Quote:
Originally Posted by djsFlames
Yes. He will regress. Because 1.5 PPG in the NHL isn't sustainable, even for the best. You take it like it's some sort of insult to the player. I say it because it happens every year. Gaudreau was one of those players last year at around 1.2-1.3 PPG early on. Regressing to a point per game when you're 19 isn't exactly a slight on the player. And yeah, should have, could have. I'm pretty sure we say the same thing most nights about Gaudreau. So what? Could have, but didn't. Most good players have a handful of close chances per game because that's what sets them apart. The more scoring chances you generate the more you cash in on, that's why they get the amount of points they do. If they awarded points for almost scoring there'd be a number of players racking them up. But they do not.
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Where to even start with this.
First, no, 1.5 ppg in the NHL is not unsustainable for the best. Crosby has done it in five seasons. He's done 1.3 in ten. There's no reason to suspect that McDavid can't do likewise.
Gaudreau's history is not relevant. Gaudreau is not a generational player. He's one of my favourite players in the league
regardless of team, he's an amazing talent and insanely fun to watch but he will not have the career McDavid will likely have, because almost no one will.
If he's generating scoring chances at the same rate, that does not indicate that he is "cooling off", it indicates random variance. Some stretches, he will go through a few games where everything goes in. Other stretches, nothing will. But at the end of the day he's going to be a big producer in this league, barring major injury.
He is who he was advertised to be. The pre-draft hype was justified. He's actually that good. It sucks that the Oilers got him, but that's how it played out. Denying that reality is silly.