Quote:
Originally Posted by MisterJoji
Ferland is probably underrated by most but you are certainly overrating him here. Nobody as tough/skilled/disciplined? You don’t have to look outside of this team to find a player that has many of the qualities you mentioned. Matthew Tkachuk.
Skilled? Absolutely. Better offense. 0.72 vs. 0.53 PPG. Also bear in mind that Tkachuk was used on the defensive shutdown line with worse linemates and still put up more offense.
Tough? About the same. He may not hit as much as Ferland but no one would mistake Tkachuk for a soft player. Both also had 2 fights last year. (Surprisingly the player with the most was Hamonic).
Disciplined? Yes, Tkachuk definitely toes that line resulting in a couple suspensions and more PIM’s but he is also elite at drawing penalties. He is #1 in the league at penalties drawn per game. I’d gladly trade a player who produces net positive PP’s vs. a player who just doesn’t take a lot of penalties.
I also disagree that Gaudreau is the only elite player. Give Tkachuk maybe another year or two and I highly wager he will be an elite winger as well.
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I'd say the kid is already an elite. What he's done since draft day is nothing short of that label. He plays an all around game, and is one of the best in front of the net, better than 85% of current NHL'ers attempting that position I'd wager. Also for a shift disturber, the fact that he consistently draws more penalties than takes them is aan elite skillset in its own and many times has changed the outcome of a game. All this and he can score.
It's just unfortunate that we haven't seen any of this outside Gulutzan hockey.