I have been a big Janko fan for several years. I did not know anything about him at the draft, other than he needed to grow into his body. It bothered me how much negative press he endured so I took an interest in his college career.
After modest production in his Freshman and Sophmore year, I was starting to have my doubts. The one nugget of hope I always clung to was that he was improving each year through aggressive off season training. The hockey brain was always there but now the size and strength were slowly coming.
In my opinion, his turning point was in his Junior year when he helped lead his Providence team over Eichel and BU for a National Championship. He was recognized for the All-star All Championship team. He finally reached the PPG status in his senior year. However, not a lot of people realized that Providence played a very defensive system where PPG players were rare.
I could not have been happier when he broke out with 3 pts in the last game. Especially when he was left out of the starting line- up after a strong pre- season. I am not sure what his ceiling is but I believe people will continue to under estimate him. With a shot like Monny, skating like Backlund, and a hockey IQ like Tkachuk he is going to be fun to watch.
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