I think that Pekarcik would probably climbs into the 2nd round if he'd been born a week later, and was first time draft eligible this year instead. Not exactly remarkable at the WJC from the scoresheet, but very effective on the forecheck for Slovakia, coupled with good USHL numbers this season (tied for 20th in USHL scoring with 18gp 5g-22-27p, everyone ahead of him in scoring has played 25-33 games) (Jake Sondreal leads the USHL with 31gp 15g-25-40p in his second year in the league).
It's important to note as well that Pekarcik is close to lead league in points with nearly 10 games less than everyone else. Whether or not he's tallying up assists because of older linemates is moot, he's still putting up points. The fact he was a solid contributor on Slovakia paints the picture that his play in the USHL is not a fluke.
I'm confused by your comment? It just strikes me as odd to reiterate that first line if you'd read my whole post - where the 3rd paragraph specifically outlines the games played, standing in the USHL scoring and emphasized the 7-15 less games Pekarcik has played compared to the people he's tied with or behind in league scoring. It brings up points I wasn't aware were of concern, and rehashes what I'd perhaps less eloquently stated without really adding anything?
Interesting to bring up the nature of his scoring, because I haven't seen criticisms of his assist rate on the board previously. I think that can be chalked up to his effectiveness in board battles and forechecking using his speed - I seem to recall some major discussion around his ability to execute with speed (or maybe it was his inability to think the game while carrying the puck at high speeds) in his prospect camp with us, leading to low goal scoring totals. There's likely also a component of him deferring to other older players as one of the younger players on his team.
Was able to dig up some historic season scoring totals by player age for context, as the USHL scoring trends may be unfamiliar to many in comparison to CHL or NCAA numbers (I wasn't particularly familar with them either).
Note, this is the whole season (up to 64 games total).
16 year olds with over 26 points in a season - 69 players, highest scorer Celebrini 50gp 46-40-86p
17 year olds with over 26 points in a season - 283 players, highest scorer Cammarata 59gp 38-55-93p
Pekarcik started the season at 17, turning 18 days into it - 18gp 5-22-27p
18 year olds with over 26 points in a season - 697 players, highest scorer Roy 59gp 54-50-104p
Those numbers aren't historic, but when taken in context they're going to be pretty impressive if he picks up his scoring as the season continues, given how few games he's currently played while being quite young (league is for ages 16-21).
