I tend to agree with you on a lot of things, but I just simply cannot see this. I absolutely get the board play and I agree with you he's going to lose more than he wins over the course of his career. However, he's in the same mould of Kessel where he plays majority of the time off the rush on flank cutting towards the net down-low. I would say the most underrated part of his game is that he has a very low centre of gravity for a player with a 6'3" frame. I do think he could be an accomplished inside-cutting winger as currently majority of his game is blowing scrubs towards the outside. I do agree he likes the middle of the rink as well, but the most successful rushes from him are on the outside cutting in and I suggest he'll make the pros conducting the same aspect of play.
I had a long post on this and this stupid site refreshed on me and I lost it all.
So short version… in think you’re taking a small aspect of his game and extrapolating it too much. He’s a great outside, in rush guy. Best past of his game by far. But to get the best out of him offensively in general, you need him roaming and finding space to get him the puck (that he’ll promptly shoot). He can be really effective moving without the puck and pouncing off openings. Defensively… putting him high near the boards is a disaster. He’s weak, doesn’t track the puck well and has significant drift. At center you have him moving around and using his skating more (and his stick which is his only plus defensive attribute). He’s at least doing something defensively there… plus being lower tends to let him wind up a bit in transition. Where he blows through the zone.
I’ve seen him play wing, he’s a much worse player when he plays there. You limit his game to 2-3 great rushes, lost battles, losing his guy in the zone, and a lot of frustration. At center you get those rushes, plus a couple stick plays, some great reads and resets to setup a rush, and more importantly… more roaming in the offensive zone where he’s good at finding soft spots and pouncing on them.