Quote:
Originally Posted by McFist
Well it's a damn handsome argument you put forth there. I'm not sure whether I agree or not. You're saying that his individual success is directly proportionate to the team's offensive output. That could very well be true. My only point was that his best "stretch," his best 2 back-to-back seasons in terms of offensive output came when he was 26 & 27 years old, and at 28 was still on pace to beat his first 3 years of output despite being lower than his last 2.
I can't argue against that logic, really, but I still do believe that players' prime is during his mid-late twenties, regardless of his offensive abilities or even play style.
|
By that logic, we could easily say that Jason Spezza declined at 25 y/o...
If I had more time, I could find tons of other examples. Maybe Paul Stastny? Poor guy declined at 22 y/o...
It doesn't mean anything. Players are not "old" until their bodies say they are... and generally declines begin around 32-33 y/o... For some players, it's earlier, for some it's even later... I doubt Zack Smith will decline at 29 y/o, but I could see his role and opportunity diminish by then if we continue to draft and develop this well...
And YES, Neil numbers (like for any other player) had a lot to do with his team's offensive output... as well as the entire league tendencies.. You can't refute that, lol don't even try