Is what you see on the ice a success ? Thats the thing for me, stats are fine, kinda like Drouin, but the play man..
yes, but my expectations heading into the season was for him to be more/less what we've seen... strong start, some dips through the season, but not enough that he's hurting the team legitimately better off sitting.
I was under no illusion that we'd see him carry the playoff level through a full season, especially not with the condensed/no training camp/minimal practice realities...
while ppl are aware of how that is a strain on older players due to wear/tear, i think the challenge for young players psychologically is just as big. The practice time/training camp factors, as well as the adjusting to life routines in a professional environment (which involves less hand holding/control than the junior/NCAA levels) are all factors that impact day-to-day consistency... which is the hardest thing for a young player to fully develop.
I think both JKO and Suzuki have done better than expected when you factor all of these things in AND that the team had heavy playoff expectations with them front and center in a crucial role (top-9 C's).
Staal, a veteran of immense experience and talent, who is a year removed from still being a high impact top 9 C, came in and couldn't justify being played ahead of them... that doesn't mean that they are giving us enough as top-9C's for a playoff team consistently, but again, that's not on them, that's on MB and the roster he assembled.
2-3 years down the road... if Suzuki gives us a season like this, then sure, i'd be disappointed and expecting more. THis year and next? ~18min/night putting up team leading offensive production and not being a defensive liability... that's pretty good for a 21-22 year old. It's not McDavid/Matthews, sure, but Suzuki & JKO were always going to be mid-20's top-6 impact vs out-of-the-gate stars.