People get overly caught up in the notion of a "true" x liner. This person isn't a "true" first liner. That person isn't a "true" second liner. That person is x role on this team and x role on that team.
It doesn't really matter. If you do that, you end up with a lot less than 90 first liners in any given year. Probably less than 60. Makes zero sense. If there are 90 first liners in any given year and less than 2/3rds of them count to you, your measurement is meaningless.
All that matters is how they're deployed and how they perform in the role. You can say Hyman is a true first liner without saying he's one of the top 30 forwards in the league.
Same goes for the opposite with people saying "bottom six" for a guy consistently deployed and performing in second and third line roles, and never below that.
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