I think many of the successful teams usually have an excellent bottom 6 overall or at the very least a very good 3rd line. Outside of Mazur I don’t feel confident any of our bottom 6 types can become above average 3rd liners.
It’s crazy to think back that far, but Emmerton didn’t start out as “future bottom sixer.” He was actually more of a 2nd line/middle 6 scorer to-be when drafted. The fact that he became a mediocre 4th line/13th forward speaks to the fact that that really was never his game. And Ellis was more of a good foot soldier than anything, he too didn’t really have 4th line stalwart pedigree either. The difference with guys like Savage and James is that they actually have translatable bottom 6 skill sets that could be fine-tuned to thrive in that role and where maybe you get lucky and they turn out to be a capable 3rd liner rather than just a good 4th liner. Either way, they’re already set up much better than the likes of Emmerton or Ellis (or Smith or Ehn or Mursak et al) to be a plus player on the 4th line.
James has one trait that Mastrosimone didn't have: pure speed. And that would (in theory) translate to a PK/bottom 6 role well.
Hes also got 20 pounds or more on Mastrosimone, and the more rugged play style to go with it.
Yep. Danny Kristo was a much better NCAA player than Luke Glendening, but Glendening had the toughness, drive, football mentality, & willingness to accept his role whereas Kristo wasn't quite skilled enough to make it. Same generally applies here with James versus Mastrosimone,
Not really, but thanks for trying. If you can't figure out what makes James more projectible as a bottom-six NHL player than Robert Mastrosimone, I would suggest that you watch more hockey.
Do you guys even watch these guys play? Mastrosimone is a faster and better all around skater than James.
Sure James's play style would make him a better player on a 4th line. Neither project as an NHL player. Let alone a difference maker in the bottom 6.
Ha ha, I literally watch him live this weekend. If you want to be taken seriously, please stop saying incredibly outlandish things like Mastrosimone is a faster skater. James is exponentially faster and more explosive than Mastrosimone ever was at this age. Skating is actually the weakest part of Mastrosimone's game. You literally could not have picked a worse comparable to James. The two have absolutely nothing in common in terms of how they play hockey. Thank you though for proving my point that most of this board can't be trusted to select a house mite team.
