What’s your take?
I honestly don’t think he’s what we need stylistically. He’s a great offensive player but we need someone more along the lines of a Sam Bennett. Maybe I’m wrong.
He is going to be a 70-80 point player in the league no doubt but his overall game leaves a lot to be desired. He makes a lot of poor decisions that go with his skilled plays and goal scoring. See the Ducks OT loss against Toronto.
He also will if not already lose the 1C job to Leo Carlsson who is looking very good so far. People think because he is not a Verbeek type player and that his buddy Drysdale was traded means he will be moved. That is not true. He has bought into the defensive part of the game which had improved last season from his rookie year but this season , missing camp, the multiple injuries is pretty much a lost season for him.
The fans here are gonna turn sour on him quickly because even though the skill is there he is going to make these poor decisions that lead to goals against and it’s going to be like Mika Zibanejad bashing all over again.
As per the toxicity around him. People need to stop, this is why i hate twitter/X and places like Reddit and try very hard to make sure HF doesn’t turn into those places. He literally apologized to Dostal after making that bad turnover in the Toronto game which led to the OT loss. He supports and defends his teammates and the coaching staff has been impressed with him wanting to buy into the defense. But it’s not going to improve overnight and missing so much time it has hurt his development.
I would not mind him in a Rangers sweater but if people think he will fix all the Rangers issues, are going to be very disappointed Plus the price is going to be a lot more than Drysdale was. Someone big has to be going back the other way. Ducks are not taking just futures and scraps for Zegras.