I wasn't sure who we were talking about in terms of PPG production: BMB, who is well above that at 1.25 PPG; Barbashev, who just hit a PPG after his recent torrid stretch; or Othmann, who has sturggles in Peterborough and is playing at a PPG pace since that trade.
In any event, what's much more important than their production in a vacuum when looking at young prospects is looking examining their progress year over year. Because what you really want more than anything, is to see progress. If you draft a guy who scored 30 points in 60 games, you don't expect that the next year he's going to explode into a high-end prospect and score 100 points. But you do want to see progression, both in terms of that measurable production and in terms of their overall consistency and play.
Barbashev is a guy I was a little critical of earlier in the season, because while he did some nice things, the consistency was not there shift to shift, game to game. I noticed he would go extended stretches without really being involved. Fast forward to the last month or so, and he scores a goal in nine straight games (11 goals total) and really picks up his whole game. For a kid I knocked as being inconsistent, you can't ask for much more than that. And, looking at the year over year, he's only 3 points off of last year's point total in 20 fewer games, has already scored more goals, and has just one fewer SOG. It's exactly the type of progression you would want to see in a guy like him. Is his production indicative of a future star? It is not. Does it show he's developing as a player, and keeping course to one day become a nice third line winger? Sure does.
BMB, it's the same type of thing. Last season he was buried a little bit and also inconsistent, like a lot of young players. This year, he's the captain, he's the go-to guy, and he's flourishing. He's on a crappy team with very little in the way of offensive help. He's his team's only drafted forward. There are no crazy overage performers there helping buoy him. He really has to drive that offense largely by himself. And, after a slow first few weeks, he's really taking off. Watch a Soo game and you can clearly see he's their best forward every night, and (depending on the opponent) is usually one of the best 3-4 players in the game overall. That his offensive production is elevated is great, but again, it's really about the progression he has made since last season. And, he brings more to the table than just offense. He can make it in the NHL even if the offense doesn't translate.
Othmann's production in Peterborough, sure, it sucks, given what he has done previously and what is expected of him. But, I think there's a lot of bad luck there, and given what he showed in Flint to start the season and how he showed up at the end of the WJC, I wouldn't worry much.