I actually don't think it's completely outlandish to place him outside the top 5. I'd disagree but I think as of now he's 5th at best. Makar, Heiskanen, Pettersson, and Roberston are the top 4. Then Nico at 5. Other guys like Norris, Thomas, Batherson have also been really great. That "weak" class has churned out a ton of top talent. He's better than Suzuki for sure though lol
It's all just opinion so you can't say anyone is right or wrong (I mean you have that moron who constantly posts about how Lovejoy is the best defender ever and nobody has ever proven him wrong even if he is posting from an asylum with his feet on the keyboard since his arms are held in the straightjacket).
That aside, I've watched a fair amount of Heiskanen being in the Stars TV market. He's great at a lot of things. But he's soft as melted butter. He's not scared of the other players but he just never hits anyone. He's got untapped offensive potential but I feel he defers to others (reminds me of Hischier in that regard). He's well insulated on a veteran team with other competent defenders. Let's put him on NJ the past few years and tell him the lousy team is his responsibility and see how it goes.
Petterson is a bit different but he has issues as well. Not soft, but he looks a lot like Tatar or Johnsson or any other small light forward when he doesn't have the puck. He can do the stick lift to steal the puck but he loses just about every physical battle and he's had injury issues as well. Then layer in his contract which clouds it further. He gave away exactly zero years of UFA and on top of that specifically said he may want out if the team isn't good enough. How much hand wringing would be going on in NJ if he dropped that? I don't read his comments as buying in on the team. Is that a leader? You can't name him captain. My thoughts on Petterson are that if he's 20 points better than Hishchier I'd give Petterson the nod. At 19-10 points above Hischier it would depend. If he gets 15 more points but 12 are secondary assists I'm not sure how much stock I put into that. At 10 points or less above Hischier I'm taking Hischier every day and twice on Sunday. Again, I'm sure Vancouver fans, especially the angsty teens will say Petterson is better all the time. Let's see what they say when he signs his QO to head to UFA.
Robertson is really talented and having a great year. He's a bit above a point per game. He's also a winger and soft and slow. Again, unless he's at least 20 points better than Hischier I'm probably taking the center who provides secondary value. Put Robertson on NJ and play him with Zacha and Tatar and he's not doing much most likely. He's one guy and he's not running away from anyone and needs to play with excellent players to get the results he does (at least to my eyes). I guess the way to view him is do you want a winger for Hughes or a second center behind Hughes? I could see different views on it. Then you have to factor in contract. He's due for his RFA deal this offseason. Let's see how many UFA years he gives up and at what price. Not sure he goes ahead of Hischier in a redraft given how NHL teams view this stuff.
Makar, absolutely goes ahead of Hischier, but even he wouldn't be as good on NJ in my view.
There are other guys, but other than Suzuki none of them have to be the man. Again, let's put them on NJ and see how great they are without Hughes. It hasn't gone well for Suzuki when he's been asked to carry that load. Until a guy really hits his stride and can be the guy to lead the team you can't really say what you are dealing with.
Personally, I'm taking Hischier at 2 right now. Maybe Petterson scores 100 points the next two years and signs an 8 year extension for $7 mil per and I move him to 2 but I'm skeptical.
At 3 I probably take Batherson who is signed long term dirt cheap in Ottawa but he's got a relatively short track record of success and is coming off his first real injury.
