Take this into consideration. There are valuable traits that players have that will lead them to be paired with great players, and there is a chance that if Andrew Ladd keeps progressing at the same trajectory, he will play on a line with Eric Staal in the near future and his production will benefit from playing with him. As it stands right now, Ladd is penciled into the Top 6 of the Stanley Cup Champions when play resumes next year and he will be 20 years old at the start of the season. If his upside is only a 2nd line player, then he has acheived that already by the standards of the Carolina Hurricanes staff. It must be a terrible fate to be topped out at 20 years old, that is of course, those projections of him were wrong.
Andrew Ladd is a physical presence already. He's great on the forecheck and has great finish around the net. Those traits alone will ensure that he is at least a 2nd line player, but he has higher upside than that unless you feel he is a complete player right now at 20 years old. Next year, the organization thinks highly enough of him to have him start the year on the 2nd line with Rod Brind'Amour and Justin Williams. That places him on a higher career curve than a lot of players his age. Before he blew out his knee this year, he had 6 goals at the NHL level in 15 games and was playing limited minutes.
As you've said he doesn't have an overly impressive skill set overall, but he reminds me quite a bit of John Leclair. He is always on the spot when it comes to scoring the ugly goals and he's strong enough to get into high traffic areas on the ice and finish. I think he has 30-30-60 type upside already, and if he pairs up with Staal then you can add 10-10-20 to that. It wouldn't surprise me if Ladd never posts a point per game at the NHL level, but not every single first line forward in the league is going to do that. Players like Ladd take a long time to round their game out, and the fact that a budding power forward is already going to play on the 2nd line of the Champions next year is a pretty strong endorsement for his future progress.
It isn't just me that's saying he has first line upside, it's the Carolina Hurricanes Staff and they're putting their money where their mouth is. He wasn't the top ranked North American Skater in his draft year because he had 2nd line upside.
In addition, 17 goals in 55 games in your first professional season at 19 years old isn't terrible. Especially when you consider that about 20 of those games were recovery from a knee ligament injury. Most Hurricanes fans you'll see aren't incredibly concerned about his prospects.
(if that is even possible...
)
but wait here this. Bust out year!
T.j. Oshie makes him look like a chump. they don't even belong on the same ice IMO
