[Cali Panthers Fan]

The one thing about Gaudreau that people aren't mentioning is his extremely competitive nature. Sure, he doesn't show that competitiveness by physically dominating the opponent, so people tend to miss it, but he's shown it at every level by improving whatever part of his game he can in order to be the best player on the ice. This off-season he'll refocus and prepare for next season knowing full well that other teams will slash him and generally try to irritate him. He shows frustration when you do that, so other teams will continue to do it until he stops showing that frustration. That's the downside to his competitive side. Sometimes it shows up as visible frustration when he doesn't produce for his team.

It's going to take a small adjustment to what he does on the ice physically in order to protect himself a little more, but mostly I think he just needs to be a little more forceful with the puck on his stick and go to the net. MOST of the adjustment needs to be mental, in that you won't let the other team's tactics bother you, nor will you let the lack of calls from the ref bother you. Become unflappable, and then continue to put up the points. You'll see the opposition take a different tactic with him at that point, and perhaps he'll get a few more calls.

Knowing the character of Gaudreau that we've seen throughout his amateur, and now pro, hockey career, I am fairly certain he will at least be back to a 1 PPG pace, and possibly more. If Ferland can become more consistent on that top line, I suspect they'll be a dangerous trio next year. Of course, there's a lot of moves that can be made before then, so perhaps Treliving will find a better option on that top line to take some of the focus off Gaudreau. That's my hope for this off-season, along with getting a real goalie.