I think at the end of the day, I will be quite happy if Grundstrom becomes a Top 6 Forward for years that gives us a lot of goals and plays hard. We are basically rebuilding so much of this team right now so we need some hits on our prospects. If Grundstrom can become a 25+ goal scorer and make Kempe a consistent version of what we see in flashes, then we are on our way to building a Top 6 line. I have been encouraged from what I have seen from Luff and Wagner as well. I am not expecting these guys to be Draisaitl but they are are fun to watch and they look pretty good in what has obviously a small sample size. Have to start somewhere though and I would rather them perform than be just dead sticks when they get their shots. A better coach who cares about the kids and can develop them is important.
I try to temper my expectations because guys like Toffoli looked like they were going to elevate to 30 goal scorers at one point. I thought for sure when he went from 23 to 31 goals that he had figured it out there would be no looking back. Pearson even had 24 goals in one season. It has to be consistent for us to get this thing back to where we want it to be in the shortest time frame.
What is interesting though is that both Kempe and Grundstrom can skate really well and they have a salty edge to their games. Kempe just needs to stay motivated. He disappears for long stretches and that's ok if you are a bottom level forward that nobody has any expectations of but when you are considered a top prospect and have a high ceiling, you need to show up every night.
This is where getting an elite player in this draft with our top pick is so critical. They really need to hit a homerun.
