Quote:
Originally Posted by ComixZone
I can't argue this for the most part. Batherson may be getting fed to the wolves, and it's tough when that happens for players to overcome. I argued exactly this when it came to Bennett and his treatment in the Flames roster after his rookie season (slightly different circumstances, as Bennett's wolves were his own linemates in Jankowski and Brouwer)
The one thing I'd say is that in facing those tough circumstances, I feel like you'd like to see a bit more positivity from the underlying numbers to justify a 6 year contract like this. Right now it looks like a hot stretch on a powerplay jacked up his production. It'll be an important season for Batherson.
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I can definitely understand that line of thinking. His relative numbers paint a brighter picture but again when a team is relying on a core group of 18-22 year old players to carry them the numbers are not going to be pretty for anyone (and they weren't).
I think most would agree that Batherson projects as a 65+ point guy moving forward. He's certainly got the skillset to do so.
I personally just don't see much risk with this deal.