You can, but it all comes back to the points for most people who don't like him. It's never a breakdown of what he does or doesn't do well. Everyone says he's a complimentary player. I don't see him as being any more of a complementary player than say a guy like Barzal.
Of course there are people who are going to brush him off for lacking the totals, but it's quite arrogant to suggest that anyone who is not high on him is simply a stat watcher. If you look past these people, you'll see many others who are able to actually articulate the reasons they don't value Crouse that highly. Crouse is not without his flaws, and there are many legitimate reasons to not love him.
And if you'll take the time to read most of what I say about Crouse, you'll notice my posts aren't all that critical of Crouse's game. My posts are critical of the arguments employed by his most ardent fans. The three most infuriating, which I probably tend to respond to most often, are the "your opinion is invalid, you stat watcher", "he made the WJC gold medal team", and "his skill set is so rare, of course he's so valuable!" arguments. I just have to roll my eyes at those. IMO, those are just as stupid as arguing he's not a top prospect because he didn't hit PPG.
To put this to bed--
Reasons to love Crouse: He does everything well; he wins battles and creates space better than anyone in the draft; gets to the net; he's a three zone player and will probably be important pieces on the PP and PK; he's huge, skates very well, finishes his checks, and actually has some really nice skill to go along with all of it.
Reasons not to love Crouse: He's not very creative, and it limits his offensive opportunity; it's easy to plan against a player with limited creativity; his vision is lacking and you rarely see him make plays that require much precision; his first steps aren't very explosive.
There's a lot more to like than dislike. It's just that his lack of creativity is a pretty stifling limitation that really can't be improved upon. I won't use the word complementary player in reference to Crouse, but he will not be overly successful if he is the best player on his line, imo-- even if he reaches near his upper limit, I still think this will be the case. With Barzal (or whoever else you'd like to compare him to), if he reaches his ceiling, he can be the driver on his line. I don't see that with Crouse even if he's a better bet to be a contributing NHL player.
You do it on the main boards too. I don't post in that thread. It just turns into a pissing match if you defend the kid.
Again, next time you see me respond to something about Crouse, observe whether I'm attacking Crouse/Crouse's skill set or if I'm attacking an argument being used to justify his ranking. Far more often I'm attacking the latter. As much as you hate the ignorance of people who bash him for not being PPG, I hate people who assume he's a guaranteed impact player because he's 6'4" and well rounded. Projections are not that simple.
). Again, the only thing that bugs me are the arguments I mentioned above that people use to defend that opinion.
