This is a lot of wishful thinking, mostly.
There's a reason Tage Thompson was a first round pick. The tools were all there, it was just a question if he could put it all together, fill out his frame, and round-out his game away from the puck. Thompson had enough to show scouts to warrant the attention, beyond just his size.
Everyone knew he had a powerful shot with a quick release, and there's a bunch of goals that essentially look like this one from early in his career:
But he also had filthy mitts, and was capable of doing stuff like this before he broke out:
Protas simply hasn't shown anything that can make us think he has that type of top-end potential. That doesn't mean he's a bad player. He's very useful, and has potential to round out his offensive game more if he can develop his skill set around the net. He can absolutely be a complimentary top six piece that is capable of carrying and distributing the puck, not just parking the bus in front of the crease. But he just hasn't shown any indication that he's going to be able to command the ice the way that Tage Thompson can.
I'll put it this way - if he's playing in the top six, do you ever expect Aleksai Protas to be the best player on his line?
Damn, it's like you didn't read anything about how
I said it's not about the player as a comparable and more about the development arc for a recent big man who plays to his skill instead of his size and has tools. The fact that they're virtually equal in their 23 year old season is nothing to sniff at when it comes to
talking about development, regardless of who has more top end skill, which was the whole f***ing point.
Like, I thought I already spelled this out in the last post. Also, if I understand it right Tage Thompson (born October) was one of the oldest eligible prospects, so a handful of weeks and maybe he's another low-round tools project.
I think it's interesting to ask if Protas might have been a first round pick if his draft year was his 80 in 58 season, though admittedly he's much farther from the cutoff as a January birth, since he looked well beyond 3rd round caliber.
As for the bold it's entirely possible, especially judging by recent top 6 Caps and their defensive impacts. You see many players better on the charts right now as it stands? What kind of hypothetical top 6 are we talking about here because if you stuck Protas in the top 6
right now with Ovechkin and Oshie he'd probably be the best player on the line, the line would just suck.
Do you think he looks overwhelmed or at the brink of his ability right now? If he has another gear to reach, are you confident predicting where it ends?
Don’t be so simple. Seriously.
I (ME) compared Protas scoring to Tage Thompson’s at their age 23 season. Same age to same age. That’s it. NEVER did anyone say Protas would equal Thompson’s numbers going forward.
And no one has ever compared CMcM to Hughes.
Keep being a harpy for these negative comments. It’s obv more fun for you than anything else.
Lol, one person one time said they should send him to whoever fixed Hughes' shot and now he's a direct comparable... this shit is getting stupid.
It's like people are incapable of parsing out any nuance and demand one-to-one player comparables right now to have this conversation, and to drag on one of the brighter points of the season and future to boot.
