Would that be in the same way Guentzel has benefited from playing with Crosby?
Look, I'm not sitting here saying Bunting is as good or better than Guentzel. He's not and never will be. Fact is though, from the stats and eye test (from his time here) suggests that it wasn't a bad consolation prize to get in the trade, especially when he's coming in at half the cost and has a pinch of nasty in his game (which the entire forum complained about not having since Horny left).
Why are people so down on the guy? Truthfully, I think it's because some people hate Dubas and want to go out of their way to hate any trade he makes or player he brings in. Any objective person should be happy with Bunting since his arrival here.
Again, where in my post or even the others in the discussion, are we "down on the guy"? The discussion that I had an interest in was this idea that Bunting a]is nearly as productive as Jake (with the implication we don't lose much offense with this swap) because of his ES/60 stat and b]he's a legitimate top line player and not more of a middle sixer.
Both are flawed and both ignore context. Bunting's one good ES year was when he literally rode shotgun to the league MVP who scored 60 goals that year, 44 on ES. Other than that, he's been in that 50-ish point range. Him not getting the same PP opportunities as Jake doesn't suddenly balance out the difference in talent. That's like saying if Bunting had McDavid on his wing he'd be producing what Draisaitl does simply because you add his 58 ES points to Draisaitl's PP points and suddenly he's over 100 points. That's not how it works.
Like I said in a follow-up post, he's fine for what he is. He's a complimentary winger who can be the third wheel on a line and add some grit/feistiness. But the opposite end of the spectrum is people on here acting like he's a legitimate scoring winger who will make us forget Jake's totals.
(That's not touching on the discussion of what a first line player is versus a middle six player -- but I think anyone who thinks 50 points is what is typically seen as a top line player is stretching the definition greatly)
