I did. Couldn't believe he fell into the Flyers lap the year he was drafted. If the Flyers hadn't botched up his development, he'd have been productive sooner. I don't care how good he as at 18, shutting down Malkin, in 2012, he was skinny 18 yr old and should have been sent back To Juniors for at least 1 yr and the AHL for 1. He was pigeon holed into being a 3/4 line shutdown center with nothing on wing. His 24 second shifts, for the most part, started in his own end, against the very best in hockey.
Only thing Hakstol did right was put him in a position to succeed this year, once he adjusted, he has not looked back, His IQ is that high . He's very smart, sees the ice well and uses his size and strength to that accord. You add top wingers, and he's money. In his last 100 regular season games, he's 3rd in the NHL in ES scoring , behing MacDavid and Kucherov.
On a torn MCL, put up more pts in the last 2 games (7) than Giroux and Voracek have combined in their last 12 playoff games.
He'll be the next FLyers Captain to hoist the Cup, I've been saying that for the last 3 yrs. . Hoping that hextall finally sees that Capt. Invisible is a playoff bust again this year and trades him.
As long he and the other 2 members of the (lack of) 'leadership' trio (Simmonds, Voracek) are here, they will continue to fail.
Simmonds trade rumors started last year (and they would have gotten more for him, his play dipped this year) He's as good as gone. Hoping the other 2 follow suit by next summer.
