Would you consider Bailey a 2nd/3rd line player?
How many 60 point 2nd liners were there in the NHL last season?
42 players hit 60+ points last season, so there are surely a few. Is Jonathan Toews a 2nd liner, how about Eric Staal, Phil Kessel, William Nylander? There are varying degrees of 2nd and 3rd line players. Jordan Staal was an exception 3rd line center for the Penguins when they won their first cup. Beauvillier will be a good player, but he won't be a John Tavares type, and that's why he'll end up on the 2nd or 3rd line if he sticks around with the Isles. I am also thinking he'll be a center and not a winger.
I think you did not quite understand where I was coming from: my goal is by no means to make the history of the players who have succeeded or not! But rather to point out the ridicule of your prediction said with panache! : "he will not be a 1st liner on a good team!" Oh really? How can you know that?
I brought the example of Marchand, who made some of them lie. They no doubt saw in him nothing more than a middle-six guy when he started his pro career..
My point of view is that "potentially" speaking, the upside of Beauvillier is that of a 1st line player (that does not mean that he will reach it). Hence the reason why I do not like your comparison with Cizikas who never at all ever show this same potential. Cizikas is more in the mold of a Claude Lapointe and I do not think it would come to anyone's mind (well I hope) to compare Beauvillier to Lapointe.
The comparison isn't about skill, it's
about how they play the game. Cizikas and Beauvillier have a lot of similarities with the defense, their willingness to grind, and their effort level. That's it. Nowhere did I say Beauvillier and Cizikas are alike in their offensive upside. They just play in a similar manner.