I disagree with pretty much everything you said here aside from the fact that plays a different style of game haha
He can play on any line in the same sense that any player can play any line for a period of time. Doesn't mean it's a good idea. And I feel comfortable saying he will never put up 40 points
Which is fine by the way, I don't think it's a slight to say he's a 4th line player
If you had to play him on the 3rd line for a prolonged period, I don't think it's the end of the world. But it an ideal situation, he would be on the 4th line
This guy probably looks like a guy who should ideally be on the 4th line, no?
Year 1: 82 games, 10 points (3 goals)
Year 2: 67 games, 17 points (4 goals)
Year 3: 82 games, 23 points (7 goals)
Year 4: 82 games, 19 points (7 goals)
Year 5: 78 games, 35 points (14 goals)
That’s Tom Wilson. Next two years were 20+ goal, 40+ points in 60 some odd games each. I’m not comparing the two or saying he CAN produce like Tom Wilson, but after Wilson’s first few years in the league, what would you have thought his upside was? Turns out if you play him with Backstrom/Ovechkin/Oshie/Kuznetsov his game translates to something a lot more than it would if he was playing on the third or fourth line.
Brendan Lemieux:
Year 1: 9 games, 1 point (1 goal)
Year 2: 63 games, 17 points (12 goals)
Year 3: 59 games, 18 points (6 goals)/25 point pace
Is it really outrageous that with 18 points in 59 games in just his second NHL season he could have a few 35-40 point seasons in him? Wilson didn’t hit double digit goals in a season until his 5th year in the league. Lemieux did it in his first (full - not gonna count the 9 game stint) season.
Lemieux is being undersold here. In fact, if you take year 2 and 3 from both players and adjust Lemieux’s pace for the games that didn’t get played, they’re almost identical. Wilson had 17 points, only 4 goals, in 67 games his second year. Lemieux had 17 points, 12 of them goals, in 63 games his “second” year. The following year Wilson had 23 points, 7 goals, in 82 games. Lemieux was on pace for 25 points over 82 games and already had 6 goals through 59. He has talent, he was a relatively high draft pick, and honestly I think he could very well be our Wilson if he played opposite Panarin. Would Quinn ever try it? Probably not, but I don’t think it’s outrageous at all to think he could score 15-20 goals and 35-40 points on that line next year.
First 3 NHL seasons:
Wilson: 231 games, 14 goals, 50 points.
Average of 4.97 goals and 17.75 points per 82.
Lemieux: 131 games, 19 goals, 36 points.
Average of 11.89 goals and 22.53 points per 82.
But Tom Wilson played his first season when he was nineteen. Brendan Lemeuix was two years older. If Lemeuix follows Wilsons path, he will be much closer to UFA when he hit full strides. And that is something the organisation have to consider.
