Quote:
Originally Posted by Flashpoint
Your perception is not uncommon. But Colborne is 26. Not a "kid", and his development finished years ago.
We all like to look at him as that high first rounder with size. But he's not going to be anything more than he is right now.
Dont't get fooled by play during the last 6 weeks of a season where your team is eliminated. He isn't "coming around" any more than Sven Baertschi or Joni Ortio were.
Loved Joe the human, and wish him the best, but glad we didn't move forward with him at increased rate. Our team sucked last year, and while it was mostly goaltending, clearing the chaff need sto happen too.
|
3 seasons in the NHL. Increased production every season. Increased presence on the boards. Added what was looking like a strong net-front presence late in the season.
Sure, he is 26, but does that mean he really is what he is? Do all players experience the exact same development arc? I vehemently argue no.
I would expect a player's development arc to be near the top when a player plateaus. It is a much more reliable method than looking at a birth date.
If you subscribe to the notion that his development was completed years ago, how else do you explain the notable increase in each season?
As for looking at him as a '1st round pick with size' - look up my posts when it was rumored that Calgary was going to get him, or when the trade went down. I was not a fan in the slightest, and thought at the time Horak was a much better player and Colborne was a big useless plug with limited upside. His play - and his development ever year - has made me look differently. I don't subscribe at all to 'he was a past first round pick' or 'he went undrafted and is garbage'.
As for 'don't get fooled by the late surge' - how was it then that other players didn't experience the same surge? I saw a Colborne who was around the net a heck of a lot more, and incorporated jamming the net and being a screen. I didn't see that in him before. I think that goes a long way in explaining his surge, more than just a 'meaningless stretch of luck near the end of the season'.
I guess we see want to see. I just don't know how people can point at him and call his development complete, when he has increased his point totals every year, and when we see him incorporate a different aspect of the game into his repertoire. I don't think he would ever top out at a 1st line winger, but I think even if he plateaus at what he was last season - hardly a stretch - that is a good depth scorer.