Early career Cogs was fairly similar to current Yamamoto, but Cogs was faster and carried his center of gravity lower so he didn’t get bodied nearly as often.To be fair, I don’t know if you could really say early Cogs had hockey sense. The guy constantly couldn’t follow plays and you’d run out of fingers to count how many times the guy puts himself offside. That said, if there’s one thing he could do ultimately was adapt…something I’m not sure JP can (or willing to). Whether the latter is unwilling by self or agent, that’s not Oilers problem anymore
I think JP is lacking a few connections from the central processing unit to the hands and feet. Could be from a lack of those repetitive muscle memory building drills when he was younger and could dominate with him size and straight ahead speed. You’d think a guy who’s entire career is hockey, would be able to improve those skills to at least an AHL level over 5-6 seasons. If you could put Sam Gagner’s hands, feet and head on JP’s body you’d have a great hockey player.