Laf just doesn’t have “it”. What that “it” is can be different for different players, but you can always tell when they don’t have “it”.
For Laf it just seems like the focus and commitment. If this is the result of 4 summers preparing for NHL hockey and working his butt off in the summer, than his ceiling was just wayyyyy lower than anyone thought. Assuming that it’s more likely that he hasn’t been working his butt off and isn’t that committed to improving, what does that say about him?
Were Dubinsky or Callahan or Hagelin, or even early Avery more talented than the highly touted 1OA? Sure they had better skating and Hagelin’s was elite, but did they actually have more skill or was it 110% work and commitment? I know, I know… Laf is still younger than when Kreider or Cally or whoever even debuted. Sure, but my gut still tells me the reason those guys debuted later wasn’t because they hadn’t developed their work ethic yet. I don’t feel like Laf is just going to “figure it out” in another year or two, maybe when he signs his next contract, and just show up to camp looking two steps quicker and three times more alert and up to the speed of play. I just don’t see it.