Strawman???
He was compared to Kucherov, a Hart Trophy winner.
Hart Trophy guys have a claim at being drafted #1 overall.
This is a straight up comparison to Kucherov.
And if you think Perfetti equal to that, you should be talking about Perfetti as a potential #1 overall pick.
Unless you think Lafreniere is Lemiuex/Gretzky level good.
I had Perfetti as my #2 guy of the likely available players at #4. But the skating, low-energy forecheck says two things to me. 1) He's probably not a center. And I'm not really down for another winger right now. 2) As a winger, he's a less skilled, less dynamic Patrick Kane, who doesn't work hard to win battles in the corners. Is that what I want at #4?
Yes. It is absolutely a strawman.
1) Lots of guys taken 1OA have won the Hart. But there are plenty of nominees who have been 5th round or later. There have been plenty of guys taken 1OA who haven't remotely sniffed a Hart. Correlation isn't causation. It's not "taken 1st overall, short list for Hart". 1OA picks are more likely to win the Hart, especially now, because scouting has so vastly improved over the past... but even so, Nico Hischer and Jack Hughes aren't looking to bang down the door right now. Ryan Nugent Hopkins, Nail Yakupov, Aaron Ekblad, etc.
2) Comparisons are literally stylistic. When comparisons are tossed out, they're not ever saying "This player is going to be X." They are saying that this player's style is that of X. There aren't 75 Viktor Arvidsson clones running around the league potting 20+ goals. He was a super common "comparable" for strong, aggressive forwards. Also, the comparison is being given by his coach. Not by scouts, not by any relevant agencies... but by a coach who has a vested interest in pumping his guy's tires. Remember when Calle Jarnkrok was Zetterberg 2.0? When Tatar and Nyquist were the Eurotwins 2.0? Larkin was "Helm with hands"? People use current NHL players to give some context as to the games because not everyone has the time to watch every game.
3)
Top 2020 NHL Draft prospects compared to current players
Here is a different comparison by Central Scouting. So, with just one sample, just like you have... let's see.
Lafreniere: Jonathan Huberdeau
Byfield: Evgeni Malkin
Stutzle: Matthew Barzal
Perfetti: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Drysdale: Cale Makar
Rossi: Claude Giroux
Askarov: Pekka Rinne
One of those forward comps is not like the others. One of them just doesn't belong.
Lastly, why when it is Cole Perfetti you're saying "I see a less skilled, less dynamic Patrick Kane who doesn't fight hard in the corners" and that worries you, but Perfetti's coach who sees him play on the regular saying that his game is reminiscent of Kucherov's somehow also worries you?