He's his own worst enemy.
Kostin needs to accept and play within his limitations; and not get discouraged when he can't.
He can be a valuable 3rd liner, who has the talent to add to the offense on occasion.
Last year the median level for what is essentially 3rd liners was 27 points. With the 193rd forward having 34 points and the 288th forward having 22 points, so I think 3rd liners score at a lower rate than you believe. Essentially 34-22 points which is very doable imo, especially given he seems to take a good amount of shots.Standard 3rd liners in the NHL score in the 30-40 point range year in, year out. When do you expect Kostin to contribute like that?
Lots of shots lots
Last year the median level for what is essentially 3rd liners was 27 points. With the 193rd forward having 34 points and the 288th forward having 22 points, so I think 3rd liners score at a lower rate than you believe. Essentially 34-22 points which is very doable imo, especially given he seems to take a good amount of shots.
Assuming 192 top 6 forwards. And 96 third liners.
Ok but you said standard 3rd liners. Not elite 3rd liners. Just to be fair. If he can get some momentum, he appears to have the tools to be a 25 - 30 point player.That's fair. But the low end of that is also a really crappy third line if you want to compete for a Cup.
He passes the eye test. Seems like a very hard guy to play against.
1.75 P/60 at 5v5 is a good middle six number (and pretty good on the Oilers who aren't a good 5v5 team).
Best GF% on the team.
Klim is ready for a bigger role.
Put him beside McDavid based on his 18 game sample size!
I'd be excited to see him continue with RNH (who he was just moved up with).
But your cynical framing (if I read you correctly) can easily be spun around if you phrase it like "Kostin has outperformed Jesse Puljujarvi so deserves to take his RW spot", which just happens to be next to McDavid.