But who is wrong? Because the same people -- the hardcore prospect watchers, whose opinions I trust more than any professional scout or scouting service -- were definitely not the biggest Provorov supporters. All the flaws we see today were pointed out by others since I've been here. These same people are the ones who didn't like the Ratcliffe pick (and were screaming for Robertson as a fringe top 10 talent), didn't like the Tuomaala pick (again, ranking Stankoven similarly to Robertson) They had nuanced opinions on York and Foerster that seem a lot closer to the truth than the team's opinions. Certainly, we could go through dozens and dozens of spot-on evaluations for players that aren't even Flyers property.
My point being these are the SAME people who are the ones watching Gauthier and saying he's a dressed up winger. That his ceiling is probably a 2nd line complementary winger, although the PP can be a swing trait. And that's not any more a condemnation than saying Provorov was always a dressed up 2/3 guy, which daydreamy people took to heart.
Gauthier isn't much of a play driver or play controller, with processing on the average side at best. His shot-pass selection is heavily leaning towards low % shots, with not much in the way of below dots/royal road passing. He has above average wheels and entry abilities, in combination with his hands -- not to the degree of someone as athletic as Tippett, but it is noticeably good. In the offensive zone, he doesn't play that big and prefers to hang around off-puck. All that said, I think he exceeded expectations as a freshman, but I think that's more an acknowledgment of what he does well projecting well instead of growth in what he doesn't do well. His projections 1 year ago don't feel different, just more likely, which is not meant in a bad way.
