So far, I'd go with the Kilger comparison before the Thornton one.
But really, the whole key I still see with Staal is the "untapped potential". The physical package is so good, you sort of expect everything else to emerge. Well, okay, that's basically what didn't happen with Kilger. But I would dare to predict it will happen more completely with Staal.
What I see from him now is still basically an inability to really impose himself on games. He doesn't seem to have either the passing "vision" that a Thornton would have, or really much knack for scoring off the rush or using his shot. Emphasis on "SEEM". Largely, I think there are great reasons why that would be the case on the Petes. They have a number of older guys who can be relied on for essentially equivalent offense (Ryder, Reddox, Tardif, Morrison) and of those guys mentioned, there isn't really a lot of size there. Kaleta, Stewart, Downie, and Staal are expected to dig and go to the net. Ryder, Reddox, and Morrison do more on the outside (Tardif does both IMHO). And the "veteran confidence" of all those other players maybe gives them more of a green light to shoot, whereas sometimes Staal defers.
So while I have often watched the Petes this year and found Staal's contribution or presence to be sort of ho-hum, I can also appreciate his physical tools, and I also get the hunch that once some of the veteran depth around him disperses after this year, he'll have a great opportunity to come back next year with a ton of confidence (top-5 NHL pick) and more pressure from the coaching staff to impose himself, as he'll become more of a go-to guy. (Although still maybe not THE guy if Ryder and Downie are back also).
So I
suspect all this to be the case, and would at least have him as a candidate for the top-10. Now maybe if the kid had a later birthdate and his name was "Jones" instead of "Staal", I'd leave it at that, because the uncertainty factor of maybe having another Kilger-like player would be there. But given the extra bit of youth, and yes, given the bloodlines and how Marc in particular jumped forward from his draft year, I might afford Jordan Staal an extra bit of leeway in terms of what I
suspect he'll do, that I wouldn't necessarily do for "Jones".
And then at the end of the day, I wouldn't expect to see a Thornton
or a Kilger, but perhaps hopefully a Jason Arnott.