[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

Here's the thing with Johnny: he is the biggest wild card in the organization. If everything works out perfectly, if his small stature plays well at the NHL level the way he has everywhere else, then he's a blue chip prospect as good as any other in the organization right now.

Agreed, and so far so good. I think that an important added note here is that Gaudreau's developmental history is already trending in this direction.

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

But there's also the flip side. The kid is smaller than any prospect I've ever seen - he's built like a 15 year old kid. And maybe the cerebral nature of his game will allow this to be a non-issue - who can possibly know right now?

We can't obviously know, but by the same token, his exceptional trajectory certainly provides a healthy measure of optimism that he should succeed. If he hasn't faltered yet, why should we suddenly expect him to now?

Originally Posted by howard_the_duck

For any undersized player it's an uphill battle, but for Johnny even more. I don't think we've seen a player as small as him EVER in the NHL. I know people will point to Gerbe, but he's 25 lbs heavier than Johnny on an even shorter frame. So I guess my long-winded point is in order for Johnny to reach star status in the NHL, he'll have to do something that has rarely if ever been done before.

I'm not altogether fond of the Gerbe comparison, simply because Gaudreau's game is SO different. FYI, Gerbe was 160 lbs in his draft year. But that's just it: Gaudreau's game is SO different from just about any other player, and this makes it difficult to draw comparisons.

As for other small players, Byron was 140 lbs when he was drafted. Like Gerbe, he also depends on playing a "grittier" game as a way to stick in the NHL, and like Gerbe, neither of these players has a comparable level of skill and on-ice IQ that Gaudreau possesses. Other small players, Cam Atkinson, Steve Sullivan, and Tyler Ennis, were all taller in their draft years, but also were judged to be severely underweight to play and succeed in the NHL. I would argue that Gaudreau probably a more skilled player than all of them, and that is the seminal point here: his elite level of skill sets him apart from all but only a fraction of hockey players.

You are right. Gaudreau will have to do something exceptional in order to succeed. But what you seem to be missing in all of this is that Gaudreau is an exceptional player. We should expect exceptional things from exceptional players, even those ones who are shorter and smaller than everyone else.