i think the answer you will probably get will be that he looked out of place early in the year and didn't necessarily belong on the team, but that towards the end of the season he looked much better.
personally, i didn't mind him as much early in the year. there were certainly plenty of players this year that played some bad and inconsistent hockey. i do agree that he improved a lot over the season. did he become one of the best players? not really, but much more of a contributor. certainly he's not out there scoring tons of goals, so he would fit into that lower line role of energy or penalty kill time. but whether he can get to that level for an nhl team, idk.
thats my thoughts. i will let DS take it from here, he is much more eloquent in his evaluations.
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