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Is Kirby Dach ready to be the #1 centre next season?

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He needs to put on 20lbs of muscle so he can be better on face offs with the added strength.Still gets knocked off the puck too easily for his size.He has the talent for sure but needs to put in the work to reach his full potential.
 
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I always love when non-hockey people talk about player development like they have any idea what they're talking about.
 
If the comparison is Getzlaff, Kopitar, Kessler, like others have said, he needs to put on a lot of muscle.

He’s young but just doesn’t look like he has a #1 nhl center physique. His build looks ‘tall juniors teenager’ not ‘nhl man’
 
Backyard Hockey said:
If the comparison is Getzlaff, Kopitar, Kessler, like others have said, he needs to put on a lot of muscle.

He’s young but just doesn’t look like he has a #1 nhl center physique. His build looks ‘tall juniors teenager’ not ‘nhl man’
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like the comp of Kopitar more than Getzlaf, that said I am not certain that Kirby will reach the Offensive production of either in fact I dont think he will. That said I think the Kopi comp is better as a result of Kirby's 200 foot game which Kopi was better at than Getzlaf

Kirby most certainly should hit the gym and gain more strength. tough to say what he will turn out to be.

At this point my best guess is a 55-70 pt 2 way beast of a C, but that can change it just depends on well Kirby for the most part and linemates/chemistry with same moving forward
 
featherhawk said:
like the comp of Kopitar more than Getzlaf, that said I am not certain that Kirby will reach the Offensive production of either in fact I dont think he will. That said I think the Kopi comp is better as a result of Kirby's 200 foot game which Kopi was better at than Getzlaf

Kirby most certainly should hit the gym and gain more strength. tough to say what he will turn out to be.

At this point my best guess is a 55-70 pt 2 way beast of a C, but that can change it just depends on well Kirby for the most part and linemates/chemistry with same moving forward
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kopitar was nearly a PPG player in his second year in the league at age 20. Dach may not hit 77 points total until next season
 
Backyard Hockey said:
If the comparison is Getzlaff, Kopitar, Kessler, like others have said, he needs to put on a lot of muscle.

He’s young but just doesn’t look like he has a #1 nhl center physique. His build looks ‘tall juniors teenager’ not ‘nhl man’
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He is young and there is zero chance he is fully developed physically. Few have NHL physique at age 20. There have been zero whispers of him being being lazy or not willing to hit the gym so I am personally not concerned about it.
 
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BK said:
He is young and there is zero chance he is fully developed physically. Few have NHL physique at age 20. There have been zero whispers of him being being lazy or not willing to hit the gym so I am personally not concerned about it.
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This might be unpopular, but I'm beginning to come to the opinion, through watching all sports, that player development is mostly a myth at the star level and athletes either have it or they don't. From the moment a player takes a step into top competition you can pretty much tell whether or not they have the "it" factor or not. I have found that players that develop into stars later in their career are quite possibly the exception, rather than the rule. Most of the players that don't have instant success or are bad initially, stay that way. Player development works to take someone from bad to average, but very rarely does it take a player from bad or average to a star.

I'm not 100% on board with this yet, but I will be watching closely over the next few years in all of the sports I watch to check and see how this plays out.

Kane and Toews were special the moment they took the ice. Most great players in all sports are great the moment they suit up. It might be that player development is antiquated.

Notable exceptions are NHL defensemen and Baseball players, where most take their lumps before breaking out.
 
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Kevin Musto said:
I don't agree with this
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So from a cross-sport perspective, just as a point of reference:
Juan Soto was great immediately, obviously McDavid and Matthews were, Mahomes and Russell Wilson in the NFL(you can possibly add Herbert and Burrow to this list) LeBron and Durant were great immediately if you want to go back that far (and Derrick Rose before he got injured)

MacKinnon was a 1st liner immediately, became a superstar later. Giannis was a good player immediately, developed into a superstar later.

It seems that star trajectory goes either instant star or above average to star.

Like I admit that Tom Brady wasn't Tom Brady overnight, he was above average for a number of years before taking his game to a completely different level.
 
Kaners Bald Spot said:
So from a cross-sport perspective, just as a point of reference:
Juan Soto was great immediately, obviously McDavid and Matthews were, Mahomes and Russell Wilson in the NFL(you can possibly add Herbert and Burrow to this list) LeBron and Durant were great immediately if you want to go back that far (and Derrick Rose before he got injured)

MacKinnon was a 1st liner immediately, became a superstar later. Giannis was a good player immediately, developed into a superstar later.
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There are numerous players that took years before they became elite players. We all understand that there are some who jump right in and make an impact, but that's not the case for everyone.
 
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CallMeShaft said:
There are numerous players that took years before they became elite players. We all understand that there are some who jump right in and make an impact, but that's not the case for everyone.
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My argument isn't that it can't or doesn't happen, but more specifically that most elite players show themselves sooner rather than later and that players that develop slowly into elite players are more rare than those that announce themselves in their first 1-3 seasons at the highest level.
 
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Kaners Bald Spot said:
So from a cross-sport perspective, just as a point of reference:
Juan Soto was great immediately, obviously McDavid and Matthews were, Mahomes and Russell Wilson in the NFL(you can possibly add Herbert and Burrow to this list) LeBron and Durant were great immediately if you want to go back that far (and Derrick Rose before he got injured)

MacKinnon was a 1st liner immediately, became a superstar later. Giannis was a good player immediately, developed into a superstar later.

It seems that star trajectory goes either instant star or above average to star.

Like I admit that Tom Brady wasn't Tom Brady overnight, he was above average for a number of years before taking his game to a completely different level.
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What Shaft said.

I can find plenty of examples of stars that weren't stars when they first suited up.

Like back to back MVP Steve Nash. Even some of the best players in today's NBA took time to get going like Giannis and Kawhi.

And hockey it's even more so the case. So many undrafted or late round picks that turned into great players later in their career.
 
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Kevin Musto said:
What Shaft said.

I can find plenty of examples of stars that weren't stars when they first suited up.

Like back to back MVP Steve Nash. Even some of the best players in today's NBA took time to get going like Giannis and Kawhi.

And hockey it's even more so the case. So many undrafted or late round picks that turned into great players later in their career.
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Well sure....Keith is one notable example. Defensemen in the NHL and baseball players are more rare to find instant stars, but they still happen.

NHL forwards are a bit of a different story.

I can't remember the last great NFL QB that wasn't at least above average the moment they took the field. Maybe you can make an argument for Peyton Manning but despite all of the INTs his rookie year you definitely saw more than flashes of greatness.
 
Kevin Musto said:
Mark Stone, Ryan O'Reilly, Mika Zibanejad, Sean Couturier, Marty St Louis... I'm not having a hard time coming up with examples
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IIRC O'Reilly was above average nearly immediately.
Couturier was held back by Philly's center depth. I forget who they had as their 2C for a while but they had Giroux and someone else getting top line minutes.

My question to you is this: Look at the top players in the league and which ones weren't great within a season or two of being in the NHL?

Hell, look at it in every league.
 
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Kaners Bald Spot said:
IIRC O'Reilly was above average nearly immediately.
Couturier was held back by Philly's center depth. I forget who they had as their 2C for a while but they had Giroux and someone else getting top line minutes.

My question to you is this: Look at the top players in the league and which ones weren't great within a season or two of being in the NHL?

Hell, look at it in every league.
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It’s like with debrincat, you knew he was good right away. Great players almost always flash immediately.
 
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