Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
But that is seldom how it works.
A more consistently accurate gauge of player development and potential is in games played factory with age. While Mangiapane and Bennett are the same age, Bennett's extensive NHL experience is likely a clear indicator of who he is and what to expect. This is less so for Mangiapane. Both players could still continue to develop, but I think the chances of that happening for Mangiapane are considerably higher than for Bennett.
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I'd argue most of development is correlated with age rather than games played, things like physical maturation and skill development for example. The main development that comes with experience would be the mental part of the game. And if anything I'd argue Mangiapane is already ahead of Bennett in that aspect.
But fair point, I'll concede that they shouldn't be treated identically. And circle back to the rest of my point, which is that Bennett is the better player today pretty much across the board. But we happily talk about how Mangiapane's breaking out offensively, to the tune of a 25 point pace playing in the top 6, meanwhile Bennett's a complete disappointment for producing 26-27 points on the third line.