Zack Smith is wicked

[aragorn]

Pageau is doing just about everything you would want from a small player; he gets involved physically, tries to hit people, battles hard along the boards for loose pucks and goes to the dirty areas. These are all the things that a lot of small players are unwilling to do and end up being a big reason why the never crack an NHL roster. So far Pageau is on the right path and in a few years (3-4) he could be a full time NHLer.

Da Costa is now starting to add some grit to his game. He still has some ways to go in that department but he is making solid progress. On top of that he has some unbelievable offensive skill and is a solid skater. All of this is a good indication that he makes the NHL at some point.

Petersson on the other hand is too one dimensional to have a strong chance of becoming an NHL player. He is all offence and is fairly weak defensively. Unless he starts to develop his defensive game and grit, he would have to be putting up ridiculous point totals to get considered for a top six spot in the NHL.


A lot of small players fail to make it to the NHL and it tends to be wish full thinking by a lot of this fanbase that every small player we have in the system becomes a star. But when a small player does make it, they tend to be very good, jus look at Cory Conacher in Tampa Bay. He just cracked the roster and is playing very well, so it isn't a good idea just to write these players off based solely on their size.

I don`t disagree with you & a lot can happen over a few yrs with players & with rosters. That being said though, where would Pageau or Da Costa fit in on this team especially with Spezza & Turris as our top two centres. Then there is Z. Smith & JOB as the bottom two centres & Zibanejad & Grant coming as centres. I don`t see Pageau or Da Costa beating these guys out anytime soon.

DD is pretty close to making the jump towards being an NHL player. He is still figuring out his game so he is prone to some slumps which has caused 2 or 3 fans on here to write him off. But aside from that he has been fairly solid. If he can get his offensive game going with a bit more consistency then he will be able to make the jump as early as next season. All he needs to do is get back to the form he had early in the season where he was one of the best forwards game in game out.

Couldn`t agree more, the only question for me is if JOB keeps getting better. He is traditionally a slow starter & we are seeing that here in Ottawa. First, most thought he was a bust, but he did well incrementally in Bingo, then did well in the playoffs last season & seems more comfortable in Ottawa this yr.

IMO JOB would keep Smith on LW which may take away a spot from DD. My guess is that DD will be a good 13th forward & will be an injury fill in. If JOB falters Smith could be moved to centre & DD could play LW. I like DD a lot but he needs to score more to make it to the next level IMO. Maybe he replaces Neil some day, who knows.