yep obviously lower standards. I tend to give a young player at least a season and a half before I make my mind up on him but sometimes I'll make an exception like I did for Slaf where I thought he was the worst first overall ever about 40 games into his career.
Oh I'm not saying he'll have a bad career or that my career projections have dropped for him.
My big worry, which was that his defense would translate to Tony DeAngelo quality and limit his playablility, is dealt with. I don't think he'll ever be good defensively or even average though, he just doesn't have the skating to recover from the positions he puts himself in offensively. But he is someone you can play in an NHL lineup without having to give him the Xhekaj hiding treatment against only scrubs.
And his individual offense has translated.
But in terms of his play over the 13 games of his career. I've been disappointed.
Again, my view on that is more based on a "how much is he helping you win right now", which I understand is not the same perspective MTL fans have, since they are not trying to compete this year (no matter how many claimed they wanted to be "in the mix")
Hutson's challenge throughout his career will be figuring out how to be himself offensively, while finding ways to make the simple play and let his teammates create. If he tries to make the hero play (trying to beat a guy 1 on 1 on the perimeter) less often, I expect it will open things up for him even more when he DOES do it, as defenders will have to respect all the options more.