaign in his second season.
Ryan Johansen had a couple slow seasons before a 30 goal year, then falling back to mediocrity.
Brett Connolly was a very slow starter, i think he’s had one 20 goal year. Nothing to write home about.
Alexander burmistrov....yikes.
2011: Hey, here’s a guy that helps your case, and he’s a ranger. Mika Zibanejad. Late bloomer.
Couturier is another one, but it took him about 7 years to find a scoring tough.
2012: Nail? Bleh
Galchenyuk had an okay start, climbed to his one 30 goal year, then fell into waiver land.
2013: Hey, Barkov had a coupe .5 ppg years before becoming a big time player. Better than kakko, but reason for hope.
Bo Horvat, kind of same story. Better start than kakko, but a bit of a late bloomer.
2014: Sam Bennett
Despite a solid year this year, i think nick ritchie stinks.
2015: Dylan Strome sort of turned it around until a horrid year this year i guess?
Zacha started slow and stayed slow.
2016: nylander had a rough start, and it hasn’t improved much.
Same can be said for Tyson jost.
The point is, with guys drafted in the top ten, it’s actually really rare for them to be a late bloomer. That makes a lot of sense, they had the talent developed already.