For a 1st overall pick he is. 56-ish point pace in his 4th season, yesterday was the first time he scored against the Western Conference all year long.
The only reason he isn't the most disappointing forward taken 1st overall since Stefan is because Yakupov is even worse, lol.
I'm not saying he's a bad player but relative to what you should be getting from a forward picked 1st overall he is as of right now a disappointment.
You're setting him to a different standard and i think his rookie season skewed expectations.
He was always going to be a bit of a project due to his frame and the team situation. Just look at the situation around him, 3 coaches in 3 seasons, no support whatsoever so he has to carry the entire scoring load at such a young age thus it's easier for teams to focus on shutting him down plus he has had all the wrong coaches guiding him.
If he had gone into a situation like Seguin for example where he was eased into the league properly, not expected to burden such a heavy load and had vet coaches with adaptable systems to ease into, i virtually guarantee that he would be twice the player he is now.
With that said, despite all the toxicity around him, he's actually doing ok all things considered. I also think the insistence of having Hall and Eberle on his line is stunting his development. He has to focus on covering for their defensive deficiencies of which are very glaring so it hurts his offense. Having Pouliot on his line afforded him to have more offensive freedom because Pouliot gave him defensive support.
He's far from a dud especially when looking at his situation in proper context.
I do wish he was a bit further along by now so i will admit that but i'm a big believer in him.
