Do you think that he can become a great 4th NHL liner??
He's kind of in a weird spot because he is relied on to be probably the #2 offensive option on the Giants behind 2025 draft eligible Cameron Schmidt, and he has a good, strong wrister that makes him suited to that role, but that comes at the cost of him focusing on a style that will probably not carry him at the higher pro levels at the expense of playing the game in a way that more strongly mimics his likely pro future.
So right now he really plays a sort of power-forward-lite game where he attacks on the rush or can bully his way to the net for scoring chances, but I don't necessarily think about him getting d-zone starts, PK time, or working in a shutdown/pure checking role. It's something I'd probably have to make a point of watching for in subsequent games (after the holidays, as they play tomorrow afternoon in another game I won't be able to attend, then are off until like the 27th or 28th). It's hard to look at him as a future 4th liner because he's in a role and playing a style that is not necessarily what you'd expect out of a real NHL 4th liner.
That said he does show a willingness to drop the gloves and he is pretty punishing when he chooses to be particularly physical against opponents along the boards and whatnot.
I'd almost say that right now he looks like he's trying to show a sort of offensively-capable 3rd line sort of role where he would play on a non-scoring line but still be a threat to pop in maybe 10 goals in a season. But I'm not totally sure if I think that's realistic for him. I'm not qualified to be a full-blown scout but my instinct is to say he still needs to work on his skating. The good news is that he appears to be doing that because if you had asked me 2 years ago when he debuted for the Giants if I thought he had any sort of pro aspirations I would've laughed because he was a giant, gangly baby giraffe on skates.
All that said I think he might have the best chance of having some sort of pro impact out of the 4 drafted players on the Giants roster because he's the one that doesn't have a significant and obvious flaw that seems to be holding him back. But I'm not sure how high I'd put the odds at the moment.
But I want to also offset everything I just said with the fact that I am not confident at all in my ability to assess this sort of thing with good accuracy. Almost every Sharks prospect I've watched come through the WHL in the last 7 or so years I felt kinda good about in some regard. And now here we are today and the only one that's still in the league is replaceable Ottawa 4th liner Noah Gregor. So basically what I say is for entertainment purposes only and should not be taken as professional scouting analysis
