Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
Wait, what? Austin Czarnik (25) is the second coming and certain to garner PP time, but Curtis Lazar is not worthy of a pick? What are people smoking right now? Czarnik scored a whopping 4 points last year in the NHL, and 17 in his NHL career. Lazar scored 12 points last season in limited ice time. Yet one is a highly prized UFA and the other is worthless? I know its goof season, but things have truly gotten goofy.
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At this point in his career we know what Lazar is in the NHL by now; maybe he can become a 10 G 10A guy but he’s a 4th line energy guy who might be able to last on a third line if he peaks a little further but his hands are far too unskilled to ever catch up with his one true asset which is speed. For him to lengthen his career he’s going to have to commit to being a role player/energy guy who’s good for 8-10 mins a night and he needs to commit to physically laying his body on the line with hits and blocked shots to do that.
With Czarnik we have a guy who’s talent has been largely untapped/unexplored at the NHL level - does he produce at a higher clip than a Lazar? Who knows at this point but his AHL totals lead to a narrative that says he is a lot more highly skilled than Lazar and if he is able to lengthen his pro career at the NHL level it won’t be through commiting to a energy role on the 4th line but to a scoring role which is what his skill set dictates.
I don’t think anyone is suggesting Czarnik is better than Lazar at this point in time but I think people are hedging their bets that there is a pretty good chance he will be by next off-season.