it is still a lazy take.
he needs to get more engaged. Has nothing to do with his feet.
I don't think it's as simple as skating or engagement. It's a combination of things. AND he could do with some improvement in both of those areas. Laf SHOULD be working with a skating coach right now to improve his skill. As far as engagement, well, I just don't believe he is thinking the game fast enough right now for the NHL game and I am not sure how exactly to improve that.
What's worried me since we drafted him over Byfield is:
a) He was considered "slowish", someone who would need to slow the game down, when the NHL is just getting faster and faster. Dylan Strome found a similar issue when he arrived. While Laf isn't quite as bad a skater as Dylan, they both lack speed. All though I don't think Laf is AS slow as Dylan. But he's no speed demon either.
b) He was a big kid playing against kids his own age who were generally less mature. And that made him look better than he actually was and it allowed him to be more successful than he might have been just based on his skills. Unfortunately, that size isn't the same kind of advantage against grown men.
c) I honestly didn't see the "wow" factor. People were saying he's the best forward prospect to come along in however long, and I honestly didn't see it. A very promising prospect sure. But when you compare him to say Wright or Bedard, I don't think he's in the same league.
d) Just on a personal front, I thought we should have drafted Byfield. Their ceilings were considered similar, but IMO, Byfield had the higher end raw tools that could be polished. And while they were both big for their age, I didn't see Byfield's production being as dependent on using that size against other kids. Laf has amazing stickwork, but I thought Byfield was naturally more gifted in the other aspects of the game, faster, more athletic, with great vision. Plus he was a center, and we had just drafted Kakko and Kravtsov and had Buch, Panarin and Kreider. So it just seemed to me Byfield was the way to go.
e) I worry we went with Laf, more because of the hype and less because of his actual all around ability. Not suggesting his ability was in any way, overall poor. But when compared to a guy with the tools of Byfield, I generally lean towards highest plausible ceiling, which I thought Byfield had over him. It almost felt like we were taking Laf because many people expected it and there was this mythos behind Laf, which might not have been completely in tune with reality. Personally, I think if there was ever a moment to go against the grain, that was it. Regardless of what type of criticism from fans or media occurred in the following days. That storm would have been weathered and now in hindsight, I think people would have understood why we went against common opinion.
Anyway, I still have hope. He's young. He has some outstanding tools himself. But he needs to work on skating, he'll never be a speedster, but he can be a more efficient skater. He needs to work on his engagement and I think he needs to work on his positioning off the puck. Would be nice if his slapshot was a bit better too.
One thing that has struck me, is he was supposed to have this genius level hockey IQ, and from what I've seen so far, he often looks behind the game or even a bit lost at times. And I don't exactly see that genius level playmaker that everyone was pointing at. He has amazing stickwork though, and he can do some fancy things. But doing those at NHL speed with NHL level IQ just isn't there yet.
