he can be a #1 center with the right wingers.
sure, people would always ***** about him not producing enough offensively, but the other facets of his game would make for it.
grigs-girgs should confuse the announcers in a few years.
Do people realize that there were only 6 centers in the league last year with 30+ goals? They are Stamkos, Malkin, Spezza, Tavares, Couture and Pavelski. Do people really see Girgensons with that type of upside? I always pictured him more like former Sabre Paul Gaustad... maybe not for upside, but as a more realistic projection.
Do people realize that there were only 6 centers in the league last year with 30+ goals? They are Stamkos, Malkin, Spezza, Tavares, Couture and Pavelski. Do people really see Girgensons with that type of upside? I always pictured him more like former Sabre Paul Gaustad... maybe not for upside, but as a more realistic projection.
Gaustad was lucky if he got 10 points and can't skate. Girgensons upside is certainly higher than that. 30-30 is probably the upmost limit of it and not the most likely outcome, but I'd think 20-30/15-25 is pretty reasonable. iirc, most scouts had him pegged as a future 2nd liner who can handle tough defensive match-ups, a few thought he could even have 1st line upside, and a some projected him as a good 3rd liner.
Kea is my pick for "future Gaustad". Has the size, probably similar offensive upside (read: very little), should be a better skater though.
Gaustad was lucky if he got 10 points and can't skate. Girgensons upside is certainly higher than that. 30-30 is probably the upmost limit of it and not the most likely outcome, but I'd think 20-30/15-25 is pretty reasonable. iirc, most scouts had him pegged as a future 2nd liner who can handle tough defensive match-ups, a few thought he could even have 1st line upside, and a some projected him as a good 3rd liner.
Kea is my pick for "future Gaustad". Has the size, probably similar offensive upside (read: very little), should be a better skater though.
Typical HFboards homer reaction right here...
Gaustad leaves Buffalo and suddenly he's garbage. First of all, Gaustad has never put up less than 20 points in a season, and his career average is 30.77 points over 82 games. The guy is elite at faceoffs, great defensively, is huge, and one of the premier shutdown 3C's in the NHL. Don't start underrating just because you guys don't have him anymore. Nashville may have overpaid at the deadline, but they gave up a 1st rounder for a reason.
Gaustad leaves Buffalo and suddenly he's garbage. First of all, Gaustad has never put up less than 20 points in a season, and his career average is 30.77 points over 82 games. The guy is elite at faceoffs, great defensively, is huge, and one of the premier shutdown 3C's in the NHL. Don't start underrating just because you guys don't have him anymore. Nashville may have overpaid at the deadline, but they gave up a 1st rounder for a reason.
You'll be lucky if he's a future Gaustad.
I liked Gaustad. He wasn't a great 3C though, by any means. On a well-built team, he's a 4C and faceoff/PK specialist. He was always slow on his feet, and just improved enough in that area in the lockout year to be able to stick in the NHL. His defensive play was good but hindered by that fact. He's a very good PKer though.
If Girgensons becomes similar to Gaustad, he'll be a serviceable NHLer with some nice intangibles, and that's fine. As I said, I liked Goose. But Girgs' ceiling is absolutely higher than that. His offensive instincts are better (he did not look out of place at all playing with Grigorenko and Armia at development camp this year), and his skating is significantly better than Gaustad's when he was that young.
Gaustad was a 7th round project pick, which is why Kea is a much better comparable to him.
Gaustad leaves Buffalo and suddenly he's garbage. First of all, Gaustad has never put up less than 20 points in a season, and his career average is 30.77 points over 82 games. The guy is elite at faceoffs, great defensively, is huge, and one of the premier shutdown 3C's in the NHL. Don't start underrating just because you guys don't have him anymore. Nashville may have overpaid at the deadline, but they gave up a 1st rounder for a reason.
You'll be lucky if he's a future Gaustad.
Gaustad was a nice story at first, but believe me, a lot of people were ready to move on from him long before he didn't fight Lucic. If Girgensons max's out as Gaustad, I will be horribly disappointed. His USHL coach said Rod Brind'Amour with less offense. Fingers crossed he can become a Selke candidate down the road.
Do people realize that there were only 6 centers in the league last year with 30+ goals? They are Stamkos, Malkin, Spezza, Tavares, Couture and Pavelski. Do people really see Girgensons with that type of upside? I always pictured him more like former Sabre Paul Gaustad... maybe not for upside, but as a more realistic projection.
That's just one year. There are many other centers who had 30 goals seasons in past - Backstrom, M.Richards, Thornton, Briere, Marleau, Crosby, Kopitar, Kesler, Toews, Eric Staal, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Bergeron, Lecavalier, Roy, Carter...
