Maybe it's because he never made the NHL until he was what, 23 or 24? And then had a decent year playing some pretty sheltered minutes as an offensive D. He is a borderline #4 which is still very good and obviously he is young and has room to keep growing.
The "underrating" was because when asked the price Leaf fans were told Nylander which is just laughable for a 24 year old rookie D who gets pretty easy minutes on a stacked D core.
When people first point to Montour's age it's a clear indicator they really know nothing about him.
His trajectory is as about as atypical as it gets. You're speaking as though he's your average 24 year old who has toiled at a certain level for years before making the NHL and that's far from the case.
Montour is a very rare case - late bloomer physically, late to focus on hockey as his primary sport and to switch to playing defense. He exploded offensively in the USHL and then was a dynamic offensive force at both the NCAA and AHL level in his one season stops - and then in his first full NHL season he put up 32 points playing a full top four role and not the sheltered situation you've described. Based on his talent level and trajectory there's just no reason to believe he's at his ceiling just yet.
Sorry but you do seem to underrate his value compared to what folks more in the know would describe. It was the TSN panel and not any Ducks fan who suggested it would take Nylander to get a discussion started on Montour.
