Stats are not the only thing that count. Not my problem if you believe otherwise.
"The only thing that was right was he took major strides forward and improved his skating". That's all they mentioned. They still failed to mention a ton of other things he improved.
NCAA is nothing like the AHL, so comparatively, yes it is. It's not a pro league, and while it is still impressive to do well in that league, it does not mean anything unless it translates to the pros.
I will admit Ben Smith was on the IR longer than I remember, so I will give you that one. That being said, Smith only played <2 minutes more on average than Gauthier, and that includes many times Smith was overused by Babcock and failed miserably. The majority of the time Smith was a mediocre 4C (at best) playing a 4C role. He was not going up against top lines, at least not enough to warrant attention. Both played PK.
And once again I stress we are comparing a 21 year old to a 29 year old as a basis of determining whether the 21 year old will ever make the NHL. Even if that 29 year old was one of the worst players in the NHL, the fact the 21 year old even kept up with him (and many would say outperformed him) and was able to be a call up to the NHL when they could have just called up Froese, who was the Leafs' 4C last year, speaks volumes.
But like your handle suggests, you are just wasting time.
