[xander]

Originally Posted by 35 and 14

Why do people think Zherdev has "Franchise level talent" ?

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/p...php3?pid=70844


he had a nice season for CSKA as a 20 year old. Otherwise, he's been pretty average

His profile from Russian Prospects. Nothing here screams "Franchise Talent."

In fact, it seems like all the crap said about him has come to fruition/ Not physical, doesnt play any defense, etc.

http://www.russianprospects.com/publ...p?player_id=38

we think that he has franchise level talent because we've [B]watched[B] him play, as apposed to making a judgement based on a stats sheet.

Nobody said the guy doesn't have worts, he does have defensive issues and he's not the most physical player. But how many of the current elite offensive players in this league would that description have applied too when they where 22? Especially some of the highly skilled europeans (I don't meen to over generalize, because I know that this doesn't apply to all european players, but there is some truth in the statement.)

and speaking of stats, 27 goals and 54 points is quite respectable for a 21 year old playing on a crappy team.