Joined: May 2016
Posts: 8,209
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Players need to walk before they can run. I'm not sure how he's bein used incorrectly when those underlying numbers are on par with top end players. Coaches need to put players in a position to succeed and the number say that is exactly what's happening.
He went from being the best player on the ice every night for probably most of his life to playing against men who have played in the NHL for years. Dump and chase, then fight for the puck along the wall, is a skill that he needs to learn to go far in the NHL. He can't just be better than everyone else and good things happen.
Develop the basic NHL game skills then add to that once he's mastered those. Then the game starts to slow down and the skill game will start to come out naturally. He already looks like he's in over his head at the NHL level on the lower lines. Putting him on the top line against the top shutdown lines and d-pairs every shift is just setting him up for failure.
Top draft picks in every league get wakeup calls once they hit the pros and have to actually work hard and actually have to learn the intricacies of the game. Look at the coaching ranks in any sport. Successful coaches aren't the top players, they are the fringe/role players that had to work on every aspect of the game to try and make it in the pros.