1.ASP
2.Cossa
3.Augustine
4. Buchelnikov
5. Kiiskinen
6. Danielson
7. MBN
8. Mazur
9. Plante
10. Finnie
11. Lombardi
12. Buium
13. Wallinder
14. James
15. NDN
I think this is totally fair, but I really don't understand what people don't get about expectations. Danielson is a top-10 pick. That's why there are expectations. Dvorsky, taken 1 pick afterwards and an entire year younger than Danielson, has put up 11 more points in 4 less games in the AHL. This matters.
Every other team's young players are also "still kids". But if they do better than our young players, then those teams will pass us. Your top 10 pick players need to knock it out of the park, or your rebuild falls behind, and you dont develop into a contender. That's why we have expectations/hopes. If he was a 2nd or 3rd rounder nobody would say anything. No one's saying Danielson is a failure as a hockey player in a vacuum if he just ends up a 3rd line C, but it is absolutely a failure as a top 10 pick in terms of pushing us into contender status.
Is Ras a failure of an NHL player? No, but didn't do well for his draft position either. Was Zadina a bust? Yes. Let's say these two guys were Q. Hughes and M. Necas/G. Vilardi - we are MUCH further ahead today as a team.
22 pts in 44 AHL games is not great for a top 10 pick in his D+2; it's not terrible but it doesn't help us project him as an offensive difference-maker. That doesn't mean he is a failure or anything, but if he ends up a Rasmussen instead of a Vilardi, it will have significant repercussions for our rebuild, because top 10 picks are what the rebuild is based on. That matters, and I don't get why people keep acting like it doesn't.
Having Danielson and MBN below Kiiskinen is a blatant crime lol
If Danielson ends up like a Rasmussen, I will eat my shoes. Danielson has 10x the vision and playmaking that Ras does, and can make effective small area plays along the boards instead of just chipping it forward to himself like Ras. Danielson has a better shot and is a stud of a defensive player
And another point, to which I don't trust only statwatching;
Dvorsky, who I've watch just over a half dozen times lately and will be squaring up against Danielson tonight, is a hilarious case of "good" stats that the eye test just does not match IMHO
I don't see how this player will be a center in the NHL and and for the matters below, he will be a passenger-finisher type player. There's some things to like about his game, but I cannot get over how terrible his foot speed is. Needs major improvement in his skating, though I will give him the benefit of the doubt for now as he has this offseason to tackle that feat. He's also not very good defensively as a center and drifts away from the middle at the wrong times
Danielson has created way more offense than 22 points in 44 games has shown. He's also been an all-situations #1C for the last 2.5 months with Lombardi out. Dvorsky plays #2C and doesn't play on the PK
Strictly speaking offensively, I would bet that Danielson shows better results faster than Dvorsky will in the NHL. I understand the age difference of 9 months, but these players are very, very different and I can't help but bang the drum that we absolutely picked the right player. Time will tell
I promise this is not a paid Danielson bot messager, lol. I've been critical of him where he needs it but all things considered this season, he's been very good. I expect a big 2nd half once Lombardi comes back to play C
