I see what pionk did, but again, it's just 28 games. It's a very small sample size at the end of the season when the team was a complete cluster. I'm not ready to shoot him up the rankings as one of our top prospects over some 1st round talent players who have a higher upside than him.
I agree with the small sample size comment, but to me it's moreso about what he showed he could do in the NHL and the toolset he displayed than the stats he produced. I think plays like stopping Ovechkin one-on-one or going end to end through the entire Caps team are evidence that he has high upside. On top of that, I think his toolset is good enough to be a top 4 player with premium offense. He's a fantastic skater, he has a high compete level, he makes a lot of smart reads in the offensive zone, and he has a solid shot.
I would also add that a lot of the guys going above Pionk (after Chytil, Shesty, Kravstov, and Lias) have limits on their upside too:
- Hajek might become a guy you can put out against the other team's top line, but he's never really scored at a high rate at any level and I think his offensive upside is limited
- Howden gets left off a lot of top prospect lists because of concerns about his upside
- Even Gordie Clark said he doesn't see Miller manning an NHL Power Play
If any of those guys had upside as a #1 D or first line forward I'd put them ahead of Pionk, but given that their upside has limits also, it made sense to me to go with the guy who is already in the NHL.