I don’t really want to debate Zacha anymore, he’s a Bruin and there’s been quite a lot of management turnover since 2015, but he only played 37 regular season games due to injuries and the Sting only played 5 playoff games.
There was some mystery there with Zacha, and the solution didn’t turn out great, but there wasn’t really enough OHL stats to blame.
These two players had very similar stats going into the 2021 draft, they aren’t the reason Dallas took Johnston 23rd and he worked out pretty well for them.
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Teams didn’t like Barzal because he didn’t score goals but playmakers who drive offense actually have a better chance to do something in the pros than most. And they often turn into goal scorers too.
Guys “who just score goals” often don’t do that in the NHL so finishing is actually a dangerous thing to go after at times.