I think the Point v Rossi comparison is a really good one to consider in terms of draft status.
It's not like Rossi is being treated like Corey Locke for his skating. A good comparison. Locke's skating was average by OHL standards, Rossi's is not. He is a fantastic skater overall, who just doesn't have the elite acceleration and top gear. But skating is obviously more than just speed, and acceleration and top gear can improve a bit relative to your cohort, if you work hard. No doubt Rossi will do that. But top speed for a small center is important, so he'll take at least a slight hit for it. Put it this way - it's the reason he's not seen as a Patrick Kane and Jack Hughes type given his production. That missing gear is the difference between pushing Lafrenniere and being 5-10th. A fair drop I'd say.
SoRossi is obviously getting loads of respect as a potential scoring line center as a top 10 pick in this draft compared to how Point was seen. But keep in mind that while Point was a bit smaller, he was a MUCH better skater. Rossi's IQ and playmaking likely considered better, although Point was seen as an elite center in this regard too. Point's numbers weren't at Rossi's level, but relative to his team mates, his were actually better. He scored over 90 points in his draft year, with no one else scoring more than 55 points. Scoring 80% more points than anyone else on your team is a crazy high number. These were numbers discussed a lot on the prospect board re Point.
I'm not sure if people recall, but Point was arguably the biggest faller that draft. Kudos to Craig Button who had him 17th overall. Some NHL GM probably wish they listened to him. Certainly us taking Miles Gendron ahead of Point was exhasperating to me. I thought we should have taken him in the 2nd. THN also had him 42nd. And many others gave him 1st round grades. There were a lot of people on these boards who adored Point as a scoring line center, and it's a great example where the NHL scouts really dropped the ball and if someone had just used a consensus ranking, would have likely grabbed Point a round "Too soon" and been duly rewarded. When he was taken in the 3rd, it made a lot of us feel sort of stupid about being so bullish, other than knowing NHL scouts could have been wrong again.
Circling back to Rossi, I think players like Point are helping Rossi get a bit more respect. But there is still a skating delta between the two players, so it's not like Rossi is a sure fire ppg player. And someone critical of his skating on why he should say be 8th instead of 5th is a pretty small criticism and ranking hit in the grand scheme of things. It's also a fair question.