He's still very young and he was definitely a boy playing with men in his first AHL stint but I really hated how soft he was in his first pro year. This isn't gauged by fighting and hitting but more like how he would treat getting high-sticked like the stick blade came from an open window of the Texas School Book Depository.
He's a soft player but my concern is that it is mentally as well as physically. A week ago I was praising his play in the Dallas game because he was actually using his body but that's the whole point: you draft a speed/size/skill specimen because a guy that size with speed and skill is a cheat code. If he doesn't use his size then the whole package becomes lacking.
If you can't see the improvements in his actual game then you aren't watching. Agree with KP about the fly-by poke checks being lessened for more of a slash/bump move on the forecheck with a sprinkle of an actual hit. He's actually slowed down and made some nice passes while on the Kopitar line and the PP as opposed to just spazzing.
I worry about the mental side of it though. This was my thesis at the WJC and it still holds: he plays different when he's the undisputed dude and he's deferential to the vets. He carried that Sudbury team because he had to but then he is a youngster on the WJC team and he just accepts his 3rd line role and doesn't impose his will. At the NHL level, he's generally looked scared IMO.
Now, he is trying more things with the puck and maybe he just needs to pop a couple and we see a quicker progression upwards. It's just a big thing with a majority of the prospects: where are the balls? You'd really like a 2OA to play with the swagger of someone who is supposed to be an elite player in his age group. Like, give him some Brandt Clarke energy for Christ's sake.
