Hi All,
Quick bump here.
I wanted to ask how Fortier was doing, without starting a new thread.
Was he in development camp? I always thought he was a sleeper from last years draft. Is he still on track? I think he has real Top 9 NHL upside.
I think nearly all of us are confident in predicting he's going to have a great year in the Q but it's not like he's going to win the scoring title over LaFreniere. In the big picture, it's hard to say how much it's going to move the needle on his development because it's going to be a 20 year old against a bunch of teenagers. I don't think we're not going to really know anything until he's in Syracuse again but I'm very confident he'll be ready for pro hockey by then. The top 9 projection is about right. Fortier is no less likely to succeed than any prospect who came before him.
The Lightning scouting criteria is very simple
High IQ
Huge toolbox of skills
As long as you have those attributes it doesn't matter if you're an older player, it doesn't matter if you haven't really put it together yet, doesn't matter if you're not that great of a skater. We'll work with you to fix all that.