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It's 1. for me, and it's not really close. Lafreniere is the best player in the draft, so it's a pretty easy choice. Elite wingers can drive a line just as well as elite centers. Take the better player. Also, I wouldn't be so sure that any of the top centers would displace Larkin as the top center. At least not any time soon. Byfield *might* in 3-5 years if everything goes right for him, but I see Larkin as this team's 1C for the foreseeable future, regardless who we draft this year.

I think he showed more last season than this one. He was solid defensively since day one and put up 9 points in 60 games. Not bad for a rookie bottom 6 player. Basically everyone had an off year this season, so I'm not gonna hold his drop of scoring against him. It was a season where everything went wrong. The hope for me is that he can eventually reach his SHL scoring pace at the NHL level (translates to roughly 25 points per season). He never was a big offense producer by any means, but with some growth he can become a very good bottom 6 player, who can play center or wing. Especially if he can become a faceoff machine like LGW. I don't think he is a sure thing to achieve this by any means. But I do think he has shown enough that he might get there. A big factor working in his favor is his skating ability.

I'm not really excited about either option. Either way, I think we're missing one more high end forward. We could draft another one next year, assuming that we're a lottery team again. But I think I would go D next year. I think LD on the top pair becomes the biggest need. If Toews can be a 1C with Kane on his wing, Larkin could be a 1C with Lafreniere on his wing.

I don't fully agree that Larkin's a 2C. I think, at this point in time, he's a respectable 1C who has very little help. No elite wingers. Absolutely no center depth. An utter mess of a D group behind him. Crap-ass goalie situation. Larkin can't hide on this team. What that's exposed is that Larkin's not a powerhouse 1C who can throw a team on his back and singlehandedly f*** the enemy's s*** up on a nightly basis -- at least, not at this point in time. I'm still thinking he has the potential to become a Ryan O'Reilly type, i.e. a guy who doesn't put up huge numbers but is a rock-solid two-way matchup guy. Larkin didn't put up big numbers this season, but his underlying numbers suggest he has real Selke potential. If we get Byfield and he becomes the player we need him to become, it would make life much easier for Larkin. That's true whether Byfield is the 1C or the 2C or our top winger. That's what I want. I want a guy who singlehandedly changes the makeup of this team for the better, a guy who drastically changes the calculus of our rebuild reality. I want a rising tide that lifts all boats. The Blues needed more than just O'Reilly at center; Brayden Schenn was a big part of that Cup run. Even if Larkin is a Selke guy in a few years, we'll be needing another top-six centerman, preferably one who's more of a natural scorer. I'm not sure that's going to be Veleno or Rasmussen. So, all things considered, I think we're pretty much on the same page.

Sounds good to me

First off, the pics are amazing. Great work. This virus has flipped my entire life, much more than anticipated, and chaos is the best way to describe the past few weeks. I apologize for my absence but there have been a lot of vital and extreme changes in my life as a result of this pandemic and I simply don't have much time anymore to check in. I appreciate you guys keeping things civil and within the rules (for the most part) and i'll keep checking back when I can. Please feel free to send me a private message on here if there are any issues like mass spamming that floods the boards or an issue with a user, it will go to my email and I can respond quicker. Thanks guys, stay safe and healthy.