Quote:
Originally Posted by PepsiFree
Hefty expectations. A guy who hasn’t played center with any regularity since he came overseas and hasn’t cracked 48% in the circle at the pro level is their new #1 center?
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Yes. Peters is the same guy who played Elias Lindholm and Eric Staal regularily at wing, so I wouldn't read too much into Peters' usage. I doubt the Hurricanes watched Aho center one of the best lines in WJC history, then watched Aho put up great numbers in the NHL, and concluded "hey, we should play this guy at wing because he hasn't cracked 48% on the circle, even though we know faceoffs are a stat with a poor correlation to winning and also unreliably tracked". Recent reports had Aho as being the Canes' only untouchable player - I doubt that would be the case if the intent was to continue to pidgeonhole him on the wing. And they still have Staal to take on tough matchups, so it would be a #1 center in terms of scoring only, just as Monahan allowed Backlund to take tough matchups.