Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
What style of forward is he then if not a power forward?
Powerforward: ala Simmonds, Lucic, Paccioretty, Wheeler, Hartnell, Foligno, Perry, Maroon, etc
Grinder: ala Hathaway, Bouma, Jooris
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First of all I don't think Wheeler is a power forward. He's a finesse forward in that Thornton group. Likewise I'm not sure I put Pacioretty in that group, I've never thought of him as a power forward.
Anyways from what I know about Tkachuk, I think to encapsule the kind of player he is, you need to classify them as 'Skill Grinders': Kunitz, Dupuis, Hornqvist, Landeskog, Gallagher, Frolik, Stempniak, Burrows.
These guys might play a "heavy" game but I don't think of them as Power Forwards. What separates these guys from Power Forwards I would say is..
Power. They might lean off you but they won't go through you, they'll go around you. I do believe that's a key distinction because it's the difference in actua effectiveness.
In our division most teams are built around a heavy game, there's no denying it but the only guys who are true power forwards in this division are Perry, Brown (in his prime, maybe not anymore?), Lucic, prime Doan, Kesler off the top of my head. These guys are significant because before every game teams are circling their names as guys to be acutely aware of. If your name is being circled it means you're dominant.
I just have reservations on whether Tkachuk will be dominant like the guys I named. I actually think Pierre-Luc Dubois and Sam Bennett have more potential to develop into power forwards. As for skilled grinders, the question still boils down to how much skill is there. Is Tkachuk a primary piece or secondary on his line?
The one guy being criminally underrated in this thread is Rubtsov. Russian factor I know, but has the size, skill, and defensive ability to be a dominant player. That's what I want more than anything, a player who can drive his line alongside Bennett.