Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
I think people are getting a little carried away with Ferland's upside. He's gelling well on the top line right now but he wasn't exactly having a great season until he got promoted. He's doing fine as a finisher playing with Monahan and Gaudreau but he hasn't showed anything offensively over his career when not paired with them. I'm not saying he won't be protected but it's a possibility for sure. I would hope the GM has a longer memory than fans. Remember late December when fans here were clamoring for Johnson to he signed as the starter going forward? I remember the posts. Can't put too much stock into a short stretch of elevated play.
|
I disagree. It is precisely what Ferland has shown over the past three or four years that makes him so tantalizing in a protection situation.
First, let's not pretend that just any player can play on that top line with the same results. There have been posters and other observers who have been musing about Ferland finding a place there for a few years now, and the fact that it is finally working well is what makes it so exciting in the long term. The whole line looks instantly better with him there, and I think it is disingenuous to attribute that entirely to what Gaudreau and Monahan are doing—they both look a lot better with him on their wing.
Second, I don't think you are giving him enough credit for his performance all year. Ferland was actually well on his way to improving on his rookie season even before being added to the top line.
Finally, Ferland is not quite 25-years-old and he has under-rated skill: his hands are terrific in tight, he is able to process the game at a pretty high speed, he has probably one of the best one-timers on the team, and he is an excellent skater. Add to that the fact that he is big, strong, and hits as hard as a rhinoceros is more than enough to take a gamble on him as a future core piece in the top-six.
Ferland was a late bloomer who has battled his way at every level to become an NHL fixture, and it seems shortsighted to me that anyone would cap his development at what he has shown thus far.