The thing likely to hold Kulich back is how he plays in his own zone. The scoring's cool, but we know that a guy who gives it all back isn't likely to be helping. Savoie at center in the WHL was a lot more responsible and engaged defensively than Kulich was at center or wing in the AHL. Now, Kulich has a stocky build and can shoot absolute BB's yet he's got to figure out that playing in his own zone is important. He models himself after Pasternak, and Pasta is a quality 2-way player. If he embraces that right away, great. If he's kinda the 18-year old who while not actively bad in his own zone in the AHL was not good making reads and positioning again, it's going to take time - probably about half of the year.
Both may have more future on the wing. I don't see Kulich at center at all and go back and forth with Savoie at that position, but regardless, both probably break in on the wing at the NHL level. I'd thought Savoie's year and how he played in the WHL put him in a better angle for the VO replacement slot, though Quinn's injury now has opened up that as well. And yeah, I'm sure people are going to look at the games where Savoie mixed in late with the Amerks as their snap decision factor for writing him off, but having watched almost every game for both of them since Thanksgiving on... Savoie looked like the more ready player to me.
