I don't. He was extremely sheltered this year, only averaged 13min and he was visibly getting tired by the last stretch. Increased ice time by 5 minutes per game, that fatigue would come early, not to mention playing versus tougher opponents.
I don't think KK would almost double his production had he been used like Kopitar. I don't think that's a fair and nuanced expectation either.
I don't really buy the fatigued argument...all players tire in the 2nd half.
Julien used that as an excuse because the games got more meaningful and he wanted to fall back on his veterans.
I don't think another 25pts with a 6-7min increase in icetime (not to mention more then doubling his PP TOI) + more quality linemates is unreasonable.
Take Nico Hischier who in his 18yr old rookie season averaged just over 18 mins per game and finished with 52pts.
I wasn't particularly impressed by his offensive game. Habs fans are so desperate for skill that people were ready to build a statue of him after he made a spin-o-rama pass...
He showed some interesting things, but you speak like he's a shoe in to be a legit top center. I think he's a shoe in to be a top 2, anything more is still too early to tell for me. Not convinced yet.
I didn't say he's a shoe-in to be a top legit center...
I said there's nothing i've seen so far that suggests he won't be.
Of course, anything can happen and whether or not he becomes that is largely circumstantial (usage, quality of linemates, etc).
But again, i'm perplexed how you couldn't have been impressed with his offensive game last year, this isn't even about spin-o-rama passes...i'm talking about how mature his game was for an 18yr old, his overall game, his hockey sense which blew me away for how young he was.
He was miles ahead of where most thought he'd be.
Once again, I think any other fanbase would be buzzing based on what they saw from Kotkaniemi last year.