[GranteedEV]

I've been a fan of this player since his junior years, and I'm not surprised he was a solid NHLer last year from the Ryan line. But I am wondering where he should ideally be slotted in the lineup.

As a prospect, he's been a huge producer every year, including being the top 21YO-or-under producer in the AHL in 2017-18. There's no reason we should be capping him off as a bottom six forward given his history of production. His production in the NHL last year was also very impressive - he had our fifth-highest primary point rate trailing only Gaudreau/Monahan/Tkachuk/Backlund without playing with any of those four.

Toolswise, he's not the tallest guy but he's strong enough to win board battles with taller guys, and he's a pretty strong skater.

Skillwise, I think he's got the second best shot on our entire roster, only behind Monahan. Utilized properly I believe he could be a 25+ goal scorer. In fact as a prospect I was regularly getting Cammalleri flashbacks from his shooting repertoire.

He's also IMO a strong two-way player. He had some of our better underlying numbers in the NHL, and at lower levels was also a strong penalty killer which is not a role Peters has experimented with.

He's a natural LW, but I see no reason he couldn't be tried on his off wing to take full advantage of his excellent one time blast.

Compared to Dube or Bennett I think Eatbread is better suited to playing a top six wing role because he's a very natural winger, the other two play more of a balanced game and as Gaudreau, Tkachuk, and Backlund as well as Lindholm are all inherently assist guys, not necessarily snipers, eatbread's shooting skill is a unique asset.

Can Mangiapane play in our top six and make it better? I see no reason he cannot, and I think it is a waste to have him on the fourth line, although depth still has its value.