Hes a defensively responsible guy with a good toolbox. Its not a matter of peaking early at all to me, its a matter of projections. People thought hed take a big step into a PPG defender but he didn't, thats fine, not all good prospects have to be top 5 worthy players.
He still defends very well, he still holds the line up well, he still has a good shot, hes still a decent skater and he's got a solid build. He's a project, you pick him and hope he sticks together enough tools to be a 2nd pair D that can do it all. Lets not forget the usual time-table for defenders was 22-23, not 19-20 like weve been seeing in the past few years. One thing Ive noticed is that he tilts heavily on the defensive side this year, I don't know why he does it, if its coached, if its his decision, but he rarely every plays an aggressive game and he rarely pushes the pace. Of course, he's not a top 30 prospect for me, but he's still a good 2nd round bet.
Its very weird lately with all the super productive kids, a lot of good players that don't produce as much get lost in the shuffle because of it. It used to be that production like Cristall and Benson came every three or five years, now theres 5 of them in the WHL. Same can be said all over. Stats watching doesn't help anyone.
