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Originally Posted by howard_the_duck
...I'm very excited about the potential he brings, and him dangling around other prospects is great. That and his performance at the World Championships, these are all good things. But the same questions around his size haven't gone away. We have absolutely no inclination this will translate to the next level against much bigger, more physical players. While there are always questions about how prospects will transition to the NHL, he's simply another level of wildcard due to his minuscule stature.
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Here's the thing. There are a number of posters who have been watching Gaudreau VERY CLOSELY since his first college season in 2011. Since he started playing elite level juniour hockey, he has not merely impressed, he has virtually
smashed expectations and projections. He had his first actual taste of professional hockey that is approaching NHL levels in the 2014 WCs, and once again, he
obliterated expectations. These are not guarantees by any stretch—and I don't believe anyone is claiming otherwise. However, the long and growing list of seriously impressive accomplishments in Gaudreau's relatively short hockey career to date
are in fact good indications (I don't think you actually meant "inclination") that lead those of us who have been fixated on his exasperating upward trajectory over the course of the past three years to think that he absolutely can be an impact NHL player—size be damned.
Quote:
Originally Posted by howard_the_duck
Then we start throwing out "best prospect in Flames history"? With the likes of Niewendyk, MacInnis, Gilmour, Hull, Iginla, Suter, Roberts, Phaneuf etc, I just can't get behind that. I'm as hopeful as anyone he becomes a top 6 player with the Flames, and I do think he can do that, but it's absolute crazy talk IMO we're placing him above some of the Hall of Fame players that have played with the Flames.
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On the surface of it, it would seem so. But I think the high prise is mostly a product of the well worn tendency that Gaudreau is developing for doing things at every level of hockey in which he plays that no one has ever seen before. Watching him at the WCs this year (just to offer one example) was a special treat—not just because he is a Flames prospect—but primarily because he was thinking and playing the game fairly consistently on another level that actually transformed it.
I'm not kidding. He is THAT good, and the Flames have never had a prospect like that. Not ever.