How has he looked down the middle this season? In all the live viewings I had of him last season, I never saw a guy that was going to be able to cut it down the middle in the NHL. He couldn’t win a face-off to save his life and it seemed to really sap his offence too.
Obviously he’s been better in that regard so far but I still think he projects more as a 3rd line winger that could maybe play in the top 6 for spurts and be an insurance option down the middle if a guy gets hurt or is playing poorly.
I've seen one AHL game. I'm really slacking.
@Stizzle has probably seen most of them.
This Tweet by Brad Keffer sums it up pretty nicely. It doesn't include tonight's game where he had 1G + 1A.
Even while getting murdered in faceoffs and being a bit minus in 5v5 Corsi to start his pro career, he's overall performing towards the top tier of Phantoms so far this year.
I'm just happy to see him looking motivated and confident. Last year he was a rough watch. This year he is moving his feet, checking hard, and trying to create offense.
Rubtsov has developed some solid chemistry with, fellow rookie, David Kase. His other most common linemate has been Colin McDonald, who is just a veteran body, with no offense.
As for the question of him sticking as an NHL center. I don't know, maybe. Honestly, most of his ice time in North America has been on the wing. When he initially got to Chicoutimi, he played mostly on Nicolas Roy's wing and did very well. In Bathurst, he played some center, but mostly wing. So that's very much TBD.
He's got a lot of competition within the organization. Couturier & Patrick are likely cemented as the top 2. Then some other good options in Frost, O'Brien, & Vorobyev. Hextall loves lineup versatility. So his ability to play wing and center will help him a ton.
I'll say this. I know what he looked like last year. It wasn't good. My guess is his poor performance was something injury and/or off ice related. But that's just conjecture. It's early, but he looks much closer to the guy we thought we were getting at the '16 draft.