Nearly every argument that has been provided against Klimchuk has been disproven, or explained as to why it would be that way, I'm not sure what we are still going on about.
I have no problem with people having Kulak over Klimchuk, as they are close for me too, but the sheer volume of ignorance/misinformation regarding Klimchuk's game is laughable.
- "Klimchuk is a poor/bad/below average skater" - No he's not. When comparing him to Kulak you are really comparing two different styles of skating - Kulak the longer, smoother stride, Klimchuk the shorter, choppier stride. Contrary to popular belief, a player does not have to have a long, smooth stride to be a good skater, in fact, some skating coaches are beginning to teach the Morgan Klimchuk style of skating, the shorter, choppier strides, similar to Duchene as the best way to skate functionally for hockey.
- "Klimchuk was the 20th best player on the Heat" - if this really needs to be argued, then there is no hope for you.
- "If the only thing you can say about a player is he is good defensively, that's a problem" - No, it's the furthest thing from a problem, especially when the player in question has shown the ability to put up offensive numbers.
- "His production was poor" - Yes, it was, but it was his first ****ing year in pro, I'm sure there have been plenty of others who have struggled offensively their first year pro, his usage was a head scratcher, and he played on an offensively staved team, on which the only players who put up any sort of great numbers were all AHL vets. I can see how that worries some, but there were plenty of things going against him last year.
You cannot compare to players of different positions, ages, styles, etc. Pointing to the lines they played on as a "quantifiable" argument, because that certainly is not quantifiable.